Donald Trump's Great Wall of Mill

Commander / EDH Casual Mill Multiplayer Primer UB (Dimir)

Talbain

Creatures (26)

• 1x Archfiend of Depravity
• 1x Bloodline Keeper  ^Flip
• 1x Clever Impersonator
• 1x Consuming Aberration
• 1x Desecration Demon
• 1x Disciple of Deceit
• 1x Dreamborn Muse
• 1x Drift of Phantasms
• 1x Eater of the Dead
• 1x Fleet Swallower
• 1x Fog Bank
• 1x Grave Titan
• 1x Hover Barrier
• 1x Jace's Archivist
• 1x King Macar, the Gold-Cursed
• 1x Lord of the Void
• 1x Riddlekeeper
• 1x Sewer Nemesis
• 1x Silent Arbiter
• 1x Sire of Stagnation
• 1x Stormsurge Kraken
• 1x Thassa, God of the Sea
• 1x Tree of Perdition
• 1x Undead Alchemist
• 1x Wall of Frost
• 1x Wrexial, the Risen Deep

Removal (7)

• 1x Archfiend of Depravity
• 1x Curse of the Swine
• 1x Cyclonic Rift
• 1x Desecration Demon
• 1x King Macar, the Gold-Cursed
• 1x Liliana of the Dark Realms
• 1x Treachery

Defense (6)

• 1x Fog Bank
• 1x Propaganda
• 1x Riddlekeeper
• 1x Silent Arbiter
• 1x Thassa, God of the Sea
• 1x Wall of Frost

Counterspell (4)

• 1x Counterspell
• 1x Forbid
• 1x Muddle the Mixture
• 1x Psychic Strike

Land (36)

• 1x Arcane Lighthouse
• 1x Cabal Coffers
• 1x Command Tower
• 1x Dimir Aqueduct
• 1x Dreadship Reef
• 1x Drowned Catacomb
• 1x Hall of the Bandit Lord
• 1x Homeward Path
• 11x Island
• 1x Myriad Landscape
• 1x Polluted Delta
• 1x Sunken Hollow
• 10x Swamp
• 1x Tainted Isle
• 1x Underground River
• 1x Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
• 1x Watery Grave

Draw (10)

• 1x Jace, Memory Adept
• 1x Jace's Archivist
• 1x Phyrexian Arena
• 1x Rhystic Study
• 1x Sensei's Divining Top
• 1x Sire of Stagnation
• 1x Stormsurge Kraken
• 1x Thassa, God of the Sea
• 1x Underworld Connections
• 1x Whispering Madness

Tutor (7)

• 1x Demonic Tutor
• 1x Disciple of Deceit
• 1x Drift of Phantasms
• 1x Expedition Map
• 1x Muddle the Mixture
• 1x Tezzeret the Seeker
• 1x Vampiric Tutor

Combo (5)

• 1x Altar of the Brood
• 1x Bloodline Keeper  ^Flip
• 1x Eater of the Dead
• 1x Intruder Alarm
• 1x Undead Alchemist

Theft (4)

• 1x Clever Impersonator
• 1x Lord of the Void
• 1x Treachery
• 1x Wrexial, the Risen Deep

Commander (1)

Mill (12)

• 1x Altar of the Brood
• 1x Consuming Aberration
• 1x Dreamborn Muse
• 1x Eater of the Dead
• 1x Fleet Swallower
• 1x Fraying Sanity
• 1x Jace, Memory Adept
• 1x Memory Erosion
• 1x Mesmeric Orb
• 1x Sewer Nemesis
• 1x Sire of Stagnation
• 1x Traumatize

Ramp (10)

• 1x Cabal Coffers
• 1x Chromatic Lantern
• 1x Coalition Relic
• 1x Dimir Signet
• 1x Expedition Map
• 1x Liliana of the Dark Realms
• 1x Myriad Landscape
• 1x Sol Ring
• 1x Talisman of Dominance
• 1x Worn Powerstone

Utility (7)

• 1x Arcane Lighthouse
• 1x Hall of the Bandit Lord
• 1x Helm of the Host
• 1x Homeward Path
• 1x Leyline of the Void
• 1x Lightning Greaves
• 1x Thousand-Year Elixir

Untap (4)

• 1x Freed from the Real
• 1x Intruder Alarm
• 1x Pemmin's Aura
• 1x Tezzeret the Seeker

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Maybeboard

Creatures (5)

• 1x Chancellor of the Spires
• 1x Chasm Skulker
• 1x Guard Gomazoa
• 1x Jace's Phantasm
• 1x Nemesis of Reason

Mill (2)

• 1x Mindcrank
• 1x Psychic Corrosion

Land (1)

• 1x Reliquary Tower

Tutor (1)

• 1x Fabricate

Removal (5)

• 1x Ashes to Ashes
• 1x Avatar of Woe
• 1x Damnation
• 1x Sever the Bloodline
• 1x Visara the Dreadful

Theft (2)

• 1x Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver
• 1x Bribery

Utility (1)

• 1x Levitation

Counters (2)

• 1x Countersquall
• 1x Perplex

Draw (2)

• 1x Lim-Dul's Vault
• 1x Seizan, Perverter of Truth

Grave Hate (2)

• 1x Dimir Doppelganger
• 1x Planar Void

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Let's make mill great again!

I have spent some time experimenting with a variety of mill strategies in EDH. The bottom line? Mill is jank. But it's wonderful jank! This is an immensely casual deck, but it won't stop a casual table from absolutely crapping themselves when Fleet Swallower resolves! Mill is less interactive than many other strategies, so it strongly incentivizes you to go all-in. You don't need many contingency plans because few (casual) pods have hard answers for mill.

Other variants include an infinite combo based build, but that was still janky and, most damnably, boring. I still can't resist Intruder Alarm + Bloodline Keeper   though - they both pull their weight on their own, so I can justify it. God help your opponents if you land Intruder Alarm with a Jace's Archivist, for example. I also tried Wrexial, the Risen Deep at the helm of a more discard based build, but it was much too slow and not nearly explosive enough once it got going. He's still a decent include in the 99, but realize that he will mostly only pull removal so his utility is somewhat limited.

General Strategy

In EDH, one off mill effects like Archive Trap simply will not do. You have some 240 cards to mill - you can't bother with 13 cards, or even X cards (though Mind Grind arguably gets a pass). Instead I recommend consistent, low CMC mill engines to fill graveyards early - preferably enchantments that feed Phenax some devotion and get that big indestructible booty online. This will progress your board state without being TOO instantly oppressive, will make your late game easier, and if you're lucky may even power up Consuming Aberration. Dreamborn Muse is probably MVP here, though she IS perceived as oppressive and will get removed quickly. Mesmeric Orb is also a total value engine and worth every red cent.

I have found it is not a good idea to waste time with Nighthowler and his ilk. These cards seem like a shoo-in for the archetype but they're simply too damn slow. Unless you luck out and get to abuse some poor soul playing a deck of 50% creatures, by the time you fill everyone's graveyards enough to matter, you should be winning with a sick blowout rather than piddling around with an 8/8. Worse, you may need to exile graveyards to deal with an existential threat like an eldrazi titan (see auto-scooping below) and you'll wind up with some brutal dead draws.

Defense

Next, you need enough defense to not die. Fortunately Phenax encourages the use of walls! Pay special attention to air blockers, because flying commanders will make short work of you. Because this deck avoids relying on the combat step if at all possible I try to make sure that every creature, and especially every non-flying creature, provides exceptional value - either playing its role exceptionally well for the CMC (Jace's Phantasm, Fog Bank), spraying creatures everywhere (Chasm Skulker, Grave Titan), etc.

You'll also need to find room for defensive effects. Silent Arbiter is pure gold here. Propaganda is cheap and tough to remove, and helps prevent opponents from swinging wide around your walls. Despite its low CMC and moderately synergistic booty Riddlekeeper may seem a bit underwhelming, but I've noticed that most casual pods are actually terrified of milling cards! I have tended to get considerably more value than I would have expected out of this little guy. Note that Dread did not make the cut - it can slow your enemies down somewhat, but in the end it does not actually have any way to prevent opponents from killing you. It's a slow and non-proactive card with an ultimately marginal benefit, so for me the CMC is too high to justify.

My removal / control suite is intentionally a bit light, and is mostly limited to creatures I can abuse with Freed from the Real or something. Desecration Demon encourages opponents to keep their creature counts trim and synergizes delightfully with Archfiend of Depravity, an able bodied flyer that just happens to be a must-answer threat for many decks. In too many games, spending any more card slots on removal has felt like wasting cards, mana, and turns that I could be using to win the game. Depending on your meta of course your mileage may vary, and there is always room for top tier goodstuff like Sheoldred, the Whispering One.

Winning

After that you need those huge, player killing big blow outs. Here you've got options - cast Fraying Sanity and hit 'em with ridiculously high powered Tree of Perdition mill. Slap Pemmin's Aura on that sucker and become unstoppable! Eater of the Dead is of course a potentially devastating 2 card combo with Phenax, God of Deception. Undead Alchemist + Altar of the Brood have a chance of winning the game on the spot - and even if they fail, you will probably have a fat zombie army that can get into all kinds of mischief! Intruder Alarm can potentially slow enemies down, and also has the potential to enable untap shenanigans or even win the game with Bloodline Keeper  . Consuming Aberration can easily run away with a game all by himself, and Fleet Swallower is an absolute terror. Traumatize on a stick, I'm OK with that!

Tunnel Vision deserves special mention - it can be janky and it needs to be built around, but it's also a nearly instant kill when it goes off. Extra tutors are recommended. It combos with Hinder, Spell Crumple, and Junktroller. Also Vendelion Clique, though a toughness of 1 doesn't do much to advance your board state otherwise. I've taken all of this out in favor of more consistency, creatures, and general good stuff.

The Dreaded Auto-Scoop

Finally, you have to figure out how not to auto-scoop to Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre, Kozilek, Butcher of Truth or Gaea's Blessing. Even an ill-timed Blightsteel Colossus can mean trouble. If you suspect that a player has any of these cards, consider holding onto your tutor effects until you can guarantee that these fun ruining nuisances are taken care of! Collectively, these cards are the bane of all (graveyard) mill strategies. There is nothing more frustrating than discovering you have no way to win because someone included a format staple.

The replacement effect of Leyline of the Void obviously trumps all. Undead Alchemist also gets the job done so long as you are not the active player, as does Planar Void. This is decent synergy since you will tend to tap creatures for mill on your opponent's turn anyway. I recommend playing at least the first two, and definitely consider running Planar Void as well if your meta is heavy on these cards.

Dimir Doppelganger can also play this role, with flavor to boot. Unfortunately the shuffle effects will still proc and you have to leave 3 mana up at all times, so it's a little underwhelming for such a reactive card. You ARE potentially getting a free eldrazi though, so I guess there's THAT. Relic of Progenitus is a more efficient but much more boring alternative.

Sadistic Sacrament can get the job done, but this build rarely generates the mana to kick it and it'll only hit one player regardless - often that's enough, but soul crushing if it isn't.

I test this deck often, and despite its casual nature it has become one of my winning-est decks. It goes all in and sometimes it just flat out gets the job done... that or I get bored and combo off with Bloodline Keeper   when nobody's looking. It happens. That said, I'm always open to suggestions, especially cards I might not have heard of. Please let me know what you think!

Date added	8 years
Last updated	6 years
Legality	This deck is Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	13 - 0 Mythic Rares 41 - 0 Rares 19 - 0 Uncommons 6 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	3.42
Tokens	Boar 2/2 G, Copy Clone, Emblem Liliana of the Dark Realms, Gold, Vampire 2/2 B, Zombie 2/2 B
Folders	Commander decks, Ideas