Consultation/Control Zur
Commander / EDH
SCORE: 2 | 1068 VIEWS | IN 2 FOLDERS
Even more streamlined —Nov. 18, 2019
Out:
In:
Notes:
The pain of having to return a land when I play Dromar's Cavern has finally outweighed it's usefulness as a three-color land. I found an old copy of Gemstone Mine, and I believe the drawback there is less impactful.
I haven't found Manifold Key to be especially useful, despite it helping me double up on mana or card draw on rare occasions. It would make more sense if I had access to Grim Monolith and other ways to make it mana positive more often. Out it goes. Drown in the Loch comes in because I've been meaning to test it, it's kind of a utility card, and Key was in a utility/flex slot anyway.
I originally included Merchant Scroll because it gives me flexible access to cantrips, removal, and counter magic. I found sorcery speed and it's inability to find key combo pieces too frustrating. I'd rather have card draw, and I had been meaning to give Radical Idea a try. If I ever opted to run Isochron Scepter/Dramatic Reversal I'd probably put it back.
Mystical Dispute comes in for Mana Leak. My meta is very blue, so the hypothesis is that Dispute is going to be "One-mana Leak" most of the time. When I eventually get access to better counter magic like Force of Will and/or Mana Drain, this will be moot point.
Diabolic Intent comes in for Muddle the Mixture. I found myself very easily able to get Tainted Pact and Demonic Consultation in hand, but struggled to find Laboratory Maniac or Jace, Wielder of Mysteries. Even with the requirement to sacrifice a creature, a sub-optimal-but-generic tutor is probably better. I assume I'll be sacrificing Zur for this more often than not.
Coalition Relic is out in favor of Jeweled Amulet. I've never tried Amulet, but I had one so I figured I'd test it. Relic felt too slow anyway, Amulet is hypothetically one turn faster
Solitary Confinement is out. I found it incredibly powerful in the one super long game it came out in, but I realized afterward that Phyrexian Unlife (which I'm already running) would have done the same. Narset, Parter of Veils comes in. Narset represents much better hate in my local meta, where everyone is blue and drawing cards all the time. Even without wheels in the deck (which I'll get a hold of eventually), I think it may be worth running to shut down my opponents and fish for cantrips or removal.
Zur's Weirding is out. It was a pet card, and in competitive metas we must abandon such childish notions. Frantic Search provides card filtering and lets me hold up mana afterward, seems like it's worth a shot in the absence of better one and two-mana card draw spells. This would be an Impulse if I owned one, but Frantic Search will do for now.
Additional Considerations:
Aura of Silence - This isn't terribly useful in my meta, but it seems generically good vs. an array of competitive decks. Haven't let go of it yet, but I'm not sure how long it'll last.
Supreme Verdict - I still can't let go of my one proper board wipe. It puts in work, but not any more or less than Cyclonic Rift, and Spellseeker can find Rift. As the deck becomes less reactive and more proactive, I expect this will have to come out in favor of something more