Black Mill, is it possible?
Modern forum
Posted on Feb. 22, 2017, 10:18 a.m. by musicman3310
Today's discussion leads us to the idea that black is a color that can help mill decks and possibly, not probably, but possibly be able to mill by itself.
The original idea for this came from these four cards: Lost Legacy, Surgical Extraction, Infinite Obliteration, and Extirpate. All theses cards target a card and gets rid of all copies of that card.
That, along with the many draw + lose life cards and discard spells seem to make black a secondary color for mill decks possibly.
What do you guys think?
I assume you're referring to mono-black. And the answer is yes, sort of. You'll use artifacts like Codex Shredder and Ghoulcaller's Bell to do most of your milling (along with Lantern of Insight to make sure you're milling good cards), and Ensnaring Bridge and Inquisition of Kozilek to protect yourself. Infernal Tutor can get you what you need, as can Inventors' Fair. Of the style of effects you mentioned, I would consider Surgical Extraction the best, since it can be cast for 0 mana in case of emergency. If you haven't noticed, those are the guts of the Lantern Control deck. The reason you rarely see it in mono-black is that the splash for cards like Ancient Stirrings is pretty trivial, and it actually helps out a lot.
February 22, 2017 10:47 a.m.
Hjaltrohir says... #4
I have a really fun and surprisingly competitive mill deck in modern here
It uses black as a support colour, which i think is best for it. As a primary colour, unlikely in terms of OG mill, although i think lantern control is .
February 22, 2017 3:09 p.m.
The problem with mono-black is the inefficiency of the mill. Even though you might be taking their best cards form their deck, 4 cards for an average of 2 mana is FAR too slow to be competitive in modern. Black is the best splash color for mill however, since it gives access to Glimpse the Unthinkable, Mind Funeral, and that one U/B fuse card from Dragon's Maze.
zephramtripp says... #2
I think red mill is actually more viable with Wheel of Fortune effects and the like. I know that in OG Conspiracy limited, you could have a nasty red mill from Barbed Shocker.
On the other hand, the best black mill is probably through the Gravestorm of Bitter Ordeal.
February 22, 2017 10:36 a.m.