This deck is a lot of fun. It's based on the classic "Millstone deck"
archetype and is intended to win by running your opponent out of cards. In fact,
it is incapable of dealing a single point of damage!
This deck is built in strict accordance with official Type One deck
construction guidelines. If you're curious what any of these cards do, just
click on the card name to view a full-sized image of it.
White:
1 Balance
1
Enlightened
Tutor
2 Dismantling Blow
2 Moat
4 Swords to Plowshares
Blue:
1 Ancestral
Recall
1 Braingeyser
1 Fact or Fiction
1 Merchant Scroll
1
Mystical Tutor
1
Stroke of
Genius
4 Counterspell
4 Force of Will
4 Mana Drain
Artifacts:
1 Jayemdae Tome
1 Jester's Cap
1
Zuran Orb
4 Millstone
Mana Sources:
1 Library of
Alexandria
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Sol Ring
1 Strip Mine
1 Tolarian Academy
2
Island
2 Wasteland
4 Adarkar Wastes
4 Coastal Tower
4 Tundra
"More than one mage was driven insane by the sound of the Millstone
relentlessly grinding away."
So runs the flavor text of this deck's key card: Millstone.
Your goal is to use Millstones to empty your opponent's library as
quickly as possible. You aren't equipped with any way to deal damage, but you
don't need any. Once they can't draw a card during their turn, you've won!
In order to make your victory a reality in the long term, you need to
be able to stay alive in the short term. Balance and Swords to Plowshares help
against early creatures you can't counter, but your first order of business
against most decks should be to set up a more permanent solution in the form of
a Moat as soon as possible. Dismantling Blow is very powerful in this deck,
destroying artifacts and enchantments and often drawing you extra cards, as
well. Strip Mine and Wastelands keep your foe's most dangerous lands in check.
Your counterspells are the glue that holds the deck together. Use them
to protect your key permanents and cover any weakness that your other defenses
aren't helpful against.
Jester's Cap allows you to not only view your opponent's entire
library, but to remove the three most potentially threatening cards you find
there. Put top priority on pulling anything that would allow your opponents to
recycle their graveyards (Feldon's Cane, Gaea's Blessing, Timetwister) and
things that can't be countered (Obliterate, Urza's Rage). When there are no
especially tempting targets, you can always use it to remove a few random
counterspells or artifact/enchantment destruction cards.
Most other cards in the deck are designed to either fetch you key cards
(Enlightened Tutor, Merchant Scroll, Mystical Tutor), draw you as many extra
cards as possible (Ancestral Recall, Fact or Fiction, Library of Alexandria, Jayemdae Tome), or
gain you life (Zuran Orb).
Once you've weathered the initial storm and established control of the
game, you can move on to the next phase of your plan: Milling like crazy!
Braingeyser and Stroke of Genius can also be used to burn through an
already-depleted library and hasten your victory. Once you start into heavy
milling, your opponents don't have long before their precious libraries
dissipate entirely, leaving you victorious.
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