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Lazav and the Mill Empire

Commander / EDH* Control Cruel Control Mill UB (Dimir)

HnojMalumvir

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Land (37)

Instant (7)

Planeswalker (3)

Creature (18)

Artifact (13)

Commander (1)

Commander: Lazav, Dimir Mastermind

Sorcery (14)

Enchantment (7)

This is a deck that I put together just because I love mill decks and love not letting others play Magic.

Lazav, Dimir Mastermind is our Commander for this deck and this is designed to use his ability to its full potential. Mirko Vosk, Mind Drinker is another potential commander for the deck if having a Clone every turn doesn't appeal to you.

Lazav is fantastic for several reasons. Him being Hexproof really gives us an edge and his second ability is more powerful than most realize at first. The fact that you 'may' have him turn into any creature that went into the graveyard helps immensely and I've had him become Kozilek, the Great Distortion and other big creatures thanks to the 'may' clause.

Facing off against people using Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre, and Kozilek, Butcher of Truth is tough, especially for mill decks. To work around this, Leyline of the Void makes it so that they never technically hit the graveyard and are exiled in the process. Sure, it shuts off Lazav's ability, but if you've already used it, you probably don't care. You can also rely on people to destroy the Enchantment at some point, especially if they're playing anything that uses the graveyard.

You do have standard tactics such as Keening Stone + Traumatize and Mind Funeral but there are definitely more ways to get cards in the graveyard fast. Either Mindmelter or Invisible Stalker paired with Trepanation Blade or Sword of Body and Mind will deal pain to your opponents while making their graveyard grow exponentially. As a plus, if you can put Sword of Body and Mind + Whispersilk Cloak on Lazav, you're going to be hitting big every turn, but that's the most ideal situation.

If you find yourself running out of cards, there are a few safety nets to save you. Learn from the Past is good. Feldon's Cane is great! Elixir of Immortality is awesome since it shuffles back into your library and gets you five life in the process.

To say the least, I really like this deck... A lot.

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Lazav V2 — April 14, 2016
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Since the very first iteration of this deck, I have made major changes to it. The basic idea of the deck is intact, which is to mill out your opponents and maintain control, but the tools to do so have received a major upgrade.

First off, I have removed most shuffle effects from the deck. That means Learn from the Past and Feldon's Cane is gone. I didn't need so many shuffle effects, even with the addition of Mesmeric Orb, which is a card I'll talk about more in-depth later. I'm keeping Elixir of Immortality for now since if things get too out of control with the Orb, I'll have a way to prevent decking myself. It will most likely leave the deck at some point, though.

Mesmeric Orb is a card I see in several turbo mill decks in Modern and I figured that I would try it in EDH. My experience is that this card is very powerful in the format but can also be a detriment. I've had my opponents throw away win conditions due to the effect but from personal experience, it does not feel good to lose Sol Ring or Mirko Vosk, Mind Drinker because of your own card. For now it will stay but I may refrain from keeping an opening hand with it, just because it can severely cripple you in the early game.

I removed some counterspells from the deck to make room for more cards of value. In this deck, the control lies in newer additions like Rhystic Study, Propaganda, and Memory Erosion. Psychic Strike is still in the deck just because it's a counterspell that works with the theme of the deck and it costs as much as a Cancel would.

I removed Duskmantle, House of Shadow because it does far too little and doesn't even produce colored mana and replaced it with a basic land instead. I then replaced that basic land with a Choked Estuary. Dark Ritual left the deck because I don't find myself short on mana very often and even less often, without sufficient black mana.

Several cards that were in the deck and only played once or twice were Crypt Ghast, Balustrade Spy, Wight of Precinct Six, and Glimpse the Unthinkable. Thankfully I didn't waste $30 on Glimpse the Unthinkable as the card is a Modern staple for a reason. In EDH unless you can cast it repeatedly it is almost useless, as are cards like Mind Sculpt, Tome Scour and the like. It was easily replaced. The three creatures were also easily replaced, as was Hedron Crab and replaced with other heavy-hitters like Wrexial, the Risen Deep.

Miscellaneous includes that proved valuable were Sword of Body and Mind, Memory Plunder, and Stolen Identity. Special thanks to the people who suggested cards to include and remove to help me shape the deck to what it is now. It is very fun and I look forward to sculpting further as I learn of new cards and see new sets.

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Revision 38 See all

(5 years ago)

-1 Dark Petition main
-1 Dragonlord Silumgar main
+1 Echo Mage main
-1 Identity Thief main
+1 Lazav, Dimir Mastermind main
+1 Mindcrank main
+1 Sepulchral Primordial main
Date added 8 years
Last updated 5 years
Key combos
Legality

This deck is Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)

9 - 0 Mythic Rares

36 - 0 Rares

23 - 0 Uncommons

17 - 0 Commons
Cards 100
Avg. CMC 3.75
Tokens Copy Clone, Emblem Jace, Unraveler of Secrets, Wolf 2/2 G
Folders My EDH Decks, oona?
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