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Parmesan Lazav

Commander / EDH Bracket 2 Casual Control Mill Shapeshifter UB (Dimir)

lil_cheez

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Lands (37)

Sanity Shredders (6)

Haste Enablers (3)

Card Draw & Wheels (10)

Removal & Control (10)

Mental Manipulation (7)

Milling Machines (5)

Commander (1)

Commander: Lazav, Dimir Mastermind

Ramp & Land Tutor (9)

Meat Grinders (7)

Traumas (5)

Maybeboard

Card Draw & Wheels (7)

Milling Machines (4)

Meat Grinders (3)

Removal & Control (7)

Misc (4)

Mental Manipulation (3)

Sanity Shredders (6)

Lands (4)

Ramp (2)

Mill their libraries, then crush their faces!

So, I've choosen Lazav, Dimir Mastermind to helm my UB deck.
Lazav, on the opposite direction of more popular UB Mill commanders, is a payoff for milling, not an engine himself. You want to mill opponents (also discard, destroy, etc) so he can become the best creature that appears (better - with Hexproof).

Lazav's been my commander for quite some time, but he was preceeded by his minion Mirko Vosk, Mind Drinker, that now sits happily at the 99 (when Mirko was the commander he was a removal magnet, a thing Lazav deals with his natural Hexproof). At the beggining, the deck was just a collection of my UB stuff that I liked to play, mostly a Clone and Steal deck, with some milling just to season. Little by little this deck received more milling tools, but they were still few, sometimes I passed entire games without milling a thing. Still, this was one of my go-to decks, because it would just adjust itself to what the table was playing (because I'd use their things).

Recently I decided that the deck needed a major revamp, so I studied the theme of the deck a little, carefully searched for cards (I'm still missing some), watched a lot of primers and deck techs, made some playtests. This is how the deck currently looks.

As Lazav is a Payoff and not a Enabler like Mirko or Phenax, God of Deception, the deck has to do the milling work for him. So I stuffed it with a good chunk of things that mills a lot of cards at once, or does some mill passively, or does a thing and mills after, etc. I also tried to include a little bit of discarding, wipes that leave Lazav alone, and of course there's still a bit of Clone and Steal.

I packed some grave hate (stapled into other things because the slots for this deck got pretty tight) for the graveyard players, and some cards that convert milling and big graveyards into pain (Syr Konrad, the Grim, The Haunt of Hightower, etc) so we have different angles to kill our opponents if the mill plan does not work for some reason.

And of course, if someone mills an Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre, Lazav becomes an Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre with Hexproof, so this is our counterplan. XD

Wheels are fun with Lazav because they force our opponentes to discard the creatures they were holding, also makes them draw a good chunk of their deck wich is relevant for the mill plan. I am currently running only one wheel, Whispering Madness. I've recently cut out Dark Deal because it felt bad playing it, but I'll squeeze in a Windfall when I can.
My non-wheel card draw of this deck is kind of lacking, but I'm running thematic and pet cards that humbly do the job, so hopefully I can play something each turn.

Damnable Pact: Our burst draw, this can also be used to kill someone with low life or a library thin enough.
Diabolic Tutor: Get the card you need when you need
Into the Story: Pay four to draw four is good, if someone else has threshold
Kumena's Awakening: A blue Phyrexian Arena, if I'm not blessed it draws cards for opponents, wich kind of helps with the mill plan, I guess? XD (This is a pet card of mine and I think it is a really tame, cheap and under the radar card. It'll not draw cards like Rhystic Study but also won't draw much hate.)
Pilfered Plans: I'll draw two, you'll mill two, hopefully you'll dump something useful for me.
Rankle, Master of Pranks: Rumpelstichen is pretty versatile, usually we go discard-ping-draw, but the sacrifice option might be useful.
Sire of Stagnation: Awesome creature, the "reverse landfall" thing is huge.
Sphinx's Tutelage: In the deck more for the milling thing but can loot a card in a pinch
Syphon Mind: Splendid card for this deck, draw three cards and makes them discard, hopefully a big creature
Whispering Madness: fun take on Windfall that ciphers, if we have a flier or something we keep hitting and wheeling

Little tricks to turn our opponents tools against themselves

Evil Twin: Dimir take on Clone, also doubles as removal
Mnemonic Betrayal: Steal everything from their graves, as long as you can pay
Diluvian Primordial / Sepulchral Primordial: Steal a thing from each grave, and don't even pay
Extract from Darkness / Path of the Schemerfoil: A little mill, than a reanimation!
King Narfi's Betrayal: a nice mini game with milling and grave stealing

No time to waste, so give'em haste!

Lightning Greaves: The classic and the best of the bunch. Shroud is most of the times helpful.
Swiftfoot Boots: The "fixed" one, still very good, just costs a little more mana.
Lavaspur Boots: The new one, costing 1 mana to cast and one to equip is huge, +1 power does not hurt, the ward is cute

Creatures that turn milling into blood!

Wight of Precinct Six: A classic, it is just a big boy.
Cruel Somnophage: A newer take on Wight, comes with a milling spell to help.
Duskmantle Guildmage: Oldie but goodie, makes milling painfull and also combos with Mindcrank.
Guiltfeeder: Nonblack players be aware!
Syr Konrad, the Grim: This guy is a monster in this deck, every milling, every removal, every discard, he turns into damage. Brings his own milling ability if needed, and also enables a lot of shenanigans
Dreadhound: Konrad trained his dog so well it could substitute him xD
The Haunt of Hightower: Gets HUGE. After a big mill he'll just be killing people with combat damage

Deck thining engines.

Altar of the Brood: Turns each ETB into a mill one card, pretty enervating for our opponents
Memory Erosion: Each spell costs the top two cards for them
Mind Grind: A late game one is a bomb and can end games, a mid game one is still pretty good
Mindcrank: Turns pain into milling and combos with the Guildmage
Trepanation Blade: a fun way to "mind grind" and also gets to push more damage

Fix and accelerate mana, nothing too crazy here. As Lazav is color heavy I have to consider that.

I'm running six classics: Sol Ring, Arcane Signet, Dimir Signet, Talisman of Dominance, Fellwar Stone and Wayfarer's Bauble
Realmbreaker, the Invasion Tree: Weird ramp card with milling synergy
Honored Heirloom: Manalith with some grave hate stapled
Stonespeaker Crystal: Hedron Archive-like rock with a grave hate panic buttom

Just to defend ourselves and keep the game at a cool pace. Lazav can become a copy of a killed or countered creature. Also I am running some things that kills opposing creatures where keeping Lazav alive for him to transform into them.
Archfiend of Depravity: Forces opponents to keep only two creatures. So Lazav can become the third best one among them
Counterspell: if you're playing blue, don't leave home without one
Drown in the Loch: Fun removal or counter magic, as you need
Grisly Spectacle: Kills a thing and causes some milling
In Garruk's Wake Destroy all creatures we don't control... so Lazav can become the best one of them
One Ring to Rule Them All: fun mini game, if we have a big creature to become the Ringbearer they'll mill a chunk... after that, Lazav will become the best nonlegendary creature
Overkill: Most of the times this is just a better Murder
Rapid Hybridization: Cheap, efficient removal
Singularity Rupture: Wrath that traumatizes everyone
Thought Collapse: Cancel with a little milling stapled

Creatures that cause milling

Consuming Aberration Gets huge in multiplayer, and also makes each spell we cast to Mind Grind everyone to one land
Imperious Mindbreaker: Turns any creature into a milling monster
Mirko Vosk, Mind Drinker: Classic, makes someone Mind Grinds to four lands, wich is still pretty cool
Oona, Queen of the Faefoil: Does not mill per se, but removes cards from their decks, pops some tokens, and I just like the card so I'll be running it
Phenax, God of Deception: The God of Milling, gives each creature we control the ability to tap to mill. He's not our commander just because I'm a fan of Lazav
Thief of Sanity: Makes us control a little the opponent it hits; as we select what will go to the graveyard, we can choose something to Lazav transform into

Things to cut decks in half

Traumatize: The classic. 5 mana for it is solid.
Maddening Cacophony: Solid mill in the early game or a massive one later
Kitsune's Technique: FOX TRAUMA JUTSU!! (The fact it is an instant is cherry on top)
Fleet Swallower: Eats the top half of someone's libray (not always defending player)
Terisian Mindbreaker: Eats the top half of defending player's library, with Unearth it is almost as good as a sorcery version.

Arid Archway and Dimir Aqueduct: I am a fan of bouncelands. They are kind of a tapped land that cantrips, if that cantrip always find a land. They are also neat to bounce lands with ETBs, MDFCs, on hand effects, etc.
Ash Barrens, Evolving Wilds, Terramorphic Expanse: Our poor man's fetchlands to get the colors we need. Lazav is very color hungry.
Command Tower, Creeping Tar Pit, Darkwater Catacombs, Dreadship Reef, Waterfront District: For color correction and some with side benefits.
Boggart Trawler  , Bojuka Bog, Hive of the Eye Tyrant: Grave hating lands.
Cephalid Coliseum: MonoU Painland that cantrips. The cantrip effect can be used to finish someone with a library thin enought, or just to refresh our hand.
Ipnu Rivulet: MonoU Painland that mills in a pinch. There's a thin synergy with Arid Archway.
Cabal Pit: MonoB painland that can shrink a creature in a pinch
Jidoor, Aristocratic Capital: Traumatize on a land is beautiful. With a bounceland we can do it again.
Nephalia Drownyard: A little milling here and there if we have mana to spare
Rogue's Passage: Because a 90/90 Consuming Aberration can't do all the things by itself
Shizo, Death's Storehouse: This one is a little more restricted than Rogue's Passage but very useful still
Waterlogged Teachings  : Tutor for a Countermagic, or Removal, or Kitsune Jutsu
8x Island and 8x Swamp to round the whole thing.

(WIP)

Mill: Try and reduce everyone's decks to nothing. Our heavy hitters are the Sanity Shredders and Traumas. The Milling Machines do a slow but steady work.

Damage: The Meat Grinders can get pretty big (Cruel Somnophage, The Haunt of Hightower, etc) or pretty busy (Duskmantle Guildmage, Syr Konrad, the Grim, etc).

Commander Damage: Lazav may copy a big thing that happens to fall down into a graveyard, and if it is a dragon, a wurm, an eldrazi, etc, Commander Damage starts to look like a path to win.

Mindcrank Dance: Mindcrank + Duskmantle Guildmage. You activate Guildmage's first ability, that reads the opposite of what Mindcrank does, then manage to make them lose life or mill a card (if you got mana to spare you can activate the Guildmage's second ability). They'll be trapped in a loop that every life lost makes milling a card, milling a card makes losing a life, etc, untill they end up with no life or no library.

Burning Trauma: Duskmantle Guildmage + Any card of the Trauma Category. You activate Guildmage's first ability and have an opponent mill the top half of their library. Hopefully it'll be as much life as they have.

Final Mindbreak: Imperious Mindbreaker + A creature big enough: Consuming Aberration or Cruel Somnophage or Wight of Precinct Six or The Haunt of Hightower. Just play the Mindbreaker, pair it with a big dude and attack to make each opponent mill a chunk (or even to mill out)

I was pretty sure this deck would fit in Bracket Two: has a theme and objective, having a lot of paths to try and win makes it a bit unfocused. Still packs a punch and could present a fair challenge to opponents.

But the deck has a killing, two card combo: Mindcrank + Duskmantle Guildmage.
And has two tutors: Diabolic Tutor and Waterlogged Teachings  .

The combo is mana-intensive and telegraphed, and the tutors are not super efficient. But I'm not sure if the deck stays in Bracket Two. Maybe it would need some talking/RuleZero'ing.

As is, there are no game changers and no land denial. (Unless Mind Grinding is land denial. I don't know. You tell me. XD )

Out: Overkill, in: Withering Torment
Out: Pilfered Plans, in: Windfall
Out: Damnable Pact, in Drown in Dreams
Out: Creeping Tar Pit or Waterfront District (to decide), in: Restless Reef
Out: Thought Collapse, in: Long River's Pull, or Arcane Denial, or Remand, (to decide)

Find a place for:
Riverchurn Monument: Millstone and Keening Stone's beautiful child. After some milling is done, it can end a game.
The Water Crystal: Maybe the best milling enhancer out there (apart from Bruvac)

Zellix, Sanity Flayerfoil is cool and synergizes with a lot of things in the deck, unfortunately too expensive to buy for now.
Jace, Wielder of Mysteries could "shift the gear" of the deck to self-mill if needed
Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger is a big boy that can finishes games by itself, acts as much needed removal and of course eats libraries like no one

Chopping Block:
Pilfered Plans: very weak of a card, it is not unusable, but there are better drawing effects
Sphinx's Tutelage: I am very curious to see how it'll operate, but in the playtests doesn't seem to be very good
Thief of Sanity: I love the idea of manipulating an opponent's deck, but surely this guy is not much of an impact
Trepanation Blade: Pet card of mine, the pseudo-milling it does is kind of random and unreliable
Realmbreaker, the Invasion Tree: Added it to the deck because it has a milling ability included, but in the tests it is not pulling its weight (I feel a mana rock would be better). Still want to see it in action.

Suggestions

Updates Add

Massive Update — June 5, 2026
Edit

Deck passed for a big revamp, changed 30+ cards. I'm working on a card-by-card explanation of choices etc. Soon

Just some adjustments — Nov. 16, 2025
Edit

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94% Casual

Competitive