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Zur, Eternal Schemer is one of the many commanders available inMagic: The Gathering. This Esper (white/blue/black) commander is one that’s focused on enchantment and enchantment creatures. Esper colors have access to all sorts of useful enchantments and enchantment support cards, making Zur, Eternal Schemer the perfect commander to lead an enchantment-focused deck.
Zur’s ability to turn non-Aura enchantments into creatures has a lot of utility and makes for a more aggressive strategy compared to other enchantment decks which often veer towards a more defensive side. If you like using decks that make the most out of every permanent you control, a Zur, Eternal Schemer deck is perfect for you.
Overlord of the Balemurk
Overlord of the Floodpits
Overlord of the Mistmoors
Dance of the Manse
Helm of the Gods
x7 Island
x8 Plains
x5 Swamp
Underground River
The decklistconsists of one battle, 24 creatures, nine sorceries, ten instants, eight artifacts, 13 enchantments, and 34 lands. Most of the creatures are enchantment creatures or cards that help to discount the cost of enchantments.
Key Cards
Zur, Eternal Schemer
Zur, Eternal Schemeris the main attraction of the deck, givingall of your enchantment creatures a ton of keywordsto make them threats in combat. Its ability to turn enchantments into creatures for just two mana is great and can be done multiple times a turn in the late-game once you have a ton of mana to work with.
There is no restriction on when you can use Zur’s ability to turn an enchantment into a creature, so it’s best to activate it during the end step before your turn starts so you’ll have all your mana to work with on your turn.
Yougenerally want to use Zur’s effect on enchantments with high mana valuessince its stats as a creature are whatever its mana values are (so for example an enchantment with a mana value of four would be a 4/4).
Overlord Cycle
The Overlord cycle arecreatures that normally cost a lot of mana, but can be cast fora discount with their impending ability(but enter as an enchantment as opposed to an enchantment creature). They have effects when they enter or attack, all of which are very useful in building up your board state.
Normally, you have to wait multiple turns to remove time counters from them before they become a creature. However, withZur’s ability, you may turn them into creatures right awayso you can get their effects right away and attack with them for more triggers.
Starfield Of Nyx
Starfield of Nyxessentially acts as a second copy of your commander. While it doesn’t grant abilities like Zur does, it doesturn your enchantments into creatures with stats equal to their mana value. You do need at least five enchantments for this to happen, but since your deck primarily consists of enchantments, this is trivial to amass.
Starfield of Nyx is alsoone of your main sources of recursion. For every one of your upkeeps you can return an enchantment to the battlefield directly; this makes it less scary to use them to block a creature when Zur is on the battlefield, as trading with deathtouch is fine when you can get the enchantment back on your turn.
Enduring Cycle
TheEnduring cycleare enchantment creatures with various effects that when they die, they return to the battlefield as an enchantment (losing their creature typing). All three of the available cards in the Enduring cycle are fantastic and help push your advantage forward.
The Enduring cycle essentiallyforces your opponents to use two removal spells on them to get rid of them(excluding getting exiled). However, their effects procso long as they die when they were a creature, meaning if Zur turns them into a creature after they used their effects, if they die again they’ll go back to being an enchantment.
Ondu Spiritdancer
Ondu Spiritdanceris a way to double up on your enchantments. When one enters, it comes with a token copy (albeit only once a turn). Since the effect only triggers once per turn, you want tomake sure to cast your best enchantments first to ensure you get two copies of them.
One of the benefits of Ondu Spiritdancer is thatit is a prime target for removal. The effect is very powerful and can get out of hand, meaning your opponents will need to take care of it and have to ignore your other enchantment creatures in order to do so.
How To Play The Deck
AZur, Eternal Schemerdeck is all about building your defenses while turning your enchantments into creatures to start getting aggressive. Stall calls likeGhostly Prison, Propaganda,andSphere of Safetyall help to keep your opponents from attacking you with many creatures by forcing them to pay mana to do so.
Your battlefield can be a bit light on creatures at times, socards that create creature tokens are very useful; these are often created when enchantments enter the battlefield, and includeArchon of Sun’s Grace, Sigil of the Empty Throne,andHallowed Haunting. A lot of your enchantments can be expensive, socards that give a discounted cost are very important to get on the battlefield as quickly as possible. Cards such asInquisitive Glimmer, Starfield Mystic,andStarnheim Courserall fit this bill.
Theprimary win condition of a Zur, Eternal Schemer deck is winning through combat. You want to turn your enchantments into creatures as quickly as you’re able to so you can start getting in for damage. In addition,token generatorshelp to amass more of a board state so that you canoverpower your opponents and keep your defenses up.
Thebiggest downside of a Zur, Eternal Schemeer Commander deck is that it takes a while to setup. You need enchantments on the battlefield for your deck to function how it wants to. Ifyou’re not drawing enchantments, you’re not going to be winning. Luckily, there is enough draw engines in the decklist to easily get to the cards you need to start pushing your advantage forward.
