I know mill is not generally an optimal win condition; I know there's some degree of reason this deck doesn't have a significant following. Nonetheless, I find it to be the perfect mixture of grinding, defensive midrange and explosive combo kills. Although my experience with the list doesn't include much competitive play, it did scrape a top eight finish at a small BNG Gameday tournament, and it's become reviled among my local playgroup. I love this deck, so I'm going to endeavor to give it a respectable thread.
Deathrite Shaman - There isn't a lot of graveyard strategy going on in standard right now, and coupled with the modern banning, DRS has been having a pretty bad year. That doesn't stop him from being an attrition monstrosity when he has food to eat. Deathrite does a great job of keeping us alive against aggro, and when our draws aren't coming up any other way he can chip at our opponent's life consistently.
Sylvan Caryatid - This is everything we could want it to be. Mana, toughness, hexproof; we love it.
Scavenging Ooze - Like DRS Ooze is amazing when given free food. It keeps us alive, and grows bigger to both fight and mill harder in doing so.
Courser of Kruphix - Courser is a king of midrange, and while this deck misses out on some of its better interactions like Domri Rade, it still provides an immense amount of value in a single card.
Lazav, Dimir Mastermind - If there's any odd choice in the deck, I'd say it has to be Lazav. Standard may not exactly be EDH, but there are still quite a few powerful creatures floating around the format. Playing Lazav is betting your opponent has at least a few.
Prophet of Kruphix - I think this is the card that makes Phenax pretend a shot at viability. With a prophet out, the deck doesn't usually have trouble using up its mana supply during each of both players' turns.
Phenax, God of Deception - As a career UB player I was crushed to see my god mill, but despite that I think Phenax is among the top tier of mill cards printed.
Consuming Aberration - Phenax's only competitor for top mill card in standard, this thing is an absolute monstrosity. If it doesn't get dealt with quickly, it can run away with games. If we have phenax out, they're dead the moment their graveyard is the size of their library, if we have both Prophet and Phenax, the turn that begins with their graveyard at a fourth of the library count is the fatal turn.
Instants and Sorceries:
Thoughtseize - This one doesn't need much introduction. We're gaining ourselves a good deal of life to offset the damage.
Golgari Charm - This is one of the more powerful and versatile charms in the cycle, our favorite use it better-than-countering Supreme Verdict
Abrupt Decay - Exceptional removal. We aren't playing much, so versatility is key.
Hero's Downfall - Again, versatility is the watchword for our minuscule amount of removal.
Planeswalkers:
Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver - Along with Lazav, Ashiok wagers on some good creatures hiding in our opponents' decks. The exiling on Ashiok's mill is slightly anti-synergistic, but it still moves our library depletion goal forward.
Jace, Architect of Thought - While Memory Adept is more directly beneficial to our modus operandi, Architect does well at helping to hold us through our midgame and drawing more gas.
Vraska the Unseen - Although the occasional assassin kill happens, Vraska is mostly here to function as repeatable removal.
Sideboard Choices...?
I'm really not sure what this deck wants in a sideboard, I don't fully remember what I took to the Gameday tournament, the only sideboarding decisions I found that I wanted to make there were to switch my two removal pieces for two more Golgari Charms. Recommendations on what and how to sideboard for this deck would be greatly appreciated.
I'd love to hear your thoughts and opinions on the deck; thanks for taking the time to stop by and read.
Private Mod Note
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Currently Playing:
Standard: UBHidden StringsUB
Commander: UBGDamia, Sage of MudUBG
I have been working on a UB Phenax Mill deck.. so more focused on the milling and less on the Midrange. And of course, no green.
That said, one thing you might consider for your sideboard is Crypt Incursion.
It can weaken Aberration, and take away Ooze's food, but if your matched up against aggro (like a white weenie deck), there are probably a LOT of creatures in their yard if you've done any milling, which adds up to a ton of Lifegain, buying you the time to get your engine really rolling.
It also is immensely useful against the Golgari graveyard deck that's been floating around. Their Nighthowlers and Whips are actually improved by your strategy, which makes for a tough match up, so Crypt Incursion can be a nasty surprise that be quite crippling for them.
I personally have found that the green negates the need for a card like crypt incursion. Deathrite Shaman and Scavenging Ooze do a solid job combatting Nighthowler, Whip of Erebos, etc. They also serve the same need for lifegain in a world of 12-shockland manabases, especially against aggressive strategies.
To anyone playing Phenax in pure UB, I HIGHLY recommend, at a minimum, a green splash for Prophet of Kruphix. She literally doubles Phenax's efficiency.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Currently Playing:
Standard: UBHidden StringsUB
Commander: UBGDamia, Sage of MudUBG
I don't see any reason not to play Wall of Frost. Other than that, the lack of counterspells, and the removal base (you might want more), the deck seems solid. As for sideboard cards, I'd recommend Gainsay, Dark Betrayal, and Drown in Sorrow.
Been trying a more aggressive deck build, using more aggro than just mill...played last night and got steamrolled...needs a better plan against burn/aggro and control...thoughts are appreciated!
I know mill is not generally an optimal win condition; I know there's some degree of reason this deck doesn't have a significant following. Nonetheless, I find it to be the perfect mixture of grinding, defensive midrange and explosive combo kills. Although my experience with the list doesn't include much competitive play, it did scrape a top eight finish at a small BNG Gameday tournament, and it's become reviled among my local playgroup. I love this deck, so I'm going to endeavor to give it a respectable thread.
4 Breeding Pool
4 Watery Grave
4 Overgrown Tomb
3 Forest
3 Island
3 Swamp
1 Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
Creatures (22):
4 Deathrite Shaman
2 Scavenging Ooze
4 Sylvan Caryatid
3 Courser of Kruphix
1 Lazav, Dimir Mastermind
2 Consuming Aberration
3 Phenax, God of Deception
3 Prophet of Kruphix
4 Thoughtseize
1 Abrupt Decay
2 Golgari Charm
1 Hero's Downfall
Planeswalkers (8):
2 Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver
1 Jace, Architect of Thought
2 Kiora, the Crashing Wave
2 Jace, Memory Adept
1 Vraska the Unseen
2 Golgari Charm
13 Something?
Card Choices:
Creatures:
Deathrite Shaman - There isn't a lot of graveyard strategy going on in standard right now, and coupled with the modern banning, DRS has been having a pretty bad year. That doesn't stop him from being an attrition monstrosity when he has food to eat. Deathrite does a great job of keeping us alive against aggro, and when our draws aren't coming up any other way he can chip at our opponent's life consistently.
Sylvan Caryatid - This is everything we could want it to be. Mana, toughness, hexproof; we love it.
Scavenging Ooze - Like DRS Ooze is amazing when given free food. It keeps us alive, and grows bigger to both fight and mill harder in doing so.
Courser of Kruphix - Courser is a king of midrange, and while this deck misses out on some of its better interactions like Domri Rade, it still provides an immense amount of value in a single card.
Lazav, Dimir Mastermind - If there's any odd choice in the deck, I'd say it has to be Lazav. Standard may not exactly be EDH, but there are still quite a few powerful creatures floating around the format. Playing Lazav is betting your opponent has at least a few.
Prophet of Kruphix - I think this is the card that makes Phenax pretend a shot at viability. With a prophet out, the deck doesn't usually have trouble using up its mana supply during each of both players' turns.
Phenax, God of Deception - As a career UB player I was crushed to see my god mill, but despite that I think Phenax is among the top tier of mill cards printed.
Consuming Aberration - Phenax's only competitor for top mill card in standard, this thing is an absolute monstrosity. If it doesn't get dealt with quickly, it can run away with games. If we have phenax out, they're dead the moment their graveyard is the size of their library, if we have both Prophet and Phenax, the turn that begins with their graveyard at a fourth of the library count is the fatal turn.
Instants and Sorceries:
Thoughtseize - This one doesn't need much introduction. We're gaining ourselves a good deal of life to offset the damage.
Golgari Charm - This is one of the more powerful and versatile charms in the cycle, our favorite use it better-than-countering Supreme Verdict
Abrupt Decay - Exceptional removal. We aren't playing much, so versatility is key.
Hero's Downfall - Again, versatility is the watchword for our minuscule amount of removal.
Planeswalkers:
Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver - Along with Lazav, Ashiok wagers on some good creatures hiding in our opponents' decks. The exiling on Ashiok's mill is slightly anti-synergistic, but it still moves our library depletion goal forward.
Jace, Architect of Thought - While Memory Adept is more directly beneficial to our modus operandi, Architect does well at helping to hold us through our midgame and drawing more gas.
Kiora, the Crashing Wave - She helps us keep the board safe, she ramps, and Phenax or not, krakens end games.
Jace, Memory Adept - Big Jace feeds our ability to run away with games and gives our sustaining creatures plenty of food.
Vraska the Unseen - Although the occasional assassin kill happens, Vraska is mostly here to function as repeatable removal.
Sideboard Choices...?
I'm really not sure what this deck wants in a sideboard, I don't fully remember what I took to the Gameday tournament, the only sideboarding decisions I found that I wanted to make there were to switch my two removal pieces for two more Golgari Charms. Recommendations on what and how to sideboard for this deck would be greatly appreciated.
I'd love to hear your thoughts and opinions on the deck; thanks for taking the time to stop by and read.
Standard:
UBHidden StringsUB
Commander:
UBGDamia, Sage of MudUBG
Free Sword of the Meek?
That said, one thing you might consider for your sideboard is Crypt Incursion.
It can weaken Aberration, and take away Ooze's food, but if your matched up against aggro (like a white weenie deck), there are probably a LOT of creatures in their yard if you've done any milling, which adds up to a ton of Lifegain, buying you the time to get your engine really rolling.
It also is immensely useful against the Golgari graveyard deck that's been floating around. Their Nighthowlers and Whips are actually improved by your strategy, which makes for a tough match up, so Crypt Incursion can be a nasty surprise that be quite crippling for them.
To anyone playing Phenax in pure UB, I HIGHLY recommend, at a minimum, a green splash for Prophet of Kruphix. She literally doubles Phenax's efficiency.
Standard:
UBHidden StringsUB
Commander:
UBGDamia, Sage of MudUBG
Free Sword of the Meek?
But really I can't afford the mana base right now even though I play on MTGO. I'm still saving up just for a set of Watery Graves
4 nighthowler
4 desecration demon
3 hover barrier
3 Phenax, God of Deceit
3 breaking // entering
3 tome scour
3 thoughtseize
3 hero's downfall
3 ashiok, nightmare weaver
2 jace, memory adept
2 traumatize
4 watery grave
4 temple of deceit
8 swamp
7 island
—Radha, Keldon warlord