Mill strategies?
Commander (EDH) forum
Posted on Nov. 15, 2014, 5:55 p.m. by rooroothepirate
Hello all! I've been playing magic for awhile now, and one of the kinds of decks that has always intrigued me is mill decks.
I know that as commander is a mostly multiplayer, 100 card format, it's not overly competitive. This isn't overly important to me as I am much more interested in causing chaos and having memorable games. If I win, that's cool too.
That being said, what are some good cards for a dimir colored mill deck? I'm mainly looking for things to mill everyone for lots and if that isn't quite getting the job done, stealing said creatures I have milled away as an alternate win con.
Thoughts?
NoPantsParade says... #3
Leyline of the Void and Helm of Obedience never gets old.
November 15, 2014 6:03 p.m.
rooroothepirate says... #4
Haha that might be fun to do once or twice out of nowhere. My brother, goldenfoot, has a karador deck that has been stomping a mudhole in me recently. Could be nice as a slump buster haha. That being said, generally as a rule I try to shy away from 2 piece oops I win combos. Thanks for the idea ThisIsBullshit!
November 15, 2014 6:04 p.m.
rooroothepirate says... #5
Helm of Obedience looks super fun. That's a silly combo haha. Thanks NoPantsParade!
November 15, 2014 6:07 p.m.
For commanders I'd suggest: Mirko Vosk, Mind Drinker, Circu, Dimir Lobotomist, Szadek, Lord of Secrets, or Oona, Queen of the Fae
You can also add in the Traumatize+Keening Stone interaction, Mind Grind and Nemesis of Reason are good cards as well
November 15, 2014 6:09 p.m.
There is another two card combo that mills the whole library is Tunnel Vision and either Junktroller or Reito Lantern. Choose one card that is unique in their graveyard, then call that card with Tunnel Vision, and watch the graveyard fill up with their whole library...well, all but that last card.
It is a decent little combo that works pretty well.
November 15, 2014 6:10 p.m.
Gidgetimer says... #8
Phenax, God of Deception and Consuming Aberration both look to be good multiplayer mill individually and have a good synergy. Just remember to keep the player with the most cards in their graveyard around for last so that Consuming Aberration stays large.
November 15, 2014 6:14 p.m.
i play mill and it works for me quite well, Lazav Mill
November 15, 2014 6:16 p.m.
I also have a sub mill theme going on in my Mimeoplasm deck, check it out: The Mimeoplasm: Rapacious Ooze Tactics
My pal Romer also runs a Phenax, God of Deception deck and I've seen it pwn/frustrate many an opponent: Phenax's Milling Machine
November 15, 2014 6:21 p.m.
ThisIsBullshit says... #11
Okay maybe I'm just stupid but how does the Helm of Obedience and Leyline of the Void work?
November 15, 2014 6:42 p.m.
It infinitely mills because the cards milled by Helm never enter the graveyard so it just keeps milling
November 15, 2014 6:44 p.m.
Unforgivn_II says... #13
I dunno if your brother has Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre or Kozilek, Butcher of Truth but if you find someone that does, you'll need Extirpate or Surgical Extraction to deal with them. Otherwise, you'll have a very tough time winning by mill
November 15, 2014 8:05 p.m.
@Unforgivn_II just include some forced draw for the last two cards. Opportunity should work in those situations.
November 15, 2014 9:24 p.m.
Unforgivn_II says... #15
Well, you'd have to know that they are the bottom 1 or 2. That strategy works with Worldspine Wurm, but the Titans return the entire graveyard. Maybe Relic of Progenitus or Tormod's Crypt will work better though. No hand/library peeking, but cheaper and very good against Titans.
November 15, 2014 9:42 p.m.
TelleoStar says... #16
If you're milling your opponents, never underestimate the power of Undead Alchemist. It's hard to mill all the way through a 100-card deck, but he rewards you, and gives you a possible win even if you only make it partway through your opponents. Or, if you really want to commit to mill, he lets you have a ton of blockers to stay alive while milling.
November 15, 2014 11:11 p.m.
rooroothepirate says... #17
Thankfully my play group is fairly budget constricted and hasn't invested in the Eldrazi...yet. I'm sure it'll happen. What do you guys think about things like Memory Erosion and Riddlekeeper?
November 15, 2014 11:55 p.m.
lemmingllama says... #18
Mind Grind is an all star in EDH, I hit it for 10+ most games I play.
Also Bitter Ordeal is a great mill card, after they are done milling or board wiping then you drop this, and you search out all their Eldrazi and win conditions.
As for those suggestions, Memory Erosion is decent, but Riddlekeeper is fairly weak. I would rather use Dreamborn Muse and Mesmeric Orb as ways to slowly mill them out.
November 16, 2014 12:02 a.m.
Unforgivn_II says... #19
Memory Erosion seems good, but I don't like Riddlekeeper. Creatures are susceptible to removal, and they don't have to swing at you until they have lethal, so there wouldn't be as much milling.
A chaos card that will also be a speedy win condition is Whispering Madness. You can power through a library in just a few turns, especially if you or someone else has a large hand. Also: Forced Fruition. By the time they realize that the card draw is bad for them, you should have all the counterspells you need to answer their threats and deck them
November 16, 2014 12:08 a.m.
Mill really appealed to me as an interesting, unexpected win-con but I heard it wasn't an effective strat in EDH. I toyed with a mill sub-theme in my MilleoPlasm and found it was surprisingly effective - though rarely did I mill anyone to death.
That small foray into mill was enough to hook me - I knew I had to go all-in on a mill deck. The end result being Phenax's Milling Machine which does a damn fine job of milling people to death. It has about an 80% success rate in 1v1 matches, and partners really well with graveyard-focused decks.
But the Eldrazi, yes they're an issue. I've got a couple options to deal with Eldrazi:
Tormod's Crypt in response to an Eldrazi hitting the graveyard will exile their graveyard and the Eldrazi. Your opponent still get to shuffle his or her library though (if that matters to you).
Eater of the Dead 's 0-mana ability in response to an Eldrazi hitting the graveyard allows you to exile the Eldrazi, but your opponent's graveyard will still shuffle back into their library. However with Eater of the Dead + Phenax, God of Deception you can tap Eater of the Dead to make your opponent mill 4, then use his 0-mana ability to exile a creature from any graveyard and untap him. Then repeat the process! Potentially, this combo can mill an opponent to death completely.
Of course, Eater of the Dead + Phenax, God of Deception is subject to removal and is limited by the number of creatures in graveyards. This past weekend I managed to mill Forkbeard to death despite him having 2 graveyard-reshuffling Eldrazi in his deck, just by using Eater of the Dead + Phenax, God of Deception . It was a slow process though. I had to exile the Eldrazi and watch him shuffle his graveyard back into his library twice. But it worked!
Can anyone correct my logic above regarding Eater of the Dead and Eldrazi? When Forkbeard and I tried to logic it out, it seemed like the Eater would exile the Edrazi but the graveyard would still reshuffle into the library - however I'd love to be wrong and find out it actually prevents the graveyard being reshuffled into the library.
I really like the Bitter Ordeal suggestion above, I'll be adding that to my Phenax deck soon :)
November 17, 2014 8:50 p.m.
lemmingllama says... #22
@Romer The Eldrazi goes to the graveyard, and their shuffle trigger goes on the stack. Then you exile the Eldrazi in response. The exile ability comes off the stack first, exiling the Eldrazi. Then the shuffle trigger goes off the stack, shuffling their graveyard into their library. Sadly no happy Christmastime games for us mill players.
November 17, 2014 9:29 p.m.
00xtremeninja says... #23
Glimpse the unthinkable is a must have in blue and black mill.
I also run Jester's Cap to search and exile any Eldrazi threats. Plus it let's you see your opponents library to get an idea of what's coming.
November 17, 2014 10:34 p.m.
rooroothepirate says... #24
Anyone have experience with Sadistic Sacrament? Seems like it could be good.
November 18, 2014 10:21 a.m.
Gorgosaurusrex says... #25
I've seen mill decks work in 1v1 EDH, but they are difficult to use in multiplayer without infinite combos. If you can generate infinite mana you can exile each opponent's library with Oona, Queen of the Fae. That's more of a combo deck and less of a true mill deck.
Sadistic Sacrament is interesting, but not great in multiplayer. Playing cards like that (and Stain the Mind, Surgical Extraction, etc) will draw a lot of attention towards you.
I would try to play cards that mill everybody at once. Chill of Foreboding and Extract from Darkness come to mind, but those cards have a very low power level. I'm not sure how many of these cards exist or if any of them have repeatable effects.
You also could use Phenax, God of Deception as your commander and pack your deck with fat walls such as Wall of Frost and Hover Barrier.
November 18, 2014 11:54 a.m.
I've never used Sadistic Sacrament, but Nightveil Specter might be an alternative worth considering. I have a BU zombie mill deck that uses Undead Alchemist and many others to mill my opponents and return their creatures to the battlefield under my control. I use Lazav, Dimir Mastermind as my commander; you might see some cards you want to incorporate into your deck (Zombie Mill EDH).
November 19, 2014 5:31 p.m.
Krenko, Mob Boss + Altar of the Brood
Need I say more?
November 20, 2014 7:28 a.m.
Don't know if it's been brought up but you should try putting Geth, Lord of the Vault in if you don't have him already. A friend of mine has played him and it can get pretty ridiculous especially when he's ult'd Liliana of the Dark Realms. Other suggestions I'd like to give is Grindclock and Sands of Delirium. Hope that helps.
ThisIsBullshit says... #2
Duskmantle Guildmage and Mindcrank. Pay seven mana and win.
November 15, 2014 5:58 p.m.