Zedruu: Strings Attached

Commander / EDH Bracket 2 RUW (Jeskai, America)

coderkevin

Lands (36)

• 1x Adarkar Wastes
• 1x Battlefield Forge
• 1x Clifftop Retreat
• 1x Command Tower
• 1x Evolving Wilds
• 1x Exotic Orchard
• 1x Fabled Passage
• 1x Glacial Fortress
• 1x Hall of Heliod's Generosity
• 1x Hallowed Fountain
• 1x Inspiring Vantage
• 4x Island
• 2x Mountain
• 1x Mystic Monastery
• 5x Plains
• 1x Reflecting Pool
• 1x Reliquary Tower
• 1x Rogue's Passage
• 1x Sacred Foundry
• 1x Seachrome Coast
• 1x Shivan Reef
• 1x Spirebluff Canal
• 1x Steam Vents
• 1x Sulfur Falls
• 1x Temple of Enlightenment
• 1x Temple of Epiphany
• 1x Temple of Triumph
• 1x Terramorphic Expanse

Value & Draw Engines (7)

• 1x Body of Knowledge
• 1x Leyline of Anticipation
• 1x Moderation
• 1x Paradox Haze
• 1x Pendant of Prosperity
• 1x The Locust God
• 1x The Second Doctor

Gifts / Trades / “Hurty” Permanents (23)

• 1x Aggressive Mining
• 1x Assemble the Legion
• 1x Confusion in the Ranks
• 1x Crown of Doom
• 1x Cultural Exchange
• 1x Day of the Dragons
• 1x Delusions of Mediocrity
• 1x Djinn of Infinite Deceits
• 1x Goblin Firebug
• 1x Humble Defector
• 1x Illusions of Grandeur
• 1x Imprisoned in the Moon
• 1x Legerdemain
• 1x Nine Lives
• 1x Phyrexian War Beast
• 1x Political Trickery
• 1x Shifting Grift
• 1x Steel Golem
• 1x Switcheroo
• 1x Thought Lash
• 1x Transcendence
• 1x Vedalken Plotter
• 1x Yes Man, Personal Securitron

Pillow-Fort & Defense (7)

• 1x Embargo
• 1x Lightning Greaves
• 1x Smoke
• 1x Solitary Confinement
• 1x Statecraft
• 1x Swiftfoot Boots
• 1x Wall of Denial

Tutors (2)

• 1x Enlightened TutorGC
• 1x Mystical TutorGC

Win Conditions / Payoffs (1)

• 1x Psychosis Crawler

Commander (1)

Ramp & Fixing (11)

• 1x Arcane Signet
• 1x Azorius Signet
• 1x Boros Signet
• 1x Izzet Signet
• 1x Keeper of the Accord
• 1x Smothering TitheGC
• 1x Sol Ring
• 1x Talisman of Conviction
• 1x Talisman of Creativity
• 1x Talisman of Progress
• 1x Thought Vessel

Countermagic & Control (7)

• 1x Chaos Warp
• 1x Counterspell
• 1x Cyclonic RiftGC
• 1x Disallow
• 1x Dovin's Veto
• 1x Sudden Substitution
• 1x Swan Song

Utility / Support / Recovery (5)

• 1x Elixir of Immortality
• 1x Open the Vaults
• 1x Path to Exile
• 1x Role Reversal
• 1x Swords to Plowshares

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Deck Overview

Stick around, survive long, then trade up. This Zedruu the Greathearted *f-etch* deck is about giving “gifts” that are tempting for opponents but painful to remove or keep, building incremental advantage, and finally swinging hard when you pick your moment.

Key Themes

• Sticky Gifts / Hurty Permanents — Cards like Delaying Shield, Rust Elemental, Nine Lives, Aggressive Mining, Illusions of Grandeur are designed to give opponents something that hurts if they let go or try to destroy it.
• Pillow-Fort & Defense — Protective enchantments and countermagic to keep you off the radar until you’re ready.
• Political Removal / Trade Effects — Spells like Role Reversal, Switcheroo, Bribery let you gain value in removal, not just destroy things.

How to Win

• Accumulate card draw / life (thanks to Zedruu the Greathearted *f-etch* + continuing value pieces)
• Use gifts to generate advantage (either by forcing opponents into bad choices or stealing value)
• Pull the trigger with a sweeping moment — Insurrection, stealing a key creature, or crippling board states with removal.

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Expect opponents to be wary if you give them something that looks juicy — sometimes the sting is in holding on.

Notable Synergies

• Delaying Shield — Cast it on yourself to prevent damage. Right before your upkeep, donate it. The counters move with the Shield, so your opponent has to pay or lose life. Extra nasty if they don’t have white mana.

• Day of the Dragons — Cast with no creatures out to make a pile of 5/5 Dragons. Donate it, then even if it's removed, you keep the Dragons, but your opponent gets nothing back.

• Yes Man, Personal Securitron — Passes itself around drawing you cards and stacking quest counters. If it ever leaves the battlefield, you (the owner) get a swarm of Soldiers. Opponents are incentivized to keep it alive.

• Aggressive Mining — Donate it and lock an opponent out of playing lands. If they keep it, they’re stuck. If they get rid of it, they wasted a removal spell.

• Rust Elemental — Opponent must sacrifice an artifact each upkeep or take damage. Brutal gift that’s hard to keep and worse to remove.

• Confusion in the Ranks — Chaos engine that makes the whole table hesitate to play permanents. Perfect for spreading gifts around while you profit from Zedruu triggers.

• Humble Defector — Draws you cards, then donates itself. Combine with Zedruu to pass it around the table for value and politics.

• Stingscourger — Bounce an opponent’s threat, or even one of your own donated permanents to reuse its ETB effect. Then donate Stingscourger before your upkeep so the echo trigger becomes their problem. Perfect “strings attached” fodder.

Piloting Tips

Early Game

• Focus on mana rocks (Sol Ring, Arcane Signet, the Signets, and Talismans) and pillow-fort pieces (Ghostly Prison, Propaganda, Crawlspace).
• Deploy a low-impact gift early (Humble Defector, Goblin Firebug, Akroan Horse) to start fueling Zedruu the Greathearted *f-etch*’s draw/life without looking threatening.
• Keep your hand size healthy — Reliquary Tower and Thought Vessel help if Zedruu gets rolling fast.

Mid Game

• Protect yourself and build incremental value.
• Use gifts that opponents hesitate to remove (Illusions of Grandeur, Delaying Shield, Nine Lives).
• Start looking for trade-up plays like Gilded Drake or Switcheroo.
• Be the “helpful player” — play group draw (Temple Bell, Font of Mythos) and let others fight.

Late Game

• Once you’re ahead on cards and life, shift gears.
• Time your haymakers: Insurrection can knock one or more players out, or use Day of the Dragons to lock in a dragon army.
• Psychosis Crawler and Niv-Mizzet, Parun turn your card advantage into table damage.
• Confusion in the Ranks and Role Reversal keep boards unstable while you choose your target.
• Don’t be afraid to sacrifice an alliance — Zedruu wins by looking harmless until it’s time to strike.

Weaknesses & Adjustments

Enchantment Removal

This deck leans heavily on enchantments (Ghostly Prison, Delaying Shield, Sphere of Safety, etc.). If your meta runs lots of Back to Nature or Aura ShardsGC, you can get set back hard.
Adjustment: Add recursion (Hall of Heliod's Generosity, Open the Vaults) or more artifact-based defenses (like Crawlspace, Lightning Greaves) to diversify.

Fast Combo Decks

Zedruu plays a slower, political game. Against combo decks, you might not have time to set up gifts and shields.
Adjustment: Run more countermagic (Mana Drain, Negate) or silver bullets like Stony Silence / Rest in Peace depending on your meta.

Aggro Swarms

Wide creature strategies can overwhelm you before pillow-fort is online.
Adjustment: Consider another cheap wrath (Anger of the Gods, Blasphemous Act) or early blockers that double as gifts (Wall of Omens, Perplexing Chimera).

Graveyard Hate

If you rely too much on Sun Titan recursion or enchantment recursion, graveyard hate can limit your late game.
Adjustment: Lean more on direct swaps (Switcheroo, Role Reversal) and political chaos pieces (Confusion in the Ranks, Knowledge Pool).

Perception / Politics

Sometimes Zedruu gets hated out just for being “the donate deck.” If opponents expect Illusions of Grandeur shenanigans, they may gang up on you early.
Adjustment: Play group-hug early (Temple Bell, Howling Mine) to look friendly. Save the nastier gifts for mid/late game so you don’t become the early archenemy.

Date added	4 weeks
Last updated	5 days
Legality	This deck is Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	3 - 0 Mythic Rares 52 - 0 Rares 25 - 0 Uncommons 9 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	3.17
Tokens	Bird 2/2 U, Dragon 5/5 R, Insect 1/1 UR, Soldier 1/1 RW, Soldier 1/1 W, Treasure