MTG Salvation

So my playgroup has started a Deck Building Challenge where we all put a theme into a hat then draw. The people doing this is 6 fairly veteran players with decent card basis. The themes put into the drawing was Enchantments/Auras, Equipment/Non-Equipment Artifacts, Creatures Power>4, Creatures Power<4, Pillowfort, Direct Damage/Life Loss, Mill/Discard, Blink, Tribal, Removal/Bounce. Each deck has to have a majority of the theme. The Themes that have this/that you cant do both so you pick one direction and go with it. The theme I drew was Mill/Discard and I chose to go with Mill, I am building it currently and by no means is the deck finished so any suggestions is greatly suggested. We are all going head to head a week from monday with the decks so I got alittle over a week to test/build it before it is taken apart and we build a new concept. No one knows the other themes people got and we have all agreed we wont ask each other the colors we are going to play. With that in mind If the card is really expensive I doubt I will order it.

Well here we are, the cards listed is what I have currently that I can put into the deck but please feel free to offer suggestions and if I like it/have it I am not opposed to trying it out :). I would also be willing to get certain cards if I see myself using them in the future.

So mill can work, but certain things need to be done to deal with bad matchups.

Mill can easily enable a reanimation deck, so cards like Planar Void and Leyline of the Void can work wonders in ensuring that this is not the case. It doesn't hurt that these cards synergies very well with Helm of Obedience, which is a sort of mill card and an instant win combo.

Eldrazi are also an issue in that they can prevent you from ever winning (I have seen a Szazdek, Lord of Secrets over a 200/200 and not be able to kill anyone due to Eldrazi). Cards like Extract, Rootwater Thief, Sadistic Sacrament, and Jester's Cap all do wonders in neutering these sorts of strategies.

If you are running Mindcrank, you might as well run a Bloodchief Ascension, which also combos infinitely.

Mesmeric Orb and Dreamborn Muse also mill at a quicker pace, and Forced Fruition can quickly cause opponents to run through their deck. Arcane Laboratory can ensure that they cannot use too many of these creatures. Glimpse the Unthinkable is the most mana efficient mill card. Windfall can force everyone to discard their hands and dig deeper into a dwindling deck.

Eater of the Dead and Morphling are easy to self-untap, while Turnabout, Freed from the Real, and Pemmin's Aura enable easy untapping.

I'll second the library-looting and graveyard-exile suggestions. That said, both the black and blue Primordials (names escape me at the moment) love when everyone has a full graveyard.

Brainspoil, Muddle the Mixture, Drift of Phantasms are useful, even when not transmuted.

All snow lands and Drift of the Dead?

Cheers!

A more effective milling counterspell is induce paranoia. Cyclonic Rift is a must in just about any multiplayer blue deck as far as I am concerned. Rite of Replication can really help with getting some beefy creatures that will help you mill with Phenax.
Strionic Resonator for all of those triggered abilities.

Seems like a back up plan of mill yourself and Laboratory Maniac would be a good plan B.

paragonweapon and krichaiushii made some good suggestions, many of which I use in my own Phenax deck. Slagwurm Armor can be pretty handy. Milled 2 players completely out one particular game. King Macar, the Gold-Cursed wasn't particularly threatening, even with Slagwurm on. Then Phenax hit the field and Freed from the Real hit the field attached to Macar. The Gold tokens created by Macar's ability you can sac for U to keep untapping him.

Mesmeric Orb is one of my favorites, especially with Eater of the Dead. I'll be milling myself a bit, but that just guarantees some extra fuel for Eater. Just be careful when you drop it into play. Piracy and Blustersquall are fun with the Orb, though Turnabout can help you untap your critters to mill more. Intruder Alarm can be much more helpful, especially if you can produce more than 1 token (such as with Gisa) and tap creatures in between each of the Alarm's triggers.

Or use Infinite Reflection on Myr Galvanizer. That's fun, too. Just be careful that Phenax is not in play or does not have devotion when you do so, or he'll become a Galvanizer.

I also can't recommend Chromatic Lantern enough.