It is the will of Zedruu that you have this win condition. Take it. It's all yours.

What, do you want to win the game or not? The others at the table might not be so big on it, but here you go. It's your problem now. I'll be sitting over here gaining life and drawing cards.

Oh, I see you were able to dispose of that Darksteel Reactor. Do you not like winning the game?

In that case, here. It is the will of Zedruu that you have this Serra Avatar copy. You know, the one I made with this sweet Soul Foundry. You can hit all your friends with it. Just not me. I'm locked away here in my pillow fort, drawing cards and gaining life.

Why are you all mad at me? I just want you all to enjoy the thrill of victory! What's a friendship or two along the way?

Oh, now you just had to go and blow up that token. Fine.

It is the will of Zedruu that you have this decklist. May it serve you well.

Zedruu, Target Painter | Commander | Kendra Smith

• Commander (1)
• 1 Zedruu the Greathearted

• Creatures (17)
• 1 Angelic Arbiter
• 1 Archangel of Tithes
• 1 Azor's Elocutors
• 1 Brion Stoutarm
• 1 Chromeshell Crab
• 1 Creepy Doll
• 1 Felidar Sovereign
• 1 Fog Bank
• 1 Hellkite Tyrant
• 1 Isperia, Supreme Judge
• 1 Lighthouse Chronologist
• 1 Magus of the Tabernacle
• 1 Peacekeeper
• 1 Serra Ascendant
• 1 Serra Avatar
• 1 Solemn Simulacrum
• 1 Windborn Muse

• Planeswalkers (10)
• 1 Ajani Goldmane
• 1 Ajani, Caller of the Pride
• 1 Dack Fayden
• 1 Elspeth, Knight-Errant
• 1 Elspeth, Sun's Champion
• 1 Jace Beleren
• 1 Jace, Architect of Thought
• 1 Narset Transcendent
• 1 Ral Zarek
• 1 Venser, the Sojourner

• Instants (6)
• 1 Counterspell
• 1 Cyclonic Rift
• 1 Dissipate
• 1 Enlightened Tutor
• 1 Path to Exile
• 1 Swords to Plowshares

• Sorceries (3)
• 1 Austere Command
• 1 Fiery Gambit
• 1 Wrath of God

• Enchantments (16)
• 1 Assemble the Legion
• 1 Chance Encounter
• 1 Collective Restraint
• 1 Copy Enchantment
• 1 Crackdown
• 1 Dictate of Kruphix
• 1 Ghostly Prison
• 1 Goblin Bomb
• 1 Goblin Festival
• 1 Impulsive Maneuvers
• 1 Propaganda
• 1 Reverence
• 1 Sphere of Safety
• 1 Test of Endurance
• 1 Tide of War
• 1 War Tax

• Artifacts (10)
• 1 Chromatic Lantern
• 1 Crawlspace
• 1 Darksteel Reactor
• 1 Howling Mine
• 1 Krark's Thumb
• 1 Norn's Annex
• 1 Phyrexian Processor
• 1 Sensei's Divining Top
• 1 Sol Ring
• 1 Soul Foundry

• Lands (37)
• 3 Island
• 3 Mountain
• 3 Plains
• 1 Adarkar Wastes
• 1 Arid Mesa
• 1 Battlefield Forge
• 1 City of Brass
• 1 Clifftop Retreat
• 1 Command Tower
• 1 Exotic Orchard
• 1 Fiery Islet
• 1 Flooded Strand
• 1 Glacial Fortress
• 1 Hallowed Fountain
• 1 Mana Confluence
• 1 Maze of Ith
• 1 Mystic Monastery
• 1 Plateau
• 1 Polluted Delta
• 1 Raugrin Triome
• 1 Reflecting Pool
• 1 Reliquary Tower
• 1 Sacred Foundry
• 1 Scalding Tarn
• 1 Shivan Reef
• 1 Steam Vents
• 1 Sunbaked Canyon
• 1 Tundra
• 1 Volcanic Island
• 1 Windswept Heath
• 1 Wooded Foothills

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Back in May, I wrote a piece for one of my Casual Commander Night streams (which hasn't happened in a bit due to schedule issues) and talked about the decks I was playing. One of these decks was #LuckVampire Mathas. When describing the deck, I talked a bit about how I was actually a bit experienced with the coin flip aspect of it thanks to a Brion Stoutarm alternate win conditions deck that evolved into a Zedruu deck when Commander 2011 was released. Recently I was able to find an old list and throw it together (with a few very minor upgrades) for a few games with friends and today I'm bringing it to you in all its glory.

So how did this deck come about? Well, one day I got the crazy idea of doing some kind of nonsense with alternate win conditions. As this all happened nearly a decade ago now, I couldn't tell you my exact thought process through it all. What I can tell you, though, is that I determined Boros to have the biggest density without going too overboard. I settled on Brion Stoutarm because of some shenanigans where he himself can win games using Soul Foundry and Serra Avatar to repeatedly pick off opponents and double your life total in the process.

It was a lot more jam packed with win conditions than the list you see above. I even tried to work out incredibly convoluted ways to get Barren Glory to work! Near-Death Experience and Worship were also a thing that I would try to do. Once Zedruu came along, things changed a little and I decided to trim a few cards. This would allow me to add Blue and put in a bunch of other sweet cards, including more Howling Mine effects, pillow fort abilities, and more.

The focus of the deck also shifted. Now, while you can still play it roughly the same and win using these alternate conditions, there's a new line of attack: giving them to your opponents. You see, if you give your opponent something that's about ready to go off - be it a win condition, a planeswalker in ultimate range, etc. - it turns them into a target. This will make your opponents want to go after them more than they'll want to go after you while you sit happily behind a wall of Ghostly Prisons and Crawlspaces.

There's so many ways to go nuts with this deck. Do you take your opponents' stuff? Maybe you can take enough artifacts for Hellkite Tyrant? Spit out 20/20 Phyrexian Processor tokens and pass them around the table? Maybe you want to get that Lighthouse Chronologist all the way up to max level counters or else try winning the hard way with Chance Encounter or Darksteel Reactor.

Most of this list is pretty old by now too and you may notice there are virtually no cards more recent than the Tarkir block outside of some lands. You could probably add in some new things like the powerhouse walker of Teferi, Hero of Dominaria, or something like Mechanized Production. Heck, you could even try to make Happily Ever After somehow work! Even if your opponents don't get to make it work, you almost certainly could. There's enough going on in this list that I can't imagine it'd be hard to get all the different permanent types or to gain the necessary life.

The big thing here, though, is that at the end of the day you want to be doing what you can to pit your opponents against one another. Make them fight amongst themselves while you take over and win yourselves. Or hey, maybe one time they decided to say "nah, screw you Zedruu, we'll let our buddy win for a change here." Either way, someone's going to walk away happy while you get to revel in the chaos.

Instill a little anarchy at your next EDH pod. It is the will of Zedruu.

Kendra Smith

Twitter: @TheMaverickGal

Twitch: twitch.tv/themaverickgirl

YouTube: Kendra Smith