So I was inspired by a friend who told me he wanted to get into the modern format and that he wanted to play a mill deck; Then when i was play-testing one of my more aggressive decks on MTGO i had one beat me hands down. The one that beat me was a bit out of budget since it used heavy fetch lands etc...but the core should be Really Cheap. So why play A mill deck? Mill has may advantages and with the right cards can destroy combo decks and stay alive long enough to beat out many aggressive build with cards like Crypt Incursion. The best part is since it is very uncommon to see other mill decks the amount of sideboard hate against you will be slim to none (except graveyard hate which can sting a little bit, but not hurt us too badly.)
Hedron crab This little guy may hit a bolt many times, but even without fetches can drain a players library very quickly Glimpse the Unthinkable Ten cards for 2 mana this is exactly what heps us win Archive Trap Almost every Tier one deck uses some sort of fetch lands (Even some of the mono color one) If you splash white it also makes Path to Exile even better. Visions of Beyond Becomes an early Ancestral Recall with little effort
Thought Scour Mills and Draws a card very nice. Mesmeric Orb Can Totally change the way your opponents play, and you will Get cards off it. Crypt Incursion Buys time versus aggressive creature based decks like zoo and affinity. Dream Twist Mills then mils again (works well with orb if it gets milled) Jace's ErasureCan helo mill a few more, some people like it some don't Mind Funeral It's Sporadic, but can go deep many times. Average would be somewhere around 12 Jace's Phantasm If going for a more creature heavy deck a 5/5 flyer for U is Pretty good
Also a certain amount of targeted discard and creature removal Such as Inquisition of Kozilek and Dismembercan have a place in the deck for stability
Again the best part of these setups is that there are many different ways to play the, these are jsut a couple i came up with. The decks do become more consistent and fast with the addition of shock lands and fetch lands, but you don't need them to start out. You can go mil for the win condition like i said, You can go more creature heavy mill possibly with Phenax, God of Deception , You can go Delver/Jace's Phantasm for amazing creatures early game. The sky is the limit, looking forward to everyone's thoughts to see how this deck evolves.
Oh my god man, I've been dreaming with something like this last days, I promise you! remembering my dear Owling Mine times from 2006-2007 :__)
I just thought about Exhaustion, Boomerang, Gigadrowse... a mix version between discard + boomerangs
It isn't budget friendly, but I think Snapcaster should be in this deck (I mean, develop different budget versions of the deck, including a competitive one with no-limit money).
ATM I'm busy with exams, but I'll keep an eye on this project
I have a free hour, so I decided to search interesting thinks for this deck. It isn't a list, for sure, I am SO BAD making lists (good ones), but I might have some ideas.
Here it's a list of potential cards for this deck on different versions:
Great ideas some are better for side board like leyline of the void. 5 Seems pretty difficult to get to in the build, but i forgot about a few of the X cost ones thanks for the post
I JUST FORGOT THE BEST ONE. Maralen of the Mornsong <--- Im joking, no player die cause deck drawing if maralen stays on the battlefield.
But Ghost Quarter for searching library may save us the painful white splash for pte). Also twincast of any of our heavy card removers are a great treat too)
I have to test this! Hehehe
(yes, I know that most of these 4-5 mana cards are for casual play but avatar of woe are pretty useful against creature decks)
I noticed there isn't any Breaking // Entering in the decklist, I think it's a good substitute for Glimpse the Unthinkable from a budget perspective and should be mentioned as an alternative.
I think every mill deck should have Jace Beleren in it, as he keeps cards going into your hand, he gets huge fast, and he takes cards off of your opponents library. At only around $8 a piece, he'll help the deck out more than most other cards would.
I agree with whoever said they would stick ghost quarter in over splashing white for Path. No need to muck up your land base with another color, it just adds inconsistency and more money into the equation.
Don't use Traumatize.
Ever.
Unless you can play it first or second turn(which I sure haven't found an easy way to do yet), it's pointless to mill 15 cards on 5th turn. Haunting Echoes is the way you want to go if you want something that'll really mess your opponents up.
Has there been mention of Surgical Extraction or Extirpate yet? Both are amazingly good at early game removal in a mill deck.
>It can be used to manafix
>It can disturb manabases
>It can trigger Archive Trap
>It lowers lands in deck, so Mind Funeral can dig deeper
>It can be used to trigger Hedron Crab twice in a turn
>It mills for one
Also, if used along with Path to Exile (and all the mill, of course) you can get to a situation where your opponent runs out of basics, making GQ a better wasteland.
I'll post my list in a bit. However, just so you guys know,Chronic Flooding will net the same reaction as if I was playing Merfolk and just dropped a spreading seas. Its awesome.
Edit: Here it is.
Since this is mill I built this deck with one main goal in mind. To live long enough to actually win. The most optimal build that came to mind would be Esper Controlish Mill. The trick is to live long enough to get to seven mana. Where Supreme Verdict and Bitter Ordeal make for a very nasty one turn, nearly unstoppable combo. Hitting on average about 8, which is usually enough for an opponent to enter the scoop phase as I removed the last of their wincons.
The Board is constructed to handle the two direct lynch pins to the deck. Leyline of Sanctity and Burn.
Yeah, seems really good I'll try some and see how they work. As for my deck's performance, only tried it out against a friend's Merfolk but it did great considering uncounterable board wipes absolutely kills them. 3-0 easily. Also as a side note, out of the 50 or so kitchen table games I've played with this deck, I can only remember being mana screwed three times.
The reason I didn't go with those is while they have some synergy with Hedron Crab, it is not worth the reward. Delaying mill that extra turn can cost games. Instead, to make up for the lack of Fetches I went with higher land count, at least compared to what I normally would run for mill. It's a good idea, but IMO, not worth it because of how much removal those crabs tend to eat.
Mill just recently got a Top8. http://www.mtgtop8.com/event?e=7727&d=244567&f=MO
Now some possible suggestions to make this budget friendly;
-4 Glimpse the Unthinkable
-2 Damnation
-8 Fetches
+4 Mind Scuplt
+2 Supreme Verdict/Day of Judgement
+2 Breaking / Entering
+1 Shelldock Isle
+1 Darkslick Shores
+1 Hallowed Fountain
+5 Isolated Chapel/Glacial Fortress/Drowned Catacombs/Island/Swamp/Plains
I've built a UB speed mill before. Here is what I came up with. Ran it kinda like burn where instead of burning them out you mill them in an all out assault.
then the 22 appropriate lands and mill away. The top curve is 3 with 8 draw. You get a good chance to turn one hedron crab or tom scour. then from there every turn you should be milling at least 7. On average you should win by turn 4 or 5 at the latest. Then you can sideboard it up to help against aggro matches that kill you too quickly or against control if need be. But unless its pure counter based control you should have the advantage.
What would be good creatures to pick if one wanted to make a Mill Deck that focused on both aggro and the mill? I know of Jace's Phantasm and Nihilith but are there any other good, preferably very cheap beaters one could use? I know Narcomoeba and Tombstalker are both good options if you use cards that mill both you and your opponent, so are there any reliable cards that do a good job of that?
edit: NOXIOUS REVIVAL. I've been playtesting it and it is astoundingly good. Seriously give this a shot.
So I was inspired by a friend who told me he wanted to get into the modern format and that he wanted to play a mill deck; Then when i was play-testing one of my more aggressive decks on MTGO i had one beat me hands down. The one that beat me was a bit out of budget since it used heavy fetch lands etc...but the core should be Really Cheap. So why play A mill deck? Mill has may advantages and with the right cards can destroy combo decks and stay alive long enough to beat out many aggressive build with cards like Crypt Incursion. The best part is since it is very uncommon to see other mill decks the amount of sideboard hate against you will be slim to none (except graveyard hate which can sting a little bit, but not hurt us too badly.)
Hedron crab This little guy may hit a bolt many times, but even without fetches can drain a players library very quickly
Glimpse the Unthinkable Ten cards for 2 mana this is exactly what heps us win
Archive Trap Almost every Tier one deck uses some sort of fetch lands (Even some of the mono color one) If you splash white it also makes Path to Exile even better.
Visions of Beyond Becomes an early Ancestral Recall with little effort
Thought Scour Mills and Draws a card very nice.
Mesmeric Orb Can Totally change the way your opponents play, and you will Get cards off it.
Crypt Incursion Buys time versus aggressive creature based decks like zoo and affinity.
Dream Twist Mills then mils again (works well with orb if it gets milled)
Jace's ErasureCan helo mill a few more, some people like it some don't
Mind Funeral It's Sporadic, but can go deep many times. Average would be somewhere around 12
Jace's Phantasm If going for a more creature heavy deck a 5/5 flyer for U is Pretty good
Also a certain amount of targeted discard and creature removal Such as Inquisition of Kozilek and Dismembercan have a place in the deck for stability
4 Hedron Crab
Other Spells 36
4 Archive Trap
4 Jace's Erasure
4 Visions of Beyond
4 Thought Scour
4 Dream Twist
4 Crypt Incursion
4 Mind Funeral
4 Duress
4 Doom Blade
13 Island
7 Swamp
4 Hedron Crab
Other spells 36
4 Visions of beyond
4 Archive Trap
4 Glimpse the Unthinkable
4 Thought Scour
2 Crypt Incursion
2 Mesmeric orb
4 Mind Funeral
4 Inquisition of Kozilek
4 Doom Blade
4 Dream Twist
3 Drowned Catacomb
4 Darkslick Shores
9 Island
4 Swamp
Of Course Shock lands dismembers etc... Will help
4 Hedron Crab
Other Spells 36
4 Archive Trap
4 Glimpse the Unthinkable
4 Visions of Beyond
2 Crypt Incursion
2 Mesmeric Orb
4 Mind Funeral
4 Thought Scour
4 Path to Exile
4 Inquisition of Kozilek
4 Spell Pierce
2 Drowned Catacomb
4 Darkslick Shores
4 Seachrome Coast
6 Island
3 Swamp
1 Plains
Bile Blight Great against tokens and squadron hawks
Ætherize Good against aggressive decks
Engineered Explosives Good against merfolk and hatebears
Tormod's Crypt or Rest in peace Good against grave based decks
white has all it's usual suspects of hate if your are in it to include: Ethersworn Canonist, Leyline of sanctity, Kataki, War's Wage, Silence, and Stony Silence
WDeath and TaxesW
RWGBurnGWR
I just thought about Exhaustion, Boomerang, Gigadrowse... a mix version between discard + boomerangs
It isn't budget friendly, but I think Snapcaster should be in this deck (I mean, develop different budget versions of the deck, including a competitive one with no-limit money).
ATM I'm busy with exams, but I'll keep an eye on this project
And yes I remember the howling mine days been playing since 1994
WDeath and TaxesW
RWGBurnGWR
Here it's a list of potential cards for this deck on different versions:
Death's Approach (B dismember for creature decks, cheap)
Horrifying Revelation (B discard + 1 topdeck)
Memory Sluice (nice for creature version deck)
Breaking/Entering (cheaper GTU)
Chronic Flooding (for cheaper versions of this deck)
Jace's Erasure (we have plenty of drawing cards)
Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver (affordable planeswalker)
Jace Beleren (same thing)
Nighthowler
Bitter Ordeal (perfect combination huhu)
Curse of the Bloody Tome (cheapest version of this deck...maybe)
Psychic Strike (just counter, prefer remand obviously)
Sanity Grinding (bad mana dependant, so good on cheaper versions with more >=3 cost)
Countermand (I get one foil on the last draft I've played, and it's only 2 cent)
Dreamborn Muse (just one nice creature)
Grisly Spectacle (powerful removal against stompy)
Leyline of the void (SB grav hate)
Lazav, Dimir Mastermind (funny one)
Consuming Aberration (so expensive, but also so good)
Haunting Echoes
Jace, Memory Adept
Nemesis of Reason
Spellweaver Volute (finisher)
Traumatize (classic)
Avatar of Woe
Chancellor of the Spires (haha I think it's fun)
Increasing Confusion (interesting flashback)
Mind Grind (may be better than the last one)
WDeath and TaxesW
RWGBurnGWR
Maralen of the Mornsong <--- Im joking, no player die cause deck drawing if maralen stays on the battlefield.
But Ghost Quarter for searching library may save us the painful white splash for pte). Also twincast of any of our heavy card removers are a great treat too)
I have to test this! Hehehe
(yes, I know that most of these 4-5 mana cards are for casual play but avatar of woe are pretty useful against creature decks)
WDeath and TaxesW
RWGBurnGWR
Signature by Syndarion from Aeternal Studios!
[Deck/Primer] Knights in Legacy
[Deck] Darth Knights in Legacy
[Deck] Casual Knights in Legacy
[Deck/Primer] Modern Knights
[Deck/Primer] Modern Ninjas
LEGACY
Legacy Knights Variants WG,WU,WR,WB,W,B
Soldiers Stompy W
NinjaStill UB
FOWless Merfolk UW
Aggro Elves G
MODERN
Modern Knights Variants WG,BR
Modern Ninjas Variants UB,UG,UW,UWR
Modern Kithkins WR,W
I think every mill deck should have Jace Beleren in it, as he keeps cards going into your hand, he gets huge fast, and he takes cards off of your opponents library. At only around $8 a piece, he'll help the deck out more than most other cards would.
I agree with whoever said they would stick ghost quarter in over splashing white for Path. No need to muck up your land base with another color, it just adds inconsistency and more money into the equation.
Don't use Traumatize.
Ever.
Unless you can play it first or second turn(which I sure haven't found an easy way to do yet), it's pointless to mill 15 cards on 5th turn. Haunting Echoes is the way you want to go if you want something that'll really mess your opponents up.
Has there been mention of Surgical Extraction or Extirpate yet? Both are amazingly good at early game removal in a mill deck.
>It can be used to manafix
>It can disturb manabases
>It can trigger Archive Trap
>It lowers lands in deck, so Mind Funeral can dig deeper
>It can be used to trigger Hedron Crab twice in a turn
>It mills for one
Also, if used along with Path to Exile (and all the mill, of course) you can get to a situation where your opponent runs out of basics, making GQ a better wasteland.
WDeath and TaxesW
RWGBurnGWR
Edit: Here it is.
4 Wall of Omens
4 Hedron Crab
Instant 16
4 Visions of Beyond
4 Path of Exile
3 Archive Trap
3 Mana Leak
2 Spell Pierce
Sorcery 14
4 Glimpse the Unthinkable
4 Mind Funeral
4 Supreme Verdict
2 Bitter Ordeal
1 Island
2 Swamp
3 Plains
3 Nephalia Drownyard
2 Watery Grave
2 Hallowed Fountain
4 Isolated Chapel
3 Drowned Catacomb
2 Glacial Fortress
4 Esper Charm
3 Pithing Needle
3 Ratchet Bomb
3 Leyline of Sanctity
2 Rest in Peace
The Board is constructed to handle the two direct lynch pins to the deck. Leyline of Sanctity and Burn.
WUBEsper MillWUB
WDeath and TaxesW
RWGBurnGWR
WUBEsper MillWUB
WUBEsper MillWUB
4 Marsh Flats
3 Shelldock Isle
3 Darkslick Shores
2 Misty Rainforest
2 Ghost Quarter
2 Scalding Tarn
2 Watery Grave
2 Swamp
1 Plains
1 Oboro, Palace in the Clouds
1 Hallowed Fountain
3 Augur of Bolas
4 Archive Trap
4 Glimpse the Unthinkable
4 Mind Funeral
4 Visions of Beyond
3 Surgical Extraction
3 Crypt Incursion
2 Breaking / Entering
2 Damnation
2 Stony Silence
3 Path to Exile
3 Grafdigger's Cage
3 Hurkyl's Recall
2 Leyline of Sanctity
2 Echoing Truth
Mill just recently got a Top8.
http://www.mtgtop8.com/event?e=7727&d=244567&f=MO
Now some possible suggestions to make this budget friendly;
-4 Glimpse the Unthinkable
-2 Damnation
-8 Fetches
+4 Mind Scuplt
+2 Supreme Verdict/Day of Judgement
+2 Breaking / Entering
+1 Shelldock Isle
+1 Darkslick Shores
+1 Hallowed Fountain
+5 Isolated Chapel/Glacial Fortress/Drowned Catacombs/Island/Swamp/Plains
WUBEsper MillWUB
4 Consuming Aberration
4 Glimpse The Unthinkable I will probably use my proxies for this until I can afford 4
4 Breaking // Entering
4 Mind Funeral
4 Archive Trap
2 Jace, Memory Adept
2 Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver
4 Surgical Extraction
3 Extirpate
2 Haunting Echoes
4 Drowned Catacomb
4 Darkslick Shores
6 Island
5 Swamp
I'm also concerned there's not enough Lands
4 Hedron Crab
Mill
4 Archive Trap
4 Mind funeral
4 Glimpse of the Unthinkable
4 Tomb Scour
4 Breaking//entering
3 Mind sculpt
4 Thought scour
4 Visions of Beyond
Plasewalkers
3 Ashiok, nightmare weaver
then the 22 appropriate lands and mill away. The top curve is 3 with 8 draw. You get a good chance to turn one hedron crab or tom scour. then from there every turn you should be milling at least 7. On average you should win by turn 4 or 5 at the latest. Then you can sideboard it up to help against aggro matches that kill you too quickly or against control if need be. But unless its pure counter based control you should have the advantage.
edit: NOXIOUS REVIVAL. I've been playtesting it and it is astoundingly good. Seriously give this a shot.