I keep getting my decks raped by Infect builds. Super cheap imo. So I figured I'd go cheap too -problem being, I've never used a land destruction deck. Suggestions?
Well considering infect usually runs inkmoth, Smash to Smithereens and Disenchant would work as pseudo land destruction (and artifact hate for lashwrithes and what not).
You could go black as well for Sinkhole , Smallpox , Pox , and Rain of Tears . Though the sinkholes are expensive now and days ($50 a piece in some places). Wasteland is another, although just as pricey, consideration.
Your stated goal is doomed to failure. Infect pumper decks are faster then anything else that is standard legal and close to as fast as the best even old broken decks were. They are unlike the broken decks, NOT broken.
Land destruction only works against slower decks. The fastest land destruction can reliably start destroying land is turn two and that is assuming either birds or elves for ramp. A turn one savannah lion or reckless waif is usually game over for a land destruction deck. (land destruction cannot handle quick aggro)
This means you cannot effectively destroy infect with land destruction. What destroys infect is blocking creatures that can trade with theirs and cheap removal. You can however annoy the beejesus out of them if you remember to just run sufficient removal or enough blocking creatures.
You are both rational and emotional. You value creation and discovery, and feel strongly about what I create. At best, you're innovative and intuitive. At worst, you're scattered and unpredictable.
I'd drop the cards like frost breath and go for more overarching effects, like pyroclasm ...or bigger effects like that. White can give you many "destroy all lands" effects, which might suit your needs better than limited resources . Aether flash and tainted aether exist, so...yeah, there's an idea for ya!
HOW TO AUTOCARD! When posting in a text box, type [c]Plains[/c] to make your post showPlains . Are you making a casual mill deck? Please read.Show
Control is the key of a mill deck. You should free up your mana as much as possible so that you can respond to whatever your opponent is doing. Having some way to remove threats, both real and percieved, is necessary to survival. Real threats are those that are already on the field, and are something a simple unsummon or doom blade can remove. Percieved threats are those that aren't on the field, something a simple duress or counterspell can deal with. Controlling the board will allow your mill deck to continuously perform, if you use permanent style mill, that is.
One-Shot Mill spells are something you should avoid. You can toss tome scour s at your opponent until your hand runs out, but that isn't going to be enough to mill them to death. With 1-shot mill spells, like tome scour , you have to treat them like burn spells. Therefore, the only "good" 1-shot mill spells are sanity grinding (in the right deck) and mind funeral . Try to find more permanent styles of milling, like memory erosion , hedron crab , and curse of the bloody tome , so that you don't have to waste your mana each turn doing something that those permanents can do with a single mana/turn investment. Keeping your mana open allows you to respond with control elements.
Traumatize Rant. Traumatize is a terrible card for a multitude of reasons. First, it costs 5 to cast, which is a large investment for a mill deck. Milling half a library sounds neat, but if you do the math, it really isn't that much. An average 60 card deck starts with drawing 7 cards. Then, barring any draw spells on their end, or ramp on yours, 5 turns will go by, where they draw 5 more cards, leaving 48 in the deck. Unless they had a deck with more than 60 cards, or you ramped it out, the most you'll ever mill with a single Traumatize on turn 5 is 24 cards. That's not too shabby, but hang on, there's more! If they drew any additional cards or if they were milled before turn 5, that number will be much lower. In addition, any more Traumatize's you draw will only mill less and less as the game goes on...which is the point of a mill deck. My whole point on Traumatize is the it is NOT worth the 5 mana investment, not even with haunting echoes . You can mill more than 24 before turn 5...which you can then cast the echoes.
If you look at a mill deck like a burn deck, you'll notice that it takes longer to win with mill than with burn. For example, lightning bolt costs 1 and does 3 out of the 20 damage needed to win (barring any lifegain or damage prevention). For mill, that same investment of 1 would have to mill 9 cards out of an average 60 card deck to be the equivilent of lightning bolt . The problem is that there is no mill card that can do that...except hedron crab , over a period of time. The initial investment of 1 will pay off in 3 more land drops to make the crab equal to a bolt. However, the crab nets you more mill beyond those 3 land drops, making it better as the game draws on. Other cards, like curse of the bloody tome , are excellent ways of milling an opponent because the initial investment of is all you have to pay in order to put your opponent on a clock. All you have to do is stay alive, which is the true goal of a mill strategy.
There are other ideas for mill decks that are specific to certain types of strategies. Combo mill decks can mill an entire player's library out from under them. Secondary mill strategies are usually tied to another strategy, like drowner of secrets in a merfolk deck, or halimar excavator in an ally deck. Milling can be done in certain decks that are able to ramp out enough mana to make use of the higher costing mill spells, like using 16 x post to pay for X on sands of delirium or for ambassador laquatus . Multiplayer mill decks are even tougher to build, but can be done. Being a slower environment[/c], it is easier to ramp in multiplayer, allowing for big X spells, like mind grind , to be useful. Consuming aberration is another star player. The more straightforward strategy is to use mesmeric orb and dreamborn muse while being the only deck at the table that can deal with it . There are always new strategies coming out with each new set, so check gatherer for any new mill cards that you find to be the most fun for you!
Now you can say that you haven't fallen into the trap that most new players fall into when they build their first mill deck!
: Order, Law, Faith. : Knowledge, Artifice, Control. : Corruption, Death, Self-Interest. : Freedom, Destruction, Victory. : Nature, Growth, Life. : Progressive, but too controlling. : Focused, but short sighted. : Skilled, but hypocritical. : Unified, but without a sense of self. : Cunning, but devious. : Inquisitive, but incautious. : Rational, but impulsive. : Powerful, but spiteful. : Instinctive, but selfish. : Fearless, but reckless.
I saw separate recommendations for Crucible of Worlds and Strip Mine. Together, they can get ugly, especially if you can play more than one land per turn, generally seen in Green. That much Green would then beg for Melira, Sylvok Outcast , as well as a variety of Green LD, of which there are many.
My LD decks always featured Pyroclasm to keep the weenies and mana-makers at bay, Black Vise because no land = full hand, and Avalanche Riders , just because.
Thank you all, especially krichaiushii, I didn't think to use Crucible of Worlds in a land burn deck, but with Strip Mine it's a no-brainer. Thank you everyone.
I would also suggest some easier to cast creatures and mana fixers. First off, you're running three colors, and you don't have the mana base to swing that. Secondly, your creature base is really wonky, 4 0-drops, 4 tri-color 4-drops, and 4 tri-color 6-drops.
Ruhan is also very difficult to get your hands on. No, he isn't expensive (only around a dollar), it's just hard to find people that have him. As for Numot, great fun in Commander/EDH, he was fun back in Timespiral limited (sealed/draft), and might even be usable in 3+ player games. In 1-on-1 constructed? No. (And I hate saying that, cause I love the guy, I've got an EDH deck with him and a bunch of land destruction.)
If you really want to tinker with this deck, drop at least one, maybe two of the Numots. Cut all but 2-4 of your non-mountain basic lands for a playset each of Sulfur Falls and Clifftop Retreat s. I'd cut the Reverberates and Rite of Flames and throw in some non-land mana sources, Sol Ring , Azorius Signet , Boros Signet , Izzet Signet , stuff like that. Crucible of Worlds, as mentioned earlier, does evil things with Strip Mine. I'd also look into some card draw spells, like Think Twice , or Faithless Looting (from the upcoming Dark Ascension set).
Mind you, I still don't think the deck will fare well against most Infect builds, but it will be a fun deck to play once or twice an evening. Like any truly annoying deck, don't play it too much, or people won't bother playing against you.
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Attacking the darkness since 1987, turning creatures sideways since 1994.
I'm both instinctive and emotional. I value my own instincts and desires, and either ignore or crush anything that stands in my way; planning and foresight are unnecessary. At best, I'm determined and fierce; at worst, I'm headstrong and infantile.
The U.S. Army: The best job in the world, working with some of the best people in the world, for one of the worst employers you could ever imagine.
Here's a shout out for Scholars' Books & Games in Bridgewater, MA, and for Paladin's Place in Darmstadt, Hessen, Germany where I was stationed for two years. Support your FLGS!
Attacking the darkness since 1987, turning creatures sideways since 1994.
: Order, Law, Faith.
: Knowledge, Artifice, Control.
: Corruption, Death, Self-Interest.
: Freedom, Destruction, Victory.
: Nature, Growth, Life.
Keino
=100 Class: 
x 236 Diety: 
125/200 
=2x
dmg/
=4
dmg)
