Sideboard


Also see the new version, Secret Mill (Gearhulks added), which tries to improve the deck's consistency and explosiveness but falls outside of what I would consider a 'budget' deck. Still only ~45 TIX on MTGO. This version here is definitely the more refined one for now, though, and just looks more fun.

Q: Sphinx's Tutelage is gone! Mill is dead, you say?
A: Nah.

Q: But wait! Delirium and Emerge would love if mill filled their graveyards! Prized Amalgam is kind of a thing!
A: Won't be a problem if we can do all our milling in one turn.

Q: So how do we mill an entire deck in one turn?

Biggest mill (Single turn):
72
Most actual cards milled (Single turn):
42

Panharmonicon + Eerie Interlude combine for about the billionth time in the past few weeks of Standard - except this case is nearly unique, in that we're using them as a turbo-milling engine! This deck generally uses a three-phase gameplan, with each step being quite reliable:

tl;dr 1. Stall like crazy with Reflector Mage, Engulf the Shore, Aether Tradewinds, and Blessed Alliance, and build up lands, which we should be getting basically every turn.
2. Start running out Cloudblazers for massive value, hopefully in conjunction with Panharmonicon. Rack up a hand full of Manic Scribes.
3. Run out as many Manic Scribes as possible, with the intention of milling the opponent out in 1-2 turns alongside Eerie Interlude and bounce spells.
Sideboard: 10 counterspells against different stuff (most notably against Lost Legacy), a couple of helpful/fun tools, a few more mill cards, including Startled Awake   , which didn't make the cut in the maindeck because it's simply not needed.

The full version is below:

1. Stall the crap out of the first few turns. Hopefully get a Panharmonicon out there as well. This format has a number of decks that come out guns blazing, so most of the non-land cards in the deck are devoted to turning back their efforts. Engulf the Shore and Reflector Mage both do an outstanding job early on, especially in tandem, but the rest of the suite is excellent, too. Blessed Alliance stops powerful aggressive threats like Electrostatic Pummeler , Smuggler's Copter, Bristling Hydra, or even Ulamog from destroying us in the first few turns, and can threaten to pick off a Torrential Gearhulk or an Awoken Horror   against control, narrowing their path to victory. AEther Tradewinds can bounce a Prophetic Prism or Reflector Mage on our side, and anything on the opposing side - including lands. On the play, a turn 3 AEther Tradewinds can send the opponent back down to one land, potentially allowing for a safe Panharmonicon the following turn. Finally, Anticipate lets us dig for what we're looking for to start the second phase, and provides a helpful sink for any lands we might otherwise leave untapped. Ol' Reliable.

These spells don't lose their utility after the first few turns, however. In fact, they may even grow more powerful as we continue to develop our board!

2. Start the Cloudblazer parade. And by this, I mean draw a gajillion cards and gain a bunch of life doing it. This is where the deck can in many cases stabilize instantly. Eerie Interlude becomes absolutely devastating with Cloudblazer, especially when combined with any leftover Reflector Mages from the first phase, meaning that many cards in the deck start showing up in multiples - including more Cloudblazers. Hit your land drop every turn for the rest of the game, do what you need to do, keep stalling, get Panharmonicons out there, and draw virtually the entire deck while filling your hand with Manic Scribes. People tend to sideboard in Fevered Visions against this deck if they have it, and the moment we hit this phase of our plan, they begin to look very, very silly.

3. Mill the opponent for a disgusting number of cards with multiple Manic Scribes and Eerie Interludes! However many Scribes it takes to get the job done. While Scribes can be brought out intermittently throughout the game and then Engulf the Shore'd or AEther Tradewinds 'd back to hand, that's generally not necessary. By the time the game reaches this point, multiple Panharmonicons should be out, and there should be several different ways to either bounce the Scribes or blink them. In the latter case, it'll almost always take only one turn to finish the opponent off. The 54-card mills shown above (yes, in real games!) both happened this way. On top of all this, the deck should have Delirium by this point, as the Cloudblazers allow the deck to discard Delirium pieces to hand size. Your opponent can have a playset of Perpetual Timepiece s out and it really won't matter - they'll be dead in 2, maybe 3 turns anyway, and with multiple Engulf the Shores, Reflector Mages, etc., it's not like they'll be killing you in those turns basically ever.

The sideboard features helpful pieces against different matchups.

I understand that Lost Legacy might be a bit of a pain in the ass for this deck, and luckily I haven't run into it yet. They get rid of our Manic Scribes and things are poopy. The 3 Invasive Surgery are in the sideboard for basically this reason and this reason only. That's a pretty important reason, though, and I guess they might be good against Fragmentize too. Also played them against Temur Metallurgic Summonings, and they were outstanding against Part the Waterveil. Delirium is not easy to activate before the final couple of turns in this deck, however.

Ceremonious Rejection was put here with Aetherworks Marvel in mind, but Smuggler's Copter is an equally good reason to have two in the board. There's just generally very few decks where this won't have some use, although how much is a good question with four Negates alongside as well.

Essence Flux is a cheap, handy tool against instant-speed removal, and can ensure that the deck hits the ground running and is able to safely get a Panharmonicon out against aggressive decks. Late-game, it can also take some pressure off of Eerie Interlude to shut the door with Manic Scribes.

Startled Awake   is largely here because of Lost Legacy, although it also seems good against control decks as a way of trying to eat through the war of counterspells likely to take place. Also can be recurred from the graveyard only to be sent back to hand with Engulf the Shore or AEther Tradewinds , so that could be cute.

Summary Dismissal is excellent against Aetherworks, can stop an Aetherflux Reservoir from destroying us (has done so in a match already!), and is generally another great tool for blue control shells to have. Also wrecks Prized Amalgam against Emerge decks.

Saheeli's Artistry can copy Manic Scribe or Cloudblazer and Panharmonicon at the same time. This was at one point a maindeck interaction, but was a little too expensive and unreliable, and isn't really what the deck is going for in terms of a one-turn mill with Manic Scribes. Still really sweet if it gets the chance for big value, copying an opposing fatty, even.

Mill isn't dead - it's merely evolved! Now that Prized Amalgam and Grixis Emerge are well-known in Standard, switching to a one-turn mass milling strategy might not be a bad thing at all. Besides, there's an element of surprise to doing all the milling at once! Thanks for checking out this list, and if you have any suggestions or comments, please do share!

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Top Ranked
  • Achieved #6 position overall 7 years ago
Date added 7 years
Last updated 7 years
Legality

This deck is not Standard legal.

Rarity (main - side)

0 - 2 Mythic Rares

19 - 2 Rares

15 - 7 Uncommons

9 - 4 Commons

Cards 60
Avg. CMC 3.06
Tokens Copy Clone
Folders Budget Standard, standard ideas, Standard Ideas, Standard Decks, Standard Mill Ideas, Future Decks, Standard AF, I'm back baby, Blue white mill, Try it!
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