Discard/Mill/Hosing Deck Need Help!
Commander Deck Help forum
Posted on June 11, 2018, 12:02 p.m. by JoJoem
Hey all. I've been exploring different color options and so much possibilities opened up for me. Originally I wanted to toy with withering in order to slowly choke out opponents. However, now I've found myself enjoying the concept of disarming opponents before threats even make it out.
I was planning on using Atraxa, Praetors' Voice because she has good colors for the task, and the proliferate can be of use with many counter abilities.
Ideally I'd love to beat the hell out of my opponent while making them discard and mill. I'd also love to force opponents to search their own libraries. Fertilid + Ob Nixilis, Unshackled and similar combos would be so satisfying for me.
You guys are very amazing and helpful so I am appreciative of any inputs!
Dumgoldfish124 says... #2
While a mill deck in commander is hard to create, as most of the usable/good mill cards target, it is a lot of fun to play. Discard is a little easier, but not by much. Also, the best colour combination for this type of deck is U/B and Atraxa has two extra colours that don't really help as well as her ability not synergising very well with mill or discard. Anyway, you asked and I shall try to deliver.
First the milling essentials: Glimpse the Unthinkable is the best mill spell bar none and is required. Secondly Increasing Confusion is quite good for commander, as mana totals will get quite large. Thirdly, Mind Funeral is great, as is Mind Grind. Fourthly, Mind Sculpt and Tome Scour mill for 7 and 5 respectfully, which is not too great, so only run them if you feel like that small amount of mill is extremely useful. Fifth, Hedron Crab is a great one drop due to the mill 3 per land you drop. Also, speaking of one drops, Jace's Phantasm is a good creature that soon becomes great with mill and discard. Sixth, Nemesis of Reason is stupidly good as it mills 10 per attack! It doesn't even need to cause damage! Startled Awake Flip is a nice mill spell and recurs too. Another great creature, and my recommended commander, is Szadek, Lord of Secrets. His milling will get massive really fast. All you need to do is get him in unblocked. Use Rogue's Passage or Whispersilk Cloak. Some good beaters are Consuming Aberration and Sewer Nemesis. If you don't care about price, then Jace, the Mind Sculptor is awesome, but if budget is a thing Jace Beleren is a nice cheap replacement. Now onto the milling combos! Traumatize and Fraying Sanity completely destroy an opponent, as does Keening Stone and Fraying Sanity. Archive Trap and Ghost Quarter are great together, as is Maralen of the Mornsong and Archive Trap. Also, Ghost Quarter helps get rid of land for Mind Funeral and Mind Grind. Lastly, Jace's Erasure and any card draw is quite nice. Thats about it for mill, now onto discard!
First off you need Waste Not. It is beautiful. The Rack works when you have made them discard down to 2 or less, which is one of your goals. Quest for the Nihil Stone and Shrieking Affliction are like The Rack - dealing small damage when opponents don't have hands. Liliana's Caress and Megrim do small amounts of damage per discarded card, which is nice. Bottomless Pit helps keep opponents hands empty, as does Necrogen Mists. Oppression is awesome, as is Painful Quandary, and both together is god-tier. Underworld Dreams is nice little 'screw you' after they loose their hands. Jin-Gitaxias, Core Augur murders everyone but you late game. Nath of the Gilt-Leaf is goddamn beautiful and breaks even more when you have Sadistic Hypnotist, Nezumi Bone-Reader and/or Mind Slash out. Another awesome combo is Mindcrank plus Bloodchief Ascension with three counters and any discard to an opponent means you kill them. With Dark Deal or similar you win. While these two things are great and all, you need some utility and a way to keep you alive when you suddenly become the target.
To stay alive, you need some pillowforts like Propaganda and Ghostly Prison. Cards like Frozen AEther and Kismet will help keep the opponent's board from becoming too overwhelming and Standstill will prevent spells for a small while. Psychic Spiral is another great spell that gets back all of your mill spells and it also mills an opponent for a little too. Talrand, Sky Summoner is fun with all the spells you are slinging, and he provides an alternate win condition. Another alternate win is through infection. Cards like Flesh-Eater Imp, Hand of the Praetors, Phyrexian Crusader, Phyrexian Juggernaut, Necropede, Putrefax, Plague Stinger and Corpse Cur all win you the game when they deal 10 damage to an opponent. Also, Skithiryx, the Blight Dragon is a good option but is quite expensive. Cards like Giant Growth make you win harder. Infect is where Atraxa shines due to the added poison counters to each opponent every time you finish your turn. Adding Contagion Engine might even make your opponents scoop.
Good God, that is a big slab of writing. Here is a deck list I made for you: Atraxa makes you loose your mind!. Tell me what you think!
June 16, 2018 10:20 a.m.