Self-Mill

Thanks for the tip! What do you recommend I switch out for them?

I should put more shimmering grotto's in for more rainbow mana, but I feel like this deck's done alright so far. I tried to keep this as standard, though, so sadly I don't want to put any older cards in it. Usually I make modern decks, but I wanted to see how I made one as a standard. Also, if my opponent has no aerial blockers and isn't a red burn deck, I can also swing with Mirror-Mad Phantasm if need be. Thanks for the tips though, friend!

Call to the Kindred is for getting it out easier, so it seems to me. You can get it out by putting Call to the Kindred on Delver of Secrets

I get out Lab Maniac, and use Mirror-Mad Phantasm, Increasing Confusion, etc. to mill myself. If I mill myself and have no lab maniac I have retrieval spells to get him back and out onto the field so I can get the win. Or I can always swing with Mirror-Mad Phantasm if you've got no flying or reach blockers.

Not the turn you use it, since he'll have summoning sickness when he comes back out. It's more of a tactical decision. Is my opponent in a tight spot, not running a burn deck, and is unlikely to get out any reach/flying blockers? Insectile Abberation and Mirror-Mad Phantasm can make quick work of him. Do they have any of the above? If they do, then I'll just mill myself and try to get as many lab maniacs as I can in case they try to be funny and kill my only one last minute. That's why there's 4 of him.

Actually, you could attack, then while it was tapped activate its ability

Very valid point. I didn't think of that! The Phantasm you reveal would be untapped as well and could block for you if need be.

I have 23 land, 21 if I've sacced both Fengrafs which is unlikely if I'm doing such a large Confusion. I've got plenty for a 60 card deck.

I appreciate the suggestions and concerns, but this deck has been going pretty good for me, even better since I took pbrindley21's suggestion and put in Mindshriekers and then put in two more Shimmering Grotto's. Not every deck needs 30 creatures to win, bro.

Also, while I take into consideration everyone who comments' suggestions, I've been playing for years, and judging from your profile with three decks with zero cards in any and the descriptions of the decks being "I just started playing" made six days ago, I'm going to just go on a limb and say I know what I'm doing, generally. Not all of my decks on MTGVault are this good, but then again, I don't own every deck I've made on MTGVault.

Not sure where you're going with telling me I need more creatures and then saying you won with two I have in here already, but okay. Cool.

In Soviet Russia, deck plays you!!!

I have this deck and several others on my MTGVault profile. I do NOT have every deck on my profile. The majority of them I made out of boredom/for fun/for friends. My other main deck is "Rawrzalicious Ablaze," which is a modern burn deck that I've had great success with since I recently bought it.

Also, PLEASE stop posting the same comment 2-3 times. I'll see it if you post it once, posting it over and over only accomplishes the feat of annoying me.

It's all good. Just got annoying deleting repeat comments. This deck is probably better for more advanced Magic players. If you're just starting, you should have bought a starter deck/event deck, instead of a custom-made one. That's why they call them 'starter' decks. The event decks do just the same thing, only generally have slightly better cards.

No. The "low" price is the lowest price that MTGVault can search for any one card, usually on eBay, which is NOT 100% reliable. I buy my cards from Amazon or my local card shop, and it ran me about 35-40 bucks. Generally speaking, on MTGVault, you're probably going to pay between the mid and high price ranges somewhere, unless you catch a good deal.

Never heard of being able to do that on anything. However, get a bunch of land cards, or cheap, played cards, etc. (ones you can write on). Write the names of the cards you want to test down on these, write down or remember the effects, and play a test match with them to see how good they do. That's what me, my brother, and pretty much everyone else I know who played back in the day or has played for a long time does.

http://cockatrice.de/index.php?a=download

It depends on what you want, what format, price range, mana curve, all that. If I make a deck, I need set guidelines, or it ends up looking like my "Alara Reborn" or "Affinity Deck" decks.

Knock yourself out, bro.

I have Runic Repition to get back Memory's Journey and Mystic Retrieval if someone decides to try and be cute and kill my Lab Maniacs multiple times. Thanks for the suggestion, though.

Cool. Too bad this isn't a zombie mill deck, or yours might be of some use to me.

I have them in there to get back Memory's Journey or any other spell I need if I mill all of them. Thanks for the suggestion, but this current setup has worked well for me personally.

I've had quite high sucess with it myself. I appreciate the feedback, but I'm not interested in putting any Scars block or M12 cards in this. I'm also not interested in making it blue/green. Thanks for the suggestions, however.

If they reprint it in M13 I'll change it. I'm not putting in any M12 or Scars block cards in this deck, as they will only be in Standard until October. Thanks for the suggestion, though. I may instead put Mask of Avacyn if I can decide what I want to take out, if anything. As I said in the other comments, this deck has worked well for me personally and I don't forsee any need to change it. Thanks, though.

I didn't even think of Secrets of the Dead. Thanks for the suggestion! And also, thank you for the compliment. I personally think it does very well without green. :D

I took your suggestion and because of my OCD and hatred of having a single non-legendary or planeswalker card in my deck, I took out one Runic Repetition and left in two Think Twice.

I have Shimmering Grotto for that and have had no problems with being able to flash back any spell with a non-blue flashback so far.

Thank you so much! This is probably the nicest comment I've gotten on this deck so far. I appreciate the positive feedback, friend. And while not everyone here seems to be behind it, everyone has their own opinions for how to make any deck you put in front of them "better." This deck is by no means the epitome of winning in Magic, but it's not like I just slapped cards together. Thanks again, man! :)

That's cute. I haven't had any problems with winning with him. While I appreciate all feedback and suggestions, this deck is based primarily around winning with him, so he SHOULD be my win condition. Thanks for your comment, and for using my deck to try and advertise your own. When your self-mill deck has 100+ likes, I'll use it as a template for my own.

Another major difference between your "self-mill" deck and mine; my low price is 115 less, my medium price is 130 less, and my high price is 140 less. You can create my deck for a much more reasonable price (mine was around the cost of an event deck, and works much better than they do) and yours costs more than a booster box. Just saying.

Delver and Mindshrieker are definitely my main two defenses, and while several people have complained about not having enough defense, I've found with my several retrieval spells, I have no problem keeping at least one of them out to defend myself, and between Mirror-Mad Phantasm, Increasing Confusion, and draw spells, I've found I'm able to mill myself generally quick enough to win. Like I've said many times before, if my opponent is lacking in aerial blockers, I ignore milling myself until they do and swing at them with my Delver, Phantasm, and Mindshrieker. Mirror-Mad Phantasm is definitely one of the shining gems in this deck, because on turn six, I can use his ability three times to mill myself. I can't speak for everyone using this deck, but I've personally had to problems with it.

I almost forgot, one of the most important pieces of a deck like this are draw spells to immediately make your win-con go off instead of having to wait until your draw step. You have Think Twice, and though it has flashback which is great here, it's expensive to cast. I used Thought Scour (they have amazing synergy with this type of deck already), and even better is Gitaxian Probe (I know you won't use it...) since you can just pay 2 life to win when you're tapped out. Good luck!

After reading the first half, I had considered just replying with "Okay, dad." or "Cool.", but upon reading the second half I decided against being a shitstain and decided to actually reply seeing that you were genuinely trying to help me and not just re-spewing the last 54 comments. Yes, I should add in Scars or M12 cards, but I'd honestly rather not get attached to them. I have no idea what they will and will not reprint in M13 from M12, and if Swiftfoot Boots is one they do, by all means, it'll go in there. I appreciate the suggestions and compliments, and my deck has played and won against Delver, RG Aggro, and BU control decks in both friendly and FNM games. I see people commenting with "how do you win with this deck?" and have no idea why they're having trouble and I'm not. Like I said before, if they reprint stuff that everyone says I need in M13, it'll go in. Also, this isn't my main deck, anyway. I don't put nearly as much thought into this as I do into my modern decks that I actually own. I made this so I could have a deck for standard, nothing else. It's already frontpaged on a deck design that standard as a silly whim and want to get back into FNM, so I'm not gonna complain or change what's made me frontpage. I appreciate the helpful feedback, however, and thank you for your genuine help and not just repeating what everyone else has.

Rereading my comment, I still think I sound somewhat like an asshole haha so I apologize for that. But yes, I was really trying to give you some sound advice, and I'm glad you saw that! I understand you're going to keep this block constructed, and even though I strongly disagree with taking that road, it's your decision and if you are having success with this deck then you are having success with this deck! Doesn't matter much what anyone tries to press on you haha. So, with that being said, I have a few more suggestions (block constructed.)

- Spellskite! He can save your Lab Mani......just kidding.

- Thought Scour, which I mentioned before, is your best bet at an instant draw spell for win. Plus mill synergy.

- Mask of Avacyn is an expensive Swiftfoot, so that could possibly be worth it to protect the combo.

- Gnaw to the Bone can do so much work for your health if you need to save yourself from a beat while you set up for mill-win or if you only need a few more swings to kill your opponent. This card has done WONDERS for my self-mill deck as a 2-of. I know you only run 13 creatures which isn't ideal for this card, but it's a thought!

- Clinging Mist can also save you from a beat (though I just use 4 Fogs) if you're getting down to the wire, especially if the Fateful Hour effect is happening.

- The only counter that is worth using from this block is Dissipate, and while it is expensive, it's pretty useful.

I know you know of some of these already but here's my 2 cents. I'm forgetting a couple of things but when I remember them, I'll comment again.

Thanks for the additional tips and cards. :D As you can see, I did put some non-block cards in the sideboard to appease everyone complaining about it. I will, however consider some of these other cards you mentioned. :D Gnaw to the Bone is a good card, but I discounted it due to the low amount of creatures I have in this deck. Though, once I'm done testing decks, I'll look back at your suggestions and see if any would fit in without me changing the color base of this deck (because I'd like to keep it just blue, though Hinterland Harbor isn't a bad idea...) I appreciate your help and accept your apology, only the first half sounded asshole-y, but it's okay, I sound like an asshole all the time myself. :P

You'd think I'd have more of a problem of that, but I've only lost to milling myself and having my lab maniacs die once from a Day of Judgement and once from a Go for the Throat.

Taking a look at it now. :)

I know, I really need to put Thought Scour in there. However, the problem in the way of this is my horrid attachment to every card I put into a deck and how long it takes me to decide to take them out. I did get my Mana Leaks and Swiftfoot Boots for the side, though. That way I can rotate them in whenever I know I'll need them and I won't have to cry over taking a card out permanently. And yeah, I know, that's why I mention burn decks several times, because unless you do rotate in stuff from the side, it's gonna be a hard win. I've played against burn decks and surprisingly won a couple games, though, so it's not all that bad. Thanks for the comment and tips though buddy!

Thanks for the compliment on the deck, and while I want to comment on the other part, I will refrain to do so because MTGVault is a place for discussing decks and cards, not other stuff.

You make a valid point that I hadn't even considered, and if I only have two of him in the deck, that leaves way for Mask of Avacyn in the deck. Thanks man! And Just think about what I can do in Avacyn. 240+ cards? Me gusta :D

Gonna ride on your fame and hope you scratch my back too.

http://www.mtgvault.com/ViewDeck.aspx?DeckID=314446

So far it's doing well controlling mobs on an average draw. Hope for suggestions to make it even more annoying especially on FNM nights.

Well, you helped me realize a way to throw in Mask of Avacyn, so I don't mind helping you out bro. :D I'll take a look at it now. :)

Read the description and see the sideboard. Thanks.

Like I told NDRue, I didn't even really think about that. I appreciate you both helping me realize that, and it makes room for Mask of Avacyn in the deck! Now everyone else can shut up about hexproof. ;P I'd considered Cackling Counterpart, but I'd prefer just keeping the deck blue for now. Thanks for the suggestion though!

Taking a look at it now. :)

It mills the opponent for ten. "Whenever equipped creature does damage to a player, that player puts the top ten cards of their library into their graveyard." I'm milling myself. Not them.

oh... i just commented on the wrong deck, i was looking at 2 mill decks, and ment this comment for the other one soz.

my advice for your deck is add jace's erasure and jace's archivist. i know this will make you have cards that will go out of date, but you can just remove them when that happens. your deck sort of... fails because you are limiting yourself to 1/3rd of the cards in standard. you have barely anything to mill yourself, mostly you are flashing back cards that you have already milled, but cant mill them in the first place. you dont need delver and back from the brink is too expensive cmc.

please, have a look at my mill deck... and not just for you to help me.

http://www.mtgvault.com/ViewDeck.aspx?DeckID=314949

Except for the fact this doesn't fail because it's a block constructed deck, which I mentioned in one of my updates up there. c:

And I'll take a look at it right now. :)

Looked at it and commented. :)

Looked at it and commented. :)

Guilherme84 has deleted this comment.

That's why I have Shimmering Grotto. c:

With Call to Kindred, if I have a Delver or Lab Maniac on the field, or my opponent has any humans out (not uncommon in standard today) I can put a Lab Maniac near the very bottom of my library. If nothing makes me shuffle, which is pretty likely, except for Mirror-Mad Phantasm, I can stash a Lab Maniac on the very bottom and when I'm out of cards, throw him down and then force a draw with Think Twice from my GY. And, having Call to the Kindred in this manner has one me several games, both FNM, casual, and test play matches. Hope that clarifies it for you. :)

Someone's jealous. c:

skamatt07 has deleted this comment.

Thanks for noticing! I added 2 to the main deck and forgot to change the sideboard. Thanks again :)

Which causes you to mill out all of you library.

I know. This setup for the deck has worked fine without it, however. I appreciate your suggestion, though.

Not only is this deck sexy, it's also about the price of an event deck, on average. But, yes, according to MTGVault, if you're a bargain hunter (and those prices aren't the card for 5 cent and the shipping for five bucks...) you could potentially get this for really cheap.

Thanks for using me as a billboard.

In 5 days, it seems like no one was interested.

Forgot to mention that back from the brick sucks balls, by the time you can cast it you have already lost.

Okay, dad.

I love Skaab Ruinators, but with only 11 creatures, depending on where they are in my deck when I mill myself (and minus my four lab maniacs, gotta try and have them safe) that's only seven, so I'd rarely get to use it. :(

Thank for using me as a billboard.

skamatt07 has deleted this comment.

Thanks for using me as a billboard.

Your welcome I couldn't see anything to change so thought I'd see if anyone could help me out you know and you kind of did the samething trying to get the most likes and all so cut the sarcasm
especially since i did compliment and like your deck

I didn't do anything the same. Not once did I post my deck on other people's decks, just like I don't link my YouTube videos on other people's YouTube videos. It's just something I find rude. Also, even if you unlike my deck, I still have a net gain of 6 likes from your two comments, even if you remove them. Boom.

Only reason I posted it is you made a deck thats really similar (hell yours inspired me to try my own with some black in there) and had alot of good ideas so oh my maybe this guy could give me some advice makes since right (and you asked people to like it in the opening to have the most liked mill deck a similar thing to posting a deck even though im not hunting for likes or anything just advice)

Well, then I apologize. I've got a douchebag streak in me and it shows sometimes. Sorry about that.

Don't we all lol apologie accepted

Thanks for the compliments! :) It's nice to be praised on my hard work instead of harshly criticized, so I thank for you for kind words. If your friends or other players at your local FNM run surgical extraction, splash in Mental Misstep. Even without any free mana, you can pay 2 life to counter a 1 CMC spell, putting extraction in its place. Thanks again, and I'm glad you like the deck! :)