Zedruu: Eggs & Arms

Commander / EDH RUW (Jeskai, America)

RZephyr07

Creature (15)

• 1x Akroan Horse
• 1x Angel of the Dire Hour
• 1x Bastion Protector
• 1x Bazaar Trader
• 1x Giver of Runes
• 1x Humble Defector
• 1x Jhoira, Weatherlight Captain
• 1x Jori En, Ruin Diver
• 1x Mother of Runes
• 1x Quicksmith Genius
• 1x Riddlesmith
• 1x Sram, Senior Edificer
• 1x Stoneforge Mystic
• 1x Vedalken Archmage
• 1x Vedalken Plotter

Land (35)

• 1x Academy Ruins
• 1x Arid Mesa
• 1x Ash Barrens
• 1x Battlefield Forge
• 1x Calciform Pools
• 1x Cascade Bluffs
• 1x City of Brass
• 1x Command Tower
• 1x Fiery Islet
• 1x Flooded Strand
• 1x Forbidden Orchard
• 1x Hallowed Fountain
• 2x Island
• 3x Mountain
• 1x Mystifying Maze
• 1x Path of Ancestry
• 2x Plains
• 1x Plateau
• 1x Prairie Stream
• 1x Reflecting Pool
• 1x Reliquary Tower
• 1x Rugged Prairie
• 1x Scalding Tarn
• 1x Steam Vents
• 1x Sulfur Falls
• 1x Sunbaked Canyon
• 1x Temple of Epiphany
• 1x Temple of Triumph
• 1x Tundra
• 1x Vivid Creek
• 1x Vivid Meadow

Enchantment (5)

• 1x Curse of Opulence
• 1x Ghostly Prison
• 1x Mystic Remora
• 1x Propaganda
• 1x Rhystic Study

Artifact (31)

• 1x Accorder's Shield
• 1x Aetherflux Reservoir
• 1x Assault Suit
• 1x Astral Cornucopia
• 1x Azorius Signet
• 1x Bone Saw
• 1x Boros Signet
• 1x Cathar's Shield
• 1x Civic Saber
• 1x Crown of Doom
• 1x Darksteel Plate
• 1x Everflowing Chalice
• 1x Fellwar Stone
• 1x Hot Soup
• 1x Ivory Tower
• 1x Izzet Signet
• 1x Kite Shield
• 1x Knowledge Pool
• 1x Paradise Mantle
• 1x Pendant of Prosperity
• 1x Shuriken
• 1x Sigil of Distinction
• 1x Skullclamp
• 1x Sol Ring
• 1x Spellbook
• 1x Spidersilk Net
• 1x Sunforger
• 1x Swiftfoot Boots
• 1x Thought Vessel
• 1x Venser's Journal
• 1x Wayfarer's Bauble

Instant (9)

• 1x Brand
• 1x Chaos Warp
• 1x Counterflux
• 1x Hurkyl's Recall
• 1x Oblation
• 1x Rebuild
• 1x Reins of Power
• 1x Riot Control
• 1x Teferi's Protection

Sorcery (4)

• 1x Approach of the Second Sun
• 1x Divine Reckoning
• 1x Fumigate
• 1x Insurrection

Commander (1)

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Many people run Zedruu as a political commander by donating bad gifts to people like Grid Monitor, Pyromancer's Swath, Aggressive Mining, et al. This deck isn't that.

This deck is about silliness and about your presence contributing a lot of complicated emotions for the table (hopefully, one of them being fun!).

The Game Plan

Zeruu: Eggs & Arms aims to stay in the game by exploiting a common player behavior in commander play. First of all, players tend to beat on each other when they are a perceived threat. That is: the most threatening player typically draws aggro.

This deck is not threatening at all (until it is). It does not play big creatures that hit your opponents. It mostly doesn't even play particularly good cards. It draws cards by playing eggs to draw more cards to play more eggs. Oh yeah, and it donates them. Zedruu bequeaths to thee this Hot Soup. No, please take it. I insist.

As you are giving "good gifts" (junk) to other players, with perhaps the occasional land or mana rock thrown in, a tacit contract is made. "I'm (totally) helping you (haha) kill them so you (pls god) don't kill me." This deck is about bargaining chips in the best way Zedruu can scramble together. Give the old goat lady a break, she's trying her best!

Winning the Game?

I've won a stupid amount of games with this deck, mainly because your win culminates in a small handful of enormous turns towards the end where you snowball out of control. If you are in a controlling meta, or in a meta where someone else has played a meanie-pants Zedruu, you may need more interaction because your opponents will definitely not let your Approach of the Second Sun or Aetherflux Reservoir resolve.

Full list of win conditions is:

Brand My favorite win condition, but also the most difficult to setup. When your eggs deck suddenly turns into a voltron deck with a menacing G.O.A.T. lady at the helm. See how your opponents squirm when a Hexproof, Haste, Indestructible, Can't be Sacrificed, Can't be blocked 7/6 comes swinging in. It might be worth including more low-cost equipment to support this strategy, but I've pulled a win like this at least once.

Approach of the Second Sun If played correctly, you will win the turn after this resolves. Your next turn will be spent drawing tons of cards from eggs or off of Zedruu's upkeep trigger.

Aetherflux Reservoir You can often kill a player in 2 turns with this puppy on the battlefield. Once this resolves, you've got the big red button. It's time for the other players to shut up and take notice.

Insurrection, Reins of Power My least favorite win cons. Winning this way has always felt dirty and unearned to me.

There aren't many win conditions, but you will be typically drawing half your deck unless things go horribly wrong so you should be seeing these throughout the match.

Notable includes not in this list

This is my actual deck, and I am missing a few cards that I think help this game plan. It started as a budget deck, and you definitely can build something like this list on a modest $100-$200 budget.

I intentionally don't run Cyclonic Rift or too many board wipes. This deck is about leaving a memorable play experience for the entire table and building a reputation as the "good goat lady".

These are probably good includes: Smothering Tithe Homeward Path Volcanic Island Etherium Sculptor Foundry Inspector

Other possible good includes might be: Open the Vaults Sensei's Divining Top Jeweled Amulet Maze of Ith Talisman of Creativity Talisman of Conviction Puresteel Paladin Batterskull Golem-Skin Gauntlets

My land base is rather pimped, but go ahead and use tapped duals. There's still a lot of fun to be had, even if you're a turn behind.

I haven't decided if I want to include cards that are generally too good like Chromatic Lantern or Arcane Signet as it opens a window for your opponents to get annoyed when you don't give it to them when they're in a serious pinch (and getting them out of it might not be part of your current game plan). The theme of this deck is giving people cards that might help, but are generally extremely suboptimal (ain't nobody winning a game off of Bone Saw... but if they do, that's one hell of a story!).

Date added	9 years
Last updated	4 years
Legality	This deck is Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	2 - 0 Mythic Rares 52 - 0 Rares 30 - 0 Uncommons 9 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	2.42
Tokens	Gold, Soldier 1/1 W, Spirit 1/1 C
Folders	deck