Ain’t that the blues, Budgets that make you cry
Mono-Blue mill in modern! Is it as good as dimir mill? Not quite, but this is as good as you’re gonna get. Let me break it down:
Dive dive dive!
———-
So being a mill deck, typically the goal is to rip through the opponents library as quickly as possible, and this is no exception. The way we do it is relatively start forward as well,
Drowner Initiate
and a whole host of cheap mill cards. Alternatively
Jace's Phantasm
can help push the board state a bit, and can even win you some matches if you’ve been playing the Grind. Easy enough right? tap out, and mill mill mill. There are a few snags though that might get you down, having said that let’s describe the game plan.
go fish
———-
Your milling suite is pretty relaxed on mana, so your opening hand can consist of a wide variety of cards. I’d suggest aiming for a card: drowned initiate though, and at least two cantrips. The best in the bunch are definitely
Tome Scour
and
Dream Twist
time scour because stax, and dream twist for that sweet sweet flashback. Since it’s casting, it works with drowny and lets you pay to dump two.
Merfolk Secretkeeper
is a wonderful addition as it counts as two spells as well, letting you venture deeper and keep the deck pressure on.
don’t play koi
———-
Keeping your strategy alive for mill is really dependent on the deck it’s going against, mill is particularly strong against some strategies and not so helpful against others without sideboarding in some cards.
Didn't Say Please
is a general counter spell that feeds your card clock.
Into the Story
,
Opt
,
Compelling Argument
,
Thought Scour
these cards for the card draw. They lend your strategy while also giving you the fuel you need to keep going.
This is a fairly straight forward strategy, so rather then analyzing the card selection like I normally do I’d rather highlight my FAVORITE jank strong matchup before I get into the sideboard and romp through the groves of “if I had money”
coral antics
———-
Strong matchups:
Dredge
This is by far and away mills best matchup. Maybe I’m insane and I don’t know what I’m talking about, and I’ll respect you for letting me know, but! It’s all in the clock. Dredge is looking to exchange value from the library into the graveyard. I see dredge decks go nuclear by turn 3 easy. They do this by dumping all the value they can in the graveyard and hitting the key creatures to swarm you. I’m talking
Prized Amalgam
,
Narcomoeba
,
Bloodghast
. So what if I told you.. you often win the turn these come out?
The average dredge deck, from what I’ve played against, usually ends up being 40-50 cards deep by the time they hit all they want to swing in with. This usually happens by turn 3 or 4, assuming they hit their
Stinkweed Imp
and have card: haggle or
Cathartic Reunion
enough.
Against these decks, while it can often be seen as helping their strategy, you can set them up for some dangerous scenarios by letting them circle jerk for a bit and then finishing their library off. Save your tome scour, maybe a dream twist or two, and then remember to dream twist on their end step!! I’ve won quite a few dredge matches doing stupid shit like this, and they never expect it.
Then they just stall me out and let me do the milling for them in the second game and #%a#•*
like uh.. in a barrel
———-
So the sideboard! Easy peashy the good news with a simple deck is an equally simple sideboard.
Ashiok, Dream Render
clean graveyard hate while also milling, and against certain tutoring matchups the library denial can be super strong. I usually sub out a couple
Compelling Argument
Unsummon
creature combo hate, no one likes you Neoform. Same as above. Except also chuck out a
Into the Story
Rebuild
one of the best artifact strategy hates in blue I’ve found. Whole sale bouncing for 3? Das good. Second to the first as first is the worst!
Thought Collapse
Grindy matchups, having the extra counter spells are good. You know what to remove.
AEtherize
it’s good against weenies and Aggro, but also pretty fresh against tokens. I would actually say just
Into the Story
on this one.
Dynavolt Tower
I generally slot this card in against flash. When you’re getting counter spelled a lot having your cards still have some inherent value really helps the boat, and it prevents the board from becoming too cluttered as it were.
the sideboard is always a place where improvement should be your main concern, if your meta is super aristocrats? Maybe you need more of something else, likewise for any obvious strategy in your LGS.
But obviously? There are some improvements we all see, some of which aren’t even that much more. Take a look!
fishful thinking
———-
Drowned Secrets
mono blue mill and you’re excluding THE DIME PIECE?!? I know I know, but it just barely fell out of price range. I strive for sub 20$ and with this it was too much. Obviously get it, it’s a free drowner initiate without the body.
Traumatize
bulk mill late game you say? Half their deck you say?! Das pretty neat, go for it if it intrigues you.
Sanity Grinding
at minimum this card is going to net you an easy 5 deep but usually more likely to be 10. When you don’t have access to
Glimpse the Unthinkable
this is the next best thing.
Archive Trap
it’s a big daddy mill for zero, as a sideboard card against tutor decks this is your linchpin. It’s a Beaut
Keep in mind that these cards are just example upgrades, as you should take your mono-blue mill in any direction, even to your local trash can if you like. At the end of the day building your deck is most of the fun, so get to it before you lose it!
back to the deep
——-
Oh hey you made it! Right on, I believed in you hope you didn’t forget anything, if you liked this quirky blue mill consider giving me some feedback! I’m always looking to improve my budgets so if you’ve got some spicy updates do feel free. And remember, building on budget shouldn’t make you cry!
-roguegrave213
