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What do you think of this deck? How can this deck be improved?

Creatures [12]
4 Archaeomancer
4 Guttersnipe
4 Fog Bank

Planeswalkers [3]
1 Chandra, the Firebrand
2 Jace, Memory Adept

Spells [21]
4 Mind Sculpt
4 Pillar of Flame
2 Sands of Delirium
1 Psychic Spiral  
4 Searing Spear
4 Thought Scour
2  Trepanation Blade

Lands [24]
4 Evolving Wilds
8 Island
4 Izzet Guildgate
8 Mountain

SIDEBOARD [15]
4 Jace's Phantasm
4 Dream Twist
2 Psychic Spiral
2 Sands of Delirium
2 Trepanation Blade
1 Witchbane Orb

Snapcaster Mage is a must.  Much of your mill doesn't have flashback.  That said Increasing Confusion also belongs in this deck.  I'd cut the Chandra, the Firebrand in favor a Tamiyo, the Moon Sage .  Though copying a mil doesn't sound terrible either.

Another creature you should consider should be Undead Alchemist , those zombie tokens will make great chump blockers if nothing else and you prevent reanimate of any sort with this built-in method.

Steam Vents , cut the Evolving Wilds , and Sulfur Falls .

I see a couple of issues that need addressing.  First, any good mill deck needs two things:  a repeatable mill (like Sands of Delirium ) and enough control to last long enough to succeed at it.  This deck meets neither condition.  I mean, sure, burn can be effective control at times, but it feels out of place in a deck like this.  Burn or mill.....pick one and work that angle.  The two mix poorly.

If you choose mill, you might want to consider scrapping red and going with black instead.  Right now, Undead Alchemist is your only zombie (aside from the tokens they create), and while it's useful in mill decks, it's even more useful with other zombies around.  Also, you may want to try tossing in Jace's Phantasm as well.  It's a potential 5/5 with flying for only one mana.

Jan 19, 2013 -- 7:05AM, zephyr77 wrote:

I see a couple of issues that need addressing.  First, any good mill deck needs two things:  a repeatable mill (like Sands of Delirium ) and enough control to last long enough to succeed at it.  This deck meets neither condition.  I mean, sure, burn can be effective control at times, but it feels out of place in a deck like this.  Burn or mill.....pick one and work that angle.  The two mix poorly.

If you choose mill, you might want to consider scrapping red and going with black instead.  Right now, Undead Alchemist is your only zombie (aside from the tokens they create), and while it's useful in mill decks, it's even more useful with other zombies around.  Also, you may want to try tossing in Jace's Phantasm as well.  It's a potential 5/5 with flying for only one mana.

Agreed, this is why UG is king for mill.  Red doesn't offer much in the way of helping mill along outside of cards like Reverberate , Increasing Vengeance , et. al.

UB is okay because it offers kill spells for control but requires a lot of draw.  The upside of UB mill is of course the aformentioned zombie mill.

UW is worst for mill imo as white doesn't offer much at all, if anything, outside of a few gimmicky creatures.

Monoblue mill is generally pretty terrible.

UG offers turbofog.

If I were to make a Mill deck not involving zombies I'd make it something like this:

Snapcaster Mage x4
Fog Bank x4

Fog x4
Clinging Mists x4
Increasing Confusion x4
Essence Scatter x4
Thought Scour x4

Jace, Memory Adept x2
Tamiyo, the Moon Sage x2

Sands of Delirium x4

All appropriate buddy and shock lands.  Heavy on Island . 24 lands.


Other cards worth mentioning:

Devastation Tide
Dreadwaters
Cyclonic Rift