The Old Mill Scream [Primer]

Modern Combo Crab Island Landfall Mill Primer UB (Dimir)

PapLaRiviere

Land (23)

• 2x Drowned Catacomb
• 4x Field of Ruin
• 4x Island
• 1x Oboro, Palace in the Clouds
• 4x Polluted Delta
• 1x Prismatic Vista
• 1x Shelldock Isle
• 3x Sunken Hollow
• 2x Swamp
• 1x Watery Grave

Instant (17)

• 4x Archive Trap
• 2x Drown in the Loch
• 1x Fatal Push
• 2x Mana Leak
• 4x Mission Briefing
• 1x Surgical Extraction
• 3x Visions of Beyond

Enchantment (2)

• 2x Fraying Sanity

Sorcery (10)

• 1x Fractured Sanity
• 4x Glimpse the Unthinkable
• 4x Maddening Cacophony
• 1x Scheming Symmetry

Creature (8)

• 4x Hedron Crab
• 4x Ruin Crab

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Sideboard

Instant (5)

• 1x Crypt Incursion
• 1x Dismember
• 1x Extirpate
• 1x Fatal Push
• 1x Ravenous Trap

Sorcery (3)

• 1x Bloodchief's Thirst
• 1x Collective Brutality
• 1x Inquisition of Kozilek

Planeswalker (1)

• 1x Ashiok, Dream Render

Artifact (2)

• 1x Ensnaring Bridge
• 1x Pithing Needle

Land (1)

• 1x Bojuka Bog

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Maybeboard

Creature (17)

• 1x Bruvac the Grandiloquent
• 1x Consuming Aberration
• 1x Duskmantle Guildmage
• 1x Fleet Swallower
• 1x Floodbringer
• 1x Fog Bank
• 1x Invisible Stalker
• 1x Jace's Phantasm
• 1x Lurrus of the Dream-Den
• 1x Merfolk Secretkeeper
• 1x Mirko Vosk, Mind Drinker
• 1x Nemesis of Reason
• 1x Painter's Servant
• 1x Silent Arbiter
• 1x Snapcaster Mage
• 1x Wall of Lost Thoughts
• 1x Wight of Precinct Six

Artifact (6)

• 1x Altar of the Brood
• 1x Crucible of Worlds
• 1x Echo Circlet
• 1x Isochron Scepter
• 1x Mesmeric Orb
• 1x Mindcrank

Sorcery (10)

• 1x Breaking / Entering
• 1x Haunting Echoes
• 1x Infernal Tutor
• 1x Mind Funeral
• 1x Mind Sculpt
• 1x Sanity Grinding
• 1x Serum Visions
• 1x Talent of the Telepath
• 1x Tome Scour
• 1x Traumatize

Enchantment (6)

• 1x Curse of the Bloody Tome
• 1x Leyline of the Void
• 1x Memory Erosion
• 1x Patient Rebuilding
• 1x Propaganda
• 1x Sphinx's Tutelage

Planeswalker (1)

• 1x Jace, Memory Adept

Land (8)

• 1x Creeping Tar Pit
• 1x Darkslick Shores
• 1x Dimir Aqueduct
• 1x Ghost Quarter
• 1x Ipnu Rivulet
• 1x Mystic Sanctuary
• 1x Nephalia Drownyard
• 1x Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth

Instant (7)

• 1x Counterspell
• 1x Darkness
• 1x Deprive
• 1x Murderous Cut
• 1x Psychic Spiral
• 1x Trapmaker's Snare
• 1x Twincast

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Howdy, and thanks for taking a look at my deck.

I like having an inventory of several decks - each with very differing play strategies. This is a deck that I have messed around with for the past couple of years. It is a "Mill" deck and was initially inspired by a family member.

For those unfamiliar with the concept, there are several ways a player can lose the game. One way is if a player is required to draw a card from their Library, but has no cards to draw from. That's game over - they lose! It is this path which a Mill deck seeks to exploit. These decks are a LOT of fun to play and when the cards fall "right", your opponent will be in a full panic. The challenges of building a Mill deck are survivability and consistency. If the cards don't fall "right", many Mill decks don't have the assets to survive the coming onslaught. This is especially true in the Modern format where games are often decided by turn 5.

I realize that I tend to attach large "Maybeboards" to many of my decks which may seem ridiculous to some, but I find it helpful as I play test and ponder new ideas. Hopefully, it also helps others to have a handy list of the most commonly used cards for a given deck archetype readily available in one location. Think of it as a template as you begin to design your own Dimir Mill deck.

I am always looking to improve the deck to make it more competitive. If you have any thoughts, I would appreciate your input.

{B}{U} Deck Building Philosophies {U}{B}

Once I decide that I am going to construct a new deck around a given archetype (i.e. tribal, affinity, combo, control, mill, etc.) and flavours (i.e. Vampires, Slivers, weenie, stompy, etc.); my first thought is, "What game mechanics do I want to incorporate to create a deck that is fresh, fun, interesting, and reasonably competitive?"

Once I have a general idea what I want, my next thought is, "How am I going to win the game?". From there I begin considering my Wincons and studying what cards will take me to my desired end state.

When building a deck, I feel it is important that one can quickly and easily articulate a purpose/reason/mission for each and every card in the deck. Trying to decide what to pull when considering a new card for the deck should be a painful experience.

{B}{U} Wincons {U}{B}

1. Quickly mill my opponent's entire Library into their Graveyard

{B}{U} Deck Strategy {U}{B}

Getting a steady supply of {U} is the first priority in the early game. I try to hold the Polluted Deltas until I get a Crab or two on the board. The basic lands, Sunken Hollow, and Watery Grave are all fetchable with Polluted Delta. Frequently, I am able to bring out a Sunken Hollow and put it onto the board untapped.

I want to get as many copies of Ruin Crab and/or Hedron Crab on the battlefield as early in the game as possible. Jace's Phantasm gives me some protection as I develop my battle plan.

Once Fraying Sanity is on the board, all milling effects are doubled. If I can get Fraying Sanity out by turn 4, there is a high probability that I will will the game. You can also win games without getting Fraying Sanity out, so the deck is not a one trick wonder. However there is no question that Fraying Sanity is a key card. Note that Fraying Sanity triggers during your opponent's end step as well.

Oboro, Palace in the Clouds is in the deck for the sole purpose of feeding the Crabs when I do not have another land to play during the turn.

Field of Ruin forces my opponent to search their library allowing me to cast Archive Trap for no mana cost. Further, sacrificing Field of Ruin nets two lands entering the battle for that turn, each of which triggers the Ruin Crab(s)/Hedron Crab(s). Likewise, drop and crack a Polluted Delta as often as possible to trigger the Crabs twice during the turn.

If you wish, you can put Crucible of Worlds into the deck to bring Field of Ruins, Ipnu Rivulets, and Polluted Deltas back from the graveyard for another round of action and to keep the Crabs well fed.

Scheming Symmetry's primary role is to force my opponent to do a library search so I can follow up with a free Archive Trap. It serves a secondary purpose as a cheap tutor (for Fraying Sanity perhaps). I don't care that it also allows my opponent to tutor a card he desperately wants to get into the game because I am just going to mill it into the graveyard anyway!

When I cast one of my better mill spells, I try to follow-up with Twincast before the spell resolves to double the effect. Mission Briefing allows me to re-cast instant and sorcery spells from the graveyard - even if it is my opponent's turn! Since it does not utilize Flashback, I can use Mission Briefing to cast Archive Trap from the graveyard at no mana cost if my opponent searched their library during the current turn. Mission Briefing also provides the added bonus of a little top deck manipulation to set up my next turn.

Since the deck is pretty fast, it is easy to run low on cards in hand. To address this issue, I included Visions of Beyond.

There is a small group of control/removal cards in the deck to help survive the early game. All are either instant or sorcery spells, so they can also be followed-up with Twincast and/or Mission Briefing if the game gets off to a bad start.

{B}{U} The Sideboard {U}{B}

I am currently using the "Sideboard" to hold cards which I am play testing and/or want to move into the main deck.

{B}{U} Mill Deck Combos/Synergies {U}{B}

Mill Deck Combos

1 Duskmantle Guildmage + Mindcrank
If you activate Duskmantle Guildmage's first ability and then second ability when you have a Mindcrank out, target player will mill all the cards from their library into their graveyard and lose that much life. Consider activating Duskmantle Guildmage's first ability during your (or your opponent's) upkeep step. If you are able to pull this one off, it is game over!!

1a Duskmantle Guildmage + Mindcrank + Sphinx's Tutelage

2 Painter's Servant + Sphinx's Tutelage
This combo creates an auto repeating 2 card mill loop which ends only after your opponent mills a land card into their graveyard.

2a Grindstone + Painter's Servant
Grindstone is legal in EDH, but not in Modern

3 Fraying Sanity + Traumatize
Traumatize mills half of your opponent's library and then at the end of the turn, Fraying Sanity mills the other half - game over!

4 Archive Trap + Fraying Sanity + Twincast
This little combo can be had for as little as 5 mana. If everything resolves in your favour, it represents a 52 card mill - again, game over.

{B}{U} Notes on Game Play, Strengths, Weaknesses and Potential Upgrades {U}{B}

WEAKNESSES:

1. Inability to survive past turn 6

2. No plan B - Milling the opponents Library is the only Wincon

3. Much of the deck strategy falls apart when playing against a monocolour deck with few, or no, nonbasic lands and/or few, or no, fetchlands/tutors.

STRENGTHS:

UPGRADES UNDER CONSIDERATION:

Date added	4 years
Last updated	1 year
Key combos	Duskmantle Guildmage + Mindcrank Grindstone + Painter's Servant Painter's Servant + Sphinx's Tutelage Fraying Sanity + Traumatize Duskmantle Guildmage + Mindcrank + Sphinx's Tutelage Archive Trap + Fraying Sanity + Twincast
Legality	This deck is Modern legal.
Rarity (main - side)	1 - 0 Mythic Rares 36 - 6 Rares 15 - 3 Uncommons 2 - 2 Commons
Cards	60
Avg. CMC	1.81
Folders	Modern, Cool decks, Dad’s Decks