Haven't played paper Magic or even Standard online since I sold off my paper collection, but was recently invited by some old friends to come play FNM. The problem here being I have virtually no budget, no paper cards, and realize with the shocks in standard, among other cards, that playing competitively by any stretch is far out of my budget.
I figured I may as well try and cobble something cheap and fun-ish to play though. More going just to see the friends, but may as well play instead of sitting around. Decided I'd like to try mill. This is the list I'd like to pick up, but from online testing so far, it just seems too slow, not to mention I'm not sure what I'm covering, as I'm unfamiliar with the popular decks in the format currently.
Biggest problem so far is everything seems to be aggro (at least online). The fog banks are pretty good at keeping back a couple things, but Rancor and tramplers nix that line of defense. Aetherize helps a bit against swarms, but at the same time doesn't help as much against the likes of haste creatures (the ones I'm seeing mainly Strangleroot Geist and Ash Zealot).
Unsure if the Drownyard, Sands, and Confusions are redundant. Drownyard actually seems to be working out the worst so far, Sands the best, as it lets me still mill a card or two with whatever extra mana I have. Increasing Confusion is nice, but I find that usually it's not worth the mana to cast the first time, as much as it is the second time.
Been considering Pilfered Plans for a bit of draw outside the scant amount from the singleton Think Twice and the two Thought Scours. Also not sure on the removal. Ultimate Price doesn't hit things like Wurm tokens or Boros Reckoners, but does hit some relevant things. Death's Approach seems like it should work well in combination with the mill, but I haven't tested that too much yet. Was considering Victim of the Night, but I'm not how sure I'd reliably have BB to cast it.
EDIT: Changed it up a bit after playing against another mill deck online. Not sure how I missed the Breaking half of Breaking // Entering. Mills as much as Mind Sculpt and if I wanted I could throw in some Izzet Guildgates and use the Entering half as a back up plan. That same deck ran no removal to make more room for mill and used Augur and Pilfered Plans, as well as more Thought Scours to keep the mill going. It also used Jace, Architect of Mind, but that's not in my price range.
As for the sideboard? It's really just a pile of junk I figured might be useful after playing against a good handful of decks in MTGO's tournament practice room, so it could use a lot of work.
Jace's Phantasm, is a good card for this deck. Other than that mill is always a tough call to build.
The only thing with Jace's Phantasm is, while it likes mill, mill doesn't particularly like it. The Phantasm's would be the only things dealing damage. Mill doesn't normally care what life total my opponent is at, while Phantasm does. Plus there's Thragtusks, which make beatdown with just 4 creatures a bit of an issue.
The two main types of mill in standard right now are called Millgro and Esper Control. Esper is more of a control deck that uses Nephalia Drownyards to mill the opponent out while Millgro uses the mill cards in combination of on yourself and your opponent to beef up Jace's Phantasm and Wight of Precinct Six.
Alright, attempted to try the 'millgro' root and online it's been testing a lot better than the defensive mill list I was trying out. Only problem is it gets pretty hosed by Rest in Peace. Can still mill my opponent out, but that doesn't seem to happen quick enough. Trying this now and considering putting Cyclonic Rift in the sideboard for bouncing troublesome enchantments and then perhaps countering them with Psychic Strike or Negate from the sideboard.
Also added in some red guildgates to splash the Entering half of Breaking // Entering
Still shoddy sideboard decisions, but Aetherize against aggressive decks - probably not necessary at this point - Duress against control and decks that bring in Rest in Piece, etc. Illness in the Ranks against tokens - not nearly as good once Intangible Virtue drops. Death's Approach as removal for when letting them pick with Devour Flesh and Away doesn't work. Ultimate Price for the same reason, but for decks running monocolored creatures and Negate for replacing removal or a Strike to be able to counter irritating non-creatures.
I'm thinking though that maybe I'll go:
-3 Aetherize
+1 Negate
+2 Cyclonic Rift
Rift works just as well against aggressive decks and tokens, though does cost more, and can give me borrowed time against troublesome non-creatures.
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I figured I may as well try and cobble something cheap and fun-ish to play though. More going just to see the friends, but may as well play instead of sitting around. Decided I'd like to try mill. This is the list I'd like to pick up, but from online testing so far, it just seems too slow, not to mention I'm not sure what I'm covering, as I'm unfamiliar with the popular decks in the format currently.
7 Swamp
4 Dimir Guildgate
Creatures - 4
4 Augur of Bolas
Artifacts - 3
3 Sands of Delirium
Spells - 30
4 Dream Twist
4 Mind Sculpt
4 Psychic Strike
4 Thought Scour
4 Pilfered Plans
4 Breaking // Entering
2 Aetherize
2 Increasing Confusion
2 Dimir Charm
3 Cremate
3 Illness in the Ranks
3 Negate
2 Dimir Charm
2 One-Eye Scarecrow
1 Aetherize
Biggest problem so far is everything seems to be aggro (at least online). The fog banks are pretty good at keeping back a couple things, but Rancor and tramplers nix that line of defense. Aetherize helps a bit against swarms, but at the same time doesn't help as much against the likes of haste creatures (the ones I'm seeing mainly Strangleroot Geist and Ash Zealot).
Unsure if the Drownyard, Sands, and Confusions are redundant. Drownyard actually seems to be working out the worst so far, Sands the best, as it lets me still mill a card or two with whatever extra mana I have. Increasing Confusion is nice, but I find that usually it's not worth the mana to cast the first time, as much as it is the second time.
Been considering Pilfered Plans for a bit of draw outside the scant amount from the singleton Think Twice and the two Thought Scours. Also not sure on the removal. Ultimate Price doesn't hit things like Wurm tokens or Boros Reckoners, but does hit some relevant things. Death's Approach seems like it should work well in combination with the mill, but I haven't tested that too much yet. Was considering Victim of the Night, but I'm not how sure I'd reliably have BB to cast it.
EDIT: Changed it up a bit after playing against another mill deck online. Not sure how I missed the Breaking half of Breaking // Entering. Mills as much as Mind Sculpt and if I wanted I could throw in some Izzet Guildgates and use the Entering half as a back up plan. That same deck ran no removal to make more room for mill and used Augur and Pilfered Plans, as well as more Thought Scours to keep the mill going. It also used Jace, Architect of Mind, but that's not in my price range.
As for the sideboard? It's really just a pile of junk I figured might be useful after playing against a good handful of decks in MTGO's tournament practice room, so it could use a lot of work.
The only thing with Jace's Phantasm is, while it likes mill, mill doesn't particularly like it. The Phantasm's would be the only things dealing damage. Mill doesn't normally care what life total my opponent is at, while Phantasm does. Plus there's Thragtusks, which make beatdown with just 4 creatures a bit of an issue.
Vi Veri Veniversum Vivus Vici.
Also added in some red guildgates to splash the Entering half of Breaking // Entering
2 Izzet Guildgate
2 Rakdos Guildgate
4 Dimir Guildgate
9 Island
5 Swamp
Creatures - 12
4 Jace's Phantasm
4 Wight of Precinct Six
4 Consuming Aberration
4 Breaking // Entering
4 Mind Sculpt
4 Thought Scour
4 Psychic Strike
4 Pilfered Plans
3 Far // Away
2 Devour Flesh
3 Aetherize
3 Duress
3 Illness in the Ranks
3 Death's Approach
2 Ultimate Price
1 Negate
Still shoddy sideboard decisions, but Aetherize against aggressive decks - probably not necessary at this point - Duress against control and decks that bring in Rest in Piece, etc. Illness in the Ranks against tokens - not nearly as good once Intangible Virtue drops. Death's Approach as removal for when letting them pick with Devour Flesh and Away doesn't work. Ultimate Price for the same reason, but for decks running monocolored creatures and Negate for replacing removal or a Strike to be able to counter irritating non-creatures.
I'm thinking though that maybe I'll go:
-3 Aetherize
+1 Negate
+2 Cyclonic Rift
Rift works just as well against aggressive decks and tokens, though does cost more, and can give me borrowed time against troublesome non-creatures.