Zedruu the Greathearted

Commander / EDH Multiplayer RUW (Jeskai, America)

codedJB

BadGift (3)

• 1x Meishin, the Mind Cage
• 1x Mystic Barrier
• 1x Spellbook

Chaos (6)

• 1x Confusion in the Ranks
• 1x Decree of Annihilation
• 1x Grip of Chaos
• 1x Scrambleverse
• 1x Thieves' Auction
• 1x Warp World

Expensive (7)

• 1x Cyclonic RiftGC
• 1x Enlightened TutorGC
• 1x Gilded Lotus
• 1x Mana VaultGC
• 1x Sensei's Divining Top
• 1x Supreme Verdict
• 1x Thran Dynamo

Gift (9)

• 1x Dictate of Kruphix
• 1x Font of Mythos
• 1x Howling Mine
• 1x Nevermore
• 1x Oath of Lieges
• 1x Oblivion Ring
• 1x Rest in Peace
• 1x Storage Matrix
• 1x Vedalken Plotter

GoodStuff (12)

• 1x Alhammarret's Archive
• 1x Archmage Ascension
• 1x Bazaar Trader
• 1x Dominus of Fealty
• 1x Felidar Sovereign
• 1x Imperial Mask
• 1x Ivory Mask
• 1x Pursuit of Knowledge
• 1x Sacred Ground
• 1x Solitary Confinement
• 1x Starfield of Nyx
• 1x Venser's Journal

GreatGift (11)

• 1x Aggressive Mining
• 1x Akroan Horse
• 1x Cephalid Vandal
• 1x Embargo
• 1x Form of the Dragon
• 1x Grid Monitor
• 1x Humble Defector
• 1x Illusions of Grandeur
• 1x Impending Disaster
• 1x Steel Golem
• 1x Thought Lash

Land (31)

• 1x Azorius Chancery
• 1x Battlefield Forge
• 1x Boros Garrison
• 1x City of Brass
• 1x Clifftop Retreat
• 1x Command Tower
• 1x Flooded Strand
• 1x Hallowed Fountain
• 2x Island
• 1x Izzet Boilerworks
• 1x Mana Confluence
• 2x Mountain
• 1x Mystic Monastery
• 4x Plains
• 1x Prairie Stream
• 1x Reliquary Tower
• 1x Rugged Prairie
• 1x Sacred Foundry
• 1x Shivan Reef
• 1x Steam Vents
• 1x Swiftwater Cliffs
• 1x Tranquil Cove
• 1x Vivid Crag
• 1x Vivid Creek
• 1x Vivid Meadow
• 1x Wind-Scarred Crag

ManaRock (8)

• 1x Azorius Signet
• 1x Boros Signet
• 1x Chromatic Lantern
• 1x Gilded Lotus
• 1x Izzet Signet
• 1x Mana VaultGC
• 1x Sol Ring
• 1x Thran Dynamo

Other (12)

• 1x Boseiju, Who Shelters All
• 1x Delaying Shield
• 1x Deserted Temple
• 1x Harmless Offering
• 1x Mystifying Maze
• 1x Noetic Scales
• 1x Story Circle
• 1x Strip Mine
• 1x Teferi's Puzzle Box
• 1x Temple of the False God
• 1x Test of Endurance
• 1x Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre

Recursion (2)

• 1x Open the Vaults
• 1x Starfield of Nyx

Shield (2)

• 1x Mystic Barrier
• 1x Solitary Confinement

WinCon (5)

• 1x Felidar Sovereign
• 1x Helm of Obedience
• 1x Laboratory Maniac
• 1x Rest in Peace
• 1x Thought Lash

Commander (1)

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Maybeboard

Other (4)

• 1x Kor Haven
• 1x Magus of the Moat
• 1x Phantasmal Image
• 1x Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir

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The goal of deck is to gain a huge card advantage using Zedruu the Greathearted, and then win using any of the listed win conditions. The key pieces, that being the gifts and the commander are fairly inexpensive. This is a great budget deck, which made me like commander in the first place, with room for more expensive tech, that can be added as you collect them.

Explanation of Categories

It is to your advantage to last a long time. "Inevitability" I believe is the term. To this end, you use chaos effects to make it hard for your opponents to efficiently accomplish their goals. Grip of Chaos protects you, your permanents, and your spells by making anything hard to target. You could get more Zedruu triggers using Scrambleverse or Thieves' Auction, but you might also just be able to defuse a dangerous player by allowing the table to spread their permanents around. Another way to survive longer is with "Shield" effects, such as Solitary Confinement, Mystic Barrier, or any of the Circles.

In this list, a great gift is a permanent that you either want to give away, or that gives away itself.

A generic gift is a permanent that will have the same effect regardless of it's controller, which means that you can give it away to draw more cards without any nasty side effects.

A bad gift is a permanent that will give your opponent an advantage, or would better serve you. You do not want to give these permanents away, but you can if you want to use them as a bribe, or you desperately need the extra life.

Good stuff are permanents that you do not give away. These permanents will either hurt your game plan, or are things that will serve you infinitely better.

Combos

The standard Zedruu combo Bazaar Trader + Dominus of Fealty . You steal an artifact, creature or land with Dominus and then give yourself permanent control using Bazaar trader. Most Zedruu decks run this combo because they're playing Bazaar trader anyways.
A slightly less powerful version of this combo uses Zedruu in place of Bazaar Trader. You can steal any permanent using Zedruu, but it has to go to an opponent. Useful if someone has become to powerful and they need to lose their advantage.

Destroy everyone's land but yours with Impending Disaster + Sacred Ground . Give away the Impending Disaster to the next player in terms of turn order and have all your lands re-enter while everyone else's leave.

Alhammarret's Archive + Zedruu the Greathearted has excellent synergy.

Solitary Confinement keeps you safe from most things, and if you have a reccurring draw effect, like Zedruu the Greathearted, you become essentially untouchable.

Neat tricks and things to watch for

Here are some insights I've had since I've started playing this deck. I'll add to this list as I (Or anyone else) finds them, and cares to share them to me.

Grip of Chaos randomly reselects a target, if there's only one target. This occurs after a spell is put on a stack, and the effect is a triggered ability. This means a couple of things. Zedruu's activated ability is not affected by Grip of Chaos, as it has two targets, a player and a permanent. This also means that any counterspell that only targets a single spell, could be changed to target any spell on the stack, including itself.

Bazaar Trader + Dominus of Fealty does not work on Enchantments.

If you're going to lose the game by running out of cards in your library, there a couple of ways around that.
Solitary Confinement skips your draw step, so you can just give Zedruu away with his own ability to prevent yourself from losing.
Pursuit of Knowledge isn't capped at 3 counters, so you can just keep activating it's ability to never draw a card.

When you play Form of the Dragon you'll want to give away immediately, so your life total doesn't become 5. Humourously, if you have hexproof, and there are no other targets, your opponent has to kill themself using Form of the Dragon's upkeep trigger.

To-Do List

• Cut Felidar Soverign for a Test of Endurance
• Figure out what to add to the to-do list

Date added	8 years
Last updated	8 years
Key combos	Bazaar Trader + Dominus of Fealty Impending Disaster + Sacred Ground Alhammarret's Archive + Zedruu the Greathearted
Legality	This deck is Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	8 - 0 Mythic Rares 59 - 0 Rares 21 - 0 Uncommons 1 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	3.88
Tokens	Copy Clone, Soldier 1/1 W
Folders	Commander