My land choices are completely different from the one that got 15th, and I think my choices are much, much better and more stable. This is my manabase:
I believe the person who got 5th adapted the list that Gerry Thompson wrote about on Starcitygames, which was originally found because of my placements in consecutive daily events. I also believe that the list that got 5th had budget restrictions and wasn't running a very good list, but that is open for debate.
The trick in any deck that plays tutors is to find the balance between silver bullets and generally good cards. Zur will die before you attack with him if the opponent has the means. There is no card with a bigger target on its head. If you get a swing in that means the opponent has to top deck a way to kill him. Shielding Plax used to be in the deck for just that occasion but has been cut out of being unnecessary. Rise sounds cute but terrible if you have to cast it.
Spreading Seas got to be in there because there are situations where tutoring up any other enchantment makes no sense - eg no target for Detention Sphere so you get Spreading Seas to draw a card.
And as others said Spreading Seas removes manlands.
While I understand the reasoning, it's extremely unlikely in practice that you'd rather draw a card than +2/+2 Zur. If they don't have something you want to Detention Sphere or Threads of Disloyalty, chances are pretty good that all you're looking to do is close out the game fast. Steel is pretty much the only card you'd want there, as it gives lifelink as well as damage. Hitting for 3 or 5 with lifelink is enough to negate any damage they'd do with their manlands. It isn't a bad card, persay, I just don't want to see people overvaluing it before they even play the deck, because it does water down your draws after all (pun fully intended).
I would love to like this deck more, I love toolbox decks but the successful versions of this are running little toolbox mainboard and seem more beatdown and I absolutely dislike everything about Geist, starting with the horrendous art.
Geist with Steel on him is one of the most disgusting interactions in all of Modern. Geist without Steel on him is a 3-4 turn clock (usually 3, everyone runs fetches + Shocks or you'll get a Snapcaster or something in there).
As for toolboxing the deck, I fully support 3 enchantments total in the deck, but many people like more. You don't really need to have something for every occasion in here as Detention Sphere + Steel of the Godhead basically do everything you'd want. After sideboard is where you'd want the extra enchants unless the metagame shifts enough to the point where you know for a fact that something will crush people (as I think Rest in Peace has now).
RE: The deck- I am not super enthusiastic about decks that revolove so heavily around a single tutor (even if it is a creature). Granted, you still have geist to beat face with, but there just always seems to be something so tempermental about decks like this.
That said, if I was playing a deck like this I think I would try and find room for Ghostly Prison.
Ghostly Prison comes in and out of the sideboard, it's good against some decks (mainly Twin or Affinity) but both of them have ways to deal with it maindeck (Boomerang and Cranial Plating, respectively). It's good, but Stony Silence is better against Affinity (bonus: awesome against tron) and instant speed removal is much better against Twin (and many other decks).
The deck wins without seeing Zur. In my list I only play 3 since he really isn't essential. Geist + control is a good enough plan for most decks to win, but if you can land and swing with Zur, you basically win. It isn't an X card combo deck, it's a control deck that has a large source of card advantage.
I think he did run 4x Path to Exile,alongside 3x Disfigure and 3x Detention Sphere. My list is probably tighter, but that's open for discussion. As you can see on the thread on The Source, no one really discusses anything there so it's basically been my solo playtesting.
I am considering a second version of this deck right now, with Rest in Peace in the maindeck and then getting rid of DRS. If I get anywhere towards a decision on it I'll post here and in the other thread. Hopefully you guys can bring more helpful discussion than I've gotten in the past
The problem with Runed Halo, and it has been in the 75 before, is that it doesn't really stop anything. Against all of the top performing decks in the format, they either 1) kill through multiple avenues (a la Jund, Birthing Pod, etc), dodge it completely (doesn't stop tokens since it only hits the named "Card"), or have ways to not even care about it (Tron kills you through more than just Wurmcoil). You usually just can't get much use out of it, and even though it isn't necessarily a dead card ever, you'd generally rather just have removal in its place. Decks that have single cards to worry about have ways of dealing with it (Tron-> Karn or Repeal and Emrakul depending on version, Splinter Twin -> Boomerang or use 2nd creature to kill you, Pod-> Search for whatever creature to kill it, Jund -> Abrupt Decay + Maelstrom pulse or just kill with other creature).
Spreading Seas is a strange maindeck as a 1-of. I would say you shouldn't generally run 1-ofs unless you'd love to see them with Zur. Rest in Peace nerfs all of Jund, so you'd be fine tutoring for it, but a turn 5 Spreading Seas to draw a card and Islandify a land? I just don't see it. It does cantrip, so maybe that was the reasoning, but without extras in the sideboard to really try to get Tron, I'm unsure of why that was chosen.
Like I said though, it's a decent card on its own, just because it cantrips and has the chance of blowing someone out.
After I took a couple higher placements it was highlighted by Gerry Thompson in a SCG newsletter.
As for the most recent placing, and the differences to my deck, I think some of the choices were due to whoever played this' budget. The mana base is a little wacky, I really like the manlands instead.
With the new meta of heavy GB style decks, Rest in Peace maindeck seems like a good inclusion, and is probably the reason why this person didn't run the 3x Deathrite Shamans.
Thassa isn't worth it, if you ever get her devotion you should have been winning regardless.
Zur, the Enchanter is an Esper control deck, sometimes with additional colors splashed, that is highly customizable based on metagame and allows for a toolbox of enchantments for either your maindeck or sideboard. It can be either highly reactionary or go on the offensive with cards like Geist of Saint Traft and Steel of the Godhead. Sideboarded enchantments can shut down even the most unfair decks, and Zur gives you a way to find them.
With common number of copies.
3-4 Zur, the Enchanter:Namesake of the deck, and reason to play some enchantments in the deck. At the very least, he requires 2 Steel of the Godhead and 1 Detention Sphere as a toolbox, but many more can be added. Running 4 is not necessary, but some people like it. The problems I see with having 4 is that he is a 4-drop that you usually don't want to just run into the opponent's removal. Keeping him protected will win you the game through sheer card advantage, but seeing multiples in your opening hand is generally not good. Some of the great advantages are that he dodges Lightning Bolt with his large toughness, Abrupt Decay with his large casting cost, and Dark Blast with his affiliation to swamps.
4 Geist of Saint Traft:The fastest clock in the deck, who is good on his own but absolutely disgusting when equipped with a Steel of the Godhead. I would play 4 of this in every version of the deck.
2 Vendilion Clique: Good against all decks, with an efficiently costed body and most importantly Flash. He rounds out the Legendary creatures list, and I think 2 copies are widely agreed to be the right number. Never a dead card unless you have multiples (and with the new Legendary rule, not even terrible then).
2-4 Snapcaster Mage: Mainly used for his card advantage, I've run lists with and without him. If you do run him, make sure to run at least 4 cheap cantrips, 4 cheap removal options, and either countermagic or hand hate to use him fully. Even lists running 1x Rest in Peace in the maindeck tend to run Snapcaster Mage since he just gives you a lot of options and card advantage.
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The next set of creatures are not necessarily staples, but definitely worth considering, especially as a way to get more fodder in front of Zur in case the opponent has effects like Liliana of the Veil.
0 or 2-4 Meddling Mage: I have mixed feelings about this card, but ultimately decided against him in my own list. The main reason being that he requires a few more card choices to work properly, and also his ability isn't as good in Modern as in other formats. Modern decks have multiple ways of killing/bouncing him if they need to, and his ability could miss entirely a card that the opponent is playing. Also, bad in mirror matches if this deck ever becomes popular. If you do choose to play him, keep in mind that you should then add 4x Gitaxian Probe and likely move more towards the discard route, to make sure you get some milage out of his ability. Equipping with a Steel of the Godhead can make him scary, but I wouldn't do it with other options available. He's still quite easy to kill through the diversification of removal in the format.
0 or 2-4 Tidehollow Sculler: Originally not considered as good as Meddling Mage, has since grown to be much better in my mind. While he can't wear a Steel of the Godhead as well, or shut off a piece of a combo, he does have an immediate impact on the opponent's possible plays, and will at the very least require 1 removal spell for them to get that option back. Often this does more than Meddling Mage's ability.
0 or 2-3 Aven Mindcensor: Another creature with Flash can lend really well into decks already running countermagic, but Aven Mindcensor's ability can also be a 1-sided blow out. Wonderful against Tron and Pod, but also deceptively powerful against control and midranged decks, frequently shutting down Fetchlands an Path to Exile abilities. Great in the mirror.
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Sideboard Creatures and ones that didn't make it:
Spellskite: Pretty good at stopping targeted removal from hitting Zur, and not bad at stopping/slowing down some decks. Splinter Twin, Infect, and Affinity (Arcbound Ravager can't give counters to their creatures) all can have some troubles with it. One problem is you'll definitely want Stony Silence in your sideboard, so careful not to put in too many non-bos.
Dark Confidant: I'd generally not run him, as Zur is 4 converted mana cost and most enchantments you grab are 3. You also don't have a ton of life gain, but he could help out some control matchups. For now I'd leave him out.
Boon Satyr: One of the interesting enchantments to come out of Theros, I don't think his size is worth the heavy green splash, and you wouldn't even want to fetch him with Zur very often anyway. Still, a cool card.
Thassa, goddess of the sea: Not really a sideboard card, more of a creature that didn't make it. The Unblockable ability isn't usually necessary with Steel of the Godhead in the deck, and any situation where you have enough devotion to creatureify her is going to be a pretty favorable spot where you don't need her anyway. The Scry 1 per turn is very nice, but I don't think it's worth a card slot and more importantly, not worth fetching with Zur.
Enchantment Choices
Clearly you need to run a few enchantments to get value out of Zur, the most common is 2x Steel of the Godhead and 1x Detention Sphere with additional copies of either of these, sometimes accompanied by some of the following.
Steel of the Godhead: Armadillo Cloak with Unblockable tied in, it's what you need to turn Zur from a 1/4 into a powerful fighter. Incredibly good on Geist of Saint Traft, but at the same time, a bit underwhelming when you draw it naturally. 2 is the most common number, since having multiples in your hand is almost never what you want, but having too few in the deck means Zur can't effectively race other decks.
Detention Sphere: An all around removal card that hits everything from Emrakul to Planeswalkers. I'm actually not a fan of having more than 2 in the deck just because it costs so much to cast and still dies to Abrupt Decay, but as a free ability from Zur, it is a powerhouse of card advantage.
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Maindeckable in the right metagame:
These enchantments are generally good enough to justify running as 1-ofs (or possibly more, if you're sure) in the maindeck if you think you can guess what decks you'll play against. They're not as good all around as the main 2 enchantments, but can still swing games wildly in your favor.
Bitterblossom: Great against control, great if you can buy time for it to pump out tokens, but not so great against decks you want to kill immediately or run board sweepers (Tron). Rest in Peace: Can auto-win against some decks, but more importantly, shuts off common cards such as Tarmogoyf, Scavenging Ooze, Snapcaster Mage, Deathrite Shaman, Academy Ruins, Living End, Gifts Ungiven, and hurts many more interactions. It shuts off our Snapcasters and Deathrites (if we play them), but generally that's far less of a problem than what the opponent faces, since you can always choose to just leave it in your hand/deck.
Threads of Disloyalty: Another great enchantment that can absolutely turn around games, the only problem I'd say right now is the amount of Abrupt Decay being played right now that can swing the game back for the opponent. It's much better than Detention Sphere, if you can be sure to find a target for it, but since there are a decent amount of decks that have no target for this, I usually leave it out of the maindeck.
Stony Silence: An absolute powerhouse, but also not relevant against a good portion of decks. Against Tron and Affinity you couldn't ask for a better card, so I always run 2-4 in my sideboard.
Ghostly Prison: Great against a variety of decks, but at the same time they still can attack through it. It shuts off about 1/2 of what Affinity can do to hurt you, and makes infinite creature combos less appealing. Usually I'll board this in against control decks as making them decide to keep their mana up or use it to attack you is quite good. This pops in and out of my sideboard as metagames change.
Blind Obedience: A card that's underutilized right now, it's actually quite good against a few decks. Mono red has nightmares with this card in it as it shuts down a good portion of their creatures and gives you a life gain engine. It can also slow down a Splinter Twin deck (makes them wait until the end of your turn to make all their copies). Slows down Pod quite a bit as well.
Circle of Protection:Red: Any color could technically fit here, but red is the only one I've played before. I keep 1 in my sideboard at any tournament that you expect new players to be at (Mono red = super cheap to build).
Phyrexian Arena: Another card advantage engine, generally not run in the deck. Usually you just have better things to find with Zur. It's also a bit expensive, and requires double black, so wouldn't be played if not for Zur being there. That's generally a good enough reason not to include something.
Spreading Seas: Decent against Tron, and it cantrips. I'm not a fan since you really have better stuff to search out with Zur than this card, but if you wanted to use this as your anti-Tron strategy I suppose there are worse things you could be getting.
Shielding Plax: Probably my favorite card that I had to cut. There just aren't enough situations where the right move is to fetch out this enchantment over a different one. Making Zur Hexproof is amazing and everything, but getting this card stuck in your hand is far from it, and it doesn't stop Zur from dying to mass removal or Liliana sacrifices.
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More Fringe Enchantments
Being such a toolbox-friendly deck, here are some enchantments you may find yourself considering (but usually deciding against):
Being a control deck, a lot of options are viable here. I'll list the common ones and a few considerations, but there is room for extra creativity in this department.
Removal
For removal right now it seems like 6+ is where it's at for control decks. You're going to have at least 1 Detention Sphere regardless, so adding 5+ instant speed kills is useful. I don't like sweepers like Supreme Verdict since I run more creatures that I don't want to die. Here are the common choices.
Far Away: I like this card quite a bit, as it gives no advantage to the opponent when you kill a creature. It also has a lot of power in a top-deck war mid-to-late game. It can give you a way to save Zur or Geist from death, while even giving an added bonus. The downside, obviously, is that if you only have 3 mana the best you can do is make them edict something.
Path to Exile: Generally considered to be the best removal spell in the format, but the drawback is not insignificant. It helps a lot that it exiles the creature, since it can stop Persist and Wurmcoils.
Disfigure: A removal spell with no drawback other than not killing big creatures. That's a pretty big drawback, but you do have to take into account it can kill most of the cards in Affinity and almost all utility creatures in the format.
Disruption:
Hand hate and counterspells are the main two options here. I think they are at odds a little bit in that you want to play discard spells as soon as possible whereas you want to save up that same mana for playing countermagic. I prefer more countermagic, but I'm not sure which is better.
Remand: This card is just straight up amazing. While Zur isn't a tempo deck that tries to win quickly, it still benefits from having a 2 mana draw card that stops the opponent from curving out. Not using mass removal is a big part of this, since you don't want to let your opponent clog the board up with creatures. I think this is much better than Mana Leak in this deck because it lets you see more cards and also by the time you play Zur, you won't be able to stop any removal spell towards him with a mana leak (Path costs 1 mana, on turn 4-5 they should have at least 3 left. Supreme Verdict is uncounterable, two Lightning Bolts are also low mana cost.).
Mana Leak: Still a good all-around counterspell, but I would run a full set of Remands before this one.
Negate: This is an absolutely fantastic sideboard card, which hits many combo pieces unconditionally.
Card Advantage
All control decks need some card advantage or at least card quality generation if they want to consistently make it to midgame. Low cost cantrips can smooth over rough mana patches, which is what makes blue the best color in magic (debatably, of course).
Serum Visions: My favorite cantrip in the format. Scrying 2 in a deck like this is huge because your card quality varies wildly. One game Detention Sphere could be the exact thing you need, and the next it is terrible. Your sideboard is generally a bunch of bombs that you want to find right away, so digging 3 cards on turn 1 is exactly what you want.
Sleight of Hand: I keep seeing this in lists, but don't think it's correct. You see 1 less card than Serum Visions does, and in a deck like this that actually does mean a lot. Sleight of Hand lets you get a card "now" that Serum Visions might not, but in the early turns of the game I think seeing 1 deeper to find that removal spell or land is far more important. In the midgame, finding that silver bullet card is usually more important. In the late game, it depends on the board state, but Sleight could be better.
Gitaxian Probe: If you run Meddling Mage you're going to want to run these based on synergy reasons alone. I wouldn't run it otherwise, though, as I think there are better cards to be playing.
Other Spells
Generally Zur decks don't run other spells than those already listed, but here are a couple to consider:
Lingering Souls: This card is very good, and might see play if Deathrite Shaman + Scavenging Ooze weren't so popular. It makes good blockers against Affinity, Infect, and chumps for a while, but this deck usually has other things to do instead.
Liliana of the Veil: A black deck that doesn't run Liliana of the Veil is very strange to see, but the blue in this deck just hates discarding cards enough to make it true. You need all your land drops and all your cards usually.
Lands:
It seems like 23-24 is the normal amount for this deck. Check the lists above for some examples and different card choices. I don't particularly like running lands that come in tapped unless they are manlands, because Zur can curve out at least through turn 4, using all of the mana each turn. I'd be careful to not be too greedy running too many cards that you can't always control (River of Tears), or have good abilities but not good fixing (Shizo, Death's Storehouse, Eiganjo Castle). Blood Moon is a card to worry about, but losing to your own inability to play cards is an even more pertinent threat. Some utility lands are great, just make sure to find a balance.
A Bit of Deck Building Strategy:
One thing everyone has to understand when playing a Zur deck is that you don't want to load it up with silver bullets. Having a lot of choices when Zur swings might seem at first glance to be good, but playing this deck a lot will give you a better feel for which enchantments you just never grab with him. Remember that the more enchantments you throw in here, the more somewhat dead cards you're going to be drawing throughout the game. A good litmus test is to ask yourself, "Would I play this card if Zur wasn't in the deck?" If the answer is no, make sure that the card is good enough to be there.
The next extremely important thing to remember is that Zur won't be swinging until turn 5 (or 4 with Deathrite Shaman in the deck) at the earliest! That means that anything you have in here to fetch with Zur needs to make a significant impact on the board when it hits on turn 5. This is the major reason I'm not running a 1-of Spreading Seas in my decklist. By turn 5+, if the Tron deck I'm playing is struggling enough on lands that a Spreading Seas is going to significantly hurt them, aren't I already winning by a decent amount? Do I really want that specific card to hurt them, enough so that I'd maindeck 1 Spreading Seas just for this occasion? If it's post sideboard, aren't there better cards to grab (like Stony Silence or even Nevermore)?
Lastly, when searching with Zur, the question is always "Do I disrupt them further, or do I speed up my clock?" Steel of the Godhead is the way to make Zur end the game on his own, and may often be the correct decision. Is it worth Spreading Seas my opponent's Treetop Village, or should I just equip Zur and swing harder? If you start to break down situations like this, you can start to trim the excess cards that may clog up your deck.
Sideboarding
Since there are so many different sideboards you could have, all of which being good, this section is going to stay more general. One thing to note though is that if you are playing against a very fast deck (mono red), taking out a Zur or two is often the correct choice. Blue Tron: Stony Silence and Aven Mindcensors are great. Rest in Peace is definitely worth throwing in as well, as it shuts down one of their main forms of winning (recurring Mindslavers). Meddling Mage is good. I take out Deathrite Shamans (no need for the speed boost), Snapcasters, and some of your spot removal. Leave in a few Paths to hit their Wurmcoils, though.
GR Tron: Same as Blue Tron except Rest in Peace isn't an auto-include.
Jund/GBx: Rest in Peace is an all star, and any copies of Threads you have would go great. I would take out Meddling Mages if you have them, and also Aven Mindcensors or even Vendilions are less useful here (they have redundancy that beats out his ability). I tend to take out Remands if I have good sideboard options as they can get some fast starts with Deathrite Shaman that you need to answer, and Abrupt Decay goes through it.
Birthing Pod: I generally throw in Stony Silences here since the main thing you're afraid of is to get buried in card advantage. Rest in Peace is good against a majority of their combos as well, so generally 2 or so of each card is good. Any additional removal or hand hate can go in in place of Remands and Tidehollows, as you'd prefer to kill their things rather than delay them.
UWR Midrange: Negate or extra hand hate are great here, take out some removal as they tend to win through other means. Remand can go away for better counters, and Aven Mindcensors are generally not as strong as something like Thoughtseize.
Affinity: Take out slow things like Remand and even a Zur or two for extra removal and Stony Silences. Meddling Mages and Deathrites aren't very good here, as their creatures can't be blocked by ground dwellers.
Matchups
Tron: Even to favorable. Aven Mindcensor lists are much better off here, but post board all lists are decent. Stony Silence shuts off their utility, and Geist provides a quick clock if you can protect him. Zur can fetch out Detention Spheres for Wurmcoils, and I've actually won through an opponent casting and attacking with an Emrakul through Detention Sphere + Zur.
Jund/GBx: Even, but better if they are running less Tectonic Edges to mess with us. Zur is hard for them to kill, and as long as you play around Lilianas you should be looking good. Post board RiP and Threads are great here.
Birthing Pod: Favorable. They don't generally have a way of dealing with Zur, so if you use your disruption to stop their random infinite combos by killing creatures or discarding them, you'll be pretty well off. Post board you have some of the best enchantments in there to stop their shenanigans, and Zur can take any of their creatures straight up. Gavony Township is the card to look out for here, it can destroy you if you don't be careful.
UWR Midrange: Even/Favorable. Decklist dependent, you can push this into favorable territory with more control elements and things like Phyrexian Arena. Usually the gameplan is to land and stick a Geist or Zur, and ride it to victory, but this usually brings you into lategame.
Affinity: Not favorable. Along with other quick kill decks, you can have all the sideboard you want and not find it before they kill you. Zur's effects only land by turn 4 at the earliest, which is often too late. Keep hands high in disruption if you want to win
Rules Interactions
Two main things to note here. The first is that Zur's ability goes off before blockers are declared. That means you can swing with Zur and Geist of Saint Traft, and then equip the Geist with a Steel of the Godhead before the opponent gets to block him. This is a common occurrence, and something to keep in mind when playing.
The second is that Threads of Disloyalty can enchant something like an opponent's Gladecover Scout if Zur is the way it enters the battlefield. You can't cast Threads on the Gladecover Scout, since that targets it, but you can put a Threads into play with Zur, and then choose a legal target. Sneaky, but extremely effective way of dealing with Boggle decks.
I'm not actually the person who is highlighted for getting 5th. I've been playing the deck for 2 years, however, and the ongoing thread can be found here: http://www.mtgthesource.com/forums/showthread.php?22078-Deck-Zur-the-Enchanter
My land choices are completely different from the one that got 15th, and I think my choices are much, much better and more stable. This is my manabase:
I believe the person who got 5th adapted the list that Gerry Thompson wrote about on Starcitygames, which was originally found because of my placements in consecutive daily events. I also believe that the list that got 5th had budget restrictions and wasn't running a very good list, but that is open for debate.
While I understand the reasoning, it's extremely unlikely in practice that you'd rather draw a card than +2/+2 Zur. If they don't have something you want to Detention Sphere or Threads of Disloyalty, chances are pretty good that all you're looking to do is close out the game fast. Steel is pretty much the only card you'd want there, as it gives lifelink as well as damage. Hitting for 3 or 5 with lifelink is enough to negate any damage they'd do with their manlands. It isn't a bad card, persay, I just don't want to see people overvaluing it before they even play the deck, because it does water down your draws after all (pun fully intended).
Geist with Steel on him is one of the most disgusting interactions in all of Modern. Geist without Steel on him is a 3-4 turn clock (usually 3, everyone runs fetches + Shocks or you'll get a Snapcaster or something in there).
As for toolboxing the deck, I fully support 3 enchantments total in the deck, but many people like more. You don't really need to have something for every occasion in here as Detention Sphere + Steel of the Godhead basically do everything you'd want. After sideboard is where you'd want the extra enchants unless the metagame shifts enough to the point where you know for a fact that something will crush people (as I think Rest in Peace has now).
Ghostly Prison comes in and out of the sideboard, it's good against some decks (mainly Twin or Affinity) but both of them have ways to deal with it maindeck (Boomerang and Cranial Plating, respectively). It's good, but Stony Silence is better against Affinity (bonus: awesome against tron) and instant speed removal is much better against Twin (and many other decks).
The deck wins without seeing Zur. In my list I only play 3 since he really isn't essential. Geist + control is a good enough plan for most decks to win, but if you can land and swing with Zur, you basically win. It isn't an X card combo deck, it's a control deck that has a large source of card advantage.
Like I said, Gerry Thompson made his own version but I didn't like many of the changes (here's the post http://www.mtgthesource.com/forums/showthread.php?22078-Deck-Zur-the-Enchanter&p=741816&viewfull=1#post741816 )
I am considering a second version of this deck right now, with Rest in Peace in the maindeck and then getting rid of DRS. If I get anywhere towards a decision on it I'll post here and in the other thread. Hopefully you guys can bring more helpful discussion than I've gotten in the past
Spreading Seas is a strange maindeck as a 1-of. I would say you shouldn't generally run 1-ofs unless you'd love to see them with Zur. Rest in Peace nerfs all of Jund, so you'd be fine tutoring for it, but a turn 5 Spreading Seas to draw a card and Islandify a land? I just don't see it. It does cantrip, so maybe that was the reasoning, but without extras in the sideboard to really try to get Tron, I'm unsure of why that was chosen.
Like I said though, it's a decent card on its own, just because it cantrips and has the chance of blowing someone out.
After I took a couple higher placements it was highlighted by Gerry Thompson in a SCG newsletter.
As for the most recent placing, and the differences to my deck, I think some of the choices were due to whoever played this' budget. The mana base is a little wacky, I really like the manlands instead.
With the new meta of heavy GB style decks, Rest in Peace maindeck seems like a good inclusion, and is probably the reason why this person didn't run the 3x Deathrite Shamans.
Thassa isn't worth it, if you ever get her devotion you should have been winning regardless.
Decklists:
My current version:
Creatures (15):
Spells (21):
Lands (24):
Pre-deathrite shaman banning lists:
A second version of the list has also been putting up good results. Check the card choices section for explanation on the differences in the decks.
GNP, 4-0 and 3-1 Daily Events (post here)
3x Creeping Tar Pit
1x Darkslick Shores
1x Eiganjo Castle
1x Godless Shrine
3x Hallowed Fountain
1x Island
4x Marsh Flats
4x Misty Rainforest
1x Overgrown Tomb
1x Plains
1x Seachrome Coast
1x Swamp
2x Watery Grave
3x Spreading Seas
2x Steel of the Godhead
1x Threads of Disloyalty
4x Deathrite Shaman
4x Geist of Saint Traft
1x Thassa, God of the Sea
4x Zur the Enchanter
3x Mana Leak
3x Path to Exile
3x Remand
3x Inquisition of Kozilek
3x Thoughtseize
2x Kitchen Finks
1x Nevermore
1x Path to Exile
2x Rest in Peace
2x Spell Snare
1x Spellskite
1x Spreading Seas
2x Stony Silence
1x Threads of Disloyalty
1x Detention Sphere
Gerry Thompson's Take:
Found here.
Creatures (17)
Found here.
Main Deck
60 cards
Other Placements:
Most Recent (as of January 5 2013): https://www.wizards.com/Magic/Digital/MagicOnlineTourn.aspx?x=mtg/digital/magiconline/tourn/6488868
My list from a Daily event, originally written about in the April 5th SCG newsletter by Gerry Thompson:
Zur by mtgo0488
Maindeck
Premier Event Placement:
BlindNavigator (5th Place)
Modern Premier #6044631 on 10/07/2013
Main Deck
60 cards
3-4 Zur, the Enchanter:Namesake of the deck, and reason to play some enchantments in the deck. At the very least, he requires 2 Steel of the Godhead and 1 Detention Sphere as a toolbox, but many more can be added. Running 4 is not necessary, but some people like it. The problems I see with having 4 is that he is a 4-drop that you usually don't want to just run into the opponent's removal. Keeping him protected will win you the game through sheer card advantage, but seeing multiples in your opening hand is generally not good. Some of the great advantages are that he dodges Lightning Bolt with his large toughness, Abrupt Decay with his large casting cost, and Dark Blast with his affiliation to swamps.
4 Geist of Saint Traft:The fastest clock in the deck, who is good on his own but absolutely disgusting when equipped with a Steel of the Godhead. I would play 4 of this in every version of the deck.
2 Vendilion Clique: Good against all decks, with an efficiently costed body and most importantly Flash. He rounds out the Legendary creatures list, and I think 2 copies are widely agreed to be the right number. Never a dead card unless you have multiples (and with the new Legendary rule, not even terrible then).
2-4 Snapcaster Mage: Mainly used for his card advantage, I've run lists with and without him. If you do run him, make sure to run at least 4 cheap cantrips, 4 cheap removal options, and either countermagic or hand hate to use him fully. Even lists running 1x Rest in Peace in the maindeck tend to run Snapcaster Mage since he just gives you a lot of options and card advantage.
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The next set of creatures are not necessarily staples, but definitely worth considering, especially as a way to get more fodder in front of Zur in case the opponent has effects like Liliana of the Veil.
0 or 2-4 Meddling Mage: I have mixed feelings about this card, but ultimately decided against him in my own list. The main reason being that he requires a few more card choices to work properly, and also his ability isn't as good in Modern as in other formats. Modern decks have multiple ways of killing/bouncing him if they need to, and his ability could miss entirely a card that the opponent is playing. Also, bad in mirror matches if this deck ever becomes popular. If you do choose to play him, keep in mind that you should then add 4x Gitaxian Probe and likely move more towards the discard route, to make sure you get some milage out of his ability. Equipping with a Steel of the Godhead can make him scary, but I wouldn't do it with other options available. He's still quite easy to kill through the diversification of removal in the format.
0 or 2-4 Tidehollow Sculler: Originally not considered as good as Meddling Mage, has since grown to be much better in my mind. While he can't wear a Steel of the Godhead as well, or shut off a piece of a combo, he does have an immediate impact on the opponent's possible plays, and will at the very least require 1 removal spell for them to get that option back. Often this does more than Meddling Mage's ability.
0 or 2-3 Aven Mindcensor: Another creature with Flash can lend really well into decks already running countermagic, but Aven Mindcensor's ability can also be a 1-sided blow out. Wonderful against Tron and Pod, but also deceptively powerful against control and midranged decks, frequently shutting down Fetchlands an Path to Exile abilities. Great in the mirror.
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Sideboard Creatures and ones that didn't make it:
Spellskite: Pretty good at stopping targeted removal from hitting Zur, and not bad at stopping/slowing down some decks. Splinter Twin, Infect, and Affinity (Arcbound Ravager can't give counters to their creatures) all can have some troubles with it. One problem is you'll definitely want Stony Silence in your sideboard, so careful not to put in too many non-bos.
Dark Confidant: I'd generally not run him, as Zur is 4 converted mana cost and most enchantments you grab are 3. You also don't have a ton of life gain, but he could help out some control matchups. For now I'd leave him out.
Boon Satyr: One of the interesting enchantments to come out of Theros, I don't think his size is worth the heavy green splash, and you wouldn't even want to fetch him with Zur very often anyway. Still, a cool card.
Thassa, goddess of the sea: Not really a sideboard card, more of a creature that didn't make it. The Unblockable ability isn't usually necessary with Steel of the Godhead in the deck, and any situation where you have enough devotion to creatureify her is going to be a pretty favorable spot where you don't need her anyway. The Scry 1 per turn is very nice, but I don't think it's worth a card slot and more importantly, not worth fetching with Zur.
Clearly you need to run a few enchantments to get value out of Zur, the most common is 2x Steel of the Godhead and 1x Detention Sphere with additional copies of either of these, sometimes accompanied by some of the following.
Steel of the Godhead: Armadillo Cloak with Unblockable tied in, it's what you need to turn Zur from a 1/4 into a powerful fighter. Incredibly good on Geist of Saint Traft, but at the same time, a bit underwhelming when you draw it naturally. 2 is the most common number, since having multiples in your hand is almost never what you want, but having too few in the deck means Zur can't effectively race other decks.
Detention Sphere: An all around removal card that hits everything from Emrakul to Planeswalkers. I'm actually not a fan of having more than 2 in the deck just because it costs so much to cast and still dies to Abrupt Decay, but as a free ability from Zur, it is a powerhouse of card advantage.
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Maindeckable in the right metagame:
These enchantments are generally good enough to justify running as 1-ofs (or possibly more, if you're sure) in the maindeck if you think you can guess what decks you'll play against. They're not as good all around as the main 2 enchantments, but can still swing games wildly in your favor.
Bitterblossom: Great against control, great if you can buy time for it to pump out tokens, but not so great against decks you want to kill immediately or run board sweepers (Tron).
Rest in Peace: Can auto-win against some decks, but more importantly, shuts off common cards such as Tarmogoyf, Scavenging Ooze, Snapcaster Mage, Deathrite Shaman, Academy Ruins, Living End, Gifts Ungiven, and hurts many more interactions. It shuts off our Snapcasters and Deathrites (if we play them), but generally that's far less of a problem than what the opponent faces, since you can always choose to just leave it in your hand/deck.
Threads of Disloyalty: Another great enchantment that can absolutely turn around games, the only problem I'd say right now is the amount of Abrupt Decay being played right now that can swing the game back for the opponent. It's much better than Detention Sphere, if you can be sure to find a target for it, but since there are a decent amount of decks that have no target for this, I usually leave it out of the maindeck.
Stony Silence: An absolute powerhouse, but also not relevant against a good portion of decks. Against Tron and Affinity you couldn't ask for a better card, so I always run 2-4 in my sideboard.
Ghostly Prison: Great against a variety of decks, but at the same time they still can attack through it. It shuts off about 1/2 of what Affinity can do to hurt you, and makes infinite creature combos less appealing. Usually I'll board this in against control decks as making them decide to keep their mana up or use it to attack you is quite good. This pops in and out of my sideboard as metagames change.
Blind Obedience: A card that's underutilized right now, it's actually quite good against a few decks. Mono red has nightmares with this card in it as it shuts down a good portion of their creatures and gives you a life gain engine. It can also slow down a Splinter Twin deck (makes them wait until the end of your turn to make all their copies). Slows down Pod quite a bit as well.
Circle of Protection:Red: Any color could technically fit here, but red is the only one I've played before. I keep 1 in my sideboard at any tournament that you expect new players to be at (Mono red = super cheap to build).
Phyrexian Arena: Another card advantage engine, generally not run in the deck. Usually you just have better things to find with Zur. It's also a bit expensive, and requires double black, so wouldn't be played if not for Zur being there. That's generally a good enough reason not to include something.
Spreading Seas: Decent against Tron, and it cantrips. I'm not a fan since you really have better stuff to search out with Zur than this card, but if you wanted to use this as your anti-Tron strategy I suppose there are worse things you could be getting.
Shielding Plax: Probably my favorite card that I had to cut. There just aren't enough situations where the right move is to fetch out this enchantment over a different one. Making Zur Hexproof is amazing and everything, but getting this card stuck in your hand is far from it, and it doesn't stop Zur from dying to mass removal or Liliana sacrifices.
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More Fringe Enchantments
Being such a toolbox-friendly deck, here are some enchantments you may find yourself considering (but usually deciding against):
And all the Theros Enchantment Creatures
Other Spells
Removal
For removal right now it seems like 6+ is where it's at for control decks. You're going to have at least 1 Detention Sphere regardless, so adding 5+ instant speed kills is useful. I don't like sweepers like Supreme Verdict since I run more creatures that I don't want to die. Here are the common choices.
Far Away: I like this card quite a bit, as it gives no advantage to the opponent when you kill a creature. It also has a lot of power in a top-deck war mid-to-late game. It can give you a way to save Zur or Geist from death, while even giving an added bonus. The downside, obviously, is that if you only have 3 mana the best you can do is make them edict something.
Path to Exile: Generally considered to be the best removal spell in the format, but the drawback is not insignificant. It helps a lot that it exiles the creature, since it can stop Persist and Wurmcoils.
Disfigure: A removal spell with no drawback other than not killing big creatures. That's a pretty big drawback, but you do have to take into account it can kill most of the cards in Affinity and almost all utility creatures in the format.
Disruption:
Hand hate and counterspells are the main two options here. I think they are at odds a little bit in that you want to play discard spells as soon as possible whereas you want to save up that same mana for playing countermagic. I prefer more countermagic, but I'm not sure which is better.
Remand: This card is just straight up amazing. While Zur isn't a tempo deck that tries to win quickly, it still benefits from having a 2 mana draw card that stops the opponent from curving out. Not using mass removal is a big part of this, since you don't want to let your opponent clog the board up with creatures. I think this is much better than Mana Leak in this deck because it lets you see more cards and also by the time you play Zur, you won't be able to stop any removal spell towards him with a mana leak (Path costs 1 mana, on turn 4-5 they should have at least 3 left. Supreme Verdict is uncounterable, two Lightning Bolts are also low mana cost.).
Mana Leak: Still a good all-around counterspell, but I would run a full set of Remands before this one.
Negate: This is an absolutely fantastic sideboard card, which hits many combo pieces unconditionally.
Thoughtseize: Probably the better discard spell to run in this deck. The 2 life isn't that big of a deal compared to getting out Karn, Liberator, Supreme Verdict, Birthing Pod, and more. If you run Dark Confidants, you may want to not run the full set, however.
Inquisition of Kozilek: I'd run this if you want more than just Thoughtseizes.
Card Advantage
All control decks need some card advantage or at least card quality generation if they want to consistently make it to midgame. Low cost cantrips can smooth over rough mana patches, which is what makes blue the best color in magic (debatably, of course).
Serum Visions: My favorite cantrip in the format. Scrying 2 in a deck like this is huge because your card quality varies wildly. One game Detention Sphere could be the exact thing you need, and the next it is terrible. Your sideboard is generally a bunch of bombs that you want to find right away, so digging 3 cards on turn 1 is exactly what you want.
Sleight of Hand: I keep seeing this in lists, but don't think it's correct. You see 1 less card than Serum Visions does, and in a deck like this that actually does mean a lot. Sleight of Hand lets you get a card "now" that Serum Visions might not, but in the early turns of the game I think seeing 1 deeper to find that removal spell or land is far more important. In the midgame, finding that silver bullet card is usually more important. In the late game, it depends on the board state, but Sleight could be better.
Gitaxian Probe: If you run Meddling Mage you're going to want to run these based on synergy reasons alone. I wouldn't run it otherwise, though, as I think there are better cards to be playing.
Other Spells
Generally Zur decks don't run other spells than those already listed, but here are a couple to consider:
Lingering Souls: This card is very good, and might see play if Deathrite Shaman + Scavenging Ooze weren't so popular. It makes good blockers against Affinity, Infect, and chumps for a while, but this deck usually has other things to do instead.
Liliana of the Veil: A black deck that doesn't run Liliana of the Veil is very strange to see, but the blue in this deck just hates discarding cards enough to make it true. You need all your land drops and all your cards usually.
Lands:
It seems like 23-24 is the normal amount for this deck. Check the lists above for some examples and different card choices. I don't particularly like running lands that come in tapped unless they are manlands, because Zur can curve out at least through turn 4, using all of the mana each turn. I'd be careful to not be too greedy running too many cards that you can't always control (River of Tears), or have good abilities but not good fixing (Shizo, Death's Storehouse, Eiganjo Castle). Blood Moon is a card to worry about, but losing to your own inability to play cards is an even more pertinent threat. Some utility lands are great, just make sure to find a balance.
One thing everyone has to understand when playing a Zur deck is that you don't want to load it up with silver bullets. Having a lot of choices when Zur swings might seem at first glance to be good, but playing this deck a lot will give you a better feel for which enchantments you just never grab with him. Remember that the more enchantments you throw in here, the more somewhat dead cards you're going to be drawing throughout the game. A good litmus test is to ask yourself, "Would I play this card if Zur wasn't in the deck?" If the answer is no, make sure that the card is good enough to be there.
The next extremely important thing to remember is that Zur won't be swinging until turn 5 (or 4 with Deathrite Shaman in the deck) at the earliest! That means that anything you have in here to fetch with Zur needs to make a significant impact on the board when it hits on turn 5. This is the major reason I'm not running a 1-of Spreading Seas in my decklist. By turn 5+, if the Tron deck I'm playing is struggling enough on lands that a Spreading Seas is going to significantly hurt them, aren't I already winning by a decent amount? Do I really want that specific card to hurt them, enough so that I'd maindeck 1 Spreading Seas just for this occasion? If it's post sideboard, aren't there better cards to grab (like Stony Silence or even Nevermore)?
Lastly, when searching with Zur, the question is always "Do I disrupt them further, or do I speed up my clock?" Steel of the Godhead is the way to make Zur end the game on his own, and may often be the correct decision. Is it worth Spreading Seas my opponent's Treetop Village, or should I just equip Zur and swing harder? If you start to break down situations like this, you can start to trim the excess cards that may clog up your deck.
Sideboarding
Blue Tron: Stony Silence and Aven Mindcensors are great. Rest in Peace is definitely worth throwing in as well, as it shuts down one of their main forms of winning (recurring Mindslavers). Meddling Mage is good. I take out Deathrite Shamans (no need for the speed boost), Snapcasters, and some of your spot removal. Leave in a few Paths to hit their Wurmcoils, though.
GR Tron: Same as Blue Tron except Rest in Peace isn't an auto-include.
Jund/GBx: Rest in Peace is an all star, and any copies of Threads you have would go great. I would take out Meddling Mages if you have them, and also Aven Mindcensors or even Vendilions are less useful here (they have redundancy that beats out his ability). I tend to take out Remands if I have good sideboard options as they can get some fast starts with Deathrite Shaman that you need to answer, and Abrupt Decay goes through it.
Birthing Pod: I generally throw in Stony Silences here since the main thing you're afraid of is to get buried in card advantage. Rest in Peace is good against a majority of their combos as well, so generally 2 or so of each card is good. Any additional removal or hand hate can go in in place of Remands and Tidehollows, as you'd prefer to kill their things rather than delay them.
UWR Midrange: Negate or extra hand hate are great here, take out some removal as they tend to win through other means. Remand can go away for better counters, and Aven Mindcensors are generally not as strong as something like Thoughtseize.
Affinity: Take out slow things like Remand and even a Zur or two for extra removal and Stony Silences. Meddling Mages and Deathrites aren't very good here, as their creatures can't be blocked by ground dwellers.
Matchups
Tron: Even to favorable. Aven Mindcensor lists are much better off here, but post board all lists are decent. Stony Silence shuts off their utility, and Geist provides a quick clock if you can protect him. Zur can fetch out Detention Spheres for Wurmcoils, and I've actually won through an opponent casting and attacking with an Emrakul through Detention Sphere + Zur.
Jund/GBx: Even, but better if they are running less Tectonic Edges to mess with us. Zur is hard for them to kill, and as long as you play around Lilianas you should be looking good. Post board RiP and Threads are great here.
Birthing Pod: Favorable. They don't generally have a way of dealing with Zur, so if you use your disruption to stop their random infinite combos by killing creatures or discarding them, you'll be pretty well off. Post board you have some of the best enchantments in there to stop their shenanigans, and Zur can take any of their creatures straight up. Gavony Township is the card to look out for here, it can destroy you if you don't be careful.
UWR Midrange: Even/Favorable. Decklist dependent, you can push this into favorable territory with more control elements and things like Phyrexian Arena. Usually the gameplan is to land and stick a Geist or Zur, and ride it to victory, but this usually brings you into lategame.
Affinity: Not favorable. Along with other quick kill decks, you can have all the sideboard you want and not find it before they kill you. Zur's effects only land by turn 4 at the earliest, which is often too late. Keep hands high in disruption if you want to win
Rules Interactions
The second is that Threads of Disloyalty can enchant something like an opponent's Gladecover Scout if Zur is the way it enters the battlefield. You can't cast Threads on the Gladecover Scout, since that targets it, but you can put a Threads into play with Zur, and then choose a legal target. Sneaky, but extremely effective way of dealing with Boggle decks.