Updated 07/15/2022
Intro
Zur the Enchanter is one of the top 5 competitive commanders and a staple in most cEDH playgroups. He has a low mana cost, allows for free enchantment tutors to the battlefield whenever he attacks, and is a decent blocker. Most games won't go past turn 4 or 5 with this deck and you can compete at the same level as other more competitive cEDH decks since you have at least 15 different ways to win.
Pros:
1. Can tutor enchantments that let you do anything from extra draw like Rhystic Study to permanents destruction like Grasp of Fate.
2. Can control all 3 opponents with ease and watch them cry because of cards like Stasis or Overburden.
3. Has an answer to every cEDH staple.
4. C-C-C-COMBO!!!
5. High level playstyle
Cons:
1. High level playstyle. You need to know and understand opponents decks in order to know when to counter and when to tutor for particular enchantments and game winning cards.
2. Need to know and understand every card in the deck in order to efficiently pull off some of the combos
3. Not for the faint of heart. You will usually be target #1 in your pod and need to not freak out when your at 18 Commander damage or less then 10 life total. This deck pops off in 1 turn and can do so either by building the proper board state, doing it from hand, or from graveyard. The key is to continuously keep a poker face until you get the "W".
Tactics
Opening Hand:
Having a perfect opening hand is hard to come by when you are playing with a 100 card deck. However, Zur makes things easier since you can tutor your win cons through the vast amount of tutors in the deck or by using Zur's ability. This is why instead of needing to repeat mulligans for the win con cards in opening hand I advise that you choose to keep a hand that has lands, mana rocks, and counterspells. The base minimum ideal hand is to have 2 lands, 1 mana rock, 1 tutor, and 1-2 counterspells. The important thing is your lands, mana rock, and counterspells more so then your tutors or win con cards because if you're playing against other cEDH decks they will generally be popping off faster then you in order to win and you want to stop them dead in their tracks during those first 3 turns while you build up your mana presence in order to summon Zur while countering anything that may stop that from happening. In most cases countering a tutor is a wasted counterspell since you could just counter the card that was searched for with the tutor. This is however not true when playing in cEDH because the cost of cards are more efficient and you can't afford to waste opportunities later on guessing if an opponent is about to pop off or not. So if you know you're playing against another cEDH deck don't waste the opportunity and counter their tutor instead of letting it through since it may place them 1 turn ahead of you if you don't.
Beginning Turns (Turns 1-3):
Zur is considered a midrange deck. The basis for any midrange deck is to build mana and board presence quickly in the beginning so that you may control the board later on by turns 4-6. During the first few turns most of the time you will have 0 creatures on the board and will be relying on your counterspells and tutors to get Zur out as quickly as possible. Once Zur is on the field you can begin attacking with Zur and searching for enchantments. Zur's ability allows for the enchantment to be placed onto the battlefield prior to combat damage so depending on your opponents you may want to either tutor with his ability and put into play Reconnaissance or Diplomatic Immunity. Reconnaissance should be tutored if you are playing against other decks which include flying creatures and you are afraid Zur will die to them or because you need to keep Zur up as a blocker during opponents turns. The nice thing about Reconnaissance is that the ability costs 0 and doesn't stop Zur from still triggering his ability when he attacks. Should you choose Diplomatic Immunity as your first tutored card then understand that you can no longer use Reconnaissance on Zur since Diplomatic Immunity gives "Shroud" and Shroud stops everything from being able to target that permanent. The reason why you would choose Diplomatic Immunity over Reconnaissance is if you are playing against a deck that has more board removal then you have Counterspells and at least 1 opponent has no fliers that will likely kill Zur with combat damage when defending against him.
It's best to understand that you only need 1 opponent to be playing without fliers in order for Reconnaissance to not be necessary and Diplomatic Immunity isn't necessary if you think that you can win with Zur only needing to use his ability to tutor 1 or 2 times (see Win Con strategies & enchantments). In these instances I would advise to instead tutor Overburden or Rhystic Study.
Mid-game Strategies(Turns 4-6):
For the most part you will be winning most of your games during mid-game (turns 4-6). The reason is because if you have Zur on the field then you can tutor for wincon enchantments like Necropotence or Stasis. All Wincon strategies will be mentioned in thorough detail in the next segment, however the usual wincon strategy will be to get rid of your library through Necropotence or Ad Nauseam infinite with Angel's Grace and win through either Laboratory Maniac being on the field when you draw an additional card to win or playing Thassa's Oracle to take the game. Just make sure you have a counterspell handy in case someone tries to stop the creatures from being played.
Tutors
This cEDH deck is very versatile and it is best to know all the different strategies that can be played with Zur. I suggest looking at the "Combos and Wincon Strategies" tab prior to viewing this column since some of the choices may not make sense. I will try my best while explaining the tutors and types of cards to tutor and their reasons for why but there are definitely a ton of strategies that can be done with this deck which weren't mentioned in the combos and wincon such as winning through Yawgmoth's Will, so any strategy mentioned here is with regards to main and alternate wincon strategies mentioned in the "Combos and Wincon" tab.
Tutors:
From your fetchlands to your Commander there isn't a single type of card in this deck that can't be tutored for. So the question comes around when you find a tutor card in hand what is it that you should search for.
FETCHLANDS
I'd generally advise to grab any of the shock lands like Hallowed Fountain in order to properly play the cards in hand. If you don't have anything to play on your first turn then grab Raffine's Tower.
GENERAL TUTORS
Mystical Tutor, Vampiric Tutor, Demonic Tutor, Grim Tutor, and Wishclaw Talisman are your basic tutors and should be used on a case-by-case basis to find answers to problems, or combo and wincon cards.
Muddle the Mixture
Muddle the Mixture should only be used to tutor Thassa's Oracle, or Triskaidekaphile. The one exception is to tutor Isochron Scepter if you have Dramatic Reversal in hand. No other 2 cost cards matter.
Enlightened Tutor
It may seem strange to have Enlightened Tutor in a deck where the commander can tutor all of your enchantments already. It's actually because you may need to play 2 enchantments in a turn; 1 from Zur's ability and the other from hand. A great enchantment to tutor for is Estrid's Invocation or Overburden. And if you use Enlightened Tutor in the early game you may want to grab a much needed mana rock, or Isochron Scepter to pull off the Dramatic Reversal + Isochron Scepter infinite. Should you even need you can grab a better tutor which let's you grab your wincon by tutoring for Wishclaw Talisman.
DEMONIC CONSULTATION
Although Demonic Consultation is considered a tutor card it is in fact better used as a wincon when you choose to name a card that doesn't exist in your deck like Fling in order to just remove your deck from the game and win through either Laboratory Maniac or Thassa's Oracle. I have used it before as a tutor in order to grab an alternative wincon card but that was only because my opponent was going to pop off on their next turn and I needed to think fast and gamble.
Lim-Dul's Vault
Lim-Dul's Vault is a particular type of tutor card that even I have yet to master. It's used in order to set yourself up for your wincon. When in conjunction with Demonic Consultation you can even make sure that the card you are tutoring for will now likely be outside of the 6 that get exiled since you know what the top 5 will be. Should you like to see the probability of life lost in order to tutor the 5 you want Syjte has created an amazing table over on Reddit (https://www.reddit.com/r/CompetitiveEDH/comments/6j7c2v/analyzing_limduls_vault/)
Doomsday
Doomsday is by far the most high level card in this deck. The reason is because those 5 cards that you tutor and the order in which you put them in can effectively king make you or kill you. Every time I have used this card the types of cards considered for the 5 have always been different. And this card has only ever been used by me when I knew that I had enough counters in hand or ways to allow me to play Thassa's Oracle and win on the next turn. Some common factors I have found to work best is to choose the cards to consist of at least 2 Counterspells, an alternative win con card, and a draw card. The best card to have as your top card if it's not already on the field is Sensei's Divining Top since it allows you to restructure the rest of them again should you need to.
Combos and Wincon Strategies
Combos:
20/20 AVATAR (MARIT LAGE)
Dark Depths + Solemnity
Should you find yourself with Dark Depths in hand at any point one of the simplest wincon strategies is to have Zur tutor for Solemnity first then play Dark Depths from hand. Since Solemnity stops counters from being placed on Lands Dark Depths won't have any and will instantly be sacrificed to create a Marit Lage token.
ALL THE NEGATE
Glen Elendra Archmage + Solemnity
Here we see another card that combos with Solemnity. This time it's a creature with "Persist." Glen Elendra can essentially stay on the field forever as a blocker and single cost Negate card since Solemnity stops the -1/-1 counters from being placed on Glen Elendra when it dies. This means that even if someone where to board wipe and say destroy all permanents Glen Elendra would still come back. However if Glen Elendra is ever "Exiled" then Persist doesn't bring the creature back, so make sure to always keep at least a single mana open in case someone attempts to Path to Exile Glen Elendra.
CAN'T DIE
Phyrexian Unlife + Solemnity = can't die
Pretty straight forward. As long as Solemnity is on the field you can't get poison counters so you're health will never drop below 0 and you can never lose the game through direct damage.
NO SINGLE TARGET REMOVAL ALLOWED
Greater Auramancy + Enchanted Evening
Greater Auramancy gives shroud to all other enchantments. Enchanted Evening makes all of your permanents enchantments which now means that none of them can be targeted except Greater Auramancy. Should you want to create a full bubble of protection then have Zur tutor for Estrid's Invocation and have it enter as a copy of Greater Auramancy. It makes it to where neither the copy nor the original can be targeted since they give shroud to each other.
INFINITE MANA
Isochron Scepter + Dramatic Reversal + 3 mana rocks
If you play Isochron Scepter and imprint Dramatic Reversal to it you can essentially have infinite mana as long as you have 3 artifacts on the field that produce mana or Sol Ring and 1 other mana rock (ie. mana producing artifact) like Arcane Signet. This also allows for a couple of wincons like casting Torment of Hailfire for whatever amount you want "X" to be. There's also a wincon which is explained in the wincon area that involves Sensei's Divining Top and if you choose to tutor in Stasis with Zur you'll be the only one with an untap step for the rest of the game.
Wincons:
JUST ENOUGH CARD DRAW WINCON
Triskaidekaphile + Ad Nauseam + Angel's Grace
This one is fairly simple but has 2 very important steps. First, Triskaidekaphile has to be on the field before your upkeep. You can either do this through flashing her in with Emergence Zone or by playing her prior to the next draw step. Second and this is very important you have to cast Ad Nauseam first then Angel's Grace, otherwise Angel's Grace will "Split Second" and make it to where Ad Nauseam can't be cast. Angel's Grace will keep you alive with 1 life so draw enough cards prior to your upkeep to meet the exactly 13 cards criteria required for Triskaidekaphile's ability to allow you to win. NOTE since both Ad Nauseam and Angel's Grace are Instant's you should cast them prior to your turn - during the last opponent's end step.
INFINITE CARD DRAW WINCON
Laboratory Maniac + Ad Nauseam + Angel's Grace
Like the Triskaidekaphile wincon you first need Laboratory Maniac to be on the field when you draw a card during your next draw step. Again you have to cast Ad Nauseam first then Angel's Grace otherwise Angel's Grace will "Split Second" and make it to where Ad Nauseam can't be cast. Angel's Grace will keep you alive with 1 life as you draw your whole library, so since both Ad Nauseam and Angel's Grace are Instant's you should cast them prior to your draw step - likely during your upkeep prior to your draw step and draw that invisible win that's sitting where your library once was when you draw for turn.
INFINITE CARD DRAW WINCON #2
Laboratory Maniac + Necropotence + Angel's Grace
This is similar to the first strategy except that you cast Angel's Grace then once it's resolved you choose to exile your entire library with Necropotence. Now move to your draw step and draw that win since Laboratory Maniac is already on the battlefield.
INFINITE CARD DRAW WINCON #3
Laboratory Maniac + Demonic Consultation
This time the draw the library to win is easier and only involves 2 cards instead of 3. With Laboratory Maniac on the field you want to cast Demonic Consultation prior to your draw step and name a card that doesn't exist in your library like Fling for Demonic Consultation's tutor effect. Since the card doesn't exist in your deck you exile every card in your library then have Demonic Consulation resolve allowing you to move to your draw step for the turn and draw from a now empty library.
INFINITE CARD DRAW WINCON #4
Laboratory Maniac / Triskaidekaphile + Isochron Scepter + Dramatic Reversal + Sensei's Divining Top + 3 Mana rocks
This one is the trickiest of the infinite card draw wincons to pull off and is usually only accomplished in late game. In order to pull this off you need to have Isochron Scepter with Dramatic Reversal imprinted on it in order to allow you to create infinite mana with 3 mana rocks. You also need Sensei's Divining Top on the field so you can trigger it's 2nd ability which allows you to tap it and draw the top card of your library replacing Sensei's Divining Top with that card. The trick is to tap Sensei's Divining Top, draw the card, then before resolving the second part of Sensei's activated ability choosing to do Isochron Scepter's ability and untapping all of your nonland permanents. This allows you to retap Sensei's Divining Top and activate it's 2nd ability again, which when continuously done allows you to draw your whole library or the X amount of cards to equal 13 for Triskaidekaphile's ability. Should Laboratory Maniac already be on the field you win the game by drawing when you don't have a card in your deck with Sensei's 2nd ability. If Laboratory Maniac isn't on the field yet then you stop the infinite, place Sensei's Divining Top as the last card in your library, and cast Laboratory Maniac from the drawn cards so you can win on your next draw step.
INFINITE CARD DRAW WINCON #5
Laboratory Maniac + Phyrexian Unlife + Necropotence/Ad Nauseam
Should you find yourself with less cards in your library then life then you can choose to tutor in phyrexian unlife with Zur instead of playing Angel's Grace and paying for Necropotence or Ad Nauseam in that manner.
Alternate INFINITE CARD DRAW WINCON #6-11
The easier strategy to win is to do the wincons stated previously but instead of casting Laboratory Maniac to cast Thassa's Oracle or instead of using Necropotence/Ad Nauseam you cast Tainted Pact. Since Thassa's Oracle allows you to draw a minimum of 2 cards from it's own devotion of 2 you can win with some of the earlier mentioned combos on the same turn as when you play the cards or lose life rather then waiting until your draw step. And since there are no cards that share the same name in the entire deck including lands you can cast Tainted Pact and exile your entire library.
INFINITE DAMAGE WINCON
Isochron Scepter + Dramatic Reversal + 3 mana rocks + Torment of Hailfire
Create infinite mana then cast Torment of Hailfire and pay into X enough so that the opponents die no matter what.
