Caring About Zur’s Weirding - Tyler Grund
After a short break between core sets, Zur’s Weirding, the card that originally printed in Ice Age, and was the headache of millions of opponents, is back in 8th edition. Ooooh I love this control card.
I am personally not much for control decks, but for Zur’s I’ll make an exception. The reason I’m interested in the Weirding is now it comes into Type II with a buddy, Convalescent Care.
These guys were meant for each other. Once you have convalescent Care out to break the symmetry, feel free to drop your Weirding and commence with the control. Since Weirding works best later in the game when your opponent has little to nothing in their hand, who minds waiting? The best part is the additional card you are able to draw every turn. Even if your opponent can sac your first drawn card, the second will more than likely be too much for them to take. 4 life a turn will take them down quickly.
At the heart of every deck that supports itself solely on enchantments is an absolute fear of enchantment destruction. This is why this deck will probably never see serious tournament play, but I see no reason in annoying a few close friends.
Here is a Type II Zur’s Weirding deck:
3 Zur’s Weirding
4 Convalescent Care
4 Wrath of God
3 Mana Leak
3 Blessed Reversal
4 Concentrate
2 Syncopate
2 Index
4 Wing Shards
2 Chains of Vapor
2 Complicate
4 Eternal Dragons
10
8 Plains
4 Flooded
1 City of Brass
Playing this deck is like most control decks: Draw what you can when you can while holding off the hordes as best as possible until you can get the combo. Once both are out and you have at hopefully one or two counters in hand, you’ve got control for the rest of the game. Either your opponent kills him/herself by preventing any more cards in your hand (which probably won’t happen much), or you eventually get to an Eternal dragon, either from the graveyard or by actually drawing them, and start the beats. If your opponent has the same idea with the Eternal’s Syncopate it from the game. Now if you find your opponent has more Eternals or other annoying creatures that like to bounce from the grave, I would suggest adding additional Syncs to the deck. Also, Akroma’s Vengence would probably be a good addition to the deck to help out with destruction, but that’s up for playtesting.
PROBLEM AREAS:
A big bane to this deck is obviously Reanimator
decks. Most can be kept under control with the lock down, but putting things
into their graveyard is never a “bad” situation for them especially if
Another odd card to sweat over is Howling Mine. This card will probably take this deck down even after the “lock” is in place. It’s sort of funny worrying about Howling Mine, but its true. All you can hope for is that they are NOT playing with them, and if they are, counter it as soon as possible.
Enchantment destruction is a real problem obviously, but at least the Weirding allows you to see their hand once its out so there won’t be a surprise. But on the other hand, they can see what combo cards you are hoarding in your hand so they know which one to target. This is just something you’ll have to play out. A good way to avoid issues is to drop a counter or two and place in a card that lets you peak at the opponents hand so you know when its safe to drop the combo. At least with this lock, you really only need to worry about what is in their hand currently.
Try out the deck, or come up with a completely different arrangement. It is really fun once you’ve locked your opponent down. If they have nothing in hand when you get the lock down, they will probably concede simply on the grounds that there is no more options coming up for them. Once you’ve got your deck in working order, take it to a group game and watch the melee!
Thanks for reading
Tyler Grund