I feel like mill requires budget cards (outside of Jace MA), the lists are always SO cheap. Not like that's a bad thing!

Have you considered Meletis Charlatan to double down on things like Tome Scour and Breaking ? Could warrant some more Scours. Can also turn a midrange Mind Grind into a bomb. I haven't playtested at all, but when I saw the Charlatan my first thought was mill.

A couple things:

• I would highly recommend Temple of Deceit as the scry is really quite powerful and having 8 dual lands will help you hit UU for Dissolve and Wall of Frost
• I never liked going below 24 lands when I ran a mill - do you ever find yourself unable to drop Jace, Aberration, or Mirko on 5 (when it's the right play)?
• I would run Hover Barrier over Wall of Frost for the easier cost and flying.
• I always felt like Duskmantle Guildmage was a really cool combo that was hard to get off. He's neat with Tome Scour and is a bear, though.

I would personally -1 Swamp -2 Island -1 Essence Scatter +4 Temple of Deceit -3 Duskmantle Guildmage -2 Wall of Frost +3 Omenspeaker +1 Hover Barrier +1 Tome Scour but that's just my unsolicited opinion. Real nice looking mill deck, +1!

Thanks alulien, I don't think I could fit in Meletis Charlatan its a nice combo for Mind Grind but typically I go all in on a Mind Grind tap all and hope it makes it through, however I could see it working in a good way as well, say I have 8 total mana, if I used his ability to copy id be down to 5, 2 is required for the cast initially then im down to 3, therefore the copy plus the initial drop of Mind Grind would be 6 total revealed lands, however, if I just used the 8 mana to cast it in the first place im still getting a total of 6 lands revealed. This is a problem due to Meletis Charlatan taking up an extra slot in the deck for the exact same effect if I had just tapped out in the first place. This would work for Tome Scour and Breaking though, but im not sure its worthy of replacing something else within the deck structure.

My typical thought on Wall of Frost is that beautiful effect of "doesn't untap during next untap step" which is amazing in my opinion. Thats why I run 2x Hover Barrier and 2x Wall of Frost

The nice thing however, is those Scry lands, ive debated alot about using Temple of Deceit the downside is it comes in tapped. For me, its very hard to decide if it slows down a slow deck more than it needs to be, I do love the scry on it though. Its just hard to consider since it in fact comes in tapped. This is the hardest decision I will make on the deck, I may try it out and do a good amount of test plays using it but not 100% sure it will be a keeper in the deck.

As far as Duskmantle Guildmage he is a definite keeper for the deck, he provides mill if I ever do top deck and have mana to burn, as well as a Jace, Memory Adept + his activated ability win.

Now for Omenspeaker , I actually debated swapping out 2x Tome Scour for 2x Omenspeaker reason is that yeah its awesome to mill 5 for 1 mana, but the 2 scry could be super helpful as well, as it stands it comes down to mill 10 or scry 4 and have blockers. Plus her defense is great @ 3 for 2 CMC. I would really like an in depth discussion on the topic with you but im new to this site and either can't find where to message a user, or even know if you can message a user in a private message. After all that typing I hope to get some sort of other input on the changes im debating as well as a counter argument! Thanks for the support and the helpful advice.

Try using Desecration Demon in place of Hover Barrier and Wall of Frost . He provides for air muscle and board control. I have modified my mill deck and it is becoming less mill with a little control to control with a little mill, I had to put 4 of those demons in my deck.

I was actually looking at Desecration Demon he is super good for 4 CMC, only 1 more mana than both of the walls, he would be bad choice against a token heavy deck though since they could just sac tokens and keep him tapped, but I haven't played against a single token deck so im not completely sure how that would go. I am starting to realize that all you REALLY need in mill is Jace, Memory Adept keeping him safe = a solid win. I just don't think that its worth replacing all of my walls with him though. At this point im super attached to what I have its hard to decide what to replace. The main reason for the walls is to protect Jace and Wall of Frost really shines against aggro decks keeping them tapped.

You can click on someone's name and go to their page and comment there. But that's what the deck page is also for, so it's all gravy.

I like scry a lot, it's a great mechanic and I think Omenspeaker is awesome. It really helps to be able to filter what's coming: either you want it and you feel confident in making a play or you don't want it and increase your chances of getting what you want (though, yes, you might get something you didn't want). I prefer it to Augur of Bolas because I hated whiffing with him and sending a finisher to the bottom, but that's just me. Tome Scour is great because it's a low cost and perfect for turn 1 because of the disruption mill inherently causes: by removing their library you're decreasing the consistency of your opponent's deck. I would personally got a more controlly route than you've gone: control shell with mill wincon.

One thing to consider in your Omenspeaker vs. Tome Scour debate is aggro. I haven't read the comment history, but I saw mention of kitchen table play: does anyone play aggro? I bet a B/R or W/R aggro would be a really tough match for you, favoring the aggro decks.

I do fairly well against aggro, granted I get a good amount of removal off, one of them runs the new slivers and another runs Boros aggro, Slivers are easy to get rid of due to the fact that when one goes down they all become a little less powerful. The boros deck is tough if I don't counter the right cards at the right time, that being said yeah aggro isn't unbeatable with this deck, however its also not in my favor. Which is why I think Omenspeaker MAY be a better fit in the deck overall to gain two 3 toughness blockers and 4 total scry to replace mill 10.. I like having board presence as well as controlling certain situations to keep me safe. Thoughts?

UPDATE: So alulien I swapped 2x Tome Scour for 2x Omenspeaker so far it seems worth it since she fixed my draws and got me to awesome cards really fast. hmmm :D me likey? Now to find a spot for Desecration Demon Hellllp!! Maybe replace Mirko Vosk, Mind Drinker ?

I like the decision to chance out the tomes for omen speaker, and have been thinking about making room for Desecration Demon in my deck as well it's a turn four beast. For your deck I would say take out one Breaking / Entering and I guess Mirko if you wanted to add two. I would play test it ,iChat be a good change.

Yeah the way I see it, the extra scry 4 instead of mill 10 could lead to a quicker Jace, Memory Adept which is also mill 10, so it kinda made sense to me to make the swap on top of just setting myself up for better draws. I don't think I want to remove Breaking though. I still want to mill opponents out in a timely manner, 8 cards is a good amount for 2 CMC. I miss Jace's Phantasm so much... sigh. I just hope this proves to be a good competitive deck its taken a lot of effort and its endured many changes the past few days. Not gonna lie, im nervous. I also don't want to remove Mirko Vosk, Mind Drinker unless it gives me a 3rd Jace or Consuming Aberration or something worthy. I could possibly toss a Mind Grind and a Pilfered Plans OR a Mirko Vosk, Mind Drinker for 2x Desecration Demon what do you guys think about that change out? Remember this is a competitive deck that is in fact seeing action this Friday and FNM! Fingers crossed.

I have faith in this strat to be very competitive in standard. I know i am going to be using it when i return form the middle east in two weeks. Mirko and 1x pilfered for two demons? Try it out.Just my personal opinion.

Well hurry up! I wanna hear about your results as well! I probably will do some playtesting tomorrow for the Desecration Demon swap, unless someone comes up with a more nifty idea for a swap. My guess is it will be going well, but you never know. The only reason I would consider removing 1x Mind Grind is that I use it typically around T10-13 if it lasts that long, to finish the game, no need to draw 2 of them in a row, unless I want to tap out 2 turns in a row which can be dangerous.

Yeah this is very similar to one of my mill decks I used to use. If you are focusing more on the aggro creature side with the passive combo of jace/consuming with the guildmage, I would highly recommend Desecration Demon as well. In my opinion its too strong of a card. Another side board option is devour flesh. If you are going to win by mill, giving them hp isn't a problem. Its also nice in the sideboard to get past hexproof and indestrucible. +1 from me

October 18th will be my first FNM with the deck i have listed in my profile. I have all the cards except the two demons. And I will surely let you know how it fares. Please4 let me know how you do as you will have more practical time playing it at FNM with two extra goes. I feel it is an advantage to know what to look out for and how to prepare a sideboard accordingly. Do you mind if i add you as one of the friends on this sight? Being i have zero and our strats are very similar?

@ Quadsimotto yeah that's completely fine with me! As far as my results go, yes I will absolutely share how the FNM goes running this deck/strat. I have high hopes that it will do "well" but I can't assume anything more. Im hoping to at least get in top 5 for a first go. My guess is that everyone will be running aggro since it seems to be the flavor, at least around here its funny because I have never been the one to throw a ton of monsters on the field. Can't wait to explain what I will be doing differently the FNM after this upcoming one, should be interesting.

@ Saltybones. Desecration Demon does look super tasty, and im fairly certain that ill be making room since it can be an alternate win con if Jace, Memory Adept and his mill tactics don't go over smoothly for me. The only problem I see is attaining 2 copies before Friday considering they are roughly 12-20$ a pop...I also need to snag some Thoughtseize before then as well, so my sideboard may be lacking come Friday.

Any other suggestions for the big FNM this week will be awesome, mainly looking for more sideboard options as well as what to swap out for Desecration Demon but also open to any other creative ideas that may be flowing out there! Big thanks to everyone involved in helping craft this deck and sharing ideas! Keep em coming

Honestly i've been working on a variant of dimir mill with a splash of green for Axebane Guardian . I use him with multiple other defenders on the field to ramp up mana usage for cards such as Mind Grind and could give you that extra push in mana for Duskmantle Guildmage to go off 2-3 times. Axebane Guardian has quickly become one of my favorite cards, for good reason. Also, combined with cards such as Doorkeeper and the other defenders you already have in the deck, he'll be able to ramp rather quickly.

I would consider it, but I don't think splashing another color is worth the effort, if I wanted ramp I would just toss in a Liliana of the Dark Realms

UPDATE: Got my very first and only Theros booster pack today, and I managed to pull Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver I was super happy! So im adding her in the deck as it would be a shame for me to pull such a great and valuable card and not use it. So I now need suggestions on what to replace for her/him

take out a Pilfered Plans . Wont change up the cmc. Ashioks +2 does about the same, and overall is pretty awesome

Great idea! I was also considering tossing in 2x Desecration Demon as well but didn't know what to remove other than Mirko Vosk, Mind Drinker but the Pilfered Plans swap seems like a good trade off, since Ashiok can be a great distraction as well as help mill and take creatures.

What do you think about the decision to possibly get the Demon in the deck? Worth it or doesn't fit the deck?

UPDATE: The end is near, final changes are coming into play, I recently swapped out 3x Duskmantle Guildmage for 2x Omenspeaker and Cyclonic Rift I think the change is working well as far as scry goes, its super nice to have I have found I get Jace, Memory Adept on T5-6 much much more often, I also managed to pull Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver today and put her in the deck as well to hope to play some nice cards against my opponent. She took the slot of 1x Pilfered Plans since I gained a total of 4 scry, id trade 4 scry for draw 2 any day.

Also forgot to mention that im debating on swapping Mirko Vosk, Mind Drinker and 1x Mind Grind to gain 2x Desecration Demon but I haven't had a 100% dedication to do so yet, still gonna see what you guys have to say about it since im not completely sure its the right move.

Made the swap to 2xDesecration Demon removed 1x Mind Grind and 1x Mirko Vosk, Mind Drinker feels nice so far, but idk about the loss of a Mirko proc happening.

I would recommend Desecration Demon over Mirko Vosk, Mind Drinker as well. I'm working on a Dimir Mill deck as well. Although lately it seems to be more control them mill but still trying to rock the mill strategy. What about adding Thoughtseize ? Very helpful card. Also wondering if your liking the Duskmantle Guildmage combo have you thought about running Strionic Resonator ? You can double the combo with it. Just some thoughts I've been thinking of for mine.

Forgot to mention AEtherling as well. Even having 1 copy can be a good finisher I've found.

I'd make more suggestions but any of my suggestions are going to lead your deck to look more like mine lol.