Mind Sculpting for Dummies

Commander / EDH Control Mill Mono-Blue Multiplayer

NuBByThuMB

Instant (16)

• 1x Archive Trap
• 1x Blue Sun's Zenith
• 1x Brainstorm
• 1x Calculated Dismissal
• 1x Counterspell
• 1x Cyclonic Rift
• 1x Dig Through Time
• 1x Dispel
• 1x Epiphany at the Drownyard
• 1x Fact or Fiction
• 1x Jace's Ingenuity
• 1x Lay Bare
• 1x Psychic Spiral
• 1x Redirect
• 1x Spin into Myth
• 1x Visions of Beyond

Enchantment (11)

• 1x As Foretold
• 1x Control Magic
• 1x Fraying Sanity
• 1x Imprisoned in the Moon
• 1x Jace's Erasure
• 1x Jace's Sanctum
• 1x Leyline of Anticipation
• 1x Memory Erosion
• 1x Mind Control
• 1x Omniscience
• 1x Sphinx's Tutelage

Sorcery (13)

• 1x Baral's Expertise
• 1x Contingency Plan
• 1x Enter the Infinite
• 1x Mind Sculpt
• 1x Ponder
• 1x Preordain
• 1x Show and Tell
• 1x Startled Awake  ^Flip
• 1x Talent of the Telepath
• 1x Traumatize
• 1x Treasure Cruise
• 1x Tunnel Vision
• 1x Ugin's Insight

Land (32)

• 1x Boseiju, Who Shelters All
• 1x Halimar Depths
• 22x Island
• 1x Maze of Ith
• 1x Minamo, School at Water's Edge
• 1x Mystifying Maze
• 1x Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
• 1x Reliquary Tower
• 1x Skyline Cascade
• 1x Tectonic Edge
• 1x Temple of the False God

Artifact (7)

• 1x Hedron Archive
• 1x Keening Stone
• 1x Mind Stone
• 1x Sensei's Divining Top
• 1x Sol Ring
• 1x Sword of Body and Mind
• 1x Tormod's Crypt

Commander (1)

 ^Flip

Creature (12)

• 1x Baral, Chief of Compliance
• 1x Clever Impersonator
• 1x Elite Arcanist
• 1x Fog Bank
• 1x Frost Titan
• 1x Jace's Archivist
• 1x Jace's Mindseeker
• 1x Jace's Phantasm
• 1x Mindshrieker
• 1x Sphinx of Magosi
• 1x Sphinx of the Final Word
• 1x Trinket Mage

Planeswalker (8)

• 1x Jace, Architect of Thought
• 1x Jace Beleren
• 1x Jace, Cunning Castaway
• 1x Jace, Ingenious Mind-Mage
• 1x Jace, Memory Adept
• 1x Jace, the Living Guildpact
• 1x Jace, the Mind Sculptor
• 1x Jace, Unraveler of Secrets

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I find it difficult words to describe this deck and all it contains. This deck came about as a brain child spawned from the now retired Lazav Plays With Your Mind (UPDATED 100% FOIL). If I were to cram all of my favorite cards in this deck, I could easily play Battle of Wits. But alas, this mono-colored deck can only have 100 cards. If you ever wondered what it would feel like to BE Jace, then look no further!

When you look at this deck, it should be understood that there were very specific parameters for which I tasked myself when building. First, I had to include as many possible cards related to the subject matter. If it has and relevance to Jace, it is in here. This means even the shabby cards like Mind Sculpt and Alhammarret, High Arbiter make the cut here. The goal in limiting myself was to be as narrow as possible so as to capture as much flavor and synergy as possible. The extra cherry on top is that, while limited, the deck is still rather potent (to the demise of many friends), and even though I tried to make a less powerful deck, it just turned out that no matter how you slice it, Jace is powerful!

Let's take a look at the cards I've selected and see the kinds of power bursting from Jace's mind.

To begin with, I think it's important that we talk about the Commander, first. Jace, Vryn's Prodigy   is our only choice for a commander deck that revolves around Jace. Jace has gotten many scoffs and scratched heads when he starts off in the Command zone. There have been many questions as to "Why Jace?"; and simply put, I love blue, I love mill, and I LOVE Jace. While he isn't the best wizard at drawing you cards, the option to turn him over in response to removal is pretty sweet. The yard fills as the game goes and it isn't too long before taking Jace off the board with a single removal spell is an option. Playing him as my Commander has proven to be quite a challenge, as his +1 ability is good sometimes and his -3 is always good. There have been a couple times where I have bombed him and I've never lost a game where I did. The best part is that his abilities are never irrelevant, his +1 DOES get lackluster towards the end of a game when there are bigger creatures on board. But his -3 is never stagnant, and being able to get more cards off of him in a pinch is really nice, especially when I full well expect my opponent to remove him. I absolutely love the ability to have an early card drawing commander who can flip at the first sign of trouble, or eat a removal spell to make way for another Jace. I've even had my opponents' try to flip him on their side. Only to find that Jace comes right back home on the flip. Maybe next time they'll read the cards better.

Now that the extensive bit of Commander choice is out of the way, let's have a first look at the light creature package in this build.

Alhammarret, High Arbiter is Jace's first teacher and mentor. While not the greatest card, I find myself keeping him in simply because he is related to Jace.

Clever Impersonator is a flex card with heavy lift toward remaining in the final 100 cards simply because at any given point in the game, it can be the best card on the board.

Elite Arcanist while not Jace, himself, he is indeed a great ally and he does sport a mighty familiar hood an cloak. Being able to stick this guy with Counterspell or Cryptic Command is just silly. Not to mention Brainstorm.

Fog Bank is another flex spot card that I figured is rather helpful at just about each point in the game. being able to shut down an incoming attacker with a small dude is okay by me. While not directly related to Jace, I like this card. It may come out at a later date when I get more Jace related cards for the deck.

Frost Titan is pure utility and always a headache for anyone across the table. No matter how many times you cast him, there are always folks who forget about his first ability and would rather just grieve over the second.

Jace's Archivist gets an auto-include for just having Jace in his name. But even better is the disruption he offers when your hand is stale and you like to be a high roller. Keeping your opponent off a game plan by cycling their hand is high risk, high reward. Sometimes you get there, sometimes you draw them into a kill spell.

Jace's Mindseeker gets yet another auto include. I find this card to be lackluster, overall and generally don't hit awesome instants and sorceries with him. But a 4/4 flier that mills 5 on entry is okay by me. It has served as a decent deterring blocker in the past. As an aside here, most of the creatures in this deck are rather fragile and weak compared to the big Timmy decks running rampant. Just another bonus when it comes down to winning with flavor.

Jace's Phantasm gets the include for being a 5/5 flier for 1 mana. Not the best, but the RNGeezus demands it.

Kozilek, Butcher of Truth gets the include here for being one of three colossal nightmares that ravaged the plane of Zendikar at the behest of Jace, Chandra and Sarkhan at the Eye of Ugin. Not to mention, he's just amazing in EDH.

Mindshrieker is my vote for one of the most solid includes in this build. The fact that opponents forget about his mill ability is not negligible! At any point in the game he's a flying blocker. My favorite combination with him is actually the early threat of Mindshrieker and Sword of Body and Mind. Many games have been won on the backs of birds with swords.

Treasure Mage is the most borderline card in the world. I teeter betwwen keeping him in and taking him out because he CAN fetch Spine of Ish Sah, but I'm not sure I'll be keeping these two cards in too much longer.

Trinket Mage fetches ALL of the pretty trinkets. From Tormod's Crypt to Brittle Effigy, Sensei's Divining Top and Sol Ring, too.

Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger gets the include for being the second generation of Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre, also included here. He serves as a better Spine that can be fetched by Eye of Ugin which also conveniently grabs his pals. If he ever attacks, that's just gravy.

Date added	9 years
Last updated	6 years
Legality	This deck is Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	22 - 0 Mythic Rares 30 - 0 Rares 11 - 0 Uncommons 15 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	3.72
Tokens	Emblem Jace, Unraveler of Secrets, Emblem Jace, Vryn's Prodigy, Human 2/2 G, Illusion 2/2 U w/ Phantasmal, Wolf 2/2 G
Folders	EDH decks, Decks To Reference