That is the trap that i see most decks running into. They rely too much on phenax, and they have trouble. One card that i believe is underrated in wall decks is Returned Phalanx . It can either be a wall or attack for some damage, you might want to try it out. Crypt Incursion is a beast, if you don't keep with the heavy milling theme, don't run it. If you find that you are putting in 15 cards into the grave each turn, the chances are that there are going to be some creatures and exiling them does screw over the rogue Whip of Erebos decks.

is there a card you think is underperforming? Thrull Parasite can be helpful in regaining some life back. i definitely think Read the Bones > Pilfered Plans though

That's the thing, it's hard to get away from a crowded 3-drop slot in UB, imo. I haven't playtested this deck at all so I can't speak to how it runs, but I might give it a shot with the straight swap and see what happens. If you find yourself holding a bunch of 3-drops whether it's creature or spell, you've got some options: Murmuring Phantasm could come in for maybe 1 of each Wall of Frost and Hover Barrier to help smooth the curve out. Since you'd get draw and scry from Read the Bones you could also drop an Omenspeaker or 2 and add more Murmuring Phantasm . Playtesting is really going to be key in a successful inclusion of a cantrip.

In regards to shocking yourself: life is a resource. You've got big fat walls to deter people from attacking into them, you've got some removal, and you've also got a couple counters. Being able to dig 4 allows you to find something: big wall or removal. I think you have enough walls and removal to be able to reliably dig for answers. I'll put it another way: if digging 4 for 2 life isn't enough to get you what you need, would drawing 2 (and possibly getting crap you'd send to the bottom with Scry) but keeping the life really be that much better?

also some cards to consider: Swan Song and Rapid Hybridization

I was wondering if Hedron Crab would work well in this deck?

@ sinsythe -- Hedron Crab is not standard. It also wouldn't fit well, I play a maximum of one land per turn, which is by far not enough to take advantage of it.

Suggestions:

-4x Psychic Strike +3x Dissolve

Scry 1 (thus, digging 1) is much more relevant than mill 2.

-1 Far / Away -3 Dimir Charm +2 Ultimate Price +2 Murmuring Phantasm

The Ultimate Price / Doomblade split is a good traditional removal arsenal, also used outside of control. Cutting a little on removal here in favor of the curve of walls.

-1 Codex Shredder -1 AEtherling +2 Read the Bones

Cropping the curve of 1 drop and 6 drop into the 3-drop seems viable, especially since the deck desperatly needs a good drawing spell to dig. This also helps the crowded 3-slot a bit, since you draw more so you can play more.

(Note: having a little more 2 drops isn't that of a big deal. 1 drops are, and therefor I cut the Charm and Strike as a whole. You can experimentate the 2 drops a little to fit them in more consistantly, but this suggestion is more to replace some "just to be sure-cards" with "more relevant for the deck-cards" :P)

Good luck on further testing :)

Jace, Memory Adept is less money than Phenax, God of Deception . I dont see how price is why you excluded him.

@ dimax -- I'll try those changes out when I get a chance! Thank you for all of the help!

@ juicytoot -- To start, Jace is $0.50 more than Phenax, so they're about the same. Also, this deck is based around Phenax, so I kind of need him. With the current build, there is absolutely no room for another card around $9 to stick to a $50 budget.

So here's what I've done..

So, I personally would trade Dimir Charm for Tome Scour . I feel that Tome Scour fits better in this deck for the Milling ability. Otherwise the deck looks great! +1

@ kheasus -- Ah, but the Charm has a lot of utility that this deck needs to get its real milling engine up.