@ Tempest i dont use the codex shredders and I also Don't use Jace's Phantasm but instead use Balustrade Spy but honestly i might switch to the phantasm's they have a cheaper CMC

@ Markito151 -- I don't think I'm willing to drop the Shredders for Lil.. and you should really switch to Jace's Phantasm , despite his approaching rotation.

@ ducttapedeckbox came across this card while looking through my cards building some decks thought it might be one that could help your deck out Merfolk Mesmerist

@ducttapedeckbox my version of this deck Dimir Mill

@ducttapedeckboxif you say codex shredder can mill 10 cards your not focusing the objective.. you gotta mill as fast as possible to minimize opponent threats, ideally you have to win before turn 10 unless you have excellent control wich you dont on a budget deck..Anyway to be constructive if you dont want to change the core spells you need Undead Alchemist to survive aggro, or Crypt Ghast to fuel your Mind Grind or consider Heartless Summoning again.. its nothing new but I dont see many options for budget. Jace, Memory Adept is awesome but a bit pricey.

btw you can try a "mill yourself" combo i've done before, you add Forbidden Alchemy and Mirror-Mad Phantasm to feed your graveyard and then cast Psychic Spiral , its amazing but becomes a combo deck, you can keep the control and aberration, just add more draw/ mill yourself/flashback cards.

hes definitely not saying it can mill 10 cards. what hes saying is that its much easier to cast that turn 1, mill one, cast Breaking turn 2 and mill one for 10 cards. then cast jace's phantasm to get up to 3 5/5s by turn 3. i honestly think that this has reached budget perfection and anything else would just ruin it.

congrats on 200 ducttapedeckbox!!

200 UPVOTES!!!

@ Markito151 -- Merfolk Mesmerist is a very slow card, and wouldn't be of much use in this deck. Thank you for the suggestion though!

@ jakmasters -- Will check it out when I get a chance if you'd like.

@ acceleratum -- Ten cards was an exaggeration with Codex Shredder -- It'll at least do 5-6, which is close to a Mind Sculpt . Contrary to what you've said about changing the core spells, the suggestions you make do change them, as they alter the deck to a creature-based mill. Adding the Ghast to enable Mind Grind is essentially a "combo" - he'd be pretty useless until late game. The same for Heartless Summoning - unless I change this to a creature-based deck, it would be inconsistent. Milling myself would also change the entire structure of the deck - I may create a different mill deck with one of those strategies, but I'd like to keep this one as a control-based.

Man you kinda ninja-d me, tempest

lol. sorry

millstone has returned in m14

Well its pretty good for budget already, the heartless summoning would fit right in and you dont have to change anything, all your creatures can handle it. Im out of ideas anyway so gg =)

I don't know weather the cards come in any use, or have come up before but i've found AEtherize to be a very nice counter to aggro decks, and a much cheap alturnative to Cyclonic Rift but more effective than Far / Away

Another card i've found almost invalueable is Rewind although pricey it leaves you free mana for AEtherize (or Far / Away ) and even to flash in Notion Thief after, it is just some more ideas i've had with my aggro mill deck

Congrats on the 200 btw xP

Really cool deck, got my vote.I built this deck card for card atm, I've got 2 Jace, Memory Adept on the way and after that I'll do more work on making it my own cuz I've always loved mill decks in various card games. I've been testing it out against the Strength of Selesnya Event Deck recently and I've lost 6 out of 7 against it (a couple without using the sideboard and a couple with). I'm a noob so, do you have any suggestions for dealing with Token decks? I know I'm gonna face a few of them at FNM and they'll be much better than the event deck. Thanks

@jaymez33 the counter to any token deck when playing with a black deck is Mutilate

@ tep -- I'm not really a fan of Millstone - it's a little slow :S

@ Pyroshade -- Thanks! I might try AEtherize in place of Far / Away -- that's a spot I've been toying with lately.

@ jaymez33 -- As Markito151 said, Mutilate . Illness in the Ranks is also a lot of help. At FNM, be prepared for some decks much better than this. This deck is easily viable in casual Standard games, but can struggle against those pricey $300+ decks.

@ducttapedeckbox that would be great, any help/suggestions you might have would be great. I'm going to test the deck at this week's FNM, I'll record how it does there. I recently made a few large changes (an hour ago) and it's been functioning much better since.

@ducttapedeckbox I really liked this deck (especially because U/B is my favorite combination). I stopped playing MTG in the Mirrodin block and I'm coming back just now so I have some doubts and would like to discuss with you.

I'm trying to build a competitive U/B deck but I'm finding it quite hard and I'd like to ask you a few questions...

1- How this deck fight against very fast decks? Are Far / Away , Dimir Charm and Grisly Spectacle enough to hold a Boros deck or a R/G that has Burning-Tree Emissary ? Adding Mutilate would help but, still, is it enough? (I didn't test the deck yet)

2- I've read your suggestions on how to turn this deck competitive but I'm still a little worried about very fast decks that I've seen in my local store. I recently got a Voice of Resurgence and am planning to trade it for some cards, so I think I could get a couple of Jaces. In spite of that, I still think (as you already said in the comments) that it wouldn't be competitive enough. I know your specialty is bugget decks but do you think it is possible to build a Standard U/B really competitive?

+1 anyway... I think it is really playable (and, more important, funny) against most casual decks.

@ ArcanisDimir -- I will respond to your comments in order below:

1. Two of my friends who I play with the most run Boros aggro and Gruul aggro decks. This deck is pretty evenly matched with them, but they are also relatively budget decks. A quick start with Jace's Phantasm makes this very possible (except I'm worried for when he rotates out :()
2. Well, first congrats on the Voice. He's definitely a prize to get. In the current meta, I'm not very confident that a competitive U/B Standard deck is possible. I'm sure you could win a few games at FNM or something, but it can be outplayed by top-tier relatively easily.

With that said, this deck is extremely playable against many decks, and is definitely a lot of fun to play. Before constructing the deck with Jaces, I'd recommend assembling the cheaper part of it to get a feel for the deck. I appreciate any suggestions you may have to make this deck more competitive.

@ducttapedeckbox Yeah, you're right! Thank you for answering. I'll save Voice for something in the future. Its price may drop but I'll take my chances.

Are you going to keep updating this deck after cards rotate?

@ ArcanisDimir -- I can't see VoR's price dropping significantly any time soon - but if you're concerned about it, you could probably trade it for some cards whose price is relatively stable?

@ Darin_Hazama -- Of course! I've spent way too much time working on this deck to not update it.

+1 my fellow mill(er)!!!!

Out of pure curiosity, assuming you hand such cards as Watery Grave , Drowned Catacomb and Jace, Memory Adept (and the budget of course)

what sort of other cards would you use to improve the deck and make it more competitive now that dragons maze is out?

@ WovenNebula -- Thanks!

@ Pyroshade -- Mirko was really the only thing that I felt was worth adding from DGM, and only as a singleton. The set really held very little value for this deck, which was rather disappointing. I guess that when the ISD block rotates, Pilfered Plans will have to replace Thought Scour unless we see a better replacement in M14 or Theros.

From what's spoiled in M14 so far, some not-quite-stellar options are:

Jace's Mindseeker; 4UU flying 4/4, mills 5 ETB, can freecast I/S from those milled.

Jace, Memory Adept is back. ($$ might come down?)

Doom Blade is back. Maybe too good to pass up.

Mind Rot is back, probably still meh in this deck though.

And Millstone as mentioned above, but I'd agree it's too slow. With Boros still live for many more months, the meta is going to stay fast.