I have a Lazav EDH, maybe you'll get some ideas from it: Lazav, Milling in EDH

Wow this deck is fun! +1 for funness. Just wondering, why don't you have some of the more mainstream creature take cards, like Mind Control, Abduction, or Volition Reins?

@ofcruelties Thank's for letting me see you Dimir deck! A few bits of inspiration there definitely! I need to get a copy of Wrexial, the Risen Deep to start! Unfortunatly my aim is not to mill out the opponent to win, though with Dimir it is always possible. +1 btw ;)

@CkajLanoa Thanks! The idea of the deck isn't mostly to win but having huge threats, or combo-ing out just something that can be played and enjoyed a lot without silly plays. Creature take cards are great, trying to play not too many of them though as I've found they tend to quickly get hated upon, especially if its an enemy commander. Though they are definitely a consideration as soon as the budget gods let me, and i have a few more playtests.

You may want one or two more boardwipes, which should be trivial in black. Also a Curse of the Cabal or something equivalently oppressive is great for dealing with all sorts of threats

steal is a fun deck. i just posted my steal deck Doctor Who and it does get hated on but is fun to play. +1 on your deck btw

I like it.

Always fancied a ub deck, which wasn't based on milling.

Why not run Mindcrank as an out with Duskmantle Guildmage

@Casey4321 Thanks for the input! I do like Mindcrank though I aimed not to include instant win combos in this deck.

That's cool. Respect for running Lasav. +1

I feel like you should stay away from cards that exile, as that does not allow you to activate Lazav's ability. Overall, a good deck, thanks for commenting on my deck and linking this to it. +1

Hey there, fun deck, Would you mind elaborating a bit more on the specific theme you're going for? Just cloning shenanigans, or stealing, or milling?

Most important part of any deck is mana. I would change Barren Moor for Tainted Isle, Change Rupture Spire for Drowned Catacomb, Maybe add in Thespian's Stage in place of Shimmering Grotto for more copying. I'm assuming this is failry budget, so maybe you don't want it, but Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth is great fixing.

For Creatures

Dralnu is a HUGE risk, if you suffer one Blasphemous Act or Arcbound, you may as well wipe your board. I recommend some more copying in the form of Body Double or Clever Impersonator. Body Double takes of all those cards you mill while trying to trigger Lazav, and the Clever Impersonator can clone Enchantments, Artifacts, and Creatures!

Necrotic Ooze is a dead creature or a blank body about 90% of the time, which is why I ended up cutting him. He only keeps activated abilities, and many times you have to pay outside your colors, if they even have an ability that is relevant. What if you had a Thassa, God of the Sea to help get some creatures in for some damage, or a Hedron Crab for more mill and potential disruption.

Instead of Xathrid Gorgon, What about Lazav's mistress Avatar of Woe. This lady loves milling and you get a CMC 8 creature for the low, low price of 2. Your opponents don't gain any blockers, and Lazav can become whatever dies. If not, Geth, Lord of the Vault can steal from the grave and mill a small amount, which could mean you get a lucky trigger on Lazav.

Vortex elemental's best, reusable ability is too expensive for one creature, and it reduces the impact of your draw by making you redraw the same stuff, and it doesn't save you because the opponent will just replay the same creatures, unless you have some reliable mill. For more mill, to make full use of Lazav and disrupt plans, try Dreamborn Muse, or maybe a Duskmantle Guildmage. (The Guildmage also has infinite combos with Mindcrank)

Havengul Lich is a risky card, though not quite so as the Ooze or Dralnu. What I mean is, you still have to pay full cost for creatures, color and all, which limit's his viability in a multiplayer game. I like cards like Undead Alchemist which turn mill into a functional board state (and has a fun interaction with Altar of the Brood). For a cheaper reanimate option, look into Animate Dead or Phyrexian Reclamation.

For non-creature spells

Phthisis? Holy crap this is one expensive kill spell. What about Go for the Throat, Rapid Hybridization or Reality Shift, when you wanna kill something, you don't wanna pay 7 mana at sorcery speed, or worse, wait 5 turns. Cheap, fast kills means they are dead before they hit you, and you can do more than just dedicate a turn to killing one dude.

If you want a budget tutor, go with Diabolic Tutor, and you have no CMC restriction.

Rather than Voidwalk, what about a classic blue stable for card draw Rhystic Study?

Soul Ransom is worse than Control Magic and the more non-budget Treachery

Endless Whispers will do you no favors, what about a Nemesis of Reason for mill or an Erebos, God of the Dead for more draw (plus he hates on life gain)?

You should really cut Imps Mischief and use a hard counter instead like Counterspell or Hinder.

Millstone is, like, terrible slow. Maybe look into a Chromatic Lantern for powerful mana fixing/ small ramp, Armillary Sphere for more ramp, or a Mesmeric Orb for the most powerful one-card mill engine in Magic: The Gathering?

Instead of Illusionist's Gambit, Sleep, then no one attacks this turn or next.

FOr more ideas, or to see the context of my ideas, look into my Dimir Theme deck, Welcome to the Undercity

@ecmmyers Thank you for the incredible input! I do need to update my description to describe my theme, Which i will do when i am not at work. The basics are to use an opponents win condition against them, utilizing copys/clones recuring an opponents creatures and spells using Memory Plunder - Havengul Lich etc

I am trying to keep away from milling as a win condition, though with consuming abberation it is always a possibility.

Not sure what you're suggesting? Is it that he cannot clone his own large legendaries without the gallery, due to having to sacrifice one of the objects?

I was just confused since, being that the legendary rule has been changed for quite some time to allow each player to have one copy of a legendary, he can still use clones on his opponents' legends so long as he doesn't possess multiples.

take a look at this for a copy steal Doctor Who? it did recieve a good amount of hate.

Doctor Who?

thats not my deck its name was doctor who 1 linking it changed the 1 to a ?

I would suggest Pilfered Plans the mill isn't strong and it gets you cards.

Thanks for the Input @trollslayer I do like Pilfered Plans but it rather weak for the format, Repeatable card draw would be more useful i.e Necropotence

Sorin Markov is great in commander

Thank you for the input @RADiO! To be honest I am not a fan of Sorin Markov It seems rather cheep to knock someone down to 10 life Though I do understand it's power, it just doesn't play out as a fun card once it hits the table.

Some other suggestions I have are Body Double and Mirko Vosk, Mind Drinker, I think they would both go well in your deck

Gilded Drake - Another fodder for Mimic Vat. Lol

@Megalomania Thanks for the Card choice! Gilded Drake Would be an awesome addition, though if far to much outside my price range for now. Which I have updated my description so not to get confused.

@RADiO Thank again for taking another look! Body Double was on the maybe list, and I may try out a copy I have laying around, though I dropped it for Phyrexian Metamorph as I believe it is more flexible when Dimir Doppelganger does the same as Body Double but with a repeatable effect. As for Mirko Vosk, Mind Drinker I am going to pass, purely to stay away from mill effects, though it is a very nice card!

If you want a cheaper option for Gilded Drake, look into a Thalakos Deceiver. You can Mimic Vat it, The opponent doesn't keep a drake, and it's much more budget. Downside is that you can only use in combat step, and it costs 3U.

Nice deck I like that there's not much mill as most dimir decks have obtuse amounts of mill +1