This deck took me from Gold 1 to Masters. Not super quick but was super fun!
I've never been a mill player but
Savage Incursion made me interested and I had to try it out. I have to say, I LOVE the design direction in giving Mill an alternate win-con. Most games are won from this card, though quite a few games also finish by emptying the opponent's deck. The deck went through quite a few changes as I ranked up and this is where I landed.
Win-Con
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Savage Incursion. The goal is to get the opponent's void to 20+ and then use this card. Also worth using at a 10+ void, if you don't think you can wait til 20.
Strategy
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Bloodseeker: Provides an early defense against aggro, gets Tome going quickly, and often grows to a 4/5 and sometimes a 6/7.
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Condemn: Toolset that lets you control the early-game with Suffocate, or later-game with Counters and Permafrost. Vara's Intervention can be used as a kill spell, to give a big Dreamsnatcher unblockable, or to rez a Felrauk. Edict is great for dealing with Grodov's Stranger, SST, Noaki, Icaria, and others.
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Dreamsnatcher: If not removed quickly this guy grows out of control, provides lots of Lifesteal, and synergizes brutally with Tome.
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Eilyn's Favor: Perhaps a flexible slot but I've always liked this card. Protects Tome and keeps your power gain consistent. Vara's Favor could be used here as well.
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Herald's Song: "Draw 1 card and play Felrauk, for 2 power". The extra card also makes accessing the market easier.
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Mournful Deathcap: The most consistent early mill. Absolutely necessary. Good defense against aggro as well.
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Tome of Horrors: The bread and butter of the deck. Huge mill potential and the card draw is very useful against control.
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Devastating Setback: Both uses are equally strong. A necessary board clear for aggro that doesn't hit most of our units and the discard is also quite useful.
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Strange Broker: Another flexible slot. Good against aggro and decent mill. The great thing about him is even if your opponent is using Strangers, the self mill can be very useful for you by activating more Felrauks.
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Honor of Claws: "Draw 3 cards and play Felrauk, for 4 power". Yes, please.
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Elvish Swindler: Tome is so good that we need to get them out every game and as many as possible. He can then activate mill through combat.
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Felrauk the Outcast: Such a fun card. Casting this with Herald's/Honor, while also drawing cards, just feels unfair. Great mill with Tome when attacking or blocking.
Ideal Opening Hand
-Early-game unit:
Bloodseeker or
Dreamsnatcher
-Mill card:
Tome of Horrors or
Mournful Deathcap
-Control card:
Condemn or
Devastating Setback
-As much influence as possible, to get
Felrauk the Outcast going asap.
Other viable cards
Listed several other cards in the sideboard that seemed to also have good potential for the main deck or market.
Two-Face in particular needs more testing, though I'm having trouble deciding where it should go. It's very tempting to use it along with a
Spiteful Strike in the market.
Appreciate the comment!
Thanks for the comment!
I would also love to have Pitfall but just couldn't drop the others. I'm sure it would have it's moments though.
That being said, the archetype still does very well. I just really like Felrauk so I haven't played it too much yet in Expedition. Perhaps there's a better way to discard him there that I haven't seen yet. Check out this deck for ideas on a similar Expedition take: End of Mill (not mine btw, but somewhat similar)
Would love to know how it works for you though!
I sometimes wish I was using a merchant (for Incursion) instead of a Black Market but I'm really enjoying Condemn atm.