So...I am not a fan of Mill in this format. As a whole, I do not see it being a star in much outside of FNM. I did my best to build a semi-playable, control styled mill deck. I will now attempt to explain how I imagined it being played. If I missed a line of play, forgive me. Now on to the deck... But first, I shall explain the cons to the deck.
Con:
The problem I have, is Dimir mill doesn't have many outs to massive board clogging creatures. So red strategies will kill it dead.
It is hard to decide when to be on the defensive. I have found, that when I have mana open, it is tough to decide whether or not to keep it for devour flesh, or try to apply pressure through Breaking or a like card. But that is the age old question in Magic. Am I losing or should I apply gas.
The deck:
Naturally, you want to mill out your opponent, then either A.) Pass the turn or B.) Force them to draw with Opportunity.
While this is the main line of play, the deck has a few alternative win strategies. In example, the following:
Consuming Aberration : That's right. If the milling doesn't seem to be working, use the cards you have dropped into the graveyard to make this guy a whoop ass stick the size of a planet. No one, and I mean no one wants to see a 20+/20+ coming in for face each turn. The cons to this guy is his squishyness. He dies to removal.(like most things.) I have played a few mill decks in FNM and laughed when he hit the table.(in my noggin, not directly) Why? Because I could kill him...without another thought. So how do we combat this problematic situation? Enter Blood Crypt. But Icky, y u do dis? Dat does nothing to help or Aberration from being killed. Aye, but it does. Look closely. Remember that powerful Breaking ability? Did you forget about the Entering part of Breaking / Entering? It is not the most reliable way to recur the Aberration, I know...but if the mill strategy isn't working, maybe it becomes more viable.
Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver This guy is obviously a must have. He mills. But better...it hits exile. Even better still? You can steal the big nasties you mill away. How awesome is that!? And if you pop off the ultimate, especially with a control player, you might as well laugh the game all the way to the bank. Seriouslly. Ashiok is 3 mana, protects itself, follows the strategy, and if things need to change, he can steal nasties to either block or bash until the opponent is dead. Not to mention, the ultimate puts the opponent into top deck mode. A position no one wants to be in..ever.
So how the heck do I play this deck?
Well, sorta like control, sorta not, more like mill.
The turn one options are slim, well...there is only Tome Scour which is great for what it does. Turn one Watery Grave into a Tome Scour sets up a turn two Breaking / Entering which is 13 off the top right from the start. That is pretty nice.
Turn three and onward is when things begin to get interesting and also when people with aggro decks begin bashing face. For this turn, I will explain a possible defensive or conservative strategy. For the most part, this will apply until later turns as well as an aggressive strategy that will change based on the situation and amount of available mana.
Defensive/Conservative:
The easiest thing to say is draw, then pass the turn. This does a number of things. 1. You are playing blue. This may make your opponent tread carefully in fear of a counter spell. (this is what you want) 2. Have mana open to Psychic Strike your opponent if they play something threatening. i.e. Thassa, God of the Sea btw...you have very few options to getting rid of this creature. Countering it would be the best option here because after that, you have Devour Flesh and Far / Away only... The good thing about Psychic Strike is it also mills 2..which is quite nice. The other option is defense against onslaught. 3. Devour Flesh Creatures harming your face? Kill them. Devour Flesh is awesome because you couldn't care less how much life they have. Your strategy is to mill the opponent, not bash their brains in...well unless you have to.. If you must cast Far / Away, that is fine...but try to keep those guys around so you can 2 for 1 later in the game. Hero's Downfall is also good in a pinch, but better saved for killing enemy planeswalkers that hit the board. (assuming you cannot counter them)
Offensive: Drop Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver and get the milling going. You want to plus this card as much as possible. Never drop a minus unless going for ultimate or grabbing a must have creature. Keep in mind, it can only nab cards exiled with Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver and nothing else.
Turn 4 and Beyond:
The meat and potatoes of the game. Refer to turn 3 if you are behind.
You want to drop Mind Grind almost immediately if possible. Mill until you hit 2 lands? YES PLEASE. It only becomes more and more devastating the later you decide to cast it.
Jace, Memory Adept is simple. Drop him and plus if your hand is getting low, or 0 until there is nothing left of your opponent's library.
Mirko Vosk, Mind Drinker doubles as a Mind Grind on a stick. His problem is the cliche "dies to removal". But we have a lone source of red to stop that.
Consuming Aberration: See above.
End the game by passing the turn or forcing a draw and onward to game two!
Side Boarding:
I have not play tested this deck just yet, but I will attempt to say which cards you may want against certain match ups not what to take out.
Mono Blue Devotion:
There is a decent bit of hate here. Why? It is the most popular deck in the format..or at least close to it.
What you want:
Gainsay: You will use this to remove threats such as Thassa, God of the Sea, Bident of Thassa, Jace, Architect of Thought and essentially anything nasty with a blue mana symbol.
Far / Away, Essence Scatter: This is an aggro deck, having insurance against creatures is always a good thing..especially when there are scaries like Master of Waves afoot. Speaking of...
Ratchet Bomb: You can activate the ability for 0 and wipe out entire armies of tokens for just 2 mana. Play it, wait for the token swarm, then crack it to wipe the board.
Mono Black Devotion:
This deck has similar side board options:
Dark Betrayal: Because of your lack of creatures, you will want to get rid of the nasty Desecration Demon early on..A 6/6 flier on turn four ruins your day. Rid yourself of the threat. While not the most effective way, it can kill Pack Rat as well.
Essence Scatter, Far / Away: See above. Also, Gray Merchant of Asphodel counts as a MUST COUNTER in my book. Having the Essence Scatter helps to ensure this monster never hits the board, as he is a game ender. Keep in mind, Mutavault is incredibly important to this deck, so if you can kill it with a Devour Flesh or bounce it away, it may keep you alive a bit longer. In addition, beware Thoughtseize, as it may render your plans useless.
Ratchet Bomb What do you know? This deck makes tokens as well. The extra copy of the bomb helps eradicate the many Pack Rat tokens that may be running amok. The key here is, if the opponent goes with the Pack Rat strategy, stay alive, make them run out of resources, then wipe the rats away.
U/x Control:
Beware Sphinx's Revelation...sometimes. If you have your control player mostly milled, let it go off. If you find the fistful of opponent resources frustrating, Gainsay cures that up nicely. In addition, it counters the ever pesky Detention Sphere, which threatens your planeswalkers. But if you cannot counter the sphere Ratchet Bomb can get rid of it.
U/x Control builds tend to win through planeswalker advantage. Most notable, is Esper(UWB) and U/W control. These guys like to drop Elspeth, Sun's Champion as their finisher. In addition, the have a nice set of Jace, Architect of Thought and/or Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver. You can nullify these cards by the incredibly powerful(and cheap to boot!), Pithing Needle. Slap it down early and yell the feared walker, or other popular finisher, AEtherling, and fear not their wrath...for a time. Keep in mind, once AEtherling hits the board, he is nearly impossible to deal with. Take the steps to beat it early.
If the Pithing Needle does not work, Ratchet Bomb helps kill off the tokens produced with the effect of Elspeth, Sun's Champion. In addition, it kills Detention Sphere, which is important in these matchups, especially since it can nullify your planeswalkers, Pithing Needle, and Ratchet Bomb.
Some control decks, like U/W control, like to constantly chain Elixir of Immortality to help mill their opponents to death in a war of attrition. Stop the strategy by using Psychic Spiral. The opponent may think they are crafty, but you are one step ahead. Play this at instant speed in the late game to negate the effects of Elixir of Immortality and retrieve your resources..
For now, I am done with the deck description. In the future, I may add side boarding options for other heavy hitting decks in the current standard format. For now, I present the big 3 I have seen winning and placing in Grand Prix tournaments the most lately. I hope the list and descriptions helps, and until I build another deck or edit this one...
Happy Milling.
