Commander Mondays: Zur the Enchanter

For some reason I like building and playing enchantment decks. Maybe it's because they are easy to play. Maybe it's because I'm used to playing them.

A couple years ago when Commander's Arsenal came out, I had the opportunity to buy one and open it. It had an oversized version of Zur the Enchanter so I had wanted to build a deck for some time, but I wanted the small sized version.

Around the same time, I was buying various older booster packs for openings on YouTube. I bought a single booster pack from Coldsnap because I wanted to and well...

So now that you've watched the video, let's get to the deck:

Legendary Creatures (4) x1 Zur the Enchanter (Commander) x1 Heliod, God of the Sun x1 Medomai the Ageless x1 Thassa, God of the Sea Creatures (7) x1 Azorius Guildmage x1 Body Double x1 Clone x1 Duskmantle Seer x1 Kor Sanctifier x1 Sphinx of the Steel Wind x1 Wingsteed Rider Enchantment Creatures (8) x1 Archetype of Courage x1 Celestial Archon x1 Eidolon of Rhetoric x1 Ghostblade Eidolon x1 Herald of Torment x1 Master of the Feast x1 Riptide Chimera x1 Underworld Coinsmith Planeswalkers (4) x1 Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver x1 Jace Beleren x1 Jace, Architect of Thought x1 Venser, the Sojourner

Instants (2) x1 Cyclonic Rift x1 Dromar's Charm Enchantments (33) x1 Aqueous Form x1 Banishing Light x1 Claustrophobia x1 Curse of Inertia x1 Curse of the Forsaken x1 Darksteel Mutation x1 Dark Favor x1 Detention Sphere x1 Divine Favor x1 Eel Umbra x1 Ephara's Enlightnment x1 Ephara's Radiance x1 Ethereal Armor x1 Font of Fortunes x1 Font of Return x1 Font of Vigor x1 Ghostly Prison x1 Ice Cage x1 Infiltrator's Magemark x1 Oblivion Ring x1 Oppressive Rays x1 Ordeal of Erebos x1 Ordeal of Heliod x1 Ordeal of Thassa x1 Prison Term x1 Propaganda x1 Scourgemark x1 Steel of the Godhead x1 Sphere of Safety x1 Vow of Duty x1 Vow of Flight x1 Vow of Malice x1 Wind Zendikon

Artifacts (8) x1 Azorius Signet x1 Chromatic Lantern x1 Dimir Signet x1 Lightning Greaves x1 Obelisk of Esper x1 Ring of Three Wishes x1 Sensei's Divining Top x1 Sol Ring Lands (34) x1 Ancient Spring x1 Arcane Sanctum x1 Azorius Chancery x1 Azorius Guildgate x1 Barren Moor x1 Celestial Colonnade x1 Command Tower x1 Creeping Tar Pit x1 Dimir Aqueduct x1 Dimir Guildgate x1 Drowned Catacomb x1 Esper Panorama x1 Evolving Wilds x1 Glacial Fortress x1 Lonely Sandbar x1 Opal Palace x1 Orzhov Basilica x1 Orzhov Guildgate x1 Secluded Steppe x1 Temple of Deceit x1 Terramorphic Expase x1 Thespian's Stage x1 Vivid Creek x1 Vivid Marsh x1 Vivid Meadow x1 Watery Grave 4x Plains 2x Island 2x Swamp

As with most EDH decks I build, I like the commander to have a purpose on the battlefield and not just be a collection of colors or an unplayed ability (like Oloro). The Theros Block was a really important group of sets for this deck due the large amount of enchantments and enchantment creatures.

Using Zur, the goal is to attack with him as soon and as often as possible. Most of the enchantments in this deck are three mana or less which allows Zur to search for them when he attacks. Early on, as much of the opening hand should be played as possible and then by turn 4, provided you can play four lands and have the appropriate colors, Zur the Enchanter should be played and should attack by turn five.

The earliest enchantments that should be grabbed are ideally Aqueous Form, Ethereal Armor, and Steel of the Godhead.

    

Other ideal cards to grab are any of the Vows, Ordeals, Eel Umbra, Underworld Coinsmith, and Riptide Chimera.

    

    

    

Granted a lot of these cards overlap each other (Aqueous Form and Steel of the Godhead both make the creature unblockable), but you can target other creatures or even double up just in case.

The Vows prevent it from being stolen and attacking you, the Ordeals give a boost and allow you an additional ability, eel Umbra protects it from being destroyed, Underworld Coinsmith beings gaining you life (and eating away at your opponents' life, and Riptide Chimera lets you return enchantments to cast again and trigger Constellation abilities, reattach to other creatures, or even take an Enchantment creature and allow you to recast it using Bestow.

Granted there are some changes that could be made, but I like this deck quite a bit. It has trouble against spells like Krosan Grip and then any graveyard emptying abilities, but I've been able to swing with lethal Commander damage within the first 10 turns.

This is definitely a fun deck, although many cards in here may cost a nice amount of money (for people on a budget, Zur is above $10 on TCGPlayer, Watery Grave remains above $10 due to its playability in many formats, some of the other lands are pretty expensive (like Celestial Colonnade and Creeping Tar Pit), Sensei's Divining Top is a pretty penny [I'm even using the From the Vault: Exiled version since that's what I have], and the Planeswalkers aren't too cheap either (although a couple are more easily obtained due to being in Standard).

This is definitely a pretty fun deck. Maybe it needs a couple more counter spells and maybe I need to add more creatures, but this is a pretty good deck.