I love alternative win cons and mill is my favourite of them all!
Mill = Hard Mode
It has been said many times before that a mill deck is essentially a much less efficient burn deck. Instead of aiming at 20 life you're aiming at, say, 50 cards by the time you've got a few turns in. If Modern is a 4 turn format that means that we have approximately 10 cards, including land, and say 9-10 mana on the play to win the game, whilst dealing with the other player's threats or disrupting them long enough to prevent them winning first.
Another criticism of milling is that most of the time to progress our win condition we are not impacting the board state. Although burn does a similar thing, as damage to the opponent's life total does not typically effect the game until they reach 0 life, at least burn damage can be pointed at an opposing creature instead if this is more important. The highest impact milling spells do not have this utility, so any cards that can function as either efficient mill or utility are incredibly valuable.
Strategy & Card Selection
When assessing a card's viability for a burn deck lightning bolt sets the standard, so 3 damage for 1 mana. The equivalent so mill is 7 cards for 1 mana. Once you know the available cards for this archetype, you'll see that there are extremely few options once you apply this standard, which I think is one of the reasons mill decks to date have always been considered more casual than competitive. That said, using this efficiency standard is really helpful in filtering down the potential cards we want to consider using.
The low number of available cards that meet this criteria also means that the threat density in a mill deck is not achievable in the same way as a burn or fast aggro deck. This pushes us towards a more combo and/or control strategy.
Key aims for the deck:
- A low, tight mana curve using a Turbo-Xerox style mana base with strong cantrip effects (e.g. scry, surveil) and card draw.
- Use of tutors to find key milling spells, doubling as utility by finding other cards when needed (e.g. removal, bounce or other traps).
- Sufficient removal to deal with key opposing threats to buy enough time to progress the mill win con.
Why UW and not UB black or Esper (UBW)?
The deck
With all this in mind, this is my take on UW mill:
1 drops (20)
4x Hedron Crab (Mill)
This little guy is awesome and the most characterful card in the deck. Dropping one on turn 1 can easily net you 9+ cards milled early on, usually at least 12 if he survives thanks to the high number of fetch lands the deck runs. Left to their own devices just one of these monsters will mill a massive number of cards over time and is potentially one of the most efficient sources of mill per mana in the game. Saving a fetch to respond to removal means that you will usually get at least 6 cards out of the little fella. Occasionally a blocker if you are sure he's safe from getting caught by a spell or ability, or if you need to buy time. The threat of these will usually mean that our opponent will not board out removal, which can generate virtual card advantage if we do not draw any.
4x Visions of Beyond (Cantrip/Card Draw)
Effectively an Ancestral Vision much of the time, drawing three cards is always extremely powerful, whether you're winning and need to close the door quickly or behind and need to catch up. If needed early can be used as a cantrip to keep moving through your deck and help hitting land drops.
4x Serum Visions (Cantip, Filtering)
The most powerful cantrip available in Modern. Having 8 cantrips in the deck allows a lower land count (see Turbo Xerox theory for more), smooths the draws and helps dig for relevant cards at the time (mill/land/removal). It is important to get the sequencing right when playing with so many fetchlands, but I still think seeing the extra card and allowing 1 land hands to be kept is worth the trade off, compared to say Opt.
4x Path to Exile (Removal - Exile), Optional Search Trigger)
Already one of, if not the best targeted removal spells in Modern and first half of the removal suite. The 'drawback' of offering the opportunity for the opponent to search for a basic land makes them choose to risk getting hit by one or more Archive Traps (and potentially loosing the game) or exiles the creature for a measly 1 white mana, all at instant speed.
4x Condemn (Removal - Tuck)
A late find in the development of the deck, adding 4 more removal spells has made having removal in hand in the first few turns of the game reliable and multiples are fine as they buy more time. As creatures are almost always attacking us and mill decks don't care about life, I would say Condemn is on par with Path to Exile, which is a bold statement to make. On one hand Path is better because it can target non-attacking creatures, however Condemn does not potentially ramp the opponent and has the niche benefit of upsetting Death's Shadow players.
2 drops (11)
4x Trapmaker's Snare (Tutor: Mill, Graveyard Hate)
Since the printing of Field of Ruin and it's ability to force the opponent to search their library, the value of Archive Trap has increased dramatically. This enables the deck to take on a powerful combo role capable of turn 4 wins, rather than relying on the slower traditional UB mill linear burn strategy. As such, tutoring for Trap is worth 3 more cards (or more with Fraying Sanity) than the classic UB Glimpse of the Unthinkable. Usually used at the end of an opponent's turn, Snare also finds Ravenous Trap, therefore offering 4 additional graveyard hate cards.
3x Merchant Scroll (Tutor: Mill, Card Draw, Bounce, Other U Intants)
Archive Trap numbers 9-11. Or with 20 cards in a graveyard can search for Visions of Beyond, effectively drawing 3 cards for 1UU which is still an exceptional rate in Modern. Post-board can also tutor for the singleton Echoing Truth, taking the effective number of cards that can interact with an opposing Leyline of Sanctity or similar enchantment to 8 or Witchbane Orb to 4.
3x Mission Briefing (Filtering, Graveyard Tutor: Mill, Removal, Cantrip, Card Draw, Trap)
Better than Snapcaster Mage for this deck as the play from graveyard ability allows Archive Trap to be cast for it's alternative cost. So not only is this Archive Trap numbers 13-15, it also allows our other spells to be recast if needed instead which can be extremely useful. I've found with 6 non-U mana sources in the deck that 3 is better than 4.
3 drops (4)
4x Fraying Sanity (Mill)
Doubles all your mill effects, plus mills 1 for each card our opponents put in the graveyard themselves. 1 copy in play enables the combo win with 2 Trap triggers, milling 52 cards, enough to win immediately vs most decks and possible from turn 3 onwards if they search themselves or turn 4 if you can trigger a search via Path to Exile or Field of Ruin. Also complements the incremental mill plan of Herdon Crab and Mesmeric Orb. As a note, subsequent copy doubles off the previous one, which is bonkers and extremely valuable in longer games.
0 or 5 drops (4)
4x Archive Trap (Mill)
The primary win condition of the deck via a 52 card combo mill but can also be cast incrementally if the opportunity is right, such as after an opponent cracks a fetch land or tutors. Normally cast for 0 thanks to searching decks being so common, or with a little help from Path to Exile or Field of Ruin. One of these takes a quarter of a typical library out in one hit. If this was translated into an equivalent damage card, it would usually read something like 'pay 0 mana to deal 5 damage to target opponent at instant speed'. Although more rare, can be cast 'properly' if required late game. As this is usually cast in multiples this often overwhelms a counter-wall and can even be replayed for free if hit by a Remand.
Lands (21)
4x Flooded Strand (Tutor: Land)
Fetch lands for mana fixing and hitting additional landfall triggers on the Hedron Crabs. Were it not for fetch lands Hedron Crab would not make the cut at all.
4x Misty Rainforest (Tutor: Land)
5th to 8th fetch lands for mana fixing and more triggering of Hedron Crabs. 8 means we are very likely to see at least one in the opening few turns of the game.
2x Hallowed Fountain (UW Mana)
2/3 of the white mana sources in addition to the main spell colour blue. 2 shock lands are enough as we will typically hit 2 colours easily with the high number of fetch lands the deck runs and we don't want to pay too much life. These also give access to white mana at speed, which is handy for casting removal on a hasty threat.
3x Islands (U Mana, Basic Land)
Pain-free mana that can be found via fetches or Field of Ruin, also work around Blood Moon. These bring the deck up to 14 potentially untapped mana sources, which is the recommended amount of blue mana (taken from the George Baxter Analysis on Magic Workstation) to reliably have access to a blue mana on turn 1. This is important to make sure we don't miss a turn 1 Hedron Crab or Serum Visions if available.
1x Plains (W Mana, Basic Land)
Also pain-free mana that can be found via fetches or Field of Ruin, and gives access to white mana under a Blood Moon.
4x Field of Ruin (Compulsory Search, Tutor: Land)
This slot used to be taken by Ghost Quarter, however Field of Ruin is infinitely better as the opponent must search their library. This has specifically enabled this build and makes it worthwhile using tutors to find Archive Trap. As an added bonus cracking a Ruin will provide an additional land drop for the Hedron Crabs. 1 activation per game is usually enough and we only want a maximum of 4 non-blue mana producing lands. The land destruction is also really useful against key targets like Tron lands, Celestial Colonnade and Nykthos, Shrine to Nix.
2x Tolaria West (U Mana, Tutor: Land)
Field of Ruin is so important for triggering Archive Trap that we want more! Tolaria West tutors for Ruin, or if not required gets Oboro, Palace in the Clouds, a fetch for an extra landfall trigger or one of the two copies of Engineered Explosives out of the sideboard.
1x Oboro, Palace in the Clouds (U Mana, Recurring Landfall)
Gives us a recurring land drop to trigger Hedron Crabs to really maximise their efficiency as much as possible. As a very fringe benefit it also takes the non-Island sources of blue mana to 4 in the unlikely event (although it has happened to me once) of getting hit by a Boil.
Sideboarding
The majority of the sideboard is dedicated to dealing with key threats to the deck:
- Permanents that give our opponent hexproof, like Leyline of Sancity
- Effects that shuffle our opponents graveyard into the library, like Emrakul, The Aeons Torn
- Dredge and other graveyard based decks
- Discard effects
- Fast aggro or burn decks
0-drops
3x Surgical Extraction - An instant speed response to the shuffle effect of Emrakul, The Aeons Torn or similar that can be cast when tapped out. Although the shuffle trigger will remain on the stack and so if we don't also have a Ravenous Trap we would have to start milling again, removing all of the offending trigger cards is essential in order to have any chance of winning a match. Can also hose combo decks by stripping out a set of key cards and stop Tron decks from getting online.
3x Revenous Trap - Tutorable via Trapmaker's Snare as an answer to a shuffle effect or against a graveyard-based
deck by removing their entire graveyard at instant speed, taking our graveyard hate cards effectively to 8.
4x Leyline of Sanctity - Protection from discard is extremely useful for the combo element of the deck, where we are spending time and mana on getting key cards in our hand (particularly Archive Trap). Also great against Burn decks. Usually put into play at the start of the game thanks to aggressive mulligans and it's ability.
2-drops
3x Leave No Trace - There are a number of, usually white, enchantments that can significantly restrict the deck. An opposing Leyline of Sanctity shuts down all of the mill cards except a Fraying Sanity that was lucky enough to get in before a full casting cost Leyline. Rest in Peace turns off Fraying Sanity. Runed Halo naming Archive Trap is a pain. Detention Sphere can take multiple instances of Herdon Crab or Fraying Sanity. We can play around it but like most decks an unexpected Blood Moon can also catch us out so having a way to remove it is really useful.
The good news is that, perhaps with the exception of Detention Sphere and Blood Moon, these enchantments are usually sideboard cards and we also come prepared with Leave No Trace. The kind of decks that play the white enchantments often play multiple enchantments with the same colour, so this card can deal with these in one go, netting some serious card advantage and opening up the board for our mill spells. This card also has the bonus effect of really upsetting Boggles, which is a nice turn around as they now run 4 main deck Leyline of Sanctity!
1x Echoing Truth - Tutorable via Merchant Scroll, this brings the number of answers to Leyline of Sanctity to 8 and something like a Witchbane orb or planeswalker to 4. Also useful against lots of tokens, like spirits from Lingering Souls, and as a tempo play against an attacking creature.
Alternative Main Deck Choices
There aren't a great deal of milling cards that meet the minimum 7 cards milled per mana efficiency we're aiming for, and even less if we're trying to keep the mana curve tight to keep the speed up.
2-drops
4x Mesmeric Orb - An all-star in longer games and fantastic against Control, with Hedron Crab can form a second, grindier axis of attack to complement the combo game plan. As this does not target it get around opponents with hexproof. Played carefully should not prove a problem milling us before the opponent. Less useful in faster games and so is usually the first slot to consider when siding out cards. This was a mainstay in the deck until it was replaces by the faster and more flexible Mission Briefing.
Sideboard Options
Lands
1x Boseju, Who Shelters All - Tutorable via Tolaria West and useful for long games against control to hard cast Archive Trap or Visions of Beyond without being able to be countered. However, it is most likely to be the first target of their own Field of Ruins so doesn't make the cut.
1-drop
4x Jace's Phastasm - Offers a chunky blocker or a (rather desperate) beat down win if needed, but given that most opponents will leave in at least some of their creature removal for our Hedron Crabs I much prefer to keep the slots free for additional interaction against mill-hate.
2x Angle's Grace - Under consideration
2-drop
4x Blessed Alliance - A strong removal card with added utility, however with 8 spot removal cards plus potentially 4 more copies via Mission Briefing I think the slots are better spent on other things.
2x Snapcaster Mage - The best blue creature in the game, top plays being getting to play a Visions of Beyond for 3 cards or reusing a removal spell at a key time, both preferably while blocking and potentially killing an attacking creature. Funny but painful with Surgical Extraction. The biggest drawback is that flashback does not allow cards to be cast using their alternative cost. I gradually moved Tiago from the maindeck to the side as being an at best 3 drop is a little slow for the main, then dropped these completely as we now have 4 Mission Briefing in the main deck.
???x Remand - For potentially buying another turn or bouncing our own Archive Trap and replaying it for 0?
3-drop
Other
2x Engineered Explosives - Under consideration
4x Ensnaring Bridge - Opposed to the UB mill architype which empties their hand very quickly, this deck often has more cards in hand thanks to improved card draw, tutor effects crafting our hand, or holding onto Archive Trap for the right moment. As such Ensnaring Bridge is much less effective at protecting us from attacking creatures and not good choice for the deck.
4x Ghostly Prison - Too slow against the decks it's needed against.
2x Settle the Wreckage - Another opportunity for our opponents to search their library is great and the deck can sometimes be overwhelmed by swarms of creatures, so this can be great if it get's draw. However, it's a bit too slow for this deck and potentially uses a lot of life to fetch WW.
Summary
If you've got this far thanks for reading!
This take on UW Mill seeks to leverage the raw efficiency of Archive Trap to it's fullest using an Xerox style mana base and offering as many instant speed tutors and removal as possible.
The deck packs an equivalent of up to:
- 18 copies of Archive Trap (including tutors and copy effects)
- 6 compulsory search effects (for decks with non-basic lands) and 8 optional search effects
- XX tutors
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Any future new Modern cards that can reliably mill at an equivalent efficiency, tutor for instants, have compulsory search effects, hate on opponent's graveyards or improve the quality of the cantrips are well worth considering.
On my current watch list are the following:
- Force of Will
- Brainstorm
- Dig through time
- Treasure Cruise
- Honor the Fallen
I'd welcome any thoughts, suggestions or questions.
