Future changes:
Nevermore -> Idyllic Tutor
Long-Term Plans -> Mystical Tutor
Steel Golem -> Glacial Chasm
Coldsteel Heart -> Vandalblast
Ophidian Eye -> Sphinx's Tutelage
This description is out of date.
Here is my beloved, budget Zedruu deck. It's a blast to play, and does well in both 1v1 and multiplayer matches. In general, if you enchant something, pass the card to the opponent. None of the enchantments here require you to be in control. The deck's main weaknesses are large hoards of creatures (as the deck doesn't have a massive amount of blockers), and trample. It's fairly slow on the mana as well, so those who ramp quickly might be able to out-pace this deck (What I'm getting at here is that green is hard to beat). Anyway, this is a deck that you'll laugh while playing, and give a ton of your not-so-good cards a chance to shine!
Defense
Creatures
Opponent creatures can be prevented by using Grid Monitor or Steel Golem, but be sure that you have decent blockers, as Grid Monitor is a pretty decent foe.Speaking of blockers, I don't know of a better combo than Entangler + Guard Gomazoa
. Block everything, without losing anything.For current threats, Chained to the Rocks, Arrest, and Imprisoned in the Moon can completely shut down creatures.To prevent combat from being a burden against you, Statecraft can be passed over. Overwhelming Splendor has the added effect of removing any abilities that the opponents creatures had.
Combos
This deck really only has three methods of shutting the combos down. The first method is denying hand size. Thought Devourer lowers the hand by four, but gifts a 4/4 flying. Jin-Gitaxias, Core Augur is powerful, but can only save you late game. Pyromancer's Swath forces a hand discard, effectively nullifying Venser's Journal or Reliquary Tower, but does increase direct damage. Mindmoil can be very useful if the combos don't abuse the stack, while Curse of Exhaustion is useful if they do.
The second method is denying creature abilities. EDH almost always relies on creature abilities rather than just instants and sorceries. Meekstone prevents any large creatures from tapping, while Torpor Orb removes those pesky ETB effects.
The final method is probably the deck's weakest, and it's just using basic counter spells. The deck is equipped with Arcane Denial, Dissipate, Render Silent, and Silence. Wild Ricochet can also be used as a counter spell. The Perplexing Chimera can allow you to effectively steal spells, while giving another gift. Just remember, this also gives them the ability to counter one of your spells.
Damage
There's really only two main cards to discuss here. The first is Solitary Confinement. It pretty much works for everything you can think of. Zedruu makes it so you don't need your draw step, and the discard is an easy price to pay. Delaying Shield prevents all commander damage, and can be used offensively.
Offense
This deck focuses on four different ways to win the game, and none of them involve combat (which is one of the reasons why this deck is so fun!).
Damage
The first and most obvious method is converting Zedruu's card draw into damage. I do this using two possible combos: Curiosity + Niv-Mizzet, the Firemind
, and Ophidian Eye + Psychosis Crawler
. Simply start your turn, or tap Niv-Mizzet, and you deal enough damage to kill all your opponents. Delusions of Mediocrity and Jinxed Idol add in some damage to speed this process along as well.
My favorite way to win through damage, however, is using Delaying Shield. We all know that one person who creates an arbitrarily large number of tokens, and swings to deal an arbitrarily large amount of damage. Take the damage, send it to the shield, and pass the shield to them before the end of their turn. When it's your turn, simply pass the turn and smile as their own damage kills them.
Decking out
The two combos mentioned above (Niv-Mizzet, the Firemind/Psychosis Crawler + Curiosity/Ophidian Eye) allow you to draw all of the cards in your library. Enter Laboratory Maniac.
Mill
One of the weaker methods, but still effective. Thought Lash is a gift, with an evil cumulative upkeep. As long as it stays on the board, it's game over!
Life
The two things that Zedruu will always have enough of is cards, and life. Fortunately, Felidar Soverign allows you to win based off of that life.
