Arena Standard - Reverse Mill (Bo1)

17 38 11
0 30 6 24

This is my first public deck build so any comments or suggestions would be most appreciated!

The exclusive win condition of this deck is Jace, Wielder of Mysteriesimage.  Given the amount of Planeswalker removal available and the current speed of aggro decks in the meta, the deck is certainly not without risk. However, it offers a twist on typical Wilderness Reclamationimage inspired decks and a way to tear through a third or more of your deck out of nowhere through a combination of Teferi, Time Ravelerimage and Kamahl's Druidic Vowimage.

I've had success with it on the Mythic ladder and wanted to share it for the community because it's a blast to play and, as far as I can tell, a first of it's kind. If you're at all a fan of Wilderness Reclamationimage, mill or just control in general, give it a try and tell me what you think! Read on for some more detailed insights about the deck.

Mulligan Guide

Missing a land drop in the first 3-4 turns spells disaster. If your hand only has 2 lands, mulligan. If you see 2 lands, a Growth Spiralimage, Search for Azcanta // Azcanta, the Sunken Ruinimage and some 4-cost goodies, you're gonna think, "I can make this work." And I'm here to say that's the devil on your shoulder. An angel might pipe up and ask, "are you on the play or draw?" No, the devil just switched shoulders. If you're on the play, I can (not really) guarantee you won't draw a land on turn three and you'll be the proud owner of a Chemister's Insightimage when you cast Growth Spiralimage. If you're on the draw, you'll see U/B come down on the other side followed by a Thought Erasureimage to put your hopes and dreams directly in the bin. Just mulligan. Mull to 5. If still less than 3 lands, get outta there and requeue.

Pros and Cons: Shoving Defeat into the Mouth of Victory

The problem with most mill decks is that they give too many opportunities for interference. They often rely on drawing into more draw and have conditions that are susceptible of interference which gives an uneasy feeling like you're trying to top-deck your way to a win. The fates are poised to throttle the consistency of any deck, but this one at least front-ends all of the uncertainty, with tools like Dovin's Vetoimage and Teferi, Time Ravelerimage to mitigate it, into the setup. 

This is in part because you never have to worry about drawing your win condition or if a copy or two goes in the bin. As long as a copy of Jace, Wielder of Mysteriesimage is still in your deck when you make the final push, it will come into play as an effect of Kamahl's Druidic Vowimage. Of course, if you draw your win condition ahead of time, all the better.... but there's a caveat. Jace, Wielder of Mysteriesimage is your king. Lose him, lose the game. This presents a particularly startling problem in light of his +1; you may inadvertantly mill your other copies out of the deck. Cast him with caution; use his ability with more.

Next, while the idea behind the deck is to provide an unexpected push to victory, you also don't need to worry too much if you don't have quite enough mana to juice up a full deck-clearing Kamahl's Druidic Vowimage so long as you're paying attention. This is because whatever land was in that chunk of cards will all come into play untapped. At the same time, this presents a problem. Kamahl's Druidic Vowimage is NOT the win condition because it only allows you to look at however many cards you paid X for.  As a result, you must perform a draw after casting it, even if you manage to empty your deck. Don't deck yourself and then tap yourself out only to give your opponent a big meaty opportunity to remove Jace. 

Teferi, Time Ravelerimage is an unsung hero. It's great to have free reign during your turn, but this card does so much more: he gives you exclusive ownership of the stack. If you're against control, their counterspells are deadcards while he's in play. Pull up a mono-blue list and get rid of Dive Downimage, Spell Pierceimage, Essence Captureimage, and Wizard’s Retort; how many nonland cards remain? As for aggro matchups, you don't need to tap out to cast an early Cleansing Novaimage plus he affords the opportunity to clear a few bonus creatures if your opponent is foolish enough to cast any pre-combat. Your opponent can only do stuff in a very small window while he's in play and they'll feel it. He'll win you the game via frustrated concession long before Jace does if timed right. The drawback is that he's a planeswalker. And with the introduction of all these new planeswalkers with WAR are a host of cards specifically designed to remove them.

Unlike most U/W mill lists, there is not much in the way of lifegain; your sole option in that department is Absorbimage.  My reasoning for that is because too much of the card draw is tied up in Growth Spiralimage and Chemister's Insightimage; they're just too efficient. This, unfortunately, leaves little room for options like Revitalizeimage without cutting into the other tools in the deck. I've won plenty of times at 1 health, but it makes the pain lands particularly punishing at times, especially against mono-red.

Basic Strategy

In the beginning, you have one fairly straightforward goal: survive. This is achieved by preventing threats from hitting the board with Absorbimage and Dovin's Vetoimage, returning problem permanents to your opponent's hand to be dealt with later with Blink of an Eyeimage, and clearing away whatever slips through with Cleansing Novaimage.

The next order of business is getting Wilderness Reclamationimage and Teferi, Time Ravelerimage into play. By that point, you've probably gone through at least half of your deck and have somewhere around 10-12 land. And then, with Teferi, Time Ravelerimage's +1, you can now cast Kamahl's Druidic Vowimage with all the mana you've floated in your end step to tear through most, if not all, of what remains of your deck.

**Note: even if you manage to empty your deck with Kamahl's Druidic Vowimage, you must perform a draw to win. If you don't have one in hand during your end-step, be sure to have something to protect Jace until your next draw step.**

A Few Tips

If you play a nonland permanent, you need to be able to protect it. Period. If you're against anything blue and you need to tap out to cast Wilderness Reclamationimage, don't do it. They have a counter. If you don't know their second and third color on turn 2, don't tap out and play a quick Search for Azcanta // Azcanta, the Sunken Ruinimage. They have a Mortifyimage. Promise. Similarly, when you have a Wilderness Reclamationimage in play and they're not tapped out, make sure you float your mana and untap before casting anything. Sure, its effect went on the stack at the beginning of your end step, but removal will go on top of it and then you've gotta dig for another.

It may seem a strange addition, but I've found Lazotep Platingimage to be hugely effective. It can function like a counterspell; removal, burn, even discard effects like Thought Erasureimage are all negated by it. If you have Teferi, Time Ravelerimage in play, you can effectively get 2 full turns of freedom by putting a stop on their upkeep/draw phase and casting it then. If you're against a Gates deck, fear not; you have a tool to deal with Banefireimage.

 

Thanks for reading!

The Finishers

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The Setup

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Finding the Good

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Clearing the Bad

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Last Updated: 28 Apr 2019
Created: 28 Apr 2019
1192 187 0

Mainboard - 60 cards (20 distinct)

Instant, Sorcery, Enchantment, Artifact (30)
$0.70€0.390.03
$3.10€2.940.02
$0.90€0.270.03
$0.76€0.370.02
$0.25€0.120.03
$1.70€1.010.03
$0.49€0.460.03
$0.38€0.230.03
$3.98€2.340.08
$0.25€0.120.03
Land (24)
$1.89€1.810.02
$4.64€3.350.02
$0.81€0.280.03
$1.98€1.730.02
$12.08€9.620.30
$0.45€0.200.03
$9.45€9.530.27
$17.50€15.480.34
Planeswalker (6)
$4.84€2.730.02
$8.38€8.007.93

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