Mill them? Stomp them? WHY NOT BOTH?
This deck brings threats from three angles: an infinite damage combo, early midrange creatures, and deck milling.
The infinite damage combo is Bloodchief Ascension + Mindcrank
or Duskmantle Guildmage + Mindcrank
: any card going into the graveyard causes loss of life, loss of life puts cards into the graveyard, cards into the graveyard causes loss of life, rinse and repeat until dead and/or out of cards. This combo can fire as early as turn 3.
It's also worth pointing out that in this deck, a charged Bloodchief Ascension is also effectively a win condition. Bloodchief Ascension + Mesmeric Orb
is brutal: that's 2 life lost to them and 2 life gained for you for each card your opponent untaps. (How much land did they tap again?) Archive Trap + Bloodchief Ascension
is 26 life lost to them and 26 life gained to you when it fires. Not bad for 1 mana of investment. Duskmantle Guildmage is basically an expensive way to get a quarter of Bloodchief Ascension's advantage...but it's there if you need it. Your opponent losing 13 life off an Archive Trap is better than nothing!
If that doesn't get them, you've got some solid midrange creatures in this deck to keep them busy. A Nihilith cast on turn 2 for 2 mana will come into play as a 4/4 with haste and fear no later than turn 5, and very possibly on the very next turn. Jace's Phantasm is reliably a 5/5 flying for 1 mana by turn 4, and possibly on turn 2. Avatar of Woe can reliably be played for 2 by turn 4, and it is a world of hurt from that point forward.
If all of that doesn't win you the game, then you're probably playing against some stupid control deck like 8Rack or Hatebears, and for that, there's always the classic mill strategy. This deck moves the opponent's library into their graveyard at a moderate but consistent rate. Even better, milling can cause damage in and of itself via Duskmantle Guildmage and Bloodchief Ascension, so it's entirely possible to win even without the Mindcrank combo.
Oh, also, there's land-hate. Field of Ruin and Ghost Quarter are really there to ensure your opponent searches their deck when you're sitting on an Archive Trap. They can always choose not to fetch the basic land, but then you've set them back a land drop, which is a fine alternative. The land hate acts as defense again decks based on manlands (eg: UW control, infect) or Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle, as well as punishing decks that lean heavily on nonbasic lands (basically everything).
Deck Fears
This deck has three fears: first, crazy-fast aggro decks (Affinity, Merfolk); second, Leyline of Sanctity; third, Wheel of Sun and Moon. Thankfully, very few people field Leyline of Sanctity, and practically nobody is playing Wheel of Sun and Moon...but if you see them, it's Bad Times.
Answer the Weenie Brigades
To address Affinity, along with Eldrazi Aggro, hexproof/enchantments, white weenies, elves, merfolk, and other high-volume/low-mana decks, we've got Necroplasm on the sideboard, which replaces Avatar of Woe. Necroplasm shouldn't be underestimated: it's basically a reusable Ratchet Bomb with legs against tiny creature-based decks. You drop a Necroplasm on turn 3 and at end of turn you wipe out tokens, Memnites, Ornithopters, flipped creatures (Delver of Secrets, I'm looking at you), and face-down creatures. End of the next turn (end of turn 4), it takes out Goblin Guide, Signal Pest, the mana dorks, and 1-mana hexproof enchantment rods. If they kill your Necroplasm, just dredge it back up and go at it again. He does take out Jace's Phantasm and Duskmantle Guildmage, but he doesn't take out Nihilith or Avatar of Woe, which is usually good enough. Forcing your aggro-deck opponent to play around your wave of death slows them down, which is exactly the point: if those aggro-decks are just a little bit slower, this deck wins.
The Dreaded Turn-0 Leyline of Sanctity
If you see a turn-0 Leyline of Sanctity, it's rough. Your Jace's Phantasm and Nihilith are slowed down a couple of turns and your Archive Trap is a dead draw (probably Avatar of Woe, too), but the deck can otherwise limp along. When it comes time to sideboard, toss Tome Scour, Avatar of Woe, and Archive Trap in favor of Necroplasm, Winds of Rebuke, and Ghoulcaller's Bell. With that change, their Leyline of Sanctity is largely irrelevant: the deck is a very slight bit slower, but only slightly.
Combo Faster
If you're playing against a combo deck and just need to combo out faster than them, dump Tome Scour in favor of Search for Azcanta
.
This Deck's Bane
If you see Wheel of Sun and Moon, be totally shocked. As of right now, only 23 decks in the recorded history of MtG Top 8 fielded that card, maindeck or sideboard. If you do see it, though, you are really in trouble. Your only real chance is to combo out ASAP. Toss Nihilith, Archive Trap, and Tome Scour in favor of Search for Azcanta
(get the pieces faster), Winds of Rebuke (maybe you can bounce the Wheel and combo out?), and Necroplasm (you're probably facing weenies).
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