Milling defense

by Trychydts on 23 January 2014

Main Deck (60 cards)

Sideboard (15 cards)

Sorceries (6)

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Deck Description

I tried to put together a milling deck -- I found the concept more interesting while playing Duels of the Planeswalkers.

After many unsuccessful attempts, this seems to give a fairly consistence chance to win. The stages I went through:

1. Mill with spells like Traumatize or Mind grind, and the aid of Consuming aberration, if pulled. It was way too dependent on the cards I pulled and required far too much time. Creature-wise focus was of defense and I also put a lot of removal spells in.

2. Some rearrangement: most of the spells out, I put more defenders in, and I put in 4 Millstones instead of 1 (thanks to Zach_255). I tried to play Grisly spectacle as one of my removal spells, after a while, I pulled in Duskmantle Guildmage and Wight of Precinct Six. It was way better, but still too slow: I did not have enough mana, it took far too much time to pull the right cards. Rouge's pass is dead useful if I have Consumer aberration out and the opponent have creatures to defend with.

3. Current stage: I focus more on synergies and scrying. Duskmantle Guildmage cost too much, so I put in 4 Doorkeepers; I scry with Read the Bones and with the Maximum amount of Temple of Deceit, Mystery and Silence to ensure I get the proper hand. Removal spell is Putrefy, which is a bit cheaper and can also destroy artifacts -- sometimes it's crucial to be able to destroy the most annoying card in the game. At least I have some chance against some non-creature cards. Returned Phalanx is not in the sideboard anymore -- it is the only defender that can deal with at least some medicore opponents.

Traumatize had to get back in. Consuming Aberration and the Wight of Precinct Six is virtually (or completely) powerless without a substantial number of cards discarded; since setting up the defense takes some time, it does help if I can have the opponent discard 20+ cards as a start. Mind Grind is far too expensive.

Another topic that required a lot of consideration is the Mana base and the Mana curve. I do not start the game if I do not have 2 mana in hand. That makes me able to play my most essential cards, and since almost every second card in the remaining deck is a land, I almost surely pull up the one is required to play most of my deck.

The majority of my cards are two- and three-drops, and slow milling is also possible with that mana. 6 is ample to complete the game with ease.

How to Play

1. I use the scrying ability of the lands excessively and I have a strict priority I wish to access cards.

-- I try collect a minimum of 5 mana, with ensuring that I can play 1 black and 1 blue.
-- I need enough defenders to protect myself -- hopefully there is at least one Doorkeeper.
-- Traumatize
-- Consuming Aberration

2. If things get rough, I can use Crypt Incursion on gaining more life -- if it is in the enemy graveyard, it hampers the Wight and the Aberration, but can mean a lot of Health.

3. If I have a strong enough defense, I start to mill: usually with millstones and Doorkeepers, in luckier cases, aided with 1 or 2 Traumatize.

4. Game is usually ended by a character with an empty deck (thanks to Traumatize+millstones/Doorkeepers) or with a Consuming Aberration put into play. After mind-game, Wight of Precinct Six is a formidable opponent to most creatures.

Deck Tags

  • Mill
  • Control
  • Black
  • Blue

Deck at a Glance

Social Stats

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Mana Curve

Mana Symbol Occurrence

0211804

Card Legality

  • Not Legal in Standard
  • Legal in Modern
  • Legal in Vintage
  • Legal in Legacy

Deck discussion for Milling defense

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