Zur's Proxied Parade of Pain

Commander / EDH Combo Competitive Control Enchantment Necropotence WUB (Esper)

NarejED

Utility (27)

• 1x Brainstorm
• 1x Demonic TutorGC
• 1x Enlightened TutorGC
• 1x Frantic Search
• 1x Gitaxian Probe
• 1x Grim Tutor
• 1x Gush
• 1x High Tide
• 1x Hurkyl's Recall
• 1x Imperial SealGC
• 1x Jace, Vryn's Prodigy  ^Flip
• 1x Merchant Scroll
• 1x Mystic Remora
• 1x Mystical TutorGC
• 1x Necropotence
• 1x Night's Whisper
• 1x Notion Thief
• 1x Ponder
• 1x Sensei's Divining Top
• 1x Sleight of Hand
• 1x Snapcaster Mage
• 1x Time Spiral
• 1x Timetwister
• 1x Tormod's Crypt
• 1x Vampiric TutorGC
• 1x Windfall
• 1x Yawgmoth's Will

WinCon (6)

• 1x Ad NauseamGC
• 1x Aetherflux Reservoir
• 1x Angel's Grace
• 1x Doomsday
• 1x Laboratory Maniac
• 1x Shimmer Myr

Land (29)

• 1x Ancient TombGC
• 1x Arid Mesa
• 1x Bloodstained Mire
• 1x Command Tower
• 1x Flooded Strand
• 1x Gemstone Caverns
• 1x Godless Shrine
• 1x Hallowed Fountain
• 10x Island
• 1x Marsh Flats
• 1x Misty Rainforest
• 1x Polluted Delta
• 1x Scalding Tarn
• 1x Scrubland
• 1x Tundra
• 1x Underground Sea
• 1x Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
• 1x Verdant Catacombs
• 1x Watery Grave
• 1x Windswept Heath

Control (18)

• 1x Arcane Denial
• 1x Chain of Vapor
• 1x Counterspell
• 1x Cyclonic RiftGC
• 1x Detention Sphere
• 1x Dispel
• 1x Flusterstorm
• 1x Force of WillGC
• 1x Grasp of Fate
• 1x Lunar Force
• 1x Mana Drain
• 1x Mental Misstep
• 1x Pact of Negation
• 1x Silence
• 1x Spell Pierce
• 1x Swan Song
• 1x Swords to Plowshares
• 1x Toxic Deluge

Commander (1)

Ramp (19)

• 1x Azorius Signet
• 1x Cabal Ritual
• 1x Candelabra of Tawnos
• 1x Chrome MoxGC
• 1x Dark Ritual
• 1x Dimir Signet
• 1x Fellwar Stone
• 1x Grim MonolithGC
• 1x Helm of Awakening
• 1x Lion's Eye DiamondGC
• 1x Lotus Petal
• 1x Mana Crypt
• 1x Mana VaultGC
• 1x Mox DiamondGC
• 1x Mox Opal
• 1x Orzhov Signet
• 1x Sol Ring
• 1x Talisman of Dominance
• 1x Talisman of Progress

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Maybeboard

Other (3)

• 1x Dark Confidant
• 1x Mind's Desire
• 1x Retract

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"I will go to any length to achieve my goal. Eternal life is worth any sacrifice."

~Zur the Enchanter

This is a finely tuned top-tier combo-control Zur the Enchanter list designed to compete with, and usually defeat, the strongest decks in the format. It's built to quickly and consistently combo off with protection in the first few turns of te game while disrupting opponent's attempts to do likewise. No tricks. No gimmicks. Just raw unadulterated power.

The Strategy

The execution of this deck is relatively straight forward. It's designed to function extremely well in multiplayer matchups and is ingrained with enough ramp to race the fastest combo decks. A perfect opening hand will allow a turn 1 win protection. Simply playing as the aggressor is often enough to win, particular against less competitive decks.

For less optimal matchups, the deck effortlessly switches to a more controlling nature. With over ten counterspells, a slew of other cheap answers like Swords to Plowshares, and Zur himself, the deck has plenty of tools to keep matches on a tight leash. Even the likes of Narset, Enlightened Master and Prossh, Skyraider of Kher have difficulty comboing out while Zur is playing control.

Lastly, the deck's sideboard is loaded with answers to specific match-ups. For opponents trying to go wide (IE, Slivers or Animar) The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale , Supreme Verdict, and various other creature-stopping tools come in as needed. For Voltron decks, Darksteel Mutation is absolutely hilarious. For mirror matchups or other decks that rely heavily on tutoring, Aven Mindcensor comes in. Finally, Chains of Mephistopheles shuts down numerous decks that rely heavily on drawing like Azami, Lady of Scrolls. The sideboard is by far the least-secure part of the list. I'm constantly rebuilding it to optimize for specific match ups.

The Win Conditions

The deck is divided into a number of categories. Most are pretty self-explanatory. The control section contains cards specifically used for controlling board states. The utility category houses multi-function cards whose effect further the decks overall goals, namely draw effects, tutors, recursion, and situational spells. The ramp section obviously houses various rocks and enchantments that accelerate mana growth. The somewhat less self-explanatory cards lie in the category titled WinCon. Here lie the cards whose main purpose is to close out games quickly and efficiently. There are two somewhat independent combos with an overlapping finisher here.

The first combo houses here is Ad Nauseam. Naus is already an immensely powerful draw spell by itself. When paired with the nigh-uncounterable Angel's Grace and Zur-tutorable Phyrexian Unlife , it enables a kill condition by itself. The strategy is simple: Cast Naus, put Grace or Echo into play, pick up the entire library. From there, free mana in the form of Mox Diamond, Mox Opal, Chrome Mox, Lotus Petal, and Mana Crypt allows us to play Laboratory Maniac followed by Gush or another cheap cantrip. Since Lab Man is all but uncounterable thanks to Pact of Negation and the other low-cost countermagic in the deck, this results in a nearly guaranteed kill. This is perhaps the most powerful win condition, costing only 5-6 mana to successfully go off. It's typically the deck's main strategy. Either tutoring for it or paying 30 life to Necropotence to dig for it ends the game the following turn. This strategy rarely takes more than four turns to go off with protection.

The other combo housed in the deck is Doomsday. Like Ad Naus, it's essentially a one-card combo, requiring nothing but a way to draw a card to go off on the same turn (thus the reason for running sub-par cantrips like Preordain and Sleight of Hand). It too uses Lab Man as a its finisher. The cheapest DDay pile is Predict , Laboratory Maniac, Gitaxian Probe, Lion's Eye Diamond, and Yawgmoth's Will. It can go off fur just 1UBBB + a draw. There are multiple other piles that require more mana, but offer greater protection for various scenarios.

Additional Notable Cards and Synergies

The deck runs relatively few board wipes for an Esper control list. What few it does were deliberately selected to be as unfair as physically possible. Toxic Deluge is extremely mana efficient, gets around indestructible permanents, and is almost entirely one-sided. Meanwhile, Cyclonic Rift is both an efficient targeted bounce effect early game and a instant-speed one-sided Crush of Tentacles late game. A staple of nearly any blue deck.

The decks draw package is equally small yet efficient. The main focus here is, of course, Necropotence. Every new player hears how broken the card is, yet fails to grasp at first just how amazing it truly is. When played in a format where players start with 40 life, it reaches its full unholy potential. Other notable card engines are Rhystic Study, Mystic Remora, and Notion Thief. All three can create massive card advantage over the course of a few turns. For more explosive hand refills and card cycling at nearly any point in the game, we have Timetwister, Time Spiral, and Windfall. For three mana, Twister can net 7 cards, recur answers from graveyard to library, undo any amount of traditional mill, and disrupt my opponents hands all at the same time. There is a reason it is included as one of the Power Nine alongside things like Black Lotus and Ancestral Recall. Its effect on any match is immense. It still amazes me that it has not been banned from the format. Spiral offers much the same effect, but replaces the mana it costs. Coupled with High Tide, it can be a truly massive play. Windfall is of course significantly weaker, but still quite useful to the deck. All three cards combo brutally well with Notion Thief. If any is cast while he's in play, it's essentially game over.

Credits

Special thanks to outofnothing0 and his deck Zur's Perfection. I pulled much of my inspiration for this deck from his glorious setup. I'd also like to credit Skuloth for the original creation of the horror known as Doomsday Ad Nauseam Zur.

And a huge thanks to all the artists whose work was featured for the alters. Couldn't have made this sexy proxied monstrosity without you.

Date added	10 years
Last updated	8 years
Legality	This deck is not Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	12 - 0 Mythic Rares 45 - 0 Rares 20 - 0 Uncommons 13 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	1.89
Tokens	Bird 2/2 U, Emblem Jace, Vryn's Prodigy
Folders	Official Commander Decks, Decks, Duel EDH Zvone nemoj tu dodavat, mostly altered art decks, liked, Decks to keep note, zuuuuur, Zur the Enchanter, Ideas, Decks to look at