Phenax, The Milling lord

by Zanpenki on 19 February 2014

Main Deck (60 cards)

Sideboard (0 cards)

No sideboard found.

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Deck Description

This is my 1st deck i made online :D i have those card and im pretty new to magic so go easy on me :)

How to Play

have defender out on the field while waiting on Phenax then start milling hard :D

Deck Tags

  • Mill
  • Defender
  • Control

Deck at a Glance

Social Stats

22
Likes

This deck has been viewed 3,734 times.

Mana Curve

Mana Symbol Occurrence

0312730

Card Legality

  • Not Legal in Standard
  • Legal in Modern
  • Legal in Vintage
  • Legal in Legacy

Deck discussion for Phenax, The Milling lord

Just so you know, Elite Arcanist can only cast Instants. So your Elite Arcanist combos wouldn't work with your Sorceries unfortunately :(

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Posted 19 February 2014 at 04:19

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oh wow i misread lol thanks for letting me know and that really sucks but it works on triton tho

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Posted 19 February 2014 at 04:41

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Actually, elite arcanist and triton tactics are an infinite combo. Tap a wall, then use elite arcanist to cast triton tactics. Untap the wall and elite arcanist, then repeat ad infinitum.

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Posted 19 February 2014 at 19:35

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So where is the mana for this coming from? Yes it is an infinite combo, when you have a dork to keep it going, and Zhurr Taa Druid is the best option due to the damage effect.

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Posted 20 February 2014 at 05:54

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My personal suggestion:
-3 Black Oak of Odunos (Your other defenders cost the same and are better than this)
-1 Doom Blade (Downfall is so much better. Plus, in this meta, black is used. A LOT. (From my experience at any rate))
-1 Read the Bones (You have no way to gain the life back, so your life should stay as high as possible. Still, Scry 2, Draw 2 for a loss of 2 life is worth keeping two of them in)
+2 Consuming Aberration (Centerpiece of the deck, too good not to have 4.)
+1 Wall of Frost (Stupid awesome wall. May not have flying, but 7 toughness and an extra turn tap down more than make up for that)
+1 Hero's Downfall (This is the epitome of black removal. 4 is pretty much required)
+1 Breaking // Entering (Since I assume you won't be playing the 'Entering' half of this card, a 2 mana mill 8 in standard is almost as broken as 'Glimpse the Unthinkable')

Like I said though, those are my personal suggestions. Obviously if you don't have the money for some of those cards, you have to make some budget choices (Believe me, I completely understand that haha). Other than that, the deck looks awesome man!

Oh, and if you can get another Phenax, stick him in here with the other two. While him being legendary and a 5 cost keeps you from using 4, 3 means you draw him sooner/more often, meaning you win quicker! :D

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Posted 19 February 2014 at 05:27

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My thoughts exactly for the suggestions. However I prefer Tome Scour over Mind Sculpt or Breaking//Entering any day. Milling 5 for 1 blue is much more cost effective than 7 or 8 for 2CMC. Also another great low MC milling card is Mind Funeral. Sadly I only have one in my deck, but id put 4 in any Blue/Black Milling Deck.

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Posted 25 April 2014 at 04:11

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i like it looks really good i actually had the same idea with consuming aberration today

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Posted 19 February 2014 at 06:12

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wight of precinct six would be good since you have so many death spells, and mirko vosk could be alright too.

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Posted 19 February 2014 at 08:53

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A bit uncoventional, but I would add Thassa, God of the Sea to this deck - especially if you go for 3 Phenax. Her scry ability is awesome, she could make your abberation unblockable, and getting her devotion up with wall of frost and stuff shouldn't be impossible!

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Posted 19 February 2014 at 12:18

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Since you have so many defenders, I would might consider doorkeeper.

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Posted 19 February 2014 at 12:24

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The defenders will be tapped by Phalanx though, and unless you have more than 4 defenders out,that's more effective than doorkeeper, plus free activation

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Posted 19 February 2014 at 12:27

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True. I was thinking it could be a filler for milling until you get Phalanx out.

Then again every time I try to make decks in MTG they have to much "flexibility" then end up being to big and making me a sad panda

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Posted 19 February 2014 at 12:44

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I've got a mill deck swimming around in my head right now, i would use bile blight, tho drown in sorrow is cool too

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Posted 20 February 2014 at 02:38

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Should be running 4 Phenax, seeing as it is your win con, and Siren of the Silent song and thoughtseize for sideboard to screw your opponent's hands.

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Posted 20 February 2014 at 05:56

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i have to agree.

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Posted 20 February 2014 at 06:05

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Mind grind?

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Posted 20 February 2014 at 07:34

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I'd recomend Aetherize against tokens or highimpact or buff oriented aggro decks like Gruul aggro Heroic aggro decks or Selesnya tokens, or even Esper control's Elspeth tokens, but put Aetherize in the sideboard. I would go more countermagic heavy in the mainboard, just because there is so much you can't deal with, like Bloodbaron of Vizkopa, i know your walls can block him, but the decks that use him run heavy removal. And elspeth can be a problem as well as board wipes even though supreme verdict can't be countered.

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Posted 20 February 2014 at 20:58

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Maybe add temples of other colours to help smooth your draws

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Posted 21 February 2014 at 01:50

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Personally, I strongly dislike that oak. You can run murmuring phantasm for the same toughness and 1 less mana...you might wanna consider it. There is also frostburn weird. Its only 4 toughness but doubles the devotion for phenax, and in a pinch you can plus it to kill something annoying.

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Posted 21 February 2014 at 04:18

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Out of the past 4 comments (including this one) this is the only one with any real decent advice. Kudos good sir!

He is correct, oak is crap for what you want to achieve. Go the phantasm if anything or if you have em, frostburns.

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Posted 21 February 2014 at 05:02

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well diabolic tutor if your low, but i think its important phenax comes out in this deck. maybe toss the read the bones.

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Posted 21 February 2014 at 07:23

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I was inspired by this, and took Phenax and went in a different direction - check this out http://www.mtgvault.com/lol42daddy/decks/mazes-mill/ . It combines the win cons of mill and maze's end, with Hold the Gates the creatures gets really huge and can mill for a great amount!

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Posted 26 February 2014 at 00:13

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If anyone's thinking of trying with white, there's the flashback marshaling cry!

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Posted 26 February 2014 at 11:39

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Will anyone go green with the 0/13 tree that gives life for 3G

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Posted 26 February 2014 at 11:44

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I think you forgot that this deck is standard legal

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Posted 26 February 2014 at 16:46

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It doesn't say standard in the headline, doesn't say standard in the tags, and certainly newer mentiones standar in either deck description or how to play, so it could be modern to anyone who wants it unless zanpenki says otherwise somewhere :D

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Posted 27 February 2014 at 08:05

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if thats the case, there are a lot of better choices. but i don't think the author of this deck likes criticism

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Posted 27 February 2014 at 21:30

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Then we will hi-jack the concept :D
I'm working on a modern-based phenax/defender theme from this moment.
So far I consider these:
tree of redemption 0/13 may get you life.
stalwart shieldbearers 0/3 boosts other defenders.
wolly razorback 7/7 it's agood blocker.
doorkeeper 0/4 backup mill.
drift of phantasms 0/5 may fetch a 3cc
fog bank 0/2 cheap and efficient.
ludevic's test subject 0/3 (13/13) alternate win.
wall of blood 0/2 pumpable.
perimeter captain 0/4 lifegain theme, may support wall of blood theme.
pride guardian 0/3 lifegain
wall of shards 1/8 powerfull with phenax, but forces you to win with mill alone.
wakestone gargoyle 3/4 animates the defenders. especially blood wall.
All of this might be able to be used somehow with doran, the siege tower.

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Posted 28 February 2014 at 08:06

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tree of redemption was a hasty choice, but a good one (i tested a printers proxy making capability with one of those once, it came out pretty bad, only had a few cards to choose from with that test). unfortunately its green.

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Posted 01 March 2014 at 21:55

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Well, I've thought a bit about stuff like this, and have an idea that it should be possible to merge the three decktypes phenax defender, bloom titan and birthing pod! I'm working a bit on other phenax designs.

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Posted 03 March 2014 at 11:16

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