This is my take on Ezuri, Claw of Progress, UG's newest general. He's cool, scary, has dreadlocks, and a little more depth than one might think. On the surface he is a straightforward pump general, but considering all the cards that have +1/+1 counter synergy, he is also a very flexible control lead. My version is built to be fun, sneaky, and somewhat flavorful. Admittedly, the deck has a very prominent infect theme, which is famously disliked in EDH; and while the deck is easily capable of pulling off one-hit kills, the idea of the deck is to slowly ease into an infect victory via proliferate.
This deck is built for fun multiplayer games and politics... so yay. It also wasn't created with budget in mind, but it ended being relatively cheap, so yay again.
Many Newzuri decks focus on the use of token generation to quickly accumulate the newly introduced experience counters, but, this build can comfortably be in control, and win with around 5-10. The more overt win conditions include Beastmaster Ascension, Overwhelming Stampede, and Triumph of the Hordes, which will allow an already established board to wipe out your opponent(s) in one fell sweep. Other strategies involve the use of Kaseto, Orochi Archmage, Distortion Strike, Neurok Invisimancer, Whispersilk Cloak, and Champion of Lambholt, to sneak through a pumped infect creature; Blighted Agent does this on his own. The only combo win condition, and the only truly degenerate strategy in the deck, is Sage of Hours, With Ezuri and 5 experience counters used to produce infinite turns (I will likely take him out. ya know, cuz chivalry). Now, onto the most ideal, lore friendly, and thrilling wincon: proliferate. Your opponents will likely destroy your infect creatures after you defeat your first opponent, so before that happens you must distribute your poison counters semi-evenly. After this is done, cards like Tezzeret's Gambit, Fuel for the Cause, Viral Drake, Core Prowler, Contagion Clasp, and Inexorable Tide have an opportunity to shine. Opponents will slowly succumb to your previous infect investment, and the game will be yours. It is fairly easy to protect yourself while you do, because the deck excels at controlling the game during and after slow lulls.
Creature Hate: Pongify, Rapid Hybridization, and Beast Within
Artifact/Enchant Hate: Reclamation Sage, Trygon Predator, Viridian Corrupter, Acidic Slime, and Krosan Grip
Deterents/Control: Skullwinder, Acidic Slime (again), Simic Manipulator, Triskelion, Counterspell, Negate, Dispel, Swan Song, Spell Crumple, Dispel, Mystic Snake, and Glen Elendra Archmage (once I get her)
The draw power is something this deck struggles with. It either has your hand overflowing with advantage, or has you topdecking for value plays. Currently there is 6 draw engines (Etched Oracle, Skullclamp, Cold-Eyed Selkie, Fathom Mage, Edric, Spymaster of Trest, Zameck Guildmage); and 8 ways to draw in total when including Solemn Simulacrum, and Tezzeret's Gambit. The engines are strong, but when none of them show up, or it is destroyed with no backup, it is difficult to keep a steady stream of advantage, so any suggestions are appreciated.
The rest of the deck is filled with general value or utility cards that I thought were either fun to play, flavorful, or synergistic. Cards like Ezuri's Predation are just in there because it is not gamebreaking, is lore friendly, and is actually quite fun; but Cyclonic Rift is a great replacement if you want the deck to be that much stronger. Other cards like Prophet of Kruphix, and Deadeye Navigator are excluded for fun having reasons so there's no need to get into that (tutors are also not included). Having said that, the following are cards I don't have, but I intend on including in the future.
As for the manabase, there is nothing special about it. The deck doesn't need crazy ramp and is fine sitting at 6-8 mana. The lands I have in my deck are the ones I had available, so if you have dual lands, shock lands, fetch lands, and the like, toss em in there.
All in all, the deck is very fun to play as long as you don't abuse the infect beatdown victory, which will get you targeted right away. There are more competitive ways to build this version of the deck, but certain card choices are omitted for the sake of fun and integrity. So take what you do and don't want from this build, and go submit your buddies to compleation at the dining room table.
Also, discussion is always welcome
