I think you are drastically underestimating how powerful the creatures are in this deck, the Gurmag Anglers and Jace's Phantams are legitimate win conditions on their own. Depending on your initial cards and early draws your plan for the deck can switch from milling when you have a hand with multiple traps/glimpse the unthinkable/ field of run to a beat down style deck when you have a crab, a fetch, and gurmag/phantasm and will obviously change depending on what deck you are facing as well. In my experience you don't want to be playing a deck where your only way to winning is getting their 60 (really 53 or typically 45) cards into their yard when there are cards that get played which do a pretty good job of nullifying this strategy: Leyline of Sanctity/ Gideon of the Trials / Emrakul The Aeon's Torn and it just so happens that each one of those requires a different card to answer it and are easily replayable if you were are only able to bounce them with Echoing Truth or Set Adrift and they take up a lot of sideboard slots I would rather not use on an effect that wont win on its own.
Maniac Scribe is easily one of the worst cards you can play in mill.
The reason you would want to run cage over relic is that it doesn't affect the size of the yard (Visions of Beyond) or the contents (Crypt Incursion) while still shutting down pretty much every strategy which uses it aside for people using it to delve (GDS and UW Control) which I find are favorable matchups for you anyway. Yes you don't want multiples of Crypt Incursion, but in the matchups where you want it you would much rather increase the frequency you would draw at least 1 than worry about how often you draw 2, I have looked at the percentages and you absolutely want all 4.
I have tried running as many as 10 fetches before, but you actually want to hit your land drops and sometimes need 5 lands to hard cast an Archive Trap for the win, also the amount of damage you take from consistently fetching an untapped Watery Grave is overlooked. I have found that dropping a few fetches for Darkslick Shores has been a nice upgrade to the deck. I have also run Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth before and should perhaps add it back as well, Field of Ruin being colorless hurts you sometimes and having your fetches become swamps is great in games where every point of health matters. I have never played a game where being able to repetitively bounce an Oboro, Palace in the Clouds across multiple turns would won me the game, but being unfetchable can definitely hurt you vs a deck that attempts to disrupt your manabase so I cut it as well.
One of the reasons mill is even close to a somewhat competitive strategy is Shelldock Isle. Being able to cast an Archive Trap , Mind Funeral ,Glimpse the Unthinkable, or Crypt Incursion for U late in the game, especially when you able to drop a Fraying Sanity on turn 3 is massive. You typically want to wait to cast Glimpse until after you have a Fraying Sanity in play if you had it in your opener, so your turn 2 play can be crab into fetch into crab (9 cards) or crab into fetch to mill yourself both times (7 cards) and delve for a turn 2 Gurmag, or crab into uncracked fetch leaving up Fatal Push mana for their potential creatures.
The problem I see with adding in Cryptics/Seas/Serum visions is that the more your deck starts to mirror a UW/UWr/Grixis Control list, you're probably just better off running those lists as they have win conditions which can win on their own in the form of PWs/Burn/Geist etc rather than being a somewhat clunky semi-combo deck. I think a Sultai list with Tarmogoyf , Scavenging Ooze, etc could be interesting as well as having a deck that is a combination of self mill and the UB Living End deck and/or Goryo's Vengeance , but at that point you would cut out a lot of the mill spells and hardly ever win via actually milling your opponent.
I've played quite a bit of mill recently and this is the list I have come up with for the Hedron Crab/Glimpse the Unthinkable shell. I haven't tried building or playing it yet, but I could be convinced that the most competitive mill deck is actually much closer to current UW control lists (Cryptics/Spreading Seas/Counter Spells in the main) than a deck which runs playsets of 0/2 crabs which can't even block lol.
4 Sanity and 4 Angler 3 Phantasm dont go well together
Cryptic Command looks strange in the sideboard because this is not a draw-go deck
There are only 14 targets for Snapcaster, 7 of which are conditional and 3 are high cost (3cmc)
Grafdigger's Cage and Snapcaster dont go well together
Im not convinced Oboro should be in every Crab list but I definitely won games bouncing it.
Maniac Scribe is not one of the worst cards you can play in mill. It requires build around, then at worst he is mill 3 + removal discard and at best mill 12-18 + blocker.
I already outlined why the Anglers and Phantasms are there. My list is certainly not perfect, but including them gives you a decent shot of winning in games where you are likely to get blown out in if your sole win condition is milling their entire deck.
Perhaps look over the modular text on Cryptic Command, Choose 2: Counterspell, a significantly betterCyclonic Rift, Gigadrowse all of their creatures or Darkness whichever way you want to look at it, draw a card. The potential of buying you a 5th turn to make your 5th land drop allows you to resolve a hardcasted Archive Trap, Fraying sanity into Glimpse, or glimpse + mind funeral, etc. Cryptic Command can effectively be a Time Walk a ton of the time and think it should be a minimum 3 of in "competitive mill" lists going forward.
Snapcaster is a one of and is effectively an additional Glimpse/Push/Visions/Emergency flash blocker which can then revolt a fatal push to eliminate something like a Mantis Rider or Siege Rhino or any other 3 - 4cmc creature. This card can effectively 2 for 1 as removal in the mid game which will slow down your opponents clock to a large degree.
Grafdigger's Cage is in the sideboard and Snapcaster is a one of.
I took a look at the mill list in your comments to see where you are coming from, your Oboro is taking the place of Field of Ruin, which you are only running 2 of, this is an egregious mistake as you need this card to turn on the search to turn Archive Trap into a 3 mana spell rather than 5, this card is at minimum a 3 of.
Manic scribes were a thing prior to Fraying Sanity, again this is a card you are only running as a 2 of which is a consensus 3 - 4 of in every "competitive" list.
I think the current crab shell (lol) of UB Mill which uses 20+ "non tier 1" cards can only take it so far when trying to play it competitively and that a 24 - 25 lander semi-control build might be the way to go. This strategy would mainly revolve around resolving a Fraying Sanity and two of the bigger mill spells (Glimpse the Unthinkable/Mind Funeral) for double. Mandatory includes would be Cryptic Command, Serum Visions and Search for Azcanta (you need to dig) while having early disruption in Thoughtsieze/Inquisition of Kozilek and a few counterspells as well as sweepers like Damnation or Bontu's Last Reckoning. This type of strategy would definitely be a bit slower than that of "Turbo Mill" and will not give you any breezy wins from a triple Archive Trap on turn 1 (.4% draw), but would boost the overall win % which is what you should be looking for in any type of competitive build.
Ok this is what I came up with for a test build, the sideboard is pretty much just a hodge podge of 15 decent cards I threw in. The burn matchup is abysmal so wanted to try out Contraband Kingpin (played burn before adding it in), maybe go up to 3 Collective Brutality? Not really sure, but wanted something that could both prevent damage (in the form of blocking or absorption) and perhaps gain a bit of life to make our effective starting life total 24 - 26+ (at minimum it will eat a Boros Charm that would have gone to the face), Moment of Craving is perhaps an option as it is basically 2 modes that you would sometimes pick together from Collective Brutality just without having to discard which is massive, the 2 damage not going to their face is no big deal. I actually did end up cutting a Crypt Incursion as the new strategy effectively gives you a bit more life to work with, I could even see cutting all of them in the future, but I think I was correct about needing 4 when you aren't running cryptic command. I haven't tried Spreading Seas yet in UB Mill (I always play them in UW control), but don't think I can find room for them.
I listed the cards in each subcategory in the mainboard from top to bottom in terms of how I view their importance for the deck.
Lands
+1 Shelldock Isle, this card is by far the best option for mill, I wouldn't consider playing a mill list without 4 ever again.
-1 Field of Ruin, cut the archive traps out so not used to force the library search any more, obviously still useful against utility lands, but given that you sometimes need UB UBx UBUB UBUBx on turns 2 - 5, having 4 colorless lands can sometimes give you issues.
+1 Island, more UU and the added UUU requirement means an "extra" U land.
Creatures
+1 Snapcaster Mage, the deck has more resiliency now with Cryptic at the top end so depending on the situation you will find yourself flashing back every single card in the deck at some point in time.
+2 (new addition)Vendilion Clique, Awesome card, wouldn't consider playing without at least 1 in the main now.
-1 Hedron Crab, card is still decent but think 4 are excessive, if it was a 0/3 would almost certainly go back up to 4.
-2 Gurmag Angler, needed to make room for the Vendilion Cliques, doesn't work as well with the new strategy.
-3 Jace's Phantasm, still a decent card and incredibly underrated, but needed to make room to try out the new cards.
Instants
+3 (new addition)Cryptic Command, excellent card, has so many versatile options, wouldn't consider playing without them again. This is the glue that holds any Ux control deck together.
-4 Archive Trap , wanted to cut all of them to see how it works, could consider adding back in 1 - 2 or maybe 3, but think 4 is actually overkill and can actually hurt the strategy, running the full playset all but forces you to run 4 Field of Ruin if you're playing the "typical" lists with 21 - 23 lands.
Sorcery:
+2 (new addition)Inquisition of Kozilek, good to get some early info on their hand, you have disruption and counters in the form of Vendilion Clique and Cryptic Command further up the curve so you would like to have an idea of how turns 2 - 6 are likely to turn out. Not really enough slots to add more, once you add 4+ IoK/Thoughtsieze you're better off just cutting the mill spells and just playing a control deck.
Enchantment
+1 (new addition)Search for Azcanta, I think it deserves a least a single slot in the main, 1 in the SB for games which will go long.
-1 Fraying Sanity, either 3 or 4 are correct, I'm trying out 3 which allows for more room for trying out other cards in the main without affecting the overall strategy too much, I would probably cut an orb to add it back it.
Main deck seems fine. I'd write out all your sideboard plans and see how many bad cards you are able to replace with good cards and not just fillers like Echoing Truth.
I think I'd cut the 3rd Watery Grave or either Urborg/Oboro for a Hallowed Fountain/Godless Shrine so you have the capability of setting Explosives on 3. It gives you extra cards to kill Gideon of the Trials and other troublesome permanents at 3 CMC with very little downside to your deck. This is my best suggestion the rest of this is just random opinions from me and my experience with mill that you may or may not agree with and can feel free to discard if you want.
I hate Trapmaker's Snare and would play practically anything over it. I was boarding it out in a lot of matchups when I tested it.
You have anywhere from 8-11 cards that are bad vs decks with a small creature count (surgical/damnation/crypt incursion/fatal push) (decks like UW control/Grixis Death Shadow/Jeskai). I've never played with Bitterblossom so I have no idea how good it is. Is it good vs Grixis Death Shaodw? It feels good against UW, jeskai maybe not because they will just burn you out? Anyways, I feel like I would be boarding in Nihil Spellbomb which feels bad because I don't have anything better.
I live diversifying Fatal Push with a dismember or two so you have outs to Tasigur/Gurmag Angler and Gideon of the Trials.
What matchups are you excited to bring Nihil Spellbomb in against? U/R breach plays 4x Emrakul so it doesn't even help. Storm (ok seems good there). Grixis Death Shadow (I don't see how this keeps them off Gurmag Angler for more than a turn? You are just going to mill them in a turn or two and turn it back on). I've played a list similar to yours and the matchup feels like you either need to surgically extract Death shadow on their first turn in response to thoughtseize (so you need Trap + Surgical in your opening 7) OR you need to topdeck a bridge and dodge Snapcaster/K Command. Dredge (sure it's good, I would argue you have enough good cards where dredge is already a favorable matchup). Grishoalbrand (ok, seems good). The 1x Emrakul deck (KCI combo? Sun and Moon? Jeskai Nahiri? Most of these decks feel under-represented). I guess the argument I'm making is I don't see the value in using slots for Spellbomb. Surgical 4-5 offer more flexibility or Extirpate gives you a legit chance of beating U/R Breach.
As noted you could shave the Spellbombs for cards that can help in grindy/control matchups.
Is bitterblossom the secret tech this deck has been missing all these years? 3 copies seems like a lot where you could diversify this card into maybe: 1x Collective Brutality 1x Bitterblossom 1x Liliana, the Last Hope to give you more coverage in matchups. I'm a big fan of having a bunch of 1x and 2x cards in your sideboard to maximize coverage.
3 sweepers is a lot. I'm not sure how I feel about that.
Main deck seems fine. I'd write out all your sideboard plans and see how many bad cards you are able to replace with good cards and not just fillers like Echoing Truth.
I will do that next.
I think I'd cut the 3rd Watery Grave or either Urborg/Oboro for a Hallowed Fountain/Godless Shrine so you have the capability of setting Explosives on 3. It gives you extra cards to kill Gideon of the Trials and other troublesome permanents at 3 CMC with very little downside to your deck. This is my best suggestion the rest of this is just random opinions from me and my experience with mill that you may or may not agree with and can feel free to discard if you want.
that's a good idea, and somethign I was toying with already. Probably replace a Watery Grave.
I hate Trapmaker's Snare and would play practically anything over it. I was boarding it out in a lot of matchups when I tested it.
I can see that, and would probably cut it for the JTMS maindeck.
You have anywhere from 8-11 cards that are bad vs decks with a small creature count (surgical/damnation/crypt incursion/fatal push) (decks like UW control/Grixis Death Shadow/Jeskai). I've never played with Bitterblossom so I have no idea how good it is. Is it good vs Grixis Death Shaodw? It feels good against UW, jeskai maybe not because they will just burn you out? Anyways, I feel like I would be boarding in Nihil Spellbomb which feels bad because I don't have anything better.
Against low creature count decks, I'm definitely cutting all non surgical cards from that list. I like to keep Surgicals in, it helps me keep an eye on their hand to know if I can go for a mill spell, and it's fine to nab a 3 or 4 of just to thin their deck more. Perhaps Ashioks?
I live diversifying Fatal Push with a dismember or two so you have outs to Tasigur/Gurmag Angler and Gideon of the Trials.
hrmm. maybe one Dismember over 1 Push would be a nice hedge.
What matchups are you excited to bring Nihil Spellbomb in against? U/R breach plays 4x Emrakul so it doesn't even help. Storm (ok seems good there). Grixis Death Shadow (I don't see how this keeps them off Gurmag Angler for more than a turn? You are just going to mill them in a turn or two and turn it back on). I've played a list similar to yours and the matchup feels like you either need to surgically extract Death shadow on their first turn in response to thoughtseize (so you need Trap + Surgical in your opening 7) OR you need to topdeck a bridge and dodge Snapcaster/K Command. Dredge (sure it's good, I would argue you have enough good cards where dredge is already a favorable matchup). Grishoalbrand (ok, seems good). The 1x Emrakul deck (KCI combo? Sun and Moon? Jeskai Nahiri? Most of these decks feel under-represented). I guess the argument I'm making is I don't see the value in using slots for Spellbomb. Surgical 4-5 offer more flexibility or Extirpate gives you a legit chance of beating U/R Breach.
various ones you mention, plus Dredge, Tarmogoyf decks, some delve decks, Mardu Pyromancer/Bedlam Reveler decks, Living End. It's fine to bring in when you have dead draws (creature removal against the previously mentioned decks) and just cantrip it, also most of those low creature count decks play Snapcaster too, so decent there.
As noted you could shave the Spellbombs for cards that can help in grindy/control matchups.
Is bitterblossom the secret tech this deck has been missing all these years? 3 copies seems like a lot where you could diversify this card into maybe: 1x Collective Brutality 1x Bitterblossom 1x Liliana, the Last Hope to give you more coverage in matchups. I'm a big fan of having a bunch of 1x and 2x cards in your sideboard to maximize coverage.
It just felt like a decent bet to be able to get down early vs control when they don't want to counter it b/c they want to stop your mill cards and then they either have to counter it or let me start building a flying fleet.... which also happen to be hard to block and kill their PW'ers.
3 sweepers is a lot. I'm not sure how I feel about that.
metagame is notoriously more aggro than most, so extra sweepers is a good bet vs field.
Good luck at your tournament
thanks! will tune a bit off your suggestions and see how things feel.
I think the problem with mill lists in modern is that pretty much every card that you run which isn't a format staple (Fatal Push, Snapcaster Mage, Surgical Extraction, Damnation, etc) is underpowered compared to the the cards other decks are running in their place and there really isn't a huge payoff synergy between the mill cards to counteract having overcosted/underpowered cards making up such a large % of your deck. When you run the 22+ card mill package that must always be in the 60 that you play for a game, you are simply just a worse version deck of another archetypes no matter which direction you decide to take your deck with the few flex slots that you have available. If you are playing a prison style game with Ensnaring Bridges, you are flat out a worse Lantern Control deck, if you are playing a burn style game, you are a slower and more vulnerable burn deck (your mill cards/effects can only go to the face), if you have a control style game plan you are a worse control deck. Also the new unbannings are actually going to hurt the deck more than help it despite unbanning a powerful card in the main color of the deck. I don't exactly see how Jace, The Mind Sculptor is going to help overall, especially in the bad matchups for mill, but I can definitely see how it will hurt some of its better matchups like UW control. In the current meta I would assume that running 4x Ensnaring Bridges in the main and playing a prison style might give you the highest win %, but at that point you are better off just playing Lantern Control as I have already pointed out.
With my current view on the archetype I personally find it somewhat of a futile pursuit to tune the mill archetype any more, but figured there is no reason to not share my current thoughts on the archetype. I think the W splash and playing Esper is correct right now and is actually quite easy to achieve in the manabase with very few concessions. The access to Path to Exile main deck to compliment the narrower utility in Fatal Push is good and think you want a minimum of 5 targeted removal spells main deck so a 3/2 split in either direction or 3/3. Also I'm really liking main deck Timely Reinforcements as a 2 or 3 of, mill is super vulnerable to fast starts/ go wide from small creatures and you can also flash it back late game with Snapcaster Mage to give you that extra turn or two you need to survive to finish milling. White also has perhaps the best sideboard in modern right now with access cards which do a good job of increasing your win % vs multiple different decks inRest in Peace, Stony Silence, Celestial Purge, etc. I certainly don't feel that mill is terrible by any means and is definitely underrated overall, it just feels that it is missing a few cards which could make it truly competitive and that even a perfectly tuned deck would still fall a bit short compared to the other top tier decks being played right now.
Jonas what type of "adjusted meta" are you expecting to face? It is really hard to tune a mill list without at least a minor insight into what you expect to face in a given tournament. I'm assuming there are a lot of creature decks given the 3 Crypt Incursion main as well as 3 Damnation in your 75? I would definitely suggest cutting a Watery Grave for a Shelldock Isle, being able to cast one of the bigger mill "burn" spells for U in the mid/late game is one of the better payoffs for playing mill in the first place. I definitely like playing 4 Fraying Sanity rather than 3, drawing multiples certainly isn't a problem as glimpse/archive trap after is pretty much GG vs most decks. Mind Funeral is pretty good right now with a lot of lists on fewer lands, especially if you would be surgical extracting on some non-basic 4 of lands (Tron/Valakut), so would definitely not cut below 2 and if anything go up to 3+. If you're looking to cut one of the mill x cards to fit in a Jace, I would definitely look at Breaking // Entering first and with not running a Snapcaster Mage that makes it the sure pick imo. I still feel that the Gurmag Angler or Jace's Phantasm backup plan/alternate win condition is significantly better than just having mill as the only way to win with Echoing Truth/Set Adrift to back it up. I like the Bitterblossoms and think it is a strong candidate to main deck.
Hello all. I'm preparing for GP Phoenix and am leaning towards U/B Mill. My local meta has been very rough due to 3 mill players. As a result, the Tron decks all run a Titan. That said, I am hoping to make a run with Mill. Hopefully I can get some input and feedback.
Just a few quick ideas:
The 4 Ipnu Rivulet means I can run fewer mill spells. I've found the maindeck Mystical Teachings to be quite useful. It's part of a full package of Mesmeric Orb/Mystical Teachings/Snapcaster Mage. Snapcaster has been really good with Mesmeric Orb. The fact that Teachings can fetch Snap has been amazing. The maindeck Winds of Rebuke is my compromise to previously having 4 in the SB. The ability to bounce main deck problems yet mill has been useful. It means I'm not stone dead to main deck Gideon, Blood Moon, or other effects. Snap allows for cheap re-buys. In SB games, it hits Leylines and Blood Moons. The Collective Brutality was a concession to aggro or combo being around and I wanted some disruption.
The maindeck Ensnaring Bridge hasn't been working for me. I just can't dump my hand fast enough. It's also a non-bo with Visions from Beyond. I have been thinking about dropping the Bridge and either go up to 2 main deck Bontu's Last Reckoning and one card]Crypt Incursion[/card] or go 3 Crypt Incursions. The Bontu's Last Reckoning has been clutch because it costs only 3. Not untapping sucks (except for the weird interaction with Mesmeric Orb), but it is one turn faster against humans when Thalia shows up. Haunting Echoes is a pet card and fun-of. With Mesmeric Orb in play, it can lead to an opponent being milled down to basic lands.
Anyway, I am looking for ideas against reshuffling Eldrazi titans and also for R/B Hollow One. Assuming I'm stone dead game one, what's an ideal SB against them? The SB is still a work in progress. Is Leyline of the Void better or can 3-4 Nihil Spellbomb do better? I played against Tron and played Turn 0 Leyline and milled him for 30. He got a natural tron and killed me anyway. As for R/B Hollow One, is Leyline the goods or should it be Crypt Incursions and Surgicals? They don't mesh well, and it feels redundant. Suggestions wanted. Thanks for reading!
Hello all. I'm preparing for GP Phoenix and am leaning towards U/B Mill. My local meta has been very rough due to 3 mill players. As a result, the Tron decks all run a Titan. That said, I am hoping to make a run with Mill. Hopefully I can get some input and feedback.
The 4 Ipnu Rivulet means I can run fewer mill spells. I've found the maindeck Mystical Teachings to be quite useful. It's part of a full package of Mesmeric Orb/Mystical Teachings/Snapcaster Mage. Snapcaster has been really good with Mesmeric Orb. The fact that Teachings can fetch Snap has been amazing. The maindeck Winds of Rebuke is my compromise to previously having 4 in the SB. The ability to bounce main deck problems yet mill has been useful. It means I'm not stone dead to main deck Gideon, Blood Moon, or other effects. Snap allows for cheap re-buys. In SB games, it hits Leylines and Blood Moons. The Collective Brutality was a concession to aggro or combo being around and I wanted some disruption.
The maindeck Ensnaring Bridge hasn't been working for me. I just can't dump my hand fast enough. It's also a non-bo with Visions from Beyond. I have been thinking about dropping the Bridge and either go up to 2 main deck Bontu's Last Reckoning and one card]Crypt Incursion[/card] or go 3 Crypt Incursions. The Bontu's Last Reckoning has been clutch because it costs only 3. Not untapping sucks (except for the weird interaction with Mesmeric Orb), but it is one turn faster against humans when Thalia shows up. Haunting Echoes is a pet card and fun-of. With Mesmeric Orb in play, it can lead to an opponent being milled down to basic lands.
Anyway, I am looking for ideas against reshuffling Eldrazi titans and also for R/B Hollow One. Assuming I'm stone dead game one, what's an ideal SB against them? The SB is still a work in progress. Is Leyline of the Void better or can 3-4 Nihil Spellbomb do better? I played against Tron and played Turn 0 Leyline and milled him for 30. He got a natural tron and killed me anyway. As for R/B Hollow One, is Leyline the goods or should it be Crypt Incursions and Surgicals? They don't mesh well, and it feels redundant. Suggestions wanted. Thanks for reading!
Your local meta =/= GP meta. The odds of meeting an eldra titan in a GP is pretty low.
I'm not a fan of bridges, Bontu Last reckoning and Winds of Rebuke. Titi may replace bridge whole cryptic can replace the other two if you have them. I highly recommend testing cryptic. To turn on your bridges, you may want to run more CBs for the escalation to rid your hand. DO this if you expect to meet a lot of 5c humans and mardu pyro.
You can go up a Nihil spellbomb in your SB. More graveyard hate is always good and it cantrips since you may not have a leyline in your starting hand.
The fetches are ok, you may need them to turn on Push. 3 Ruins and 3 Quarters? That's an awful lot! Run 4 max. No wonder you are afraid of Blood Moon. Ipnu is meh. I'd rather have basics. 2 Watery Grave is fine.
Not a fan of Rebuke. I can see the use for it, though. I do not like surrendering G1 to sideboard, so I wont trash it. I feel you need 3 Crypt Incursion with 5c Humans out there. they come down fast, and they keep coming. By the time T3 comes, you need it, and bad! Add 1 more Mesmeric Orb, that gets around their Leylines etc.
With Affinity and Lantern Control out there, Welding Jar is more and more important.
Some secret tech is Bitter Ordeal. Crack a fetch, pop off a Fatal Push, and suddenly Bitter Ordeal became Sadistic Sacrament. This is great against Storm or Living End, even Tron. Field of Ruin them, and that's three targets you get to exile.
Last thing - add an Urborg. The ability to tap fetches for mana can be vital. Lets you save them for Push.
I wouldn't expect seeing Emrakul unless you are playing against U/R Breach and that matchup is quite miserable. Extirpate is the best card against them because they will counter surgical extraction and your spellbombs will not be able to extract all 4 Emrakuls at a time. With your configuration you will need to mull until you get a Leyline in order to win. I just try to dodge the matchup because even with the hate it still needs to resolve against a deck that never taps out. Also, just make a mental note that if you bring in Leyline of the Void it is going to shut off your visions of beyond/crypt incursion/fraying sanity so make sure those get out of your deck. I heard Tom Ross say he would side out 1 land when he brought Leylines in. I go back and forth with Leylines because it's such a dominating card when you are able to land it at the beginning of the game against Death Shadow and Storm. Bottom line, running an eldrazi for your FNM Tron deck may be smart but there is no way a competitive Tron list will run one when you can usually count on one hand the number of people playing Mill at a GP.
The decks where Ensnaring Bridge is good against (Hollow One, Death Shadow, Eldrazi Tron, Tarmogoyfs, Boggles, etc...) are all bashing with 5+ power and getting under 5 cards in hand is pretty easy. The matchups where you need to get under 2-3 cards in hand (burn, affinity, infect, zoo, elves, merfolk, death and taxes, etc...) you should be taking the bridges out and bringing in better cards. The matchups you need Ensnaring Bridge it is by far the most important card in your deck. With exception to the Humans deck where bridge has been good for me, the go wide decks that play a high creature count are usually bad for the bridge but amazing for Crypt Incursion/Profane Memento.
Echoing Truth > Winds of Rebuke. Echoing Truth actually has value in killing Lingering Souls/Pyromancer tokens and is a valid card against Empty the Warrens. Sometimes your opponent plays 2 Leylines on Turn 0 and you feel dumb having Winds of Rebuke in your hand. Due to your sideboard being small you will need to bring in cards like Set Adrift (big fan of Set Adrift) and Echoing Truth in matchups where you want more spot removal and have dead cards like Surgical and Crypt Incursion/Bridge that need to come out.
I've played against Hallow One like 3x and have faced T1 Hallow One every game except for T1 Burning Inquiry where I discarded all my lands. Playing grave hate against Hallow One doesn't really work because they just beat you down with Hallow Ones and Gurmag Anglers which dodge Fatal Push. If you want to prioritize the matchup you would have to replace some copies of fatal push with dismember and/or splash white for Path. I found myself wanting to cast Damnation against them on T4 every game. I find myself happy to have a copy of Damnation or 2 in my sideboard.
Against Tron you don't want to play Leyline of the Void. You want to Ghost Quarter/Field of Ruin/Glimpse the tron land they don't have on the battlefield and cut them off Tron for the rest of the game. You would board in your extra copies of Surgical and get rid of Fatal Push and Crypt Incursion. After you cut them off Tron if you draw another Surgical then extract Karn so they can't restart the game on you. Keep bridges in against Worldspine Wurm.
Leyline of the Void is more powerful if you are able to get it on the field when the game starts and is quite worthless if you draw it. Against some matchups you need to mulligan until you get it so your kind of playing a lottery with it and will know if you won or lost the game before the game even starts which will turn people off it. It is really good against some of our bad matchups (Storm and Death Shadow) which are matchups where you need to draw your hate in order to win unless they keep a terrible hand. Since you are playing Fraying Sanity in the maindeck you may actually want Spellbombs over Leylines so you can still take advantage of your synergies. I prefer playing 5 surgical effects in my 75 as my grave hate but these cards have a powerful effect in the matchups you need them for.
I don't think I like Mystical Teachings but have never tested it. If you use it to tutor for Crypt Incursion you won't be able to crypt until T5 vs Burn and you will most likely be dead. Against a Leyline if you are tapping out end of turn on t4 to tutor for a winds of rebuke to end of turn t5 bounce their leyline and then try to kill them on turn 6. Searching for surgical to extract a tron piece on T4 will work most of the time but is still risky. All in all it seems like if the combo deck is doing their thing you won't beat them with this card unless you have disrupted them prior (Burn/Ad Nauseum/Boggles/Living End/storm/Tron/etc...).
Thanks for the SB feedback. So how about 4 Leyline --> 3 Nihil Spellbomb and 1 Extirpate, to go along with the 2 Surgical Extractions? Perhaps the SB Winds to 1 Echoing Truth and 1 Set Aside? I might simply be too paranoid about Eldrazi due to the local meta and playing against that or any Breach deck is simply a lost cause.
Do the unbannings change anything? I would think an increase in UW control could be problematic with an increase in Snapcasters. Bloodbraid Elf migh increase Jund. That could speed up the clock, especially if cascades go into K Command, Tarmogoyf, or even Brutality.
So long as Bridge is up, what do any of those cards do to you? Well, ok, KC hurts, but that's why you have Welding Jar. You may need to be running that anyway, as everyone is heavy on artifact hate atm.
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Maniac Scribe is easily one of the worst cards you can play in mill.
The reason you would want to run cage over relic is that it doesn't affect the size of the yard (Visions of Beyond) or the contents (Crypt Incursion) while still shutting down pretty much every strategy which uses it aside for people using it to delve (GDS and UW Control) which I find are favorable matchups for you anyway. Yes you don't want multiples of Crypt Incursion, but in the matchups where you want it you would much rather increase the frequency you would draw at least 1 than worry about how often you draw 2, I have looked at the percentages and you absolutely want all 4.
I have tried running as many as 10 fetches before, but you actually want to hit your land drops and sometimes need 5 lands to hard cast an Archive Trap for the win, also the amount of damage you take from consistently fetching an untapped Watery Grave is overlooked. I have found that dropping a few fetches for Darkslick Shores has been a nice upgrade to the deck. I have also run Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth before and should perhaps add it back as well, Field of Ruin being colorless hurts you sometimes and having your fetches become swamps is great in games where every point of health matters. I have never played a game where being able to repetitively bounce an Oboro, Palace in the Clouds across multiple turns would won me the game, but being unfetchable can definitely hurt you vs a deck that attempts to disrupt your manabase so I cut it as well.
One of the reasons mill is even close to a somewhat competitive strategy is Shelldock Isle. Being able to cast an Archive Trap , Mind Funeral ,Glimpse the Unthinkable, or Crypt Incursion for U late in the game, especially when you able to drop a Fraying Sanity on turn 3 is massive. You typically want to wait to cast Glimpse until after you have a Fraying Sanity in play if you had it in your opener, so your turn 2 play can be crab into fetch into crab (9 cards) or crab into fetch to mill yourself both times (7 cards) and delve for a turn 2 Gurmag, or crab into uncracked fetch leaving up Fatal Push mana for their potential creatures.
The problem I see with adding in Cryptics/Seas/Serum visions is that the more your deck starts to mirror a UW/UWr/Grixis Control list, you're probably just better off running those lists as they have win conditions which can win on their own in the form of PWs/Burn/Geist etc rather than being a somewhat clunky semi-combo deck. I think a Sultai list with Tarmogoyf , Scavenging Ooze, etc could be interesting as well as having a deck that is a combination of self mill and the UB Living End deck and/or Goryo's Vengeance , but at that point you would cut out a lot of the mill spells and hardly ever win via actually milling your opponent.
4 Sanity and 4 Angler 3 Phantasm dont go well together
Cryptic Command looks strange in the sideboard because this is not a draw-go deck
There are only 14 targets for Snapcaster, 7 of which are conditional and 3 are high cost (3cmc)
Grafdigger's Cage and Snapcaster dont go well together
Im not convinced Oboro should be in every Crab list but I definitely won games bouncing it.
Maniac Scribe is not one of the worst cards you can play in mill. It requires build around, then at worst he is mill 3 + removal discard and at best mill 12-18 + blocker.
G Green Stompy
RG Shamans
UB Mill
UG Infect
WUBRG Slivers!
Perhaps look over the modular text on Cryptic Command, Choose 2: Counterspell, a significantly betterCyclonic Rift, Gigadrowse all of their creatures or Darkness whichever way you want to look at it, draw a card. The potential of buying you a 5th turn to make your 5th land drop allows you to resolve a hardcasted Archive Trap, Fraying sanity into Glimpse, or glimpse + mind funeral, etc. Cryptic Command can effectively be a Time Walk a ton of the time and think it should be a minimum 3 of in "competitive mill" lists going forward.
Snapcaster is a one of and is effectively an additional Glimpse/Push/Visions/Emergency flash blocker which can then revolt a fatal push to eliminate something like a Mantis Rider or Siege Rhino or any other 3 - 4cmc creature. This card can effectively 2 for 1 as removal in the mid game which will slow down your opponents clock to a large degree.
Grafdigger's Cage is in the sideboard and Snapcaster is a one of.
I took a look at the mill list in your comments to see where you are coming from, your Oboro is taking the place of Field of Ruin, which you are only running 2 of, this is an egregious mistake as you need this card to turn on the search to turn Archive Trap into a 3 mana spell rather than 5, this card is at minimum a 3 of.
Manic scribes were a thing prior to Fraying Sanity, again this is a card you are only running as a 2 of which is a consensus 3 - 4 of in every "competitive" list.
I think the current crab shell (lol) of UB Mill which uses 20+ "non tier 1" cards can only take it so far when trying to play it competitively and that a 24 - 25 lander semi-control build might be the way to go. This strategy would mainly revolve around resolving a Fraying Sanity and two of the bigger mill spells (Glimpse the Unthinkable/Mind Funeral) for double. Mandatory includes would be Cryptic Command, Serum Visions and Search for Azcanta (you need to dig) while having early disruption in Thoughtsieze/Inquisition of Kozilek and a few counterspells as well as sweepers like Damnation or Bontu's Last Reckoning. This type of strategy would definitely be a bit slower than that of "Turbo Mill" and will not give you any breezy wins from a triple Archive Trap on turn 1 (.4% draw), but would boost the overall win % which is what you should be looking for in any type of competitive build.
4 Shelldock Isle
3 Darkslick Shores
4 Polluted Delta
3 Flooded Strand
2 Watery Grave
3 Island
2 Swamp
3 Field of Ruin
Creatures(13)
2 Snapcaster Mage
2 Vendilion Clique
3 Hedron Crab
2 Gurmag Angler
3 Cryptic Command
4 Fatal Push
3 Visions of Beyond
Sorcery (9)
4 Glimpse the Unthinkable
3 Mind Funeral
2 Inquisition of Kozilek
Artifacts (4)
4 Mesmeric Orb
Enchantments (4)
3 Fraying Sanity
1 Search for Azcanta
3 Crypt Incursion
3 Grafdigger's Cage
2 Contraband Kingpin
2 Collective Brutality
1 Hurkyl's Recall
1 Damnation
1 Thoughtseize
1 Search for Azcanta
1 Dismember
Ok this is what I came up with for a test build, the sideboard is pretty much just a hodge podge of 15 decent cards I threw in. The burn matchup is abysmal so wanted to try out Contraband Kingpin (played burn before adding it in), maybe go up to 3 Collective Brutality? Not really sure, but wanted something that could both prevent damage (in the form of blocking or absorption) and perhaps gain a bit of life to make our effective starting life total 24 - 26+ (at minimum it will eat a Boros Charm that would have gone to the face), Moment of Craving is perhaps an option as it is basically 2 modes that you would sometimes pick together from Collective Brutality just without having to discard which is massive, the 2 damage not going to their face is no big deal. I actually did end up cutting a Crypt Incursion as the new strategy effectively gives you a bit more life to work with, I could even see cutting all of them in the future, but I think I was correct about needing 4 when you aren't running cryptic command. I haven't tried Spreading Seas yet in UB Mill (I always play them in UW control), but don't think I can find room for them.
I listed the cards in each subcategory in the mainboard from top to bottom in terms of how I view their importance for the deck.
Lands
+1 Shelldock Isle, this card is by far the best option for mill, I wouldn't consider playing a mill list without 4 ever again.
-1 Field of Ruin, cut the archive traps out so not used to force the library search any more, obviously still useful against utility lands, but given that you sometimes need UB UBx UBUB UBUBx on turns 2 - 5, having 4 colorless lands can sometimes give you issues.
+1 Island, more UU and the added UUU requirement means an "extra" U land.
Creatures
+1 Snapcaster Mage, the deck has more resiliency now with Cryptic at the top end so depending on the situation you will find yourself flashing back every single card in the deck at some point in time.
+2 (new addition) Vendilion Clique, Awesome card, wouldn't consider playing without at least 1 in the main now.
-1 Hedron Crab, card is still decent but think 4 are excessive, if it was a 0/3 would almost certainly go back up to 4.
-2 Gurmag Angler, needed to make room for the Vendilion Cliques, doesn't work as well with the new strategy.
-3 Jace's Phantasm, still a decent card and incredibly underrated, but needed to make room to try out the new cards.
Instants
+3 (new addition) Cryptic Command, excellent card, has so many versatile options, wouldn't consider playing without them again. This is the glue that holds any Ux control deck together.
-4 Archive Trap , wanted to cut all of them to see how it works, could consider adding back in 1 - 2 or maybe 3, but think 4 is actually overkill and can actually hurt the strategy, running the full playset all but forces you to run 4 Field of Ruin if you're playing the "typical" lists with 21 - 23 lands.
Sorcery:
+2 (new addition) Inquisition of Kozilek, good to get some early info on their hand, you have disruption and counters in the form of Vendilion Clique and Cryptic Command further up the curve so you would like to have an idea of how turns 2 - 6 are likely to turn out. Not really enough slots to add more, once you add 4+ IoK/Thoughtsieze you're better off just cutting the mill spells and just playing a control deck.
Enchantment
+1 (new addition) Search for Azcanta, I think it deserves a least a single slot in the main, 1 in the SB for games which will go long.
-1 Fraying Sanity, either 3 or 4 are correct, I'm trying out 3 which allows for more room for trying out other cards in the main without affecting the overall strategy too much, I would probably cut an orb to add it back it.
Thoughts on this build in the current meta?
4 Mesmeric Orb
Creature (4)
4 Hedron Crab
Enchantment (3)
3 Fraying Sanity
Instant (17)
4 Archive Trap
3 Crypt Incursion
3 Fatal Push
3 Surgical Extraction
3 Visions of Beyond
1 Trapmaker's Snare
Sorcery (10)
4 Glimpse the Unthinkable
2 Breaking / Entering
2 Damnation
2 Mind Funeral
4 Polluted Delta
3 Field of Ruin
3 Island
3 Watery Grave
2 Flooded Strand
2 Shelldock Isle
2 Swamp
1 Marsh Flats
1 Oboro, Palace in the Clouds
1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
4 Ensnaring Bridge
3 Bitterblossom (<-- are these good? I need something vs control. suggestions?)
2 Echoing Truth
2 Engineered Explosives
2 Nihil Spellbomb
1 Damnation
1 Set Adrift
edit: updated after B&R announcement
I think I'd cut the 3rd Watery Grave or either Urborg/Oboro for a Hallowed Fountain/Godless Shrine so you have the capability of setting Explosives on 3. It gives you extra cards to kill Gideon of the Trials and other troublesome permanents at 3 CMC with very little downside to your deck. This is my best suggestion the rest of this is just random opinions from me and my experience with mill that you may or may not agree with and can feel free to discard if you want.
I hate Trapmaker's Snare and would play practically anything over it. I was boarding it out in a lot of matchups when I tested it.
You have anywhere from 8-11 cards that are bad vs decks with a small creature count (surgical/damnation/crypt incursion/fatal push) (decks like UW control/Grixis Death Shadow/Jeskai). I've never played with Bitterblossom so I have no idea how good it is. Is it good vs Grixis Death Shaodw? It feels good against UW, jeskai maybe not because they will just burn you out? Anyways, I feel like I would be boarding in Nihil Spellbomb which feels bad because I don't have anything better.
I live diversifying Fatal Push with a dismember or two so you have outs to Tasigur/Gurmag Angler and Gideon of the Trials.
What matchups are you excited to bring Nihil Spellbomb in against? U/R breach plays 4x Emrakul so it doesn't even help. Storm (ok seems good there). Grixis Death Shadow (I don't see how this keeps them off Gurmag Angler for more than a turn? You are just going to mill them in a turn or two and turn it back on). I've played a list similar to yours and the matchup feels like you either need to surgically extract Death shadow on their first turn in response to thoughtseize (so you need Trap + Surgical in your opening 7) OR you need to topdeck a bridge and dodge Snapcaster/K Command. Dredge (sure it's good, I would argue you have enough good cards where dredge is already a favorable matchup). Grishoalbrand (ok, seems good). The 1x Emrakul deck (KCI combo? Sun and Moon? Jeskai Nahiri? Most of these decks feel under-represented). I guess the argument I'm making is I don't see the value in using slots for Spellbomb. Surgical 4-5 offer more flexibility or Extirpate gives you a legit chance of beating U/R Breach.
As noted you could shave the Spellbombs for cards that can help in grindy/control matchups.
Is bitterblossom the secret tech this deck has been missing all these years? 3 copies seems like a lot where you could diversify this card into maybe: 1x Collective Brutality 1x Bitterblossom 1x Liliana, the Last Hope to give you more coverage in matchups. I'm a big fan of having a bunch of 1x and 2x cards in your sideboard to maximize coverage.
3 sweepers is a lot. I'm not sure how I feel about that.
Good luck at your tournament
I will do that next.
that's a good idea, and somethign I was toying with already. Probably replace a Watery Grave.
I can see that, and would probably cut it for the JTMS maindeck.
Against low creature count decks, I'm definitely cutting all non surgical cards from that list. I like to keep Surgicals in, it helps me keep an eye on their hand to know if I can go for a mill spell, and it's fine to nab a 3 or 4 of just to thin their deck more. Perhaps Ashioks?
hrmm. maybe one Dismember over 1 Push would be a nice hedge.
various ones you mention, plus Dredge, Tarmogoyf decks, some delve decks, Mardu Pyromancer/Bedlam Reveler decks, Living End. It's fine to bring in when you have dead draws (creature removal against the previously mentioned decks) and just cantrip it, also most of those low creature count decks play Snapcaster too, so decent there.
It just felt like a decent bet to be able to get down early vs control when they don't want to counter it b/c they want to stop your mill cards and then they either have to counter it or let me start building a flying fleet.... which also happen to be hard to block and kill their PW'ers.
metagame is notoriously more aggro than most, so extra sweepers is a good bet vs field.
thanks! will tune a bit off your suggestions and see how things feel.
With my current view on the archetype I personally find it somewhat of a futile pursuit to tune the mill archetype any more, but figured there is no reason to not share my current thoughts on the archetype. I think the W splash and playing Esper is correct right now and is actually quite easy to achieve in the manabase with very few concessions. The access to Path to Exile main deck to compliment the narrower utility in Fatal Push is good and think you want a minimum of 5 targeted removal spells main deck so a 3/2 split in either direction or 3/3. Also I'm really liking main deck Timely Reinforcements as a 2 or 3 of, mill is super vulnerable to fast starts/ go wide from small creatures and you can also flash it back late game with Snapcaster Mage to give you that extra turn or two you need to survive to finish milling. White also has perhaps the best sideboard in modern right now with access cards which do a good job of increasing your win % vs multiple different decks inRest in Peace, Stony Silence, Celestial Purge, etc. I certainly don't feel that mill is terrible by any means and is definitely underrated overall, it just feels that it is missing a few cards which could make it truly competitive and that even a perfectly tuned deck would still fall a bit short compared to the other top tier decks being played right now.
Jonas what type of "adjusted meta" are you expecting to face? It is really hard to tune a mill list without at least a minor insight into what you expect to face in a given tournament. I'm assuming there are a lot of creature decks given the 3 Crypt Incursion main as well as 3 Damnation in your 75? I would definitely suggest cutting a Watery Grave for a Shelldock Isle, being able to cast one of the bigger mill "burn" spells for U in the mid/late game is one of the better payoffs for playing mill in the first place. I definitely like playing 4 Fraying Sanity rather than 3, drawing multiples certainly isn't a problem as glimpse/archive trap after is pretty much GG vs most decks. Mind Funeral is pretty good right now with a lot of lists on fewer lands, especially if you would be surgical extracting on some non-basic 4 of lands (Tron/Valakut), so would definitely not cut below 2 and if anything go up to 3+. If you're looking to cut one of the mill x cards to fit in a Jace, I would definitely look at Breaking // Entering first and with not running a Snapcaster Mage that makes it the sure pick imo. I still feel that the Gurmag Angler or Jace's Phantasm backup plan/alternate win condition is significantly better than just having mill as the only way to win with Echoing Truth/Set Adrift to back it up. I like the Bitterblossoms and think it is a strong candidate to main deck.
Welding Jar is going to keep those Ensnaring Bridges and Mesmeric Orbs safe.
Currently, I'm on U/B:
4 Hedron Crab
3 Snapcaster Mage
Artifacts
3 Mesmeric Orb
2 Ensnaring Bridge
Enchantments
3 Fraying Sanity
Instants
4 Archive Trap
2 Visions of Beyond
1 Crypt Incursion
2 Winds of Rebuke
2 Fatal Push
Sorceries
2 Collective Brutality
1 Bontu's Last Reckoning
3 Glimpse the Unthinkable
3 Mind Funeral
1 Haunting Echoes
3 Field of Ruin
4 Ipnu Rivulet
2 Flooded Strand
2 Island
3 Swamp
3 Ghost Quarter
2 Watery Grave
4 Polluted Delta
4 Leyline of the Void
1 Nihil Spellbomb
1 Crypt Incursion
1 Mystical Teachings
1 Ensnaring Bridge
2 Dispel
2 Winds of Rebuke
1 Dismember
2 Surgical Extraction
Just a few quick ideas:
The 4 Ipnu Rivulet means I can run fewer mill spells. I've found the maindeck Mystical Teachings to be quite useful. It's part of a full package of Mesmeric Orb/Mystical Teachings/Snapcaster Mage. Snapcaster has been really good with Mesmeric Orb. The fact that Teachings can fetch Snap has been amazing. The maindeck Winds of Rebuke is my compromise to previously having 4 in the SB. The ability to bounce main deck problems yet mill has been useful. It means I'm not stone dead to main deck Gideon, Blood Moon, or other effects. Snap allows for cheap re-buys. In SB games, it hits Leylines and Blood Moons. The Collective Brutality was a concession to aggro or combo being around and I wanted some disruption.
The maindeck Ensnaring Bridge hasn't been working for me. I just can't dump my hand fast enough. It's also a non-bo with Visions from Beyond. I have been thinking about dropping the Bridge and either go up to 2 main deck Bontu's Last Reckoning and one card]Crypt Incursion[/card] or go 3 Crypt Incursions. The Bontu's Last Reckoning has been clutch because it costs only 3. Not untapping sucks (except for the weird interaction with Mesmeric Orb), but it is one turn faster against humans when Thalia shows up. Haunting Echoes is a pet card and fun-of. With Mesmeric Orb in play, it can lead to an opponent being milled down to basic lands.
Anyway, I am looking for ideas against reshuffling Eldrazi titans and also for R/B Hollow One. Assuming I'm stone dead game one, what's an ideal SB against them? The SB is still a work in progress. Is Leyline of the Void better or can 3-4 Nihil Spellbomb do better? I played against Tron and played Turn 0 Leyline and milled him for 30. He got a natural tron and killed me anyway. As for R/B Hollow One, is Leyline the goods or should it be Crypt Incursions and Surgicals? They don't mesh well, and it feels redundant. Suggestions wanted. Thanks for reading!
Your local meta =/= GP meta. The odds of meeting an eldra titan in a GP is pretty low.
I'm not a fan of bridges, Bontu Last reckoning and Winds of Rebuke. Titi may replace bridge whole cryptic can replace the other two if you have them. I highly recommend testing cryptic. To turn on your bridges, you may want to run more CBs for the escalation to rid your hand. DO this if you expect to meet a lot of 5c humans and mardu pyro.
You can go up a Nihil spellbomb in your SB. More graveyard hate is always good and it cantrips since you may not have a leyline in your starting hand.
The fetches are ok, you may need them to turn on Push. 3 Ruins and 3 Quarters? That's an awful lot! Run 4 max. No wonder you are afraid of Blood Moon. Ipnu is meh. I'd rather have basics. 2 Watery Grave is fine.
Not a fan of Rebuke. I can see the use for it, though. I do not like surrendering G1 to sideboard, so I wont trash it. I feel you need 3 Crypt Incursion with 5c Humans out there. they come down fast, and they keep coming. By the time T3 comes, you need it, and bad! Add 1 more Mesmeric Orb, that gets around their Leylines etc.
With Affinity and Lantern Control out there, Welding Jar is more and more important.
Some secret tech is Bitter Ordeal. Crack a fetch, pop off a Fatal Push, and suddenly Bitter Ordeal became Sadistic Sacrament. This is great against Storm or Living End, even Tron. Field of Ruin them, and that's three targets you get to exile.
Last thing - add an Urborg. The ability to tap fetches for mana can be vital. Lets you save them for Push.
The decks where Ensnaring Bridge is good against (Hollow One, Death Shadow, Eldrazi Tron, Tarmogoyfs, Boggles, etc...) are all bashing with 5+ power and getting under 5 cards in hand is pretty easy. The matchups where you need to get under 2-3 cards in hand (burn, affinity, infect, zoo, elves, merfolk, death and taxes, etc...) you should be taking the bridges out and bringing in better cards. The matchups you need Ensnaring Bridge it is by far the most important card in your deck. With exception to the Humans deck where bridge has been good for me, the go wide decks that play a high creature count are usually bad for the bridge but amazing for Crypt Incursion/Profane Memento.
Echoing Truth > Winds of Rebuke. Echoing Truth actually has value in killing Lingering Souls/Pyromancer tokens and is a valid card against Empty the Warrens. Sometimes your opponent plays 2 Leylines on Turn 0 and you feel dumb having Winds of Rebuke in your hand. Due to your sideboard being small you will need to bring in cards like Set Adrift (big fan of Set Adrift) and Echoing Truth in matchups where you want more spot removal and have dead cards like Surgical and Crypt Incursion/Bridge that need to come out.
I've played against Hallow One like 3x and have faced T1 Hallow One every game except for T1 Burning Inquiry where I discarded all my lands. Playing grave hate against Hallow One doesn't really work because they just beat you down with Hallow Ones and Gurmag Anglers which dodge Fatal Push. If you want to prioritize the matchup you would have to replace some copies of fatal push with dismember and/or splash white for Path. I found myself wanting to cast Damnation against them on T4 every game. I find myself happy to have a copy of Damnation or 2 in my sideboard.
Against Tron you don't want to play Leyline of the Void. You want to Ghost Quarter/Field of Ruin/Glimpse the tron land they don't have on the battlefield and cut them off Tron for the rest of the game. You would board in your extra copies of Surgical and get rid of Fatal Push and Crypt Incursion. After you cut them off Tron if you draw another Surgical then extract Karn so they can't restart the game on you. Keep bridges in against Worldspine Wurm.
Leyline of the Void is more powerful if you are able to get it on the field when the game starts and is quite worthless if you draw it. Against some matchups you need to mulligan until you get it so your kind of playing a lottery with it and will know if you won or lost the game before the game even starts which will turn people off it. It is really good against some of our bad matchups (Storm and Death Shadow) which are matchups where you need to draw your hate in order to win unless they keep a terrible hand. Since you are playing Fraying Sanity in the maindeck you may actually want Spellbombs over Leylines so you can still take advantage of your synergies. I prefer playing 5 surgical effects in my 75 as my grave hate but these cards have a powerful effect in the matchups you need them for.
I don't think I like Mystical Teachings but have never tested it. If you use it to tutor for Crypt Incursion you won't be able to crypt until T5 vs Burn and you will most likely be dead. Against a Leyline if you are tapping out end of turn on t4 to tutor for a winds of rebuke to end of turn t5 bounce their leyline and then try to kill them on turn 6. Searching for surgical to extract a tron piece on T4 will work most of the time but is still risky. All in all it seems like if the combo deck is doing their thing you won't beat them with this card unless you have disrupted them prior (Burn/Ad Nauseum/Boggles/Living End/storm/Tron/etc...).
Do the unbannings change anything? I would think an increase in UW control could be problematic with an increase in Snapcasters. Bloodbraid Elf migh increase Jund. That could speed up the clock, especially if cascades go into K Command, Tarmogoyf, or even Brutality.