Zur’s Weird Necro Deck (Primer)

Commander / EDH Combo Competitive Control Pillow Fort Primer WUB (Esper)

KayneMarco

Land (33)

• 1x Adarkar Wastes
• 1x Ancient Den
• 1x Ancient TombGC
• 1x Caves of Koilos
• 1x Celestial Colonnade
• 1x Command Tower
• 1x Dark Depths
• 1x Darksteel Citadel
• 1x Fetid Heath
• 1x Flooded Strand
• 1x Forbidden Orchard
• 1x Glimmervoid
• 1x Godless Shrine
• 1x Hallowed Fountain
• 1x Inventors' Fair
• 2x Island
• 1x Marsh Flats
• 1x Mystic Gate
• 1x Plains
• 1x Polluted Delta
• 1x Reflecting Pool
• 1x Scrubland
• 1x Seat of the Synod
• 1x Sunken Ruins
• 1x Swamp
• 1x Thespian's Stage
• 1x Tolaria West
• 1x Tundra
• 1x Underground River
• 1x Underground Sea
• 1x Vault of Whispers
• 1x Watery Grave

Planeswalker (5)

• 1x Jace, Unraveler of Secrets
• 1x Liliana Vess
• 1x Narset Transcendent
• 1x Tamiyo, the Moon Sage
• 1x Venser, the Sojourner

Enchantment (18)

• 1x Aura of Silence
• 1x Copy Enchantment
• 1x Counterbalance
• 1x Curator's Ward
• 1x Enchanted Evening
• 1x Estrid's Invocation
• 1x Greater Auramancy
• 1x Imprisoned in the Moon
• 1x Monastery Siege
• 1x Mystic Remora
• 1x Necropotence
• 1x Phyrexian Unlife
• 1x Reconnaissance
• 1x Rhystic StudyGC
• 1x Second Chance
• 1x Solemnity
• 1x Sphere of Safety
• 1x Zur's Weirding

Artifact (11)

• 1x Azorius Signet
• 1x Chromatic Lantern
• 1x Chrome MoxGC
• 1x Dimir Signet
• 1x Fellwar Stone
• 1x Mana Crypt
• 1x Mox DiamondGC
• 1x Mox Opal
• 1x Orzhov Signet
• 1x Sol Ring
• 1x Venser's Journal

Sorcery (6)

• 1x Beseech the Queen
• 1x Cruel Tutor
• 1x Demonic TutorGC
• 1x Grim Tutor
• 1x Imperial SealGC
• 1x Neverending Torment

Commander (1)

Instant (16)

• 1x Counterspell
• 1x Countersquall
• 1x Cyclonic RiftGC
• 1x Disallow
• 1x Dovin's Veto
• 1x Enlightened TutorGC
• 1x Fierce GuardianshipGC
• 1x Force of WillGC
• 1x Mana Drain
• 1x Mystical TutorGC
• 1x Pact of Negation
• 1x Rebuff the Wicked
• 1x Render Silent
• 1x Swan Song
• 1x Turn Aside
• 1x Vampiric TutorGC

Creature (10)

• 1x Aven Mindcensor
• 1x Azorius Guildmage
• 1x Drannith MagistrateGC
• 1x Eidolon of Rhetoric
• 1x Glen Elendra Archmage
• 1x Grand Abolisher
• 1x Hushbringer
• 1x Kithkin Spellduster
• 1x Linvala, Keeper of Silence
• 1x Riptide Chimera

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Maybeboard

Enchantment (1)

• 1x Bloodchief Ascension

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Shoutouts and Credit

First I’ld like to thank scotchtapedsleeves for the help with styling this page and helping me to learn the css coding side of things. I had been slowly learning html coding before seeing one of his deck pages. Next up is king-saproling. I stumbled across his Deck Styling With Ease page and have learned so much more about css coding because of this great learning tool. And last but definitely not least is Cloudius. He’s another one that helped tremendously in me learning everything I know about css. Without them this deck page would have never reached the vision I had for it.

”Magic overused can freeze the mind. Creativity is more important than power.” -Zur The Enchanter

{B}{B}{B}{B}{B}{B} {U}{U}{U}{U}{U}{U} {W}{W}{W}{W}{W}{W}

Welcome to Zurs Weird Necro Deck

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Also called Zur the Mad, he was a rival of the famous Gerda Aagesdotter, the archmage of the School of the Unseen. A former Kjeldoran, Zur was exiled for his insane attempts to achieve eternal life. He later assembled a formidable array of mages and soldiers and attacked his former homeland. His efforts were thwarted however, in part by the ancient mage Jodah.

Zur then ventured deep into the tundra and disappeared. From then on, he deliberately avoided taking a hand in the events of later years, remaining aloof from the casting of the World Spell or the plots of the Cult of Rimewind. Most people thought he died, although some of his followers claimed he attained immortality deep in the frozen wastes.

{B}{B}{B}{B}{B}{B} {U}{U}{U}{U}{U}{U} {W}{W}{W}{W}{W}{W}

Introduction

Do you enjoy...

• combo/control/prison decks?

• watching gleefully as frustration starts to build in your opponents?

• watching your opponents squirm in discomfort as you systematically put a stop to everything they can do?

• your opponents getting so filled with anger as a result of what you are doing to their shattered psyche that they start yanking their hair out by the handfuls and flip the table in a fit of uncontrollable rage?

If so then this is the deck for you!!

This deck is not for you if...

• You don’t like long drawn out games.
• You don’t like pillowfort, lockdown combos
• You prefer turning creatures sideways for the win

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Card Choices

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**_”Concentration is key. Without it, a mage conjures nothing but a splitting headache.” -Zur the Enchanter_**

The Tutors

 I wanted low cmc cards for them so... - Demonic Tutor first and best - Grim Tutor - Cruel Tutor - Imperial Seal - Beseech the Queen - Vampiric Tutor - Mystical Tutor will let me tutor for a tutor. - Enlightened Tutor will tutor out the enchantments I can’t Zur out. - Inventors' Fair will tutor out parts of my win cons I can’t Zur out or don’t want to use other tutors on. - Tolaria West will let me tutor for inventors fair, bojuka bog or pact of negation without having to use one of the other tutors. - Liliana Vess should be the 1st or 2nd card you tutor for. - And of course the main man himself, The tutor on a stick. Zur the Enchanter

The Counterspells

 All low cmc counters - Counterspell 1st and best mainly because it’s cheap and counters anything no questions asked - Mana Drain obvious reasons - Force of Will will counter a t1 The Locust God. It has happened to me. It made me sad lol - Pact of Negation Just remember to pay the upkeep. I’ve forgotten lol - Disallow truly counters everything, activations and triggers. - Countersquall counters any non creature. Not too worried bout creatures anyways - Dovin's Veto self explanatory - Fierce Guardianship absolutely free counterspell as long as I control my commander? Yes please. - Turn Aside counters any spot removal for only one {U}. - Rebuff the Wicked takes out any spell that tries messing with my board state plus I don’t need {U} to use it. - Render Silent counters the spell plus doesn’t let them cast anything else for the rest of the turn. Win win. - Swan Song counters non creature and still not worried bout creatures.

The Planeswalkers

 Just had to have planeswalkers in this deck with how I’m able to protect them - Jace, Unraveler of Secrets his +1 is decent enough till you are able to do his ult then it’s pretty much game over if you have out the Eidolon of Rhetoric - Liliana Vess another tutor on a stick with a very useful +1 - Narset Transcendent all 3 abilities of this card are useful as hell but the goal of course is her ult. - Tamiyo, the Moon Sage her +1 is very handy until you can do her ultimate. Then the fun begins. - Venser, the Sojourner his +2 ability is extremely useful in that he can blink any permanent I control in and out. Most useful for planeswalkers. Best for Liliana so I can use her tutor ability every turn. His ult is even better.

The Creatures

 The 10 creatures in the 99 are all extremely useful and none for attacking purposes - Aven Mindcensor extremely useful against a tutor heavy deck. - Azorius Guildmage 2 very useful abilities under one low cmc. - Drannith Magistratebeing able to shut down a handful of different strategies is great but when that ability also prevents opponents from being able to even cast their commander? Oh...dear...god! - Eidolon of Rhetoric the ability to limit opponents to one spell per turn is priceless. Works even better with one of the other creatures on this list. - Glen Elendra Archmage Infinite Negate on a stick when combined with Solemnity. - Grand Abolisher opponents not being able to do anything during your turn is priceless. - Hushbringer shuts down all ETB and death triggers. A very good thing. - Kithkin Spellduster infinite Disenchant on a stick when combined with Solemnity - Linvala, Keeper of Silence shutting down opponents creatures activated abilities is a good thing. - Riptide Chimera used in conjunction with Eidolon of Rhetoric

The Enchantments

 Now for the meat and potatoes of this deck. - Aura of Silence taxation and removal in one card. - Copy Enchantment for any enchantment you want a duplicate of or a copy of any enchantment opponent controls. - Counterbalance free countering ability. - Curator's Ward unparalleled protection for Zur. - Enchanted Evening part of a couple of combos. - Estrid's Invocation for any enchantment I want a copy of. - Greater Auramancy protection for all your enchantments. - Imprisoned in the Moon neutralizer for opponents commander. - Monastery Siege card advantage or taxation. Your choice - Mystic Remora taxation and card advantage in one. The upkeep cost is non existent with solemnity. - Necropotence the king of card advantage and the key card in a few combos including the primary win con. - Reconnaissance so I can protect Zur from being killed in combat and so I don’t have to deal a single point of damage during the game. - Rhystic Study for more card advantage and taxation. - Second Chance gives you infinite turns when combined with Riptide Chimera. - Solemnity strong defensive card and a key combo piece. - Sphere of Safety to help protect my walkers. - Phyrexian Unlife strongest defensive card in the deck when combined with solemnity. - Zur's Weirding the key card for your primary win con.

The Artifacts

 - Azorius Signet mana fixer and ramp - Chromatic Lantern mana fixing and ramp - Chrome Mox ramp - Dimir Signet mana fixer and ramp - Fellwar Stone ramp - Mana Crypt ramp - Mox Diamond ramp - Mox Opal ramp - Sol Ring ramp - Orzhov Signetramp - Venser's Journal life gain for your primary win con

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Strategic Combos

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”A resourceful mage has many sources of information. The best one is your foe.” -Zur the Enchanter

Defensive Combos

• These defensive tactics are game winners on their own.

• Phyrexian Unlife + Solemnity will hand you the game if you keep it protected.

• Enchanted Evening + Greater Auramancy will protect everything you have except the auramancy itself, unless you have Copy Enchantment in play copying the auramancy or you can counter whatever they throw at the auramancy. Bonus points if you have Kithkin Spellduster + Solemnity in play as well. You will be able to blow up anything on the board you don’t like.

Great synergy combos

These other combos help setup everything else

• Kithkin Spellduster + Solemnity = infinite Disenchant. Coupled with Enchanted Evening means you can blow up anything on the table you don’t like.

• Glen Elendra Archmage + Solemnity makes this an infinite Negate.

• Eidolon of Rhetoric + Jace, Unraveler of Secrets will counter the only spell opponents get to cast every turn as long as you have Jaces emblem.

• Eidolon of Rhetoric + Riptide Chimera will let you cast all the spells you want on each of your turns by returning the Eidolon to your hand during your upkeep. Just make it the last spell you cast on each of your turns. Works even better if you have the Grand Abolisher in play. Your opponents won’t be able to respond to what you are doing.

• Mystic Remora + Solemnity will net you a card for every non creature spell cast by opponents without having to pay the upkeep costs. I have yet to have someone pay the {4} mana to stop me from drawing.

• Riptide Chimera + Second Chance : Get your life total down to less than 5 with Necropotence and you get infinite turns by triggering second chance and then returning it to your hand before sacrificing it with the chimeras ability. I have checked with judges on this combo and according to them it does work. You only need to take enough turns to setup your win cons. Best part is that all the pieces of this combo can be Zured out.

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The win conditions

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”I will go to any length to achieve my goal. Eternal life is worth any sacrifice.” -Zur the Enchanter

{W}{W}{W}{W}{W}{W} {U}{U}{U}{U}{U}{U} {B}{B}{B}{B}{B}{B}

The preferred win condition

This deck gets its name from the main win condition. The Necropotence + Zur's Weirding combo. Once these 2 cards are out you simply force your opponents to discard every card they draw for the rest of the game until they either deck out or scoop up. This combo won’t affect you by how Necropotence is worded. All you have to do is pay about 20 life to get 20 cards and you will gain that much life on every one of your upkeep’s. Since you won’t be drawing cards, opponents won’t be able to force you to discard with Zur’s Weirding. The way you survive paying the life to use Zur's Weirding is with Venser's Journal. It’s based on my old vintage deck based on the same combo except that it used an Ivory Tower instead of the journal. That was a 1v1 deck. This deck can lockdown a table because of the journal.

Alternate win conditions

• Either of these 2 will make short work of the table.

• Neverending Torment Cast this card once you have out Necropotence and Venser's Journal. Pay bout 25 life and you wind up with about 30 or so cards in hand then cast neverending torment and you wind up exiling 30 or so cards from opponents library every turn till they are decked.

• Dark Depths + Solemnity Either draw into depths or tutor for it after Solemnity is out and you have an instant indestructible 20/20 flying BFM. This is a last resort win con, for me at least. Just in case your opponents were able to counter, remove or exile any of your other win cons they won’t be able to counter the land or destroy the token it produces.

{B}{B}{B}{B}{B}{B} {U}{U}{U}{U}{U}{U} {W}{W}{W}{W}{W}{W}

How to pilot this deck

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”A mage must be precise as well as potent; cautious, as well as clever.” -Zur the Enchanter

The early to mid game

Obviously the first thing you will want to do is get out your buddy Zur. On the next turn Zur out Curator's Ward and put it on him so opponents can’t use removal on him. Next Zur out Reconnaissance so he can’t be blocked and killed.

Now that he is properly protected you can start building the foundations for any of your win conditions. Zur out Greater Auramancy first and save a counterspell to protect it till your next turn. Next swing with Zur again to bring out Copy Enchantment copying the greater auramancy so they protect each other and all your other enchantments. Hopefully you have another way to counter spells by this point to protect the auramancy from board wipes long enough to draw into another tutor to find your other tutor on a stick Liliana Vess. The turn you bring her into play use her -2 to tutor out Enchanted Evening to protect your entire board state. If you have another tutor in hand it would be a good idea to bring out Sphere of Safety as well to protect yourself and Liliana at this point.

On the next turn Zur out Solemnity to setup the next layer of defenses. Also use Liliana to bring out Venser, the Sojourner and use his +2 to blink out Liliana so she has full LP next turn and every turn there after. On the next couple of turns use Liliana to tutor up Glen Elendra Archmage and Kithkin Spellduster. They are the next layer I mentioned earlier. With Glen you can repeatedly counter any spell that hurt your boardstate as long as you have enough {U} available. And with the Spellduster you can blow up any permanents that are messing with you thanks to the Enchanted Evening.

Now it’s time start preparing the win conditions. First Zur out Second Chance then use Liliana to tutor up the Riptide Chimera and cast it the next turn. Also Zur up Necropotence as it is part of the primary win con. Now on the next turn you can start the infinite turn combo to finish setting up the win con. Start by zuring out Phyrexian Unlife then pay as much life as needed to get under five life points. Next turn put second chances ability on the stack then return it to your hand with the riptide chimeras ability before the sacrifice happens so you can cast it again then start the process again during the extra turn and so on. I have checked with a few different judges on this combo and they have all told me it does work. Now take enough turns to tutor out Zur's Weirding and Venser's Journal and whatever other cards you could want then pass turn to start the lockdown with Weirding. Opponents can either concede at this point or let it draw on till you force them to discard their entire decks. It’s basically a very slow mill win.

What should be countered

During the early game while setting up your board state the types of spells that would need to be countered are mostly removal spellls. You don’t need to worry about countering creatures at all. You have other ways of dealing with those. Now if opponents cast a removal spell on those ways then you would want to use a counter.

Once you have out your protection combo of Enchanted Evening + Greater Auramancy you only need to worry about mass removal spells and anything that can target the auramancy. Once you draw or tutor out Copy Enchantment and copy the auramancy only mass removal spells need to be taken care of.

{B}{B}{B}{B}{B}{B} {U}{U}{U}{U}{U}{U} {W}{W}{W}{W}{W}{W}

Deck History

This deck has been a big labor of love for me over the last year and a half. This is the second commander deck I had built since getting back into the game after being out for 15 or more years. The first edh deck I made was a mono black demon deck that I built from a buddy’s card stock with Razaketh as the general. It was not very good at all. After building and playing that deck and realizing how badly it sucked I started thinking about the most competitive deck I had ever built back in the day of type 1 before it became known as vintage. I asked myself if I could possibly make a commander version of that deck that was just as oppressive as the original. So I started searching for the eventual general for this deck. I did my searching on gatherer.com which has been such a huge help to me with most of the decks I have built on this site. Anyhoo, I eventually stumbled across Zur and the moment I saw him I knew he was the guy to helm this deck. Not just for his ability but his flavor and how he ties into the main win con. From that moment on this was the only deck I worked on for bout a year play testing once to twice a week with the same guy that got me back into the game in the first place. Once this deck started winning against him on a weekly basis almost every game we played he started building his answer to this deck which made me evolve it even more. Where it is right now the only deck that I have ever played against with it that stands a chance is the deck that was designed to beat it. The play group I’m part of has not had very much luck either against it. It has been such a blast building this deck I can’t even describe it. Not a single other deck I’ve built since getting back into it has hooked me as much as this one which is why I wanted to make it the only deck I will ever bling out the way I have.

Well, I hope you’ve enjoyed going through this deck and primer. Thanx for checking it out and if you like feel free to give it a +1.

{W}{W}{W}{W}{W}{W} {U}{U}{U}{U}{U}{U} {B}{B}{B}{B}{B}{B}

Top Ranked	Achieved #3 position overall 7 years ago Achieved #1 position in Commander / EDH Enchantment 5 years ago Achieved #1 position in Commander / EDH Pillow Fort 5 years ago Achieved #1 position in Commander / EDH WUB (Esper) 5 years ago
Date added	7 years
Last updated	9 months
Key combos	Enchanted Evening + Greater Auramancy Dark Depths + Solemnity Phyrexian Unlife + Solemnity Necropotence + Zur's Weirding Eidolon of Rhetoric + Jace, Unraveler of Secrets Glen Elendra Archmage + Solemnity Eidolon of Rhetoric + Riptide Chimera Mystic Remora + Solemnity Kithkin Spellduster + Solemnity Riptide Chimera + Second Chance
Legality	This deck is not Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	28 - 0 Mythic Rares 40 - 0 Rares 12 - 0 Uncommons 11 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	2.67
Tokens	Bird 2/2 U, Emblem Jace, Unraveler of Secrets, Emblem Narset Transcendent, Emblem Tamiyo, the Moon Sage, Emblem Venser, the Sojourner, Marit Lage, Spirit 1/1 C
Folders	My decks, Esper, edh, Interesting Commander Decks, Commander Folder, Other decks, Interesting, Cool Decks, EDH, Zur The Enchanter