Uh, where is ashiok? At worst it's exiling 3 cards a turn from their deck...

@ Revan0117 -- She wouldn't be of that much use in this deck, and with a $10 pricetag she doesn't fit the budget theme too well.

This looks quite promising already! That Hover Barrier you want to fit in... maybe cut the 3x Codex Shredder for 3x Hover Barrier ? Might slow the curve down, but I feel like its a far more relevant card.

Never underestimate the power of Codex Shredder haha. It's a steady one drop that mills and gets something important you want back. It's pretty useful.

As for the question you posed earlier (just saw it haha), yea, drop the axebane for hover and the caryatid for dimir charm for more utility

I guess you're right about Codex Shredder ... well its just a matter of cutting and playtesting for the Hover Barrier then.

I wouldnt get into Dimir Charm , honestly. Sure, it fateseals and removes (narrow), so its good, but not worth it in this deck. Cutting Sylvan Caryatid , a great early defender and the best manafix you can have (also read: Hexproof), is not worth the fateseal. Removing creatures isn't a priority in this deck because you block them with your walls.

Maybe cut 2x Omenspeaker for Murmuring Phantasm ? For 2 mana, it blocks everything early game and mills a solid 5.

(srry for 2nd post in a row)

So, I playtested the deck a bit.

First of, I would cut either Doom Blade or Far / Away . Removal is rarely needed since you can block. Some is good, but especially Far / Away seemed like a dead card most of the time.

Bump the Sylvan Caryatid to 4. Great for ramping, solid defender.

I still don't know how to feel about Codex Shredder . It's really good in the right mill deck, but this is a way different deck. This deck is about defending, dropping Phenax, then win; not milling gradually like we are used to. I stand on cutting the Shredder.

Psychic Strike is a good counter for mill, but again, 2 cards don't seem to matter that much if you could mill for about 20 a turn with Phenax anyway. I would replace them with Dissolve , for searching Phenax. Bumping Phenax up wouldn't be good since its legendary, but I still have problems finding him. This could help more than mill 2.

I think these cuts make enough room for Tower Defense and Hover Barrier . Remember that these kinds of decks demand focus on their strategies, since the strategy itself protects it enough already (unlike previous mill decks).

Well if you cut axebane, you should probably cut the caryatid cause you don't need mana fixing for itself. Don't splash green to mana fix green. It doesn't make sense.

What about the use of Traumatize ? It could potentially give you a win if things went this way:

t1: Tome Scour

t2: Omenspeaker

t3: Doom Blade

t4: Tome Scour

T5:Phenax, God of Deception

T6: Consuming Aberration

T7: Traumatize than tap Consuming Aberration per Phenax, God of Deception

@ dimax & tempest -- I'll respond to the cards discussed below. Thank you both for the comments, I really appreciate the discussion.

• Codex Shredder -- Tempest has already mentioned the main reasons for keeping it in, but I'd also like to point out that its use grow drastically with the new emphasis on scrying. It makes your opponent's choice much more difficult, and renders their scry 1 abilities useless for the most part.
• Should I cut green, I will cut green entirely. Should I do so, Hover Barrier will replace Axebane Guardian . I'd probably cut some of the removal as well. I've tested a variation of this deck without green, which included Dissolve and Psychic Strike , and the results were promising.

How were you playtesting, Dimax? Through the tester here on T/O, or on Cockatrice or another online Magic program?

@ jonster -- The situation you listed is ideal, but when I don't have that board state, Traumatize is just another 5-drop.

Prophet of Kruphix should be key in any deck running g/u

I'm still fighting with the idea of splashing green in this shell, too. When you mention needing an alternate win condition, though, I've won more than a couple games by comboing Axebane Guardian and Triton Tactics into a huge Mind Grind when Phenax just wasn't showing up. I'm also running Jace, Memory Adept , but very seldom win games with him. Kiora's Follower seem like a huge help since it's early ramp that eventually lets Consuming Aberration use Phenax's ability twice (quadrupling cards in graveyard).

As a final alternate wincon, I run a single rogue's passage, which is silly, but will be hilarious when it lets me get an Aberration in for lethal.

I'm pretty sure this would work. Have 2 Wall of Frost on the field, 1 Phenax, God of Deception , and 1 Triton Tactics in your hand(or two, two would work) Tap both of the Wall of Frost putting 14 cards in the graveyard. Play Triton Tactics targeting both of the walls. Then tap both of the Wall of Frost , putting 20 into the graveyard. Play the second Triton Tactics targeting both of the Wall of Frost again, tap both of the Walls, now putting 26 into the graveyard(60 cards total now)

@ ducttapedeckbox I used T/O's playtesting for consistancy testing, then went over to Cockatrice for competetive matchups.

Also, cutting green might do, but the biggest loss would be Tower Defense and the opportunity for Prophet of Kruphix and Abrupt Decay (as the only removal needed). While I think this deck can easily fare well without them, I'd consider those first. (However, getting green fixing in lands is not very cheap, and neither is Abrupt Decay)

@ adventfaith -- The only reason I haven't added her in is because she doesn't fit the curve all too well.

@ Z38r4frenzy -- Mind Grind is very useful but it's another high-CMC card to add, and I'd like to have the late game cards fit better into the deck. I'm also still toying with the green, and Follower could be nice with Consuming Aberration out - but it's a rare combo.

@ Mikie_S -- That situation would work. Rare, but it would be a nice win. You also won't need to mill 60 cards, as your opponent will have drawn 7 in their opening hand, plus 5+ as the turns go by. Please also refrain from suggesting cards multiple times for a deck, especially if they are already in the mainboard. It's a pain for the deck builder to remove all of the suggestions. I apologize if I'm directing this comment at the wrong person, but the number of times you mentioned each card and the number of suggestions I have align.

@ dimax -- If it weren't for budget constraints, Abrupt Decay would definitely be in the mainboard along with dual lands. Sadly, on this $50 budget, it is not possible. I'm almost positive that I'll be cutting green.

If your considering an alt win-con in the form of Consuming Aberration why not go with AEtherling he's much more likely to get the job done as opposed to die to Hero's Downfall directly after resolving..

@ Behgz -- Great point... I may have to try that out and see if I can do without the mill from the Aberration. It would only be feasible budget wise if I dropped green, though.

considering you only lose Axebane Guardian and Sylvan Caryatid which both provide any color mana to supplement the fact that it is a three-color deck, if you just removed green it would prolly run a lot smoother. There are other defender creatures in standard that you can run along side the Dimir Demi-god.

I have removed green!!!

These changes are NOT final, and I am happy to discuss any past changes or future changes

why did u take out the green?

@ kandycorn6613 -- It simply wasn't providing enough power. The deck's highest costing card has a CMC of 5, and hitting most, if not all of my land drops makes it rather easy to get out. The utility I could get out of the UB cards seemed much better than that of the green ramp, and the 2-color mana base is much easier to manage than a 3-color base.

Hey. I still play with your original idea from your first mill deck, just modified ofc. Like your idea here but maybe include Rogue's Passage ? Helped me alot of time with hitting a home run with aberration :)+1 as always.

@ Oregon -- I'm glad you've followed my deck! What modifications have you made to the original deck? I may run one or two Passages now that I'm only going 2-color, I'll have to test it out.

How would you make this deck competitive in a competitive enviroment? Dual lands, thoughtseize, heros downfall?

Wight of Precinct Six and Nighthowler are both creatures that will grow with Phenax's mill, similar to the Aberration. Pilfered Plans is also a good card draw spell with a little mill tucked into it. I'm also working on a Phenax mill, though I'm hoping to make it competitive.

+1

Watching the deck with interest. I ran a similar mill deck to your first one when GTC came out, now a year later I find myself tempted to go back to it. So I grabbed myself a playset of phenax, have 2 Jace, Memory Adepts, 2 ashioks and a boat loads of U and G walls, was gonnna try BUG and see how that goes, but I think you are right, UB is more consistant and allows for better control.