Zurgo the Cimmerian - Zurgo Helmsmasher EDH

(Hyboria by Yan Renucci, licensed under Creative Commons)

The fairly recent release of the first set of the Khans of Tarkir block was a godsend for EDH players. Sure, the original Commander release finally made wedges interesting to play: no longer would you be forced to play one of the god-dang-nabbit dragons as your Commander (no offense to people who like the scaly fellas, but to me they're all fairly boring). Even so, you can only make so many Animar, Soul of Elements or Ghave, Guru of Spores decks before wishing for more.

Enter Khans of Tarkir. The set gave you a whooping five new Commanders to play with, as well as a plethora of all-around awesome wedge cards to fill our decks with. While not all of the legendaries were meant for EDH (I'm looking at you, Anafenza), the rest open up a world of possibilities when it comes to deck design. And as you can probably guess by now, I'm going to design a deck for one of them today.

A lot of people have been instantly (and sensibly) drawn to Narset, Enlightened Master, but that's not the way I'm going to go today. In vacuum she's the strongest choice of the five, what with built-in defense from hexproof and ability to cast ridiculous spells like Time Stretch for free. Free. But her deck would, by default, be an expensive one, so after drooling about the possibilities (hooray for Aggravated Assault and extra turns!) I went another way.

And by that I mean the way of speed, the way of bloodshed, the way of aggression. My general is a man (or should I say orc) of the horde, one who wishes only to crush his enemies, to see them driven before him, and to hear the lamentation of their women (sorry, couldn't resist). That's right: today we'll be playing around with Zurgo Helmsmasher. Instead of the basic aggro deck one might imagine when looking at him, we're going to go a cleverer route. Guess what goes well with indestructibility during your turn? Boardwipes. Lots of 'em.

Zurgo the Cimmerian - Zurgo Helmsmasher EDH

ARTIFACT (12)


• Champion's Helm
• Chromatic Lantern
• Coalition Relic
• Darksteel Ingot
• Fireshrieker
• Grappling Hook
• Mardu Banner
• Nevinyrral's Disk
• Sol Ring
• Trailblazer's Boots
• Vorrac Battlehorns
• Whispersilk Cloak

CREATURE (20)


• Anarchist
• Athreos, God of Passage
• Aurelia, the Warleader
• Darksteel Sentinel
• Dimir House Guard
• Erebos, God of the Dead
• Eternal Dragon
• Ghostblade Eidolon
• Heliod, God of the Sun
• Hellkite Charger
• Iroas, God of Victory
• Mageta the Lion
• Mogis, God of Slaughter
• Purphoros, God of the Forge
• Scourge of the Throne
• Silverblade Paladin
• Solemn Simulacrum
• Tajic, Blade of the Legion
• Transcendent Master
• Wrecking Ogre

ENCHANTMENT (3)


• Aggravated Assault
• Battle Mastery
• Rage Reflection

PLANESWALKER (1)


• Ajani, Caller of the Pride

SORCERY (17)


• Austere Command
• Beacon of Unrest
• Damnation
• Day of Judgment
• Demonic Tutor
• Diabolic Tutor
• End Hostilities
• Ill-Gotten Gains
• Increasing Ambition
• Kirtar's Wrath
• Phyrexian Rebirth
• Rise from the Grave
• Seize the Day
• Sunscour
• Vindicate
• Waves of Aggression
• Wrath of God

INSTANT (9)


• Boros Charm
• Mortify
• Path to Exile
• Psychotic Fury
• Return to Dust
• Savage Beating
• Swords to Plowshares
• Terminate
• Utter End

LAND (37)


• Arid Mesa
• Barren Moor
• Blood Crypt
• Bloodstained Mire
• Bojuka Bog
• Buried Ruin
• Cathedral of War
• Clifftop Retreat
• Command Tower
• Dragonskull Summit
• Forgotten Cave
• Godless Shrine
• Haunted Fengraf
• Homeward Path
• Isolated Chapel
• Lavaclaw Reaches
• Mana Confluence
• Marsh Flats
• Mountain
• New Benalia
• Nomad Outpost
• Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
• Opal Palace
• 2 Plains
• Rogue's Passage
• Sacred Foundry
• Secluded Steppe
• Shizo, Death's Storehouse
• Sunhome, Fortress of the Legion
• Swamp
• Temple of Malice
• Temple of Silence
• Temple of the False God
• Temple of Triumph
• Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
• Winding Canyons

This deck is just wicked. People are used to boardwipes in EDH, but usually not quite to this extent. You can reasonably boardwipe three turns in a row, what with all the tutoring (Demonic Tutor, Increasing Ambition etc.) and recursion (Anarchist, Ill-Gotten Gains etc.) in the deck. Only decks with amazing card draw can compete with this kind of destruction.

To make sure you can't be attacked from any angle, the deck also sports good targeted removal (you can't compete with Utter End, another wonderful card from Khans of Tarkir), other indestructible-sporting creatures (the Gods of Theros are especially enticing) and extra combat phase spells. The God Squad is there to provide a little extra with their passive effects, but if and when they turn online, your opponents are in for a beating.

And there's the rub: all of these cards are expensive. Even if you manage to get wonderful deals for the cards, the deck still sports a price tag of around 400 dollars. What's more, many of the expensive cards in the deck are irreplaceable with the current strategy. You can't take the boardwipes out of a deck that intends to win with repeated boardwipes. What's a budget player to do?

Change strategy, that's what. Boardwipes are still going to be a part of the deck's plan, but we'll move towards an aggressive recursion deck. Instead of expensive indestructible creatures, the deck will sport creatures that return themselves from the graveyard or provide benefits as they go away. Instead of focusing solely on Zurgo, the deck will embrace a more rounded-out offensive strategy. Commence raid!

Always a Bigger Fish - Zurgo Helmsmasher EDH

ARTIFACT (14)


• Boros Cluestone
• Darksteel Ingot
• Fireshrieker
• Grappling Hook
• Loxodon Warhammer
• Mardu Banner
• Nemesis Mask
• O-Naginata
• Orzhov Cluestone
• Sol Ring
• Tenza, Godo's Maul
• Trailblazer's Boots
• Vorrac Battlehorns
• Whispersilk Cloak

CREATURE (19)


• Anarchist
• Archetype of Aggression
• Blood Artist
• Butcher of Malakir
• Dimir House Guard
• Falkenrath Noble
• Fleshbag Marauder
• Ghostblade Eidolon
• Hellkite Charger
• Luminate Primordial
• Mageta the Lion
• Netherborn Phalanx
• Ogre Slumlord
• Pawn of Ulamog
• Silverblade Paladin
• Slum Reaper
• Solemn Simulacrum
• Tajic, Blade of the Legion
• Wrecking Ogre

ENCHANTMENT (7)


• Battle Mastery
• Dictate of Erebos
• Holy Mantle
• Proper Burial
• Rage Reflection
• Spirit Mantle
• Unquestioned Authority

INSTANT (8)


• Abolish
• Condemn
• Mortify
• Orim's Thunder
• Psychotic Fury
• Return to Dust
• Savage Beating
• Terminate

SORCERY (13)


• Day of Judgment
• Diabolic Tutor
• Flesh Allergy
• Ill-Gotten Gains
• Increasing Ambition
• Kirtar's Wrath
• Phyrexian Rebirth
• Rise from the Grave
• Seize the Day
• Sunscour
• Terashi's Grasp
• Waves of Aggression
• Wrath of God

LAND (38)


• Barren Moor
• Bojuka Bog
• Buried Ruin
• Command Tower
• Forgotten Cave
• Haunted Fengraf
• 7 Mountain
• New Benalia
• Nomad Outpost
• Opal Palace
• 9 Plains
• Rogue's Passage
• Secluded Steppe
• Sunhome, Fortress of the Legion
• 6 Swamp
• Temple of the False God
• Vivid Crag
• Vivid Marsh
• Vivid Meadow

The main focus of the budget deck is still on Zurgo: voltron him up at will and boardwipe as necessary. Your tools for giving Zurgo the push he needs are increased, although at the cost of the best method (destroying all other creatures). Always seek to give Zurgo double strike, because the 14 Commander damage he deals after that is quickly fatal - especially with double combat phases.

The deck also has a new interesting aspect in using Zurgo's less-flashy ability: gaining counters from killing opposing creatures. Nemesis Mask and Grappling Hook go a long way when you want to destroy a specific creature in combat, and since most other Commanders can't stand up to Zurgo's high power, you can repeatedly kill them by forcing them to block. And if Zurgo hits the 'yard, Dictate of Erebos and other when-dies effects take care of the rest.

Whew, I managed to get through the article without too many Conan references. Come back on Thursday, when I design a deck for a legendary creature that's been quite a contender in the competitive scene as of late.