Zedruu the Greatest of All Time

[HYDROduk]

Have you tried playing your current list in B3 tables though?

I am in a similar boat to tstorm in that I play with a small group of friends and we all just jam whatever deck we feel like playing without too much thought on brackets. But I would say a lot of their decks sit in the high 3 area and everyone runs some pretty strong commmanders (Jodah, Chatterfang, Firelord Azula etc). Zedruu always holds his own though unless someone has a god hand, but I also do still misplay quite a lot and tend to tap out early trying to get my engines setup instead of holding up interaction.

Also, at some point, we should play a game against each other. Zedruu vs Zedruu (a full table of Zedruus is a wet dream, but highly unrealistic. Unless we schedule it alltogether from this thread. Hmmmm.....)
It will be VERY interesting to play agaisnt people who know all the nooks and crannies of your deck ALMOST as good as you.

I actually just bought a webcam setup for Spelltable so I could be down for this depending on the timeslot. I am far from as good a Zedruu pilot as you guys so there might be others in this thread more up to the task.

[Hhatrick]

• Before I play with another group like this, it's time for updates, and I'll be intentionally powering down in the update.
• The next iteration needs more Howling Mines, multiple players not capable of maintaining relevancy is bad circumstances for my Zedruu, group draw fixes some of that.

Cant wait for this; Howling Mines always spark joy in the opening hand 👍🏻👍🏻

[HYDROduk]

The next iteration needs more Howling Mines, multiple players not capable of maintaining relevancy is bad circumstances for my Zedruu, group draw fixes some of that.

I have been thinking about adding in a few more group hug elements to my list as well. Temple Bell has been high on my cards to try list because I just love how Kwain, Itinerant Meddler feels on board. I have also been curious to try out Share the Spoils, because it seems like a really fun card that helps everyone to hit land drops and also possible share interaction and whatnot around.
Another howling mine effect that has peaked my interest is Struggle for Project Purity but it just doesn't fill the roll of being donatable which is too big of a downside IMO.

I have also been super tempted to put in Pendant of Prosperity but im worried I don't have enough cards that take full advantage of it. I have the Coveted Falcon to steal it back. Does Mirrormade and other copy effects work or would it still enter under someone elses control? Also tempted to try out Pumpkin Bombs because I was looking for more ways to discard cards to get Agatha's Soul Cauldron and Sunbird Standard // Sunbird Effigy online and also self donating cards that stick around just feel so good to smooth over that early game.

@tstorm823/@Sefir Would be interesting to see you guys tier/rank howling mine effects and gifts (seperately ofc) and give your thoughts on why you rank them where you do.

[tstorm823]

I have also been super tempted to put in Pendant of Prosperity but im worried I don't have enough cards that take full advantage of it. I have the Coveted Falcon to steal it back. Does Mirrormade and other copy effects work or would it still enter under someone elses control?

It would still enter under someone else's control, so long as it enters as a copy. Effects like Mirage Mirror work. Role Reversal works well with it. Grell Philosopher does it. But not things that clone the normal way as they enter.

@tstorm823/@Sefir Would be interesting to see you guys tier/rank howling mine effects and gifts (seperately ofc) and give your thoughts on why you rank them where you do.

That just doesn't work for the Howling Mines. Gifts are maybe doable, the utility of cards you intend to have under other people's control is not as situation dependent as group draw, but I don't think you can rank the group draw effects because the answer depends largely on your deck specifically.

Untap effects favor Kwain, Itinerant Meddler and Temple Bell, but those cards don't donate as well. They also are worse if you're taking multiple turns (or beginning phases) as they retain symmetry where Howling Mine does not. But they also work a little better with draw doublers, breaking that symmetry immediately instead of waiting a turn. Dictate of Kruphix is pretty low on the list in a vacuum, but if you put an enchantress theme in your deck, it might be the best one. Likewise for Dictate if you're an instant-heavy draw-go style deck. +1/+1 counter themes and big ramp feed Walking Archive, but a deck with 7 board wipes probably wants none of the creature version of the effect. Howling Mine will always be my favorite to see in an opening hand, cause of ease of cast, but they all shine in their own particular way given the right complementary pieces.

[Sefir]

I have also been super tempted to put in Pendant of Prosperity but im worried I don't have enough cards that take full advantage of it. I have the Coveted Falcon to steal it back. Does Mirrormade and other copy effects work or would it still enter under someone elses control?

It would still enter under someone else's control, so long as it enters as a copy. Effects like Mirage Mirror work. Role Reversal works well with it. Grell Philosopher does it. But not things that clone the normal way as they enter.

After removing Mirage Mirror from my list, Falcon and my beloved Grell Philosopher are my only cards that combo with Pendant. Next to MoM and something that provides 2+ mana ofc. If I ever bring back Sudden Substitution, this will be one of its combos as well.

@tstorm823/@Sefir Would be interesting to see you guys tier/rank howling mine effects and gifts (seperately ofc) and give your thoughts on why you rank them where you do.

tstorm covered almost everything. The only thing I will add about the whole "ranking of Howling Mine effects" thing is that I have cut them off almost completely of my own list. The ones that require just tapping like Kwain, Itinerant Meddler are too good with MoM ("2-card combo good" aka unplayable) and the ones that naturally draw cards like Howling Mine itself cannot be part of 4-card combos. Furthermore, I am rarely using Zedruu to donate my gifts any more, in the economy I am playing 3 mana to donate something is possible only as a desperate move. All my gifts are self-donated, like Pendant of Prosperity, Hithlain Rope, Humble Defector, etc., so the "it can be donated" is not something really important in my books. I suspect that the more you move upwards in the brackets, the more of a burden that "3 mana to donate something" becomes. Mana that can be used for protection, etc.