While it wasn't my first choice in strategy, I have certainly come to respect the awesome power that is mill. While in many formats mill isn't powerful enough, Modern at least gives us a chance to make it viable. If nothing else, it is certainly a good time, well at least for the person piloting the deck.
Landbase:
2x
Darkslick Shores
- For mana fixing, especially good in the early game.
2x Ghost Quarter - Serves multiple purposes, one it forces them to crack their fetch and search for a land card, thinning out their deck. It's an enabler for
Archive Trap
. Once they know about
Archive Trap
, it becomes a political tool, that makes them wonder whether they should search for the basic land or not. Lastly, it serves as mana fixing for my own deck, should I be in desperate need of a specific color.
1x
Oboro, Palace in the Clouds
- A repeatable trigger for Hedron Crab, so even if I miss my land drop, I don't miss my land drop.
4x Polluted Delta - Because fetchland fetches. Good land. Sit.
2x Shelldock Isle - While I wasn't blown away initally by the idea of "Hideaway", after some thought, I think this land card can help serve as a finisher. The card hidden away by it can be cast for free, which will most likely be a mill spell.
4x Watery Grave - Because mana fixing is good.
4x Island - Because land.
3x Swamp - Also because land.
Creatures:
4x Hedron Crab - Because he lands early enough to be a pain in the butt, and every turn he's help to thin my opponent's deck. Plus with Fetchlands, my opponent is milling for 6 a turn.
2x Snapcaster Mage - Because what's better than casting
Glimpse the Unthinkable
once? Casting it twice. Being able to recast spells from the graveyard is huge, especially since we aren't running a ton of defense here.
Artifacts:
2x
Mesmeric Orb
- Another one of those political cards that give people a reason to pause. People think twice about casting that extra creature, or attacking with that creature, or tapping all of that mana. Either they aren't doing things, which is great for me, or they are losing things, which is also great for me. (Yes, I know it affects me too, but in controlled burst mill, it's not so bad.)
Instants:
4x
Archive Trap
- Because milling someone for 13 cards for 0 mana is the best feeling in the world of mill. Once the cat is out of the bag, your opponent may play far more cautiously, which still works to my advantage. Either way, this card and fear of this card wins games.
1x
Crypt Incursion
- Because your creatures noble sacrifice extend my life total, keeping me in the game longer, to mill you further.
3x Darkness - The black "fog." Translation: 1 free turn for me.
4x Surgical Extraction - With finite precision, I pluck your win cons from your graveyard, hand, and library, getting to see what you have left, and make your victory that much harder. Also works great on Eldrazi and other such pain in the asses.
3x Thought Scour - Currently the only card that I am not 100% on, in fact, I'm think about swapping these out for 3 Serum Visions as the draw and scry might be more beneficial than the draw 1, mill 2 effect.
1x Trapmaker's Snare - Just in case I don't happen to have an
Archive Trap
in hand when you crack that fetchland.
3x Visions of Beyond - It is "Ancestral Recall" for mill/burn decks. With Treasure Cruise out of modern, this is the best bang for my mana. I might not always get to draw 3, but when I do, it's going to suck for you.
Sorcery:
4x Breaking / Entering - The second best "mill" card ever printed. It is as close as we can get to a reprint of
Glimpse the Unthinkable
. Plus with Shelldock Isle in the late game, I can cast both halves of this card for free.
4x
Glimpse the Unthinkable
- The best stand alone "mill" card ever printed. Odds are very good with this, I am hitting you for something you didn't want to lose. "Glimpse the Unthinkable?", more like Glimpse your Graveyard and Cry.
3x
Mind Funeral
- This card just hurts. Rarely have I have gotten only 4 cards with this, on average, I'll get 8 - 12 cards. In some rare cases, against decks with low land counts like affinity, I'll hit them for a lot. This is the finisher. With Surgical Extraction, while I'm searching your library, I can count your remaining lands and then I know when to strike the killing blow.
Sideboard: (This is largely based on meta, so keep that in mind when suggesting sideboard cards.)
2x Chalice of the Void - Because nothing says screw you like a permanent counter spell on the board. Works wonders against Affinity, Infect, Burn, and many other low CMC cost decks.
1x Dismember - A 1 mana -5/-5 spell. Your big threat is now very dead.
2x Hunted Horror - A popular solution to people who run Leyline of Sanctity. I may no longer be able to mill you, but my 7/7 tramplers will beat you to death. Sad face, no centaurs for you.
2x Hurkyl's Recall - My answer to Affinity decks, and other artifacts that are a pain in the butt.
1x Leyline of the Void - Because when 4 mainboard Surgical Extraction aren't enough, there's Leyline of the Void.
1x
Ratchet Bomb
- Boom goes the ratchet bomb, blowing up your things.
1x Relic of Progenitus - Graveyard hate plus card draw.
2x Spell Pierce - For those brave souls who like to go all in early and blow their loads. All out of mana,... gee sucks to be you.
2x Thoughtseize - Hand hate, pure and simple.
1x Trapmaker's Snare - Just in case my Archive Traps didn't make an appearance in game 1 and I might have a shot in hell at surprising my opponent with one still.
