MTG DeckLab: Consuming NightMill

I have been a collector and a player of Magic the Gathering trading card game since 1994. I am no Grand Prix or Pro Tour champion, nor am I an expert of the game, but I simply love the concept and the challenge it offers. I've been brainstorming on the best combos in a particular deck for years, and my DeckLab posts are simply to share what cards I own and what I believe is a fun, affordable and effective combination of MTG cards.

 

Consuming Nightmill

 

 

Format: Modern

Color/s: Blue and Black

 

Decklist:

 

Creatures: 18

4x Nightveil Specter

4x Hedron Crab

4x Mindshrieker

4x Consuming Aberration

2x Duskmantle Guildmage

 

Spells: 17

2x Dimir Charm

1x Increasing Confusion

2x Mindcrank

3x Curse of the Bloody Tome

1x Traumatize

3x Thought Scour

2x Mind Funeral

3x Dream Twist

 

Planeswalker: 1

1x Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver

 

Lands: 24

4x Dismal Backwater

7x Swamp

3x Island

 

Sideboard: 15

4x Jace’s Phantasm

2x Tormod’s Crypt

2x Rewind

3x Dissolve

4x Distress

 

In most MTG games, the player’s primary goal is to lower the opponent’s life to zero. Another win condition is if the player is unable to draw a card from his/her library during his/her turn’s draw phase, because the library has no more cards. Thus, “milling” your opponent’s deck to nothing. (The term “Milling” was derived from the MTG card Millstone.)

 

The deck contains 17 spells that mills your opponent’s library. Blue actually has a variety of mill spells that you can utilize, I went with the one-drop Thought Scour and Dream Twist for their second card ability. The Scour mills two cards and you get to draw a card, and the Twist has the flashback ability. I only put in 3 of each since I would expect my other mill spells and creatures to get the job done at the latest by turn six. The Curse mills two cards every time your opponent starts his turn, during upkeep. You have Traumatize that’s cuts the top half of your opponent’s library, your opponent will be milling his library till 4 lands are revealed by virtue of Mind Funeral, and late in the game you can use the flashback ability of Increasing Confusion to mill that library down to nothing.

 

I put in Dimir Charm for early control, still contemplating if I will add two more. Being able to look at the top 3 cards of your opponent’s library and milling two cards at the same time is crucial at turn 2. Charms are really useful because of their flexibility in situations. For the Dimir, you can also use it counter a sorcery or destroy a creature with power 2 or less.

 

The early turn creatures are no pushover. The Crab mills your opponent’s library for 3 each time you play a land. If you have two of these in play by turn 2, you mill for 6. The Mindshrieker is a bit of a gamble, but imagine being able to mill any of your opponent’s high casting cost spells, you can easily have no less than a 6/6 flier for one turn.

 

Next you have the Specter. For 3 mana (blue or black), you have a flying backstabber, because its ability will use your opponent’s own spells against him/her. Afraid that you will just get a land from that library, doesn’t matter, if you have the Crab in play, and you haven’t played a land yet, play it and that’s another 3 cards you mill from your opponent’s library.

 

Ashiok is great to use if I get it early in the game. (I only have one copy and it’s quite expensive to run a set of 4.)  It’s casting cost is cheap, the abilities are effective, so if I have the budget for it I will probably get at least 2 on deck.

 

And then you have the Consuming Aberration, a merciless horror for your opponent by turn six. Here is just one of the many win scenarios:

 

Turn 1: play an Island, cast Dream Twist – 3 cards in the graveyard

Turn 2: cast Hedron Crab, play a Swamp – 3 more cards in the GY

Turn 3: play an Island, (Crab triggers), cast Thought Scour, flashback the Twist – 7 cards in the graveyard

Turn 4: play a Swamp, (Crab triggers), cast another Dream Twist, flashback the same Twist, - 8 in the GY.

Turn 5: play an Island, (Crab triggers), play the Aberration – another 2 cards in the GY. By this time, a total of 23 cards are already in the GY.

Turn 6: you can attack the Aberration for 23 damage already.

 

Well, this is assuming that your opponent’s good cards were all milled and he had nothing good to really cast. But having to put 21 cards in the graveyard by turn 4, which is 30% of your opponent’s deck already, is just plain evil.

 

The sideboard comes with 4 Jace’s Phantasm in case you feel that casting the Aberration takes too long. By turn 3, you already have a 5/5 flier. You can switch for the counterspells and Distress if your opponent is running some creature removal or counterspells themselves. Although I would expect that a substantial number of the good cards have actually been milled already in the first few turns. And the crypt is there when your opponent would have cards that can be played from the graveyard.

 

Finally, here is a combo with an infinite loop for the win. The Guildmage and Mindcrank. Activate the Guildmage’s 1^st ability when you have the Crank out, then cast either just a Scour or Twist, and its goodnight.