Abrupt Decay: Despite this being very good removal it is one of the worst cards in the deck. Due to the nature of
Ensnaring Bridge, holding cards in our hand isn't something we want to do. This is best suited to take care of cards that can get around our lock,
Eidolon of the Great Revel,
Noble Hierarch, and
Cranial Plating are popular cards that come to mind to target if available. After sideboarding, this card gets a lot better by hitting
Stony Silence for us.
Academy Ruins: This card makes the whole deck run so smoothly. The ability to bring back artifacts we mill or get destroyed is so huge. It also enables an alternate win-con through
Pyrite Spellbomb
if the mill plan is going too slow.
Ancient Stirrings
: One mana, search for a colorless card is amazing in the deck. These search effects, combined with our control of the draw steps mitigate the empty hand we are forced to play with. Stirrings helps us in the early game to find the lock pieces and in the late game they cement our lock even further.
Codex Shredder: Primarily, this is just a mill rock. However, the Shredder has a second ability that is extremely relevant and allows a lot of versatility in fetching any card out of our graveyard. Due to the slow nature of our deck we can loop non-artifact cards through Shredder and the Academy Ruins to an extremely debilitating effect.
Ghost Quarter: Land hate, pretty self-explanatory usually, but this deck is anything but usual. There's a lot of really interesting decisions for your opponent with this card. Not only does it take away a land, but it also provides them with the option of shuffling. The option to lose a land or the top card of their deck can be really devastating in a lot of scenarios.
Glint-Nest Crane: The second search effect, this one can't hit lands but it still digs for lock pieces which is awesome. Furthermore, once it's no longer needed to block, you can draw your card for turn, attack under your bridge and play your card in the second main phase once it's safe.
Grafdigger's Cage: This is the graveyard hate card that I picked but there are definitely alternatives which I will explain below. The reason to run Cage is it successfully stops reanimation, dredge, and flashback. In addition, it stops creatures from entering the library as well. Collected Company and Chord of Calling don't function under a cage. The important thing to remember is that Cage doesn't stop Living End.
Infernal Tutor: Hellbent is what our deck was designed to do so this card is search our deck for any card we want. Having more than one copy in hand is dangerous though so I wouldn't run more than one.
Inquisition of Kozilek: Hand disruption is really important in the early turns. It gives us perfect information with a
Lantern of Insight
out and is efficiently costed.
Inventors' Fair: A land that can search our deck and gain us life is incredible. My only complaint is that it's legendary and I can't run more. This card is often the difference between life and death when you're up against Burn.
Lantern of Insight
: In addition to the valuable information that it provides, the secondary shuffle effect can act as a psuedo-mill effect by getting rid of the worst card on top of their library.
Leyline of Sanctity: This is an all-star sideboard card. It improves our abysmal Burn Matchup, stops hand disruption, and if you're ever cursed to play in the mirror it turns off their Codex Shredder. A lot of Lantern players are running Leyline of Sanctity main board now, I am not a fan of this without at least 3 Collective Brutalities to pitch the extra copies. The Leyline is most effective against Discard and Burn and with the downward spiral Lightning Bolt has taken, I prefer filling my deck with other, more castable, cards.
Mishra's Bauble: This card is one of the more flex spots in the deck but it has so much synergy that it's hard to not include. The possibility of a cost artifact on T1 makes Mox Opal that much better, enabling more turns where we can play a colored spell on T1. It also acts as an emergency Lantern to get a one time peek at the top card of either players' deck. Usually the correct time to crack the Bauble is on your opponent's end step, as drawing a card on their turn is exceedingly detrimental and can cost you the game because of how Ensnaring Bridge functions
Mox Opal: This is a zero costing artifact that smooths out our mana and can help protect the risky turn 1 plays where your only land is a Glimmervoid.
Nature's Claim: One mana to destroy any artifact or enchantment is a really good deal. I bring this in whenever I think Leyline of Sanctity will be a problem along with any problematic card that Abrupt Decay can't hit. I've also found that cycling this card with Codex Shredder and Academy Ruins is extremely good against decks like Affinity and most Blood Moon decks.
Pithing Needle: This card stops pretty much anything else that can operate under the lock. The two primary targets for it are usually Planeswalkers and Fetch lands but it can hit a number of creatures and cards. The important thing is to remember that it doesn't work on mana abilities and is thus mostly useless against decks like eggs.
Sea Gate Wreckage: The hellbent draw is rarely relevant, so I wouldn't run more than a single copy, but when you need that extra card and have to do a symmetrical mill, it's super good.
Spellskite: This is a super good sideboard guard. It functions as a great blocker, can fog some burn damage, and can redirect those pesky artifact destruction spells to save the pieces that are actually winning the game.
Surgical Extraction: This card is a complete all-star. There are so many devastating plays with this card. Thoughtseize, Inquition of Kozilek, or blind mill an important card on turn one then pay 2 life to remove every copy of it from the game and watch them fumble about. This card is the hardest card in the deck to use correctly and mastering it requires a deep knowledge of the meta and the patience to wait for an opportune card to hit with it. The Codex Shredder and Academy Ruins loop also grabs this card and makes players cry and the salt rain.
Thoughtseize: The best discard spell in all of Modern. It can grab anything out of our opponent's hand on T1 for only one mana and 2 life.
