"Library.exe has stopped working" | Phenax Primer

Commander / EDH K1ngMars

SCORE: 135 | 83 COMMENTS | 17981 VIEWS | IN 101 FOLDERS


Clyde_Bankston says... #1

I think this deck is great, lol. It's pretty cool, so gj! +1

May 23, 2018 1:55 p.m.

K1ngMars says... #2

Ahah thanks for the upvote Clyde_Bankston! I really think this deck to be moderately competitive for a multiplayer match, considering it's based on using an uncommon strategy. Who knows why tappedout's competitive meter shows it to be casual (ಠ ›ಠ)

May 23, 2018 2:10 p.m.

looks great, dude! Slagwurm Armor is a major boost to your defensive and milling capabilities. Freed from the Real is super versatile, and Horseshoe Crab is awesome for extra milling - especially with the armor attatched.

Stay frosty!

May 27, 2018 4:53 a.m.

K1ngMars says... #4

Thanks The7thBobba for your suggestions! I took out single untap effect just because I think they are only useful on x/x creatures like Consuming Aberration, because otherwise, they just allow for "a little bit more milling". Thus I shifted a bit towards combat hate.

I'm not convinced about Horseshoe Crab, since is only useful if equipped, though I'll definitely consider re-adding Freed from the Real and maybe introducing Slagwurm Armor. I just need to see what to cut.

Stay frosty too!

May 27, 2018 5:08 a.m.

you are most welcome :D definitely good to be able to swing more than one way :)

May 27, 2018 5:43 a.m.

Madcookie says... #6

Since you play Tunnel Vision you can consider combining it with Hinder. Also unless your group is very casual i think you need some graveyard removal. Leyline of the Void is absurdly expensive, so maybe Tormod's Crypt, because there are a lot of big creatures that shuffle graveyards back into libraries and essentially nullify your efforts. For the rest of the deck +1

June 3, 2018 9:37 a.m.

K1ngMars says... #7

Thanks for the suggestion Madcookie!

I usually play with my friends, thus I don't need much graveyard hate, and it would hurt myself too, considering that I run cards like Mortivore as win conditions.

I didn't include counterspells because I already have a deck running some (here it is: Drag from the Future), though the combo you mentioned is pretty neat.

Since nobody in my playgroup runs Eldrazi Titans, I don't even have to bother about graveyard reshuffling (this explains the absence of cards like Sadistic Sacrament).

June 4, 2018 4:12 p.m.

tiagompm says... #8

Nice deck! To ramp with many ways i think in Waste Not. Brutal card...

June 8, 2018 5:31 a.m.

K1ngMars says... #9

tiagompm, thanks for the comment!

I didn't include Waste Not because milling moves cards from the library to the graveyard, while Waste Not's effect refers to opponents discarding cards, and thus moving cards from the hand to the graveyard. The only card that does this in my deck is Jace's Archivist, that I included to draw (discarding is a side effect here).

Here is of no use to me, though it can find good use in a Nekusar, the Mindrazer, or in a Yidris, Maelstrom Wielder deck.

June 8, 2018 6:54 a.m.
June 21, 2018 6:42 a.m.

K1ngMars says... #11

Thanks for the comment Dumgoldfish124!

Actually, at the start, I used to run Szadek, Lord of Secrets. His only problem is that he has to go through and hit, something that this deck can do really poorly, since I have zero evasion. Thus he got cut. Mirko Vosk, Mind Drinker has the same problem, but he mills for much more and has a lower CMC.

Glimpse the Unthinkable is really strong, though it's not as strong as Mind Funeral, which dries out lands from our opponents (and everything in between). The problem with these spells is that are one time use, that's why I'd try to keep only the strongest, relatively speaking.

June 21, 2018 8:25 a.m.

Beebles says... #12

Hey K1ngMars,

I've looked at your list. I really like the overall themes of the deck: big butts and milling for the win. I'm sure there are a lot more nice tricks than first meets the eye. I like it. These were the things that stood out to me when browsing through:

  • One thing that I usually look for in any list is the amount of ramp and carddraw. I counted 4-6 draw spells and about 5 ramp spells. I think that's on the low side. Your deck would probably perform a lot more consistently if you would push both those categories to 9-10-ish.
  • You also run a low amount of hate/ways to interact with you opponent's plan. I would run a higher number of both board wipes and spot removal.
  • Crown of Doom felt a bit out of place in your deck, as it does not seem to synergize with your strategy
  • The new Isolation Tower could be a nice addition, as your deck loses it's main game plan if your opponent has hexproof.
  • I really like the new Psychic Corrosion card for mill strategies. You could pair that with some more wheel effects like Windfall and Whispering Madness. Those also combine well with your Notion Thief and your grave steal cards. Altar of the Brood might also be nice.

Overall, I would try and focus the list a bit more: I would force myself to run higher amounts of ramp, carddraw and hate cards, and select only the best cards that fit you mill plan.

Hope these tips are of some help to you!

GL & HF,

Beebles

June 24, 2018 1 p.m.

K1ngMars says... #13

Thanks Beebles! I know, my deck probably lacks a bit on the card draw department and also on ramp (To me it seemed ok, since I have few cards costing more than 5 mana). I'll look out for it.

Crown of Doom is really of no use in a mill sense, but certainly moves mana and attention away from me. What I'm trying to do is act as if I'm still not a threat and then blow everyone out, though I might reconsider it. Kindof Pillow Fort if you will.

I tried to put as little wheel cards as possible, just because I've already got a friend in my group that runs a Yidris, Maelstrom Wielder tribal wheel. The only wheel present here is Jace's Archivist, because can buy me a fresh hand of cards when I want or mill and can be used multiple times.

I'm considering adding more boardwipes, though my general strategy on spot removal is just kindof don't worrying about it. I can just let the big guys at the table chunk each other, while I set up and then mill them out.

I own an Altar of the Brood, but it doesn't fit much, since I don't put many permanents on the field each turn and if I draw it lategame is basically a dead draw. I think it could be a much more effective card in combo decks like Breya, Etherium Shaper or Sharuum the Hegemon when they start an infinite enter/exit the battlefield combo. On the other hand, I like Memory Erosion much more, because comes out as if my opponents are milling themselves out.

About Isolation Tower and Arcane Lighthouse, I think they are great ways to answer opponents, but, again, in my playgroup there are like 6 cards over 11 decks that have hexproof. Much like Sadistic Sacrament, those two lands are cards I don't need to run, but that should definitely fit in for a more competitive environment.

June 25, 2018 3:24 a.m.

Hey K1ngMars I picked up a couple of those combos you suggested to me and they paid off. Had a great game with my Phenax deck last night and he dominated. Thanks for the card suggestions.

September 9, 2018 11:04 a.m.

K1ngMars says... #15

You are welcome Okita_Souji312! In my playgroup my deck is lacking some resistance, I'll look forward to yours to see if I can find something useful in that regard.

September 9, 2018 11:42 a.m.

K1ngMars My Phenax has been a lot more consistent in my play group the last few months, even before the recent additions. One thing I like with my deck is that its hard to shut down in terms of me being able to cast stuff. I'm usually always able to cast stuff from either my hand, my graveyard, my opponents graveyard, and exile piles. So I give myself more options on what I can play. I'm gonna try and get my decks updated on here soon so you can check out the changes. I also just recently built another deck I'd love your feedback on.

September 11, 2018 10:53 a.m.

Chiberia says... #17

There is a two card infinite combo for mill:

Leyline of the Void and Helm of Obedience

Since the card never hits the grave, Helm of Obediences trigger never stops, milling there the entire library out.

October 10, 2018 9:37 a.m.

K1ngMars says... #18

Hi Chiberia, thanks for the comment! I didn't know about this cool combo, and seems super unexpected and fun. I'm afraid I will not include it though in the deck, here's why:

  • The combo works only if both pieces are available, and I don't run the tutors necessary to make them reliably be in my hand. This means that the cards must be already good and in them on their own, but unfortunately, they aren't. Leyline of the Void directly goes against my principal win conditions, that is tapping creatures like Mortivore with Phenax, God of Deception's ability. If those cards get exiled, the yards would be all empty (apart from mine, though I don't plan , and so my possibility to win.

  • On the other hand, Helm of Obedience has the problem in being an effect with an X cost. My deck doesn't ramp much, so investing all my mana on such an X activated ability is pretty much worthless, considering I would most often than not flip something useless or just not flip anything at all. The chance of flipping an Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger once in my life isn't really appealing to me.

  • The two cards both cost about 15$ and 20$ respectively. Another reason to not risk including them, even though the combo is able to kill an opponent point blank.

October 10, 2018 10:49 a.m.

Nice deck! I'm a fan of mill strategies in multiplayer EDH, since it's not overpowered and flies under the radar a lot. People find it easier to ignore you when you're not dogpiling the same resource (life total) as their other opponents.

I have my own mill-focused deck - Wrexial Jiu Jitsu - though the milling is more of a means to an end rather than a kill mechanism in itself. (Incidentally, it makes me happy to see good ol' Wrexial in this list. He's great!)

Have you considered any cards that steal opponent's spells? Thief of Sanity from the new Ravnica set mills for three with every attack and steals the best spell for your own use. Gonti, Lord of Luxury doesn't mill, but his deathtouch makes him an effective deterrent to attackers, and the fact that he puts cards on the bottom of the library has GREAT synergy with Tunnel Vision.

You might want to consider Undead Alchemist as well, since he's basically an army in a can once you have your milling machine up and running.

As for cuts, Patient Rebuilding is waaaay too slow. Five mana for a card that only mills one player for three on your upkeep isn't a very good deal. Sphinx's Tutelage is two mana cheaper and has the potential to mill way more cards.

December 21, 2018 10:44 a.m.

K1ngMars says... #20

Thanks for the comment harbingerofduh! Super sorry for the late comment, it took me almost two months to find the time to update this deck, alongside the other 3 that I own in paper. Anyways, you won't believe, I had already seen your deck before your comment, and I must say it's a pleasure to know that there are crazy people other than me that believe in mill in EDH.

As you can see, the deck went under a lot of modifications, taking out some boring and unperformig cards, to add the Thief of Sanity you mentioned. I must also thank you for telling me about Gonti, Lord of Luxury 's interaction with Tunnel Vision . Fun fact: one of my friends (OSELLONE) has had a deck with Gonti at the helm for almost a year now and yet I hadn't noticed the combo potential. I guess he'll be mad once he'll see me run it too.

I've wondered about including Undead Alchemist for a while and then I decided to not put it in. It's a cool card, and the combo potential is there, especially with Lightning Greaves and Thousand-Year Elixir , but I guess it's not for me, mostly for the fact that it exiles the creatures that hit the graveyard, so if somehow I don't win when I cast it, I'm screwed.

I had considered Sphinx's Tutelage when I first tried to build a decklist, but I didn't like it for some reason then... and I guess time didn't quite change my opinion with it :P

Again, thank for the comment and the patience, keep up the good work with the mill squad!

February 19, 2019 6:38 a.m.

rshistorysmuf says... #21

Thanks for your input on Mill Squirt Grinder, I like a few cards in your deck but mine was a attempt to target every player all at once.

I can see a few game breaking combos Tunnel Vision + Junktroller etc.

May 9, 2019 5:46 p.m.

K1ngMars says... #22

Yeah rshistorysmuf, I wanted to keep mill more consistent by introducing some fun combos, but I didn't include tutors because I don't want that much consistency against my friends.

In the past I've tried to keep the deck more symmetrical, but I've ended up swapping some of those inefficient effects with big one player take out cards.

Anyways, I'll take a look once more at your list, as it gave me interesting points to work on ;)

May 10, 2019 6:01 a.m.

iNinjy says... #23

For some more mill options, there’s Altar of Dementia , Mind Funeral (very similar to Mind Grind), Glimpse the Unthinkable , Mind Sculpt , and Patient Rebuilding (which can also benefit you with card draw)

July 13, 2019 9:10 p.m.

K1ngMars says... #24

Thanks for stopping by, iNinjy!

As for the cards, here are my thoughts:

  • Mind Funeral was previously in the deck, but has been cut in favour of other more impacting effects. Still in the sideboard. The only problem it has it's that it targets a single player, so it's less impacting than what I would like it to.

  • Altar of Dementia is very powerful, but is ought to be my finishing move, as the X/X creature that I sacrifice to it is no more available for extra milling, so I guess I won't put it in yet.

  • Glimpse and Mind Sculpt are one player focused, and since I play in 4-6 players games, the impact they have on the game is negligible, thus they were not included (for similar reasons as the removal of Mind Funeral from Mainboard).

  • Patient Rebuilding was previously in the deck, but has been cut for straight out being an inefficient mana investment. At 5 mana, this card competes with casting Phenax or Consuming Aberration , and it's not nearly as useful. Not only that, but I have to wait my next turn for the effect to trigger, it targets only one person (for a negligible amount of cards) and the amount of cards I get to draw could as well be zero. Since it was meant to be one of the deck's drawing engines, I substituted it months ago with Recurring Insight , as it can draw more and more quickly.

July 14, 2019 8:21 a.m.

Xelerat says... #25

Hi! First of all - I like your way of deckbuilding a lot. I would like to ask you if its possible to have like an list of updates? Best Regards X.

July 20, 2019 5:52 p.m.

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