Siren is pretty vulnerable by herself, being a 2/1. I have no reliable way to tap her other than attacking, and she would likely die fast, or be killed by some sort of pinging effect. Soul Manipulation is nice, and I had it before, but I ended up cutting it for more card draw. I might like to find a bit more space for counters, so I could look for a place to fit one, but if that were the case, I would rather have Dissipate since it is a more versatile counter, or Psychic Strike for flavor (as a distant second option). A creature specific counter is much less useful, and I have more reliable recursion than Soul Manipulation.

Congrats on your Masters! Woohoo!

I feel like Psychic Intrusion is just the card your looking for! Maybe Ashiok as well.

Thanks for the ideas!

Psychic Intrusion is pretty cool. And for all the times I've seen it, I always missed "or graveyard" until now, which makes it better than I first thought. The problem is that this deck is already very tight for space, and there are lots of cards that I want to run, but lack slots for. I feel that at 5 mana, Psychic Intrusion falls into that category, because If I want to play something from a graveyard I would rather use Memory Plunder in the same slot at Instant speed without needing to pay additional mana for it. Plunder even pays the kicker cost for me, so I can jack a kicked Rite or Tooth and Nail or Armageddon for only 4 mana.

See above for my response to Ashiok.

Since you have Keening Stone in here, I'd throw in a Traumatize. Once the stone is out, ten mana, mill someone to death instantly. I'd also get a Liliana Vess in there since her ultimate is amazing in a mill deck.

Thanks, Halflife4Mac!

What about Phyrexian Infiltrator, Evil Twin and Extract from Darkness?

Not really a fan of the Infiltrator, personally. But I have been looking for a place to fit Extract from darkness as an extra reanimation spell, but I worry about the 5cmc. That slot is already quite full in this deck, with lots of competitors that haven't made it in either. I fear that I just don't have the mana base to stretch far enough to make 10-11 5-drops work.

I also want to try Traumatize again, after it was suggested by RaSkipper and I had a discussion with someone else last night that convinced me to take a second (fifth?) look. So that is a 5-6 drop that I want to try and fit in which takes priority over EfD. FOr now, I'm looking at Jace's slot to try Traumatize (wince) or

Evil Twin is also a fun clone, and good for killing some generals repeatedly. I used to have him in here. Mayyyybe I could try him in Avatar of Woe's slot, because she's hard to get the alt cost regularly, and she rarely stays alive long enough to kill more than 1-2 creatures, and clones are just too much fun. But when Avatar works, she works well! A 6/5 with evasion at two mana is nothing to sneeze at. Her problem is that she rarely shows up for duty.

Thanks all for the comments! It's really useful. Let me know if you have suggestions for cuts to make room for Traumatize and maybe Evil Twin. I already have ideas, but it's nice to bounce them off of you all.

Watery Grave. Better than Dimir Guildgate any day. also Glimpse the Unthinkable

Also, Sheoldred, the Whispering One

Thanks, ninjaman16782.

I mentioned above that I'm planning on getting Watery Grave. Just don't have it yet.

Glimpse is way overpriced ($$) for what it does. And what it does is terrible in multiplayer EDH. Ten cards is a pittance for most EDH decks, and i'd rather have cheap repeatable effects, or effects that hit the table.

Sheoldred has long been in the back pf my mind, but the slot to put her in is kind of a tricky problem. One downside(?) is that I can only res from my own grave, which makes her a bit less useful if i don't keep it stocked. As for sac effects, I could get a similar effect in Archfiend of Depravity, which hits tokens harder. I'll keep thinking about it, but she's not the highest priority of the deck at the moment.

Thanks for the suggestions!

Mind Funeral Also, Sheoldred is great because people WILL try to kill your things and archfiend is strictly worse. Glimpse isn't overpriced but doesn't have as much of a place in EDH, although niether does Altar of the Brood. THAT card is simply a waste of space in edh. plus altar of dementia fills your graveyard just fine

Actually, I believe that Altar of the Brood is good in EDH if it is used well. Token based strategies can break it, mill enjoys a good 1-drop, and add far as good stuff goes, there's a lot of worse things to run.

Mind FUneral is listed under the 'Don't Suggest' category, based on past discussions that you can look up if you like. It only mills one, single, player for 12-15 cards on average. I took it out a long time ago. I would rather not risk whiffing on a card like that.

Archfiend is not 'strictly worse'. In order to be strictly worse, it has to be better in every aspect (cost, P/T, same or additional abilities, etc.) AoD is cheaper, has a different sort of evasion, blocks flyers, hits tokens harder. I don't want to sac my few precious creatures to Altar of Dementia and mill myself, hoping to res stuff with Sheoldred. That exposes my milled cards to unnecessary risk in the form of killing Sheoldred before Upkeep, GY exile, etc.

Altar of the Brood synergizes with other cards here and it is cheap, recurrable mill that people often don't want to waste removal on. Undead Alchemist starts a decent mill-engine with this card. Plus my deck is like 80% permanents. Also, I need cheap early triggers for Lazav. Altar of the brood is Pay 1, and forget about it. It mills until the end of the game, usually taking care of at least 8-12 cards per player at the minimum. It may be a bit weak, but there aren't really that many mass mill spells, especially in the 1-3 drop category.

I'd get rid of Counterspell. Only having one in the deck is the same as not having one. You may as well put something else in the spot instead. Maybe like a Thran Dynamo. More ramp is always good.

Well, enpc, thanks!

But if I wanted to raise the number of counters instead, what would you suggest cutting to make room for a Dissipate or Hinder, for example? I'd like to keep some counters up for defense, but I (sadly) always end up cutting the utility spells to make room for more fun ones..

Also, I try to keep my amount of colorless ramp fairly low. Many of my creatures are color intensive- especially the commander.

Broken Ambitions fits

Not a fan of Pay X counters because lots of decks will simply have more mana than me. I'd rather go with a hard counter.

I have never been a fan of Bribery. I know what you're going for thematically but as a omce off it just feels so underwhelming. Especially if you're milling your opponent i.e. limiting your options.

when the monster you stole with bribery does and goes to the graveyard it goes to your opponents. therefore you can copy it with lazav. at least thats why i am understanding.

Except that doesn't make Bribery any better. The best targets for bribery are the eldrazi, and any deck thats running those should be running a Homeward Path for that very reason. The problem with bribery is the amount of hate it pulls is not proportional to the creatures you can get.

Hey, ever thought of adding Sudden Spoiling to your deck? It's useful for stopping a huge attack or killing your opponent's creatures with BSZ. Think about it. I know about the "target player" thing, but it really helps.