@ dead_king1007 -- I might be going to one (my first since I played mono-black Vampires in Zendikar) this Friday, but I was just planning to trade and not play... Maybe I will play though, who knows!

I only run one Mirko because he isn't a card I want to rely on - he's great when he gets though, but is mainly in there so that if I do play him, the opponents have something to worry about while I set up for a win.

I really feel like you should sideboard at least 2x Far / Away or 2x Barter in Blood mainly for those really nasty hexproof creatures, such as Geist of Saint Traft and sigarda, but really that's your call. I really think you should have kept the Fog Bank s those can be be REALLY helpful for decks that require time in order to win. I'm not so sure you should discredit the Wight of Precinct Six it may not be as good as a Consuming Aberration , but it can be a big threat to creature heavy decks and Consuming Aberration isn't exactly hexproof himself and if I were the enemy I would rather spend a removal on the Consuming Aberration . This is mostly my opinion, I have also found that mill is more of a late game secondary win con so kudos for trying to make it primary, but realistically I have found that this deck does tend to win on the more late gamey side. Oh and btw KrazyCaley I personally don't think mill and kill is a bad idea, just think it needs to be executed correctly. Like so, Mill and Kill. Some people who attempt it, may not understand how to balance the mill and the kill. I'm sorry if it seems I'm bashing your opinion, I just don't think it's fair to tell people mixing mill and kill is a bad idea.

Are the Codex Shredder s doing enough? I feel that maybe that slot would be better filled with Paranoid Delusions , or maybe something such as Balustrade Spy - a nice 2/3 body with a little mill. Just my two cents.

@ninjadude159 - S'all good. My opinion is indeed that the two ought usually(!) not be mixed, but differing opinions can co-habitate. Just my two cents.

@thyhax Balustrade Spy 's mill can only be used once, so it's not all that good in my opinion.

I like this deck, I like the idea of this deck, but after roughly 30 games on MTGO I've had pretty mediocre results with it, even after upgrading the guildgates (tempo feels very difficult with them).

In particular, the deck seems to struggle against red, and red is still big in meta. Against their tempo I am often desperate to use my Psychic Strike and Dimir Charm early game so I have a fighting chance, so I'm often defenseless against removal (sigh @ Dreadbore ) when I finally (finally) get the Aberration out - or I can block the first removal spell, but not the second. A deck that relies on only a few bodies and takes a long time is just giving the opponent a greater likelihood of having a solution already in hand. (And Boros Reckoner is just spoiling for a fight with a ginormous Aberration.)

Note that I limited games to only 1-round, no sideboard, to test only the mainboard.

Much to my chagrin, one of my games was against a mono-blue mill deck, and I lost, of course because he just had better control. Some of the cards played were: Chronic Flooding , Dream Twist , Mind Sculpt , Dreadwaters , Increasing Confusion . And Archaeomancer , of course.

I haven't given up on this deck yet, but right now it sort of feels like a combo deck. When it works it's beautiful... but there are just too many variables that have to align perfectly for it to work.

Have you thought about taking out Cyclonic Rift ? I mean yes it does add some control but for the deck to be really effective in milling, I would suggest you go from x2 Mind Grind to x4. I also believe you need more duel lands so you have more options at an earlier convenience, such as Watery Grave , just take away 2 swamps and 2 islands for replacement.Another idea is to have at least one more Mirko Vosk, Mind Drinker , he's a great card for mill and he needs more of a chance to get out.

dead_king1007, Cyclonic Rift is there to have something to deal with non-creature permanents and to also help with turn 2 defense and be able to have a mass bounce against maybe tokens. Also, ramping up Mind Grind count will just lead to a lot of dead hands, because a Mind Grind at turns 4-5 is just dead draw. He also said that this build does not use shocklands, dual lands or planeswalkers because it is still under the budget category. Having 2 Mirko Vosk, Mind Drinker will ruin the build because 1x Lazav, Dimir Mastermind was replaced.

I also created another variation of this: Dimir Mill Blitz

It aims to quickly mill opponents, focusing on mill spells rather than creatures, also having the same removal and counterspells as this build, but maining Crypt Incursion to provide additional survivability because 90% of the time, you will have milled enough creatures to gain about 12-15 life.

Great Deck! only change I would consider is adding 1-2 Jace, Memory Adept . 0 for 10 cards is pretty awesome. Plus he can give you a little draw power.

I want to apologize, I forgot you mentioned up above that this is a budget deck.

What about artifact/enchantment removal for anti-mill cards like Rest in Peace or Witchbane Orb ?

quick question, I'm considering running a competetive modified version of this deck, but how do i handle witchbane orb? In my mind the only way is to counter it when cast, otherwise they basically win the round. unless i misunderstand pinthing needle.

Oh boy I have some catching up to do on comments

@ ninjadude159 -- I'm all ears for sideboarding Far / Away - I was considering mainboarding it for a while but didn't seem to find a card to replace. What are your thoughts for swapping it out?

@ thyhax -- Codex Shredder is amazing early-game for a T1 mill and helps late-game by bringing back a spent Mind Grind or something - I definitely think it's worth it.

@ Cdbwater -- I agree - with flicker abilities it would be ok.

@ dragonsong -- Thank you for the playtesting and the input. I've mainly played this deck against my playgroup, which is not the expensive decks you may find at FNM events, etc. I do agree that the deck has some trouble against red, because it's just way too fast for this. I do usually do pretty well if I can get a Phantasm out early and get him to 5/5. The deck isn't really a combo deck at all - it works through either mill or damage, with a focus on mill. It doesn't really have a "combo" to get out, or a setup to ensure that it works. Do you have any suggestions changes?

@ dead_king1007 -- Upping Mind Grind to a 4-of would not be efficient at all - it requires a lot of mana to go off effectively, and is essentially a dead draw until late-game. I'd hate to be stuck with two or three (or even one sometimes) and not be able to play it. I am not running dual lands because this is a budget deck. And, I only run one Mirko Vosk, Mind Drinker because he is without a doubt a good card, but does lose effectiveness if he's blocked

@ ygamretuta -- I'll try to check your deck out a little bit later

@ se7en44 -- No problem! You're not the first to miss the budget part

@ YungBakes & Gym_Gym -- You cry if they drop Witchbane Orb . Just kidding. Uhh I don't really see the problem if someone drops Rest in Peace ? And the games not over if you aren't able to counter Witchbane Orb (which you usually can do). Some of the cards in the deck (they bigger ones, namely Mirko Vosk, Mind Drinker , Consuming Aberration , and Mind Grind ) don't care that the Orb is out. You also can win by damage.

Understood that it's not a combo deck, but it feels like one, because you must either:

• Have Mind Grind and enough mana to cast it (and keep count of their lands).

• Have Consuming Aberration and enough mana and removal protection in hand.

• Have Jace's Phantasm and mill 10 and removal protection in hand.

• You need to build a base of both U and B mana fast, no later than turn 4.

The removal protection is a big part of that, because if you're relying on a kill-for-win, you usually have just one or two bodies to do it with (before you're dead).

Of my wins, most are with straight damage (and most often with Phantasm, not Aberration) rather than mill.

I've mainboarded 3 Mutilate and I'm using them often in the MTGO meta. I've also built a mono-blue mill that seems to perform better actually, but I'm just stubborn and want to make it work with Dimir. Borrowing from mono-blue's success, I think the key is to have more control. Considering maining 3 of Mizzium Skin .

Changed my mind - it isn't Mizzium Skin these fellows need, it's Hidden Strings . It's been mentioned here a few times, but I want to re-iterate its strong points... particularly compared to Cyclonic Rift , which I swapped it with:

• When you cast HS, you can choose to untap the 1U you used to cast it, giving you back that mana to spend on something else during your turn... or during your opponent's turn. (Banking Psychic Strike or Dimir Charm for an opponent's play is a very important strategy in this deck, but early game with low mana that means you can't do anything during your own turn.)

• You can tap enemy lands, which actually works as... removal protection. Either he won't have enough (or the right kind of) mana to cast the removal you know his deck runs, or he'll counter the HS, which just accomplishes the same thing: Taps his mana, and baits his counter.

• You can tap whatever is in the way of a big Aberration swing, or a flyer in front of a Phantasm.

• Ciphering it onto the Phantasm is really useful when the opponent has no flyers (in my playtesting, this has been a lot more common than I thought it would be), even if your Phant is still merely a 1/1.

• You can also use it Cipher'ed for effective Vigilance.

• Compared to CR, it will sometimes accomplish the same thing, but it's not quite as good at slowing tempo.

There is a reason HS is rated 4 on Gatherer. :)

As a footnote, I've been able to pull out the overload on Cyclonic Rift exactly once (though I've sure needed it more times than that...). By the time I can afford 6U, I'm either dead or the game is in a stalemate where it doesn't help.

for you kids who run into witchbane orb and cry like myself, perhaps consider sideboarding appetite for brains or duress.

@ducttapedeckbox The problem with cards like Rest in Peace is that you can't cast your Consuming Aberration because its toughness will be 0, and therefore goes to your graveyard.

Hello. Like the deck, looks very cool. How do you deal with extremely aggresive decks such as naya humans and r/g aggro?

Regards!

I recommend getting rid of
1x Cyclonic Rift
2x Dimir Charm
2x Notion Thief (side)
and adding
1x Mirko Vosk, Mind Drinker
2x Fog Bank
2x Far / Away (side)
@YungBakes actually it would go into exile because of that card to be technically correct. Minor difference, but people are still playing graveyard decks.

how does this deck fare against a real quick aggro deck.

Just a correction on acceleratum's comment, when you cast both halves of a fuse card, it results in a single spell called a fused split spell (see rule 708.2b). Therefore, it doesn't trigger Consuming Aberration twice.

@ dragonsong -- I see what you're saying, but your last three bullet points are extremely easy to accomplish with this deck. Damage is frequently the way I win, but does include huge hits from Consuming Aberration for it. What did you remove for Mutilate ? I agree that Cyclonic Rift is underperforming, but I'm not sold on Hidden Strings . Yes, it does pay for itself, but I'd like to ensure that the creature it's on gets through. Nearly every deck in my meta has a few flyers, which makes it hard for Jace's Phantasm to get through and trigger the cipher. I've been going back and fourth on Far / Away as a replacement for the rift. Both halves have good utility when used alone, and work even better when fused. Thoughts?

@ Gym_Gym -- I'm not sure about the hand control, just because you have to know that they have the Orb in hand

@ YungBakes -- Right. Missed that one. I guess I'd board out the Aberrations in that situation for more control.

@ Macc82 & rransom60 -- It does well against aggro decks. It really comes down to keep control going until you can drop a Jace's Phantasm at 5/5 and eat any of their small creatures they send at you. Mutilate also gets boarded in almost every time, as that can usually kill of a lot of their smaller creatures.

@ ninjadude159 -- See above for Cyclonic Rift / Far / Away discussion. I'm definitely keeping the Dimir Charm , and probably won't add Fog Bank s. the Fog Bank s would be much better in creature-based mill, but this focuses more on control, and less on creatures. I'm only running 1 Mirko Vosk, Mind Drinker because he's a good late-game card when you can make sure he gets through, if he can't, he's just an overly priced, mini Jace's Phantasm .

@ canuckkat -- Thanks for the clarification!

I've been play-testing Hidden Strings in my mill deck and it is the bomb.

If you have a Jace's Phantasm out turn one you can make him a 5/5 at the end of turn two ready for defending using Breaking and Thought Scour . I've only made room for two so far but I think I'd like to squeeze one more in. You could definitely sub the 3x Cyclonic Rift for 3x Hidden Strings to try it out.

@ Davis5127 -- This has been a popular suggestion, and I will begin playtesting with Hidden Strings to see how I like it. Thank you for the suggestion!