Okay kiddos. I've got another competitive budget legacy brew for you to stomp the $H!T out of your annoying friends without having to drop $800 plus for a set of Wastelands and Lilianas. This deck is called General Mills for the obvious reason that you mill your opponent out of the game. This ain't no ordinary average crap mill deck running crap scrub cards such as Tome Scour and Mind Sculpt. General Mills offers a gnarly prison style lock, and a butt load of counters, removal and draw spells. If you like playing control and you like winning games you are going to really enjoy this deck.
Winter Orb / Propaganda / Sphinx's Tutelage Your main strategy here is to stall your opponent and drop a Winter Orb locking up their mana. You will then follow up with a well placed Propaganda putting them in a seriously bad situation. They can choose to spend their precious locked up mana either to pay Propaganda costs and attack or they can attempt to cast a spell which you will likely counter. Note, Propaganda is cumulative in that stacking them will only further frustrate your opponent. Finally you will drop 1-3 Sphinx's Tutelage and with twelve strong main deck draw spells you will deck them in a few short turns. This happens considerably faster than what appears on paper, it is extremely effective. Seriously though, you will run into Emrakul and Abrupt Decay in Legacy. If you want to be competitive tournament wise, replace Sphinx with 4x True Name Nemesis when you get the cash and cut 2x Winter Orb for 2x Back to Basics.
COUNTER MAGIC:
Daze If there was ever a deck aside from Canadian Threshold or Stasis that benefits from a card like Daze this is it. Since your opponent's mana will be tied up with Winter Orb this is a no brainer as your opponent will not have the mana to pay for it's cost, but also it is nice in that it's drawback of returning an Island to your hand is actually a benefit in that you can replay it under Winter Orb "UNTAPPED".
Muddle the Mixture Sure it's not the best counterspell but it's "Transmute" ability ensures that you will get your much needed Winter Orb and also allows you to tutor up your lone Echoing Truth in a pinch. Plus, it's a counterspell.
Counterspell and Spell Pierce These are no brainers. Two of the best counter magic spells in the game that won't break your budget.
DRAW
Ancestral Vision Now that Dig Through Time and Treasure Cruise are out of the picture this is hands down the best draw spell available for blue control decks.
Brainstorm This card is ran obviously because it digs into the deck and is nice for hiding cards from your opponent's discard spells. The text of Brainstorm says: "Draw three cards". That being said it can often mill up to ten of your opponent's cards under a single Sphinx's Tutelage. Under two ST you can mill upwards of twenty cards. The list I have posted above does not run fetch lands for budget purposes which is fine, but seriously, buy yourself of set of Polluted Deltas and stop being wussy. They're only going to go up in value. You really want them here so that you can capitalize on Brainstorm by shuffling away your unwanted cards such as multiple copies of Winter Orb.
Rhystic Study This slot used to be Accumulated Knowledge but after testing Rhystic Study has proven to be the best draw spell for the job. The synergy it has whith Daze, Spell Pierce, Winter Orb and bounce spells is incredible.
Monastery Siege Another solid choice, great synergy with everything in the deck. You get draw, protection, what else do you need?
RAMP
Talisman of Dominance Not the fastest ramp spell in the game but also not the slowest as it doesn't come into play tapped such as Sky Diamond. Talisman of Dominance is here not only to ramp up your mana quickly but to ease the strain of Winter Orb on your mana supply. Your non-budget alternative is Chrome Mox, but honestly I really like the Talisman as you don't sacrifice card advantage for speed.
REMOVAL / BOUNCE
Unsummon / Echoing Truth These are pretty self explanatory however it is important to point out the synergy between bounce spells and Winter Orb. Echoing Truth can also save a Sphinx's Tutelage etc.. from an opponent's timely Abrupt Decay.
SIDEBOARD
This will be a work in progress however Cursed Totem and Surgical Extraction are absolute musts here and note that many of the cards on the sideboard are searchable with Muddle the Mixture. Elves can be a *****. Cursed Totem is your best friend here. Surgical Extraction is your protection from Abrupt Decay game two.
HONORABLE MENTION
If you really wanted to pimp out this deck you would likely run Force of Will over Counterspell and Chrome Mox over Talisman of Dominance however the deck is incredibly strong without them. Again, I highly recommend getting a set of Polluted Delta or some other fetch land to replace four of your Islands to maximize your Brainstorm potential. The following is a list of cards I did initially try but opted to cut after testing.
Visions of Beyond and Accumulated Knowledge I actually really want to run these cards. Visions of Beyond really shines late game as does Accumulated Knowledge but I'm not sure which is better. You can go by preference. Sadly VB isn't searchable with Muddle the Mixture as is AK. Rhystic Study has really taken the cake in this slot due to incredible synergy.
Gitaxian Probe These are great, but I couldn't find the room squeeze them in.
Mystic Remora This was initially tested but axed due to it's poor synergy with Winter Orb.
See Beyond Another good choice in the Accumulatd Knowledge / Rystic Study slot. It draws, digs, hides extra Winter Orbs and shuffles the deck. It doesn't however net you card advantage.
Tangle Wire Great card in this deck. The casting cost is a bit high as I'd like to see the mana curve lower especially since we are running Winter Orb but this card synergizes extremely well in this deck. Feel free and test it.
Snap A good alternative to Unsummon, possibly better as it untaps land under Winter Orb.
Ratchet Bomb / Powder Keg Either of these two should probably find their way at least into the sideboard if not main deck.
Arcanis the Omnipotent He's a killer dude, seemingly created for this deck but his casting cost is considerably high for a deck running Winter Orb. He also will likely become the target of removal the second you cast him as there are no other creatures.
Jace's Phantasm Cool card. Not as good as Delver of Secrets and like Arcanis running a few lone creatures in the deck only leads to your opponent finally getting to dump those removal spells that have been sitting in their hand all game.
Tome Scour / Mind Sculpt Lets start by mentioning that these types of cards suck bad. They do nothing else for you but a one time shot at milling your opponent a few cards. Utterly worthless. Don't test them.
So there you have it. I'll be adding to this thread over time. Feel free to add suggestions and have fun kicking the snot out of your buddies. Credits to this deck go to none other than myself and my good buddy Travis Hoiland the Magic guru.
We thought about that and I addressed it a bit with Echoing Truth as your main deck defense to responding to an opponent's Abrupt Decay targeting Sphinx's Tutelage. Game one your opponent will really be scratching their head trying to figure out what you are playing. Likely their AD will be wasted on other threats such as Propaganda etc.. In the event they do know what you are playing you are really wanting to mill away one to two of your opponent's Abrupt Decays leaving your deck with at least two to three Sphinx's Tutelage and two to one Abrupt Decays in our opponent's library. The opponent can't destroy all of our ST if 1-2 of their AD have already been milled. Aside from that yes, Abrupt Decay is a problem, we really address it game two with 4x Surgical Extraction on the sideboard. Also remember, this is a budget deck so you are likely not going to be sweeping any large tournaments but for the price tag it is extremely competitive and will mop up a good share decks. It's considerably more effective than it looks on paper.
GENERAL MILLS
Okay kiddos. I've got another competitive budget legacy brew for you to stomp the $H!T out of your annoying friends without having to drop $800 plus for a set of Wastelands and Lilianas. This deck is called General Mills for the obvious reason that you mill your opponent out of the game. This ain't no ordinary average crap mill deck running crap scrub cards such as Tome Scour and Mind Sculpt. General Mills offers a gnarly prison style lock, and a butt load of counters, removal and draw spells. If you like playing control and you like winning games you are going to really enjoy this deck.
4x Sphinx's Tutelage
Draw: 12
4x Ancestral Vision
4x Brainstorm
3x Rhystic Study
1x Monastery Siege
Lock Down: 8
4x Winter Orb
2x Propaganda
2x Pendrell Mists
4x Daze
4x Spell Pierce
3x Counterspell
1x Muddle the Mixture
Removal: 4
3x Unsummon
1x Echoing Truth
Ramp: 4
4x Talisman of Dominance
Land: 16
16x Island
3x Echoing Truth
2x Pithing Needle
4x Surgical Extraction
3x Cursed Totem
3x Chill
LOCKDOWN AND WIN
DRAW
RAMP
SIDEBOARD
2x Back to Basics
4x Surgical Extraction
3x Cursed Totem
3x Chill
HONORABLE MENTION
If you really wanted to pimp out this deck you would likely run Force of Will over Counterspell and Chrome Mox over Talisman of Dominance however the deck is incredibly strong without them. Again, I highly recommend getting a set of Polluted Delta or some other fetch land to replace four of your Islands to maximize your Brainstorm potential. The following is a list of cards I did initially try but opted to cut after testing.
So there you have it. I'll be adding to this thread over time. Feel free to add suggestions and have fun kicking the snot out of your buddies. Credits to this deck go to none other than myself and my good buddy Travis Hoiland the Magic guru.
Currently Playing:
Burning Reanimator
Eldrazi and Taxes
Bug Threshold
Enchantress
Dead Guy Ale
Combo Zombies
Pyromancer Pox
Then again, so are most cards in Legacy. But the deck is totally dependent on them.
Currently Playing:
Burning Reanimator
Eldrazi and Taxes
Bug Threshold
Enchantress
Dead Guy Ale
Combo Zombies
Pyromancer Pox