A couple notes about Mill, first.
First off, mill isn't really that popular. It's fairly slow and for the most part, isn't really that exciting. But it does teach a player how to ration resources and underlines the concept of card advantage in MTG. It also teaches how to construct an effective land base and why we choose certain lands over others or basic lands. This is a great deck if you want to fully understand some of the basic principles of winning Magic.
Second, mill is a completely different game. Life total is completely irrelevant to a mill deck (unless you get dropped to 0, obviously; that's pretttty relevant lol). The opponent could have 200 life and still lose by being unable to draw on the draw step.
Let's get into some of the principles. (Warning: grab some water because this will be drier than the Sahara desert in a drought)
Card advantage: Time to lay down some numbers on y'all! A player gains card advantage when the player has more resources available to them at any given time. This can mean more cards in hand, more cards in deck, or having a card that can do 2 or more things for you. Let's take our Hedron Crab. This little guy does 2 things: He mills via the landfall ability (3 per land, and provides a body on the field to block creatures. Already we have card advantage on the first turn, increasing every turn he is alive when we play a land. This creates another resource: target priority. Your opponents will now be forced to address this threat usually by a Lightning Bolt or
Devour Flesh
to the face (if crabs have a face). If the crab gets to live so that the landfall triggers on our second turn, we gain card advantage. Even if he his immediately removed via aforementioned Bolt, we have rid our opponent of a dangerous spell that could've been used to finish us off later on. From this situation we gain information.
Let's go to our hypothetical turn 2. Play our land, if the Crab is still alive, mill the 3 cards and gain advantage. Now what can we play on turn two?
Devour Flesh
as our own removal, Essence Scatter
+
Spell Pierce
to respond to anything that's not a land. Our best option is to pass the turn. Let's say our opponent plays an
Ash Zealot
. We respond with Essence Scatter or
Devour Flesh
. The stack resolves and the Zealot dies. Even though this was a trade in terms of cards, we have now gotten rid of another threat. I could go on with our hypothetical game but the underlying principles here (for controlmir) is to have card advantage and a response for EVERYTHING. If things are resolving without you doing anything, you're doin' it wrong.
We achieve victory slower, but the margin for error is significantly less as we try to control almost everything that happens in the game while slowly milling away the opponents deck.
Tech: This is different from a regular mill deck, the latter focusing on decking as quickly as possible, with margin for error. A controlmir aims for a longer game, reducing margin for error, and having a response for almost everything.
Let's start with creatures: I have Hedron Crab as a chump blocker when you start getting low on life, but it's primary function is to mill when the game starts going into overtime. 4 of these ensure enough can chump block and that I can have at least 1 to mill for the long haul.
Archaeomancer though a bit steep on the curve, its' a great recycling card. The possibilities are endless in a controlmir deck. I can grab a Thoughtseize back to gain valuable information and a discard or Mind Funeral
+
Mind Grind
for that extra push into the opponents deck. Spend your only
Grisly Spectacle
? Get it back!
Thought Scour
+
Psychic Strike
for their utility and the added bonus of card advantage.
Essence Scatter
+
Spell Pierce
Respond to any threats
Duress
+
Thoughtseize
You break even by playing either of these, the TS losing you two life but you can pick out a looming beater to discard. Knowing what your opponent has in his/her hand is tantamount to winning as controlmir. You can better manage resources and be ready for anything he/she has [left] to play.
Twincast A solid card all in all. goes great with
Mind Funeral
I've decked 33 cards with this potent combo once, the air was rife was satisfaction and saltiness that day :P This card can also be used for opponent's spells as well! If they can cast a Doom Blade, why can't I?
Treasure Cruise A gem of a card from KTK. Gives you options and fuel to your machine. Remember to choose carefully when delving out cards, you may need them via Archaeomancer. The 3 card loss from our deck is irrelevant given by the time you can afford to cast this, you will have milled a good chunk out of the opposing deck.
Jace, Memory Adept The turbocharger to the deck. Once you get him out, victory will get exponentially closer every turn cycle he is allowed to live.
Consuming Aberration More or less a joke card for the deck. No trample means a chump could easily negate this beast. An expensive target priority card that will just as likely get slapped with a Pacifism Still, it's hard to argue with a one shot-kill in most cases. 1 and only 1 is all you need.
Bane Alley Broker
The control is real with this one. A draw at the cost of a tap and an exile of my choice from my hand that I can get back later? Please and thank you. 0/3 body is good for intercepting threats. The fact I can exile cards in my hand to stop them from being discarded is also pretty ridiculous.
Land base:
Darkslick Shores I've recently come to adore check-lands for their versatility and mana fixing capabilities. The second turn usually requires either a black or blue and one generic to function. Not that hard to get out, but better safe than sorry.
Drowned Catacomb
Same principle; check-land. Obviously this geared towards a mid-game where Darkslick Shores is for turns 1 and 2.
Watery Grave Does this really need explaining? Badass artwork. NEXT CARD.
Flooded Strand
+
Polluted Delta
Delta for the colours and strand for that extra blue threat. Both work well with Hedron Crab for a nice six per-turn mill.
2 islands, 2 swamps. Really don't need more than this for basic with all the dual lands that are being used.
Oboro, Palace in the Clouds
This was meant to go with Hedron Crab. A steady mill if you find yourself in the rare case of topdecking.
Footnotes: As with all decks, use cards with discretion. You should only play a 1st turn Thoughtseize out of Watery Grave if you know 110% you are going to get something good. Play the deck well and it will reward you, play it poorly and you will not enjoy it, but it will be quick.
Thoughts, feedback, advice, and critiques are welcome!
