You still sometimes hear people say they "milled their opponent out" when they actively deck their opponent because of how strong an impression this card made. The first time this card was printed, people didn't really know what to do with it. It seemed so powerful to many of us, but later, as we all became more familiar with the game, it seemed actually really bad.

Milling an opponent is "bad" for the same reason Lava Spike is bad: it doesn't affect the board at all, and if you're going to kill someone with this kind of effect, you need a lot of it. Burn only has to get in 20 "points" to win; Mill needs to bet in 53 "points" - even if the opponent takes "one" every time they draw a card, this is still an absurd amount to reach.

While this strategy has been fairly obscure and heavily in the margins, one card that brings people back to it again and again is Archive Trap, a card which feels like the Mill version of Fireblast; knocking out thirteen cards is absurd, and easily gets you most of the way toward killing an opponent in the same way that Boros Charm does.

One small problem: if the opponent doesn't search their library, Archive Trap costs about one million mana (technically, five mana).

Recently, however, two great cards have been printed that involve your opponent searching their library: Assassin's Trophy and Field of Ruin. Importantly, Field of Ruin includes a search clause that is mandatory. If an opponent is just letting Assassin's Trophy do its work, that is incredibly powerful in and of itself, but if they do search their library, that is exceedingly dangerous.

Also fairly new is Fraying Sanity, an enchantment which feels like the Mill equivalent of Furnace of Rath. Altogether, suddenly it starts feeling like 53 is not such an absurd number to reach for.

Here's a recent 5-0 version of the archetype:

Mill | Modern | TheEnzym, 5-0 Competitive Modern League

• Creatures (5)
• 1 Manic Scribe
• 4 Hedron Crab

• Instants (18)
• 2 Extirpate
• 2 Fatal Push
• 2 Trapmaker's Snare
• 4 Archive Trap
• 4 Assassin's Trophy
• 4 Visions of Beyond

• Sorceries (7)
• 3 Mind Funeral
• 4 Glimpse the Unthinkable

• Enchantments (4)
• 4 Fraying Sanity

• Artifacts (6)
• 2 Ensnaring Bridge
• 4 Mesmeric Orb

• Lands (20)
• 2 Island
• 2 Swamp
• 1 Bloodstained Mire
• 1 Breeding Pool
• 1 Darkslick Shores
• 1 Flooded Strand
• 1 Marsh Flats
• 1 Oboro, Palace in the Clouds
• 1 Overgrown Tomb
• 2 Watery Grave
• 3 Field of Ruin
• 4 Polluted Delta

• Sideboard (15)
• 1 Crypt Incursion
• 2 Damnation
• 2 Damping Sphere
• 2 Dead Drop
• 1 Defense Grid
• 2 Dispel
• 3 Leyline of the Void
• 1 Profane Memento
• 1 Unmoored Ego

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There are some fun surprises in TheEnzym's list. While I've seen this archetype played a lot, the most surprising card in this version is Oboro, Palace in the Clouds, which seems excellent for triggering the Hedron Crab. Trapmaker's Snare has always been an occasional choice in this archetype, but seems particularly powerful in a deck with Fraying Sanity, making it very reasonable to manage a turn four hit for "52" - two Archive Traps and a double from Fraying Sanity.

Another easy "52" comes from double Fraying Sanity and just a single Archive Trap. The fact that so many of these possibilities exist for an immediate kill is what makes this deck a bit absurd.

Still, I'm not madly in love with Mind Funeral, and I could handle seeing a little more land - perhaps that missing fourth Field of Ruin - but, otherwise I love the core of this deck. In addition, the exclusion of Crypt Incursion as a means to stay alive can mean that you're in a pure footrace with an opponent where they could easily come out on top.

Of course, Creeping Chill and Arclight Phoenix do give us more reasons to fear dumping cards into the opponent's graveyard. They also make for a more vulnerable opponent who is potentially doing a significant amount of harm to themselves for you. The rising popularity of these two decks is another reason to contemplate Crypt Incursion main.

My own approach to the deck shifts a few cards around, but keeps going for the fast kill this deck is capable of.

Mill | Modern | Adrian Sullivan

• Creatures (5)
• 1 Manic Scribe
• 4 Hedron Crab

• Instants (20)
• 2 Crypt Incursion
• 2 Fatal Push
• 2 Surgical Extraction
• 2 Trapmaker's Snare
• 4 Archive Trap
• 4 Assassin's Trophy
• 4 Visions of Beyond

• Sorceries (4)
• 4 Glimpse the Unthinkable

• Enchantments (4)
• 4 Fraying Sanity

• Artifacts (6)
• 2 Ensnaring Bridge
• 4 Mesmeric Orb

• Lands (21)
• 2 Island
• 2 Swamp
• 1 Bloodstained Mire
• 1 Breeding Pool
• 1 Darkslick Shores
• 1 Flooded Strand
• 1 Marsh Flats
• 1 Overgrown Tomb
• 2 Watery Grave
• 4 Field of Ruin
• 4 Polluted Delta
• 1 Oboro, Palace in the Clouds

• Sideboard (15)
• 1 Leyline of the Void
• 2 Extirpate
• 1 Tormod's Crypt
• 1 Ensnaring Bridge
• 2 Damnation
• 3 Dispel
• 1 Unmoored Ego
• 1 Engineered Explosives
• 1 Night of Souls' Betrayal
• 1 Set Adrift
• 1 Echoing Truth

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I strongly prefer Surgical Extraction in a main deck over Extirpate, especially when you are playing with Ensnaring Bridge. Being able to empty your hand can be critical to a victory, and there are some graveyard related effects that you are going to want to take care of, and a mana discount can be critical to making that happen.

One of the ways that this kind of deck can fail to win is an opponent choosing not to search; for me, the fourth Field of Ruin just feels like a necessity. Even with the low basic land count, it is worth failing to find a basic land sometimes for the payoff of forcing a search.

Crypt Incursion in the main is actually the choice I'm least certain about, if only because the Fraying Sanity build is so much more likely to kill an opponent so rapidly you don't need a Crypt Incursion. That being said, I have so far preferred to slow the deck down ever so slightly for a payoff of a deck less prone to simply dying because Creeping Chill hit you for 12.

The sideboard is mostly the same, albeit with slightly different graveyard and removal packages. Tormod's Crypt still feels like the best option at large, but I have always liked one Leyline of the Void in decks like this. I like Extirpate as a card that doubles as a means to fight control wars. Altogether this mix came up because of the conflicts between different needs that each card meets.

I almost want the full four Ensnaring Bridge after board, but I've missed the anti-creature package up, adding an Engineered Explosives and Night of Souls' Betrayal to the pair of Damnation that TheEnzym ran. Set Adrift and Echoing Truth can double as creature removal, or a means to take care of other problematic permanents, along with the Explosives.

This deck feels more powerful than I've ever seen it before. Fraying Sanity, Assassin's Trophy, and Field of Ruin have all combined to make the cornerstone of the deck, Archive Trap, seem utterly absurd. This is a great choice for people looking for something a little bit different, or for those players who have an affinity for decks like Burn.

Remember: "More than one mage was driven insane by the sound of the Millstone relentlessly grinding away."

- Adrian Sullivan

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