@Enyeto: Yea I tend not to trust those prices for exactly that reason! Also it doesn't know which version of the card it is (regular vs promo) and the "missing cards" can attribute huge deck cost fluctuations (in this instance over $850!)

Hey there, Zur was also my first commander. Your build now is extremely similar to how I used to run Zur and you also play 1v1 EDH rules so I hope to be of some help.

After all the play testing I've done I've realized the less enchantments for Zur the better. You may feel that you really need ones like Battle Mastery and Ethereal Armor but those spots can be filled with more control and answers to opponent threats. There are a few deck I've been playing with and against that overwhelm a completely optimized Zur. Just a few I can name are Edric, Spymaster of Trest , Geist of Saint Traft , and Derevi, Empyrial Tactician . Really depends how competitive your group is or where you play.

Another thing is lands. For consistency it's risky to go below 38. A lot of competitive builds stay at 40 lands.

One last idea is an alternate win condition. You don't need to always win with Zur. You already have Rest in Peace so all you need is Helm of Obedience to mill their entire deck. I found this to be better than strategies revolving around locks like Mana Vortex which I also used to run. Those strategies can work just fine but they are a bit slower than just winning with Rest in Peace and Helm of Obedience.

I'll add more as I am in a rush for time right but please check out my Zur when you get the chance.

+1

Zur the Enchanter - EDH 1v1

I like many of the things you do have. I understand that every deck is shaped by it's playgroup. My own Zur has had many forms, but i think my latest iteration of Zur's God Complex is by far the most powerful version against my playgroup.

For a long time, as i've rocked Zur for over a year, i've been given the rolls eyes 'oh you're playing Zur" from some of the members of my playgroup. For most of this time he was aura based, fetching as many auras as he could to boost himself into whipping the competition. I've found that this method is not only detrimental to my own desires for the deck and was ended up leaving many of my best enchantments stuck in the yard with no Elixir of Immortality on the field or in my hand. This simply wasn't acceptable, i recently shifted Zur into an auraless form while still keeping many of the themes i wanted in Zur. From boosting himself with things like Day of Destiny + Homicidal Seclusion to keeping down my opponents ability to hit me and my single creature deck: Ghostly Prison + Propaganda .

For all the hate i got from fellow players, in the past Zur simply didn't run more of the meaner enchantments, with AEther Barrier + Overburden + Painful Quandary making players think more about the spells they play, Exquisite Blood + Sanguine Bond are in theme with Zur's desire for immortality above everyone and everything else and provide an interesting win condition after using a primed Archmage Ascension + Dictate of Kruphix to 'draw' them both.

Finally, my favorite card for Zur, Teferi's Veil fits both thematically (As for many years Zur disappeared from the happening of the world around him) and mechanically, removing him as a target on my opponents turns.

You've done what i've wanted to do, foil a whole deck. +1. :D

@Sioum: I've been considering cutting Ethereal Armor for a while now but Battle Mastery seems like it may also be another potentially good cut. I'll give it some thought when I finally get around to working on deck building again...

I like running my lands a little lower when there is artifact ramp to back it up, lands are pretty much the worst thing I can have in my hand after turn 4 with this deck and I rarely get 'starved' due to mulligans.

I actually haven't seen that combo before with Helm of Obedience before; it seems pretty awesome so I'll keep it in mind but I almost rather like playing with locks versus auto wins. Something about slowly killing them when they can't do anything about it makes me all excited haha.

I had a look at your deck and it seems pretty solid. I left ya a comment. Thanks for the feedback and upvote!

@Sallucianious: My deck was the opposite. I started out with static enchantment and then went more aura voltron based afterwards. Personally I find Overburden helps my opponents more than hinders them.

It sure wasn't easy foiling the whole thing and it's taken me a number of years. The hardest part is when I deckbuild and have to find foils of the new cards lol. Thanks for the upvote and I'll take a look at your deck now!

out of curiosity, have you considered Tezzeret the Seeker ? Although he's a 5 drop, he kind of fits the theme of the deck :P but on an actual reason to run him, other than fetching your utility artifacts, his +1 lets you untap mana artifacts meaning that you can maintain Stasis , which really screws over everyone else.

How does your deck fair in multiplayer?

@Xtkxl4rd4ss: It depends on how many players as well as game politics and whether or not I'm facing top tier decks or not. Generally if it's only one or two people explicitly trying to stop me I can manage, but numbers higher than that are extremely difficult to deter. If I can attack once I've usually got it unless someone uses Supreme Verdict as I normally don't go for Vanishing right away in multiplayer with my main strategy being Diplomatic Immunity , followed by Daybreak Coronet and then lastly on the third turn of swinging killing everyone systematically with Stasis starting with the largest threats (namely people playing blue). Anti-life gain cards like Erebos, God of the Dead are probably the biggest threat to the deck in multiplayer as I generally just take the early game damage with the intent of gaining it back later.

And I thought the Zur deck I went up against a couple months ago was a pain in the ass. Lol. This looks really, really solid. And brutal. And it's foiled out too!

Deff a +1 from me.

You seem to be really good with suggestions, so if you don't mind, could you check out my decks and leave suggestions? They're not Zur though but I would love some input.

Marchesa, the Pyrophiliac

Derevi Would Tap That

@enpc: you had me at infinite stasis plus artifact fetch. I'm heavily considering him now. Thanks for the suggestion

@PlatnumxStatuS: Thanks for the support! I'll do my best to have a look at those decks as soon as possible but I've been really busy lately. Also, I don't think your +1 worked ;P

+1 for an amazing deck. I too am dabbling in the awesome power of Zur. Might you have a budget replacement for Daybreak Coronet for a poor old man? I will be picking one up eventually as I know there is no true replacement. But I need a decent one that at least gives Vigilance so I can make Stasis work. I figure the Steel of the Godhead is enough to get Lifelink, but Stasis would be pointless without a Vigilant Zur.

@ CrovaxTheCursed: Thanks for the upvote! Two pretty good budget replacements for Daybreak Coronet are:

1) Vow of Duty : Gives Zur +2/+2 in addition to the vigilance and makes it so if someone manages to take control of him they can't attack you.2) Triclopean Sight : Only gives +1/+1 in addition to the vigilance but makes up for it with having flash and auto-untap (which I personally think will be more useful).

Ah yes, I believe I'll go with Triclopean Sight because of the untap like you mentioned. Now, I like what you said about Vow of Duty preventing a stolen Zur from attacking you... BUT if he was indeed stolen, wouldn't control then transfer to the opponent, effectively making it so now Zur can't attack THAT player? Or am I reading into that the wrong way? Cause I thought that when you take control of a creature, you also take control over the auras attached to that creature as well. Or is it that the auras are still "attached" to Zur, but indeed still under the "control" of the owner/original caster (i.e. you) and not the stealer of Zur? Sorry for all the questions lol, and sorry if they didn't make any sense either. :P In any case, I'm going with Sight over Vow until I get a Coronet, but I'm a little curious about Vow now...

Auras remain under the control of whoever cast them until an effect specifically targets the aura (not the enchanted permanent). A great example of this is Pariah ; a card that is usually best when cast on an opponent's creature (or an indestructible/pro creature if possible). It'll basically fog for a turn and kill their biggest creature. You don't control the creature and they don't control the aura.

I see. Ok, with that I may have to put both Sight and Vow and see how I like that. There's a dude at my shop who runs an EDH that's basically full of Act of Treason effects so that Vow might really help there. Thanks!

I feel like Eldrazi Conscription would be amusing, but perhaps overkill?

Funny combo Energy Field + Rest in Peace make you immune from damage. You're already running Greater Auramancy , which will make you now virtually impenetrable, and keep your combo safe from harm. You run enough counters to protect the Auramancy itself.

D: comment errored and ate half of my comment!

What missed: Eldrazi Conscription Works well in tandem with Sovereigns of Lost Alara , nice if Zur is being slowed down, but I know it's a little higher on the mana cost that most things you're running

i would say run Helm of Obedience main deck and add Leyline of the Void make an opponent exile their entire deck

@Evee142: I've already considered the Energy Field , Rest in Peace combo in the past and determined that it's too fragile. Energy Field is useless by itself due to the high number of instants in the deck and it would take too long to tutor for it. Solitary Confinement is doing just fine currently for taking care of pesky damage. In regards to Eldrazi Conscription it's definitely a game-ender but unfortunately it's hard to pull off and slows the deck down. I generally try and keep card CMC's as low as possible and have outright written off any enchantments over 3CMC (even Auramancer's Guise !). Sovereigns of Lost Alara were in one of the first versions of the deck but they proved too costly mana-wise and I couldn't reliable get them out when I needed them so they got cut. Thanks for the suggestions! I'll still keep these in the back of my mind if I ever decide to mix it up a bit (or even make a more friendly version? lol).

@dereviman1190: I already have Rest in Peace to work with Helm of Obedience and Leyline of the Void is not zur-tutorable so I have no reason to run it. The helm does have a chance at making main board but I've got to first get one, and then figure out if there's room for it, in addition to playtesting to see how it runs.