Phenax of the Many Mills

Commander / EDH Combo Mill UB (Dimir)

TheoryCrafter

Creature (33)

• 1x Charix, the Raging Isle
• 1x Consuming Aberration
• 1x Coral Barrier
• 1x Duskmantle Guildmage
• 1x Eidolon of Philosophy
• 1x Etrata, the Silencer
• 1x Fleet Swallower
• 1x God-Eternal Kefnet
• 1x Grim Guardian
• 1x Guard Gomazoa
• 1x Hedron Crab
• 1x Jace's Archivist
• 1x Jace's Phantasm
• 1x Kraken Hatchling
• 1x Merfolk Secretkeeper
• 1x Minister of Inquiries
• 1x Mnemonic Wall
• 1x Nighthowler
• 1x Overwhelmed Apprentice
• 1x Parasitic Strix
• 1x Possessed Skaab
• 1x Reckless Scholar
• 1x Rona, Disciple of Gix
• 1x Ruin Crab
• 1x Sage of Mysteries
• 1x Sage's Row Denizen
• 1x Sigiled Starfish
• 1x Siren of the Silent Song
• 1x Syr Konrad, the Grim
• 1x Thassa's Devourer
• 1x Tidehollow Strix
• 1x Vortex Elemental
• 1x Wall of Runes

Land (36)

• 1x Bojuka Bog
• 1x Dismal Backwater
• 1x Esper Panorama
• 1x Evolving Wilds
• 1x Fetid Pools
• 1x Gateway Plaza
• 1x Grixis Panorama
• 1x Halimar Depths
• 17x Island
• 1x Mortuary Mire
• 1x Submerged Boneyard
• 7x Swamp
• 1x Terramorphic Expanse
• 1x Transguild Promenade

Sorcery (8)

• 1x Diabolic Tutor
• 1x Fascination
• 1x Finale of Revelation
• 1x Maddening Cacophony
• 1x Mastermind's Acquisition
• 1x Mind Grind
• 1x Peer into the Abyss
• 1x Traumatize

Instant (5)

• 1x Countermand
• 1x Crypt Incursion
• 1x Didn't Say Please
• 1x Psychic Strike
• 1x Thought Collapse

Planeswalker (1)

• 1x Ashiok, Nightmare Muse

Commander (1)

Enchantment (11)

• 1x Aqueous Form
• 1x Drowned Secrets
• 1x Fraying Sanity
• 1x Jace's Erasure
• 1x Kaya's Ghostform
• 1x Liliana's Caress
• 1x Medomai's Prophecy
• 1x Omen of the Sea
• 1x Planar Void
• 1x Sphinx's Tutelage
• 1x Underworld Dreams

Artifact (5)

• 1x Altar of the Brood
• 1x Altar of the Pantheon
• 1x Dimir Keyrune
• 1x Mindcrank
• 1x Soul-Guide Lantern

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Hi there! This Deck's objective is to mill out the opponent by any means available. Normally, I'd be building a mill deck based on at least one card milled for every one mana spent, but the triggered abilities in the permanents I own allow for reusable mill that can eventually pay for itself. This deck has fourteen 2-card combos, twelve cards which trigger mill, and a Etrata, the Silencer in the event someone can get around the milling.

Triggers

Altar of the Brood- Permanent enters the battlefield under your control

Consuming Aberration- Cast any Spell

Drowned Secrets- Cast Blue Spells

Fraying Sanity- Cards entering the Graveyard

Hedron Crab & Ruin Crab- Landfall

Jace's Erasure & Sphinx's Tutelage- Card Draw

Mindcrank- Life loss

Sage of Mysteries & Thassa's Devourer- Enchantments

Sage's Row Denizen- Blue Creatures

Outside of Altar of the Brood and the mono-Black instants and sorceries(except for Peer Into The Abyss) every card in this deck can activate the trigger ability in a minimum of two of the listed permanents. The cards were chosen this way to maximize the milling potential without over relying on Phenax.

Combos

While most of theses combos are not infinite, most of the ones listed here can kill an opponent in one swoop. Of course, some of them are situational, as you don't want to use Peer into the Abyss on an opponent who has cards such as Omniscience or Leyline of Anticipation.

Consuming Aberration + Phenax, God of Deception

Duskmantle Guildmage + Fleet Swallower

Duskmantle Guildmage + Maddening Cacophony

Duskmantle Guildmage + Mindcrank

Duskmantle Guildmage + Traumatize

Fleet Swallower + Fraying Sanity

Fraying Sanity + Maddening Cacophony

Fraying Sanity + Traumatize

Jace's Archivist + Liliana's Caress

Jace's Archivist + Underworld Dreams

Jace's Archivist + Peer into the Abyss

Liliana's Caress + Peer into the Abyss

Peer into the Abyss + Sphinx's Tutelage

Peer into the Abyss + Underworld Dreams

Addressing the Weaknesses

For opponents with hexproof, I added Consuming Aberration, Maddening Cacophony, Mind Grind, and Ruin Crab.

For opponents with good graveyard interaction I have Bojuka Bog, Crypt Incursion(in part as a means to gain life if I'm otherwise done for), and Planar Void(as a stopgap to allow graveyards with controlled sizes and to support Syr Conrad, the Grim's triggered ability).

Diabolic Tutor and Mastermind's Acquisition allow me to tutor up any of the combo pieces if I already have one in my hand. Deck Manipulation, another method to get the cards I need, is done through card draw(Eidolon of Philosphy, Fascination, Finale of Revelation, Sphinx's Tutelage), scry(Acqueous Form, Medomai's Prophecy, Sigiled Starfish, Wall of Runes.), and even exile(Rona, Disciple of Gix).

Ashiok, Nightmare Muse, Omen of the Sea, and Soul-Guide Lantern all serve multiple functions in these instances.

Deckbuilding Notes

Ashiok, Dream Render didn't make the cut simply because I ran out of copies. That, and my biggest deckbuilding weakness is an inability to "kill my darlings" unless a stronger card comes around. Cut Your Losses, Mystic Sanctuary, Terisian Mindbreaker and perhaps Death's Approach and Reliquary Tower, will be added at a later date.

That concludes this deck for now. I'll post updates when I make them. If you have any ideas to improve the deck, don't hesitate to post a comment.

God Bless!

Date added	2 years
Last updated	1 year
Key combos	Duskmantle Guildmage + Mindcrank Consuming Aberration + Phenax, God of Deception Duskmantle Guildmage + Traumatize Fraying Sanity + Traumatize Fleet Swallower + Fraying Sanity Jace's Archivist + Liliana's Caress Peer into the Abyss + Underworld Dreams Fraying Sanity + Maddening Cacophony Jace's Archivist + Underworld Dreams Liliana's Caress + Peer into the Abyss Jace's Archivist + Peer into the Abyss Duskmantle Guildmage + Maddening Cacophony Duskmantle Guildmage + Fleet Swallower Peer into the Abyss + Sphinx's Tutelage
Legality	This deck is Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	4 - 0 Mythic Rares 14 - 0 Rares 25 - 0 Uncommons 31 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	2.77
Tokens	Nightmare 2/3 UB, Squid 1/1 U
Folders	mtg