[Standard] UB Mill

[Cthulhuman]

UB Mill

Casual low cost Standard Mill deck. Approx. $110 in cards total.

I've play tested this against several fairly competitive decks within my community and it fares well against Dynavolt Tower and Aetherworks Marvel. It has about a 50/50 win-loss ratio against WB Zombies (2nd game forward; sideboard), and loses fairly quickly to RG Pummeler/Fling. Still, it was fun to build and can be satisfying to see go off. Certainly not a terrible deck at its cost. I have tried other options for creatures and counter spells, but this is what has brought me the best synergy/results where I play. Feel free to share any comments or questions, hate or props. I'm interested in what you think.

[G. Moto]

  I have a friend who runs a similar modern deck. have you considered adding any cards that directly control the board or adding any creatures that maintain a presence while forwarding the deck's goal? I see why you have the manic scribe but what about creatures such as the ones from the Dimir guild from the return to ravnica block? Balustrade spy is a solid creature, coerced confession would be a good alternative to compelling argument and would fetch you cards, even the duskmantle guildmage is good once you get some cards to hit the grave consistently.

[Cthulhuman]

I haven't considered a Modern Mill build before, but after goofing around with this one (Standard), I'm definitely interested. Thanks for the recommendations. I'll certainly look into it.

[G. Moto]

 It's no problem. Innistrad is great when it comes to U/B milling, especially if you include zombies 

[Nekikami]

I like G. Moto's idea of zombies, as he an I have had many conversations around mill decks and zombie decks. Some mill the opponent (Geralf's Mindcrusher, Rotcrown Ghoul; some self mill (Armored Skaab, Crow of Dark Tidings, Forgotten Creation, etc...). While self mill types tend can be a bit of a concern as to whether you are hurting yourself, try adding Psychic Spiral. This shuffles your graveyard back into your library, and then mills the opponent for the # of cards you just returned from your graveyard to your library. I like to have that card handy in SB for my black/blue zombie decks when playing against mill decks that use creatures like Nightholwer, Consuming Abberation, etc... because I can quickly get the cards I need from my library to my graveyard (either through my own creatures or through their spells), and either return them from my grave to hand, grave to battlefield, or leave them there if they aren't critical to my combos. Then when they swing with their big, buffed up critter that is taking advantage of the creature cards in your graveyard, throw down Psychic Spiral and *poof*, that big bad creature is now a bug to be squashed. Preferably with an army of zombies at your disposal.

[Cthulhuman]

Funny thing is, I've typically stayed away from UB decks that sacrifice and mill, or interact with the graveyard. They've just not been my style since I started playing a couple years ago. I generally play Naya Burn, but I also enjoy Merfolk, and Infect. My buddy has several Modern decks, and we play them a lot, but neither of us have anything like Mill. After playing this Standard Deck, I'm really thinking about building one for Modern now. All of these suggestions look and sound really interesting, and I love the idea of being able to manipulate my own graveyard while milling my opponent, then using Psychic Spiral to hit their library hard. Coerced Confession sounds like a must, as well. Great recommendations, thank you both!

[DeckBuilder]

what about torrential gearhulk?

[Cthulhuman]

Torrential Gearhulk would certainly fit well, but my goal was to keep the deck as close to $100 as I could. A four-of (Gearhulk) would double the cost, but I'm sure would make it far more competitive, plus... having a large body on the field would definitely be nice!

[G. Moto]

Just remember that the bigger the creature the bigger the target. U/B is great because it is deceptive in the way that it works and your opponent doesn't usually know what is going to hit them until it's too late. Small plays that have incremental gains. That's what U/B is all about.

[Cthulhuman]

I couldn't agree more, G. Moto. I've slowly been coming closer to that realization by cutting out creatures like Curator of Mysteries, Minister of Inquiries, and Scribe of the Mindful. All of which I was hoping might serve the mill mechanic will enough, but fell through in testing.

[Nekikami]

Hey G. Moto,
Cthulhuman and I have been having an offline conversation around some of the mill ideas you and I have been discussing regarding my Innistrad related UB decks. I filled him in on essentially the whole private discussion we've been having. That said, you know I play 100% tribal. Is there anything you might add/change for Cthulhuman that is not necessarily Innistrad or Zombie tribal that would be worth his investigation?

[Nekikami]

Disregard last post. I forgot he's playing Standard.

[Cthulhuman]

I don't mind recommendations in the eternal formats. They help me look for things that may be similar in Standard as well. Plus, now you guys have me interested in building a deck outside of Standard anyway, so thanks again!

[G. Moto]

  One thing I like to do is build within the worlds themselves. Every block has a core theme or structure to it, but the color pie essentially remains the same. For example, @Cthuluman, curator of mysteries and scribe of the mindful would be more geared towards U/R and minister of inquires would be more towards W/U. It's not necessarily the color of the card that you need to look at but also the identity of the card or creature itself. Here's an idea for you, and this is from the amonkhet block: Embalmer's tools + binding mummy/ fan bearer + vizier of tumbling sands is a control combo. Even though the zombies can be used in W/B and the vizier in U/R or even U/B himself the combo gives a W/U control element to the board. This way the creatures and artifacts untap themselves and tap down the opponent. As you are building up your army of zombies you are slowing down your opponent and creating openings for your plays. Does this sound relevant to what we are discussing?

[Cthulhuman]

@G. Moto, it absolutely does sound relevant to this discussion. I really have been considering switching from B/U to W/U. As of this moment, the deck loses to just about anything that's very aggressive, especially Pummeler decks. I started the deck with Curator of Mysteries, Scribe of the Mindful, but they didn't really work with the B/U thing. So I think you're totally right. I'll give it a try and see if adding zombies will help do the trick. I love the idea of using that control combo you mentioned. Plus, these are very affordable switches for me, considering I already have most of the pieces. Thank you!