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BMoor's Magic The Gathering Deck Garage
Millogoyf Deck
December 30, 2008

First of all, if you're reading this email i'd like to thank you very much for taking the time out of your busy life to do so. I often read your "deck fixies" and often time i'll go out and purchase the cards you've suggested and i'll play them in my decks often resulting for the better. My problem however is i'm trying to make a really good mill - goyf deck. to be honest i've seen the previous mill decks you've fixed and i'm not to sure if they're right for what I'm trying to accomplish. this deck is one i'll only be using with friends and is 100% casual. though i'm not a billionaire do work two jobs and money isn't to much of a big deal and I'm not going to say a strict budget. so far i've boughten a lot of different cards and still my deck is loosing almost every second game. in hopes of making this all easier for you, i've attempted to make the list with links to the cards I apologize if they don't work - here's the deck list of what i have going on so far:

Creatures

4X Mortivore
2X Terravore
2X Tarmogoyf
2X Szadek, Lord of Secrets
3X Ambassador Laquatus
3X Drowner Initiate
2X Oona, Queen of the Fae

Spells

4X
Glimpse the Unthinkable
4X
Nettlevine Blight (though I've been trying 4 Damnations instead)

3X Twincast
3X
Jace Beleren

2X Gilded Lotus
3X Psychic Drain

4X Traumatize  

Land

4X Underground Sea
2X Duskmantle, House of Shadow
4X Vivid Grove
4X Vivid Creek
4X Vivid Marsh
3X swamps

3X islands

any suggestions and help would be absolutely greatly appreciated. thank you very very much for every thing and have a great holiday season and new year.

Thank you for all your great deck fixes and creations,

Mike



Well, Mike, thanks for reading.  Hope your holiday season was alright, and a happy new year to you too.

Now, I've seen a good amount of mill decks in my garage, but this one adds a whole new wrinkle: Mortivore, Tarmogoyf, et al.  This was tried in Future Sight when Tarmogoyf was first released, but people quickly discovered it was more effective to just put Tarmo in an aggro deck, where he'd usually be a 2/3 or 3/4 for 1G-- which is still pretty good. 

Now, the first thing we have to determine is: are you playing a mill deck or a goyf deck?  Sure, you've got both, but if you're dumping large chunks of your opponent's library away, your Goyves are going to be huge, and you'll likely quickly discover that it's easier just to swing for game than to focus on winning due to your opponent not being able to draw.

That said, you can safely scale back on the mill tech.  Ambassador Laquatus and Drowner Initiate aren't needed here.  Instead of dumping all your mana into the Ambassador, how about generating some through Birds of Paradise or Utopia Tree?  That'd help you rip off some hefty Psychic Drains and ease your troubles of finding UB for an early Glimpse, 2BB for Mortivore, and the double Green for Terravore while your first turn land came into play tapped. 

Next, I agree with replacing Nettlevine Blight with Damnation, but I think we can do without the Traumatizes.  Yes, they're great, but with Damnation, Glimpse, and Twincast, you should have no problems carving out a nice fat graveyard for your Goyves.  I'd rather see this slot go to some more control.  Since Terravore cares about lands, how about a land destruction spell?  Pooling Venom is my personal favorite for this slot, since it not only can be played early for some extra damage before you pop it, but it puts both a land and an enchantment in your graveyard for Tarmogoyf.

You could also add a graveyard reanimation spell, since there'll likely be plenty of targets for it.  Beacon of Unrest anyone?

Or, if you like the idea of stealing your opponent's stuff but not the idea of plundering it out of their graveyard, try Persuasion!  There's no better way to get a nasty creature out of your way then to steal it!

Then again, discard is a great way to stymie opponents as well, and Nightmare Void works so well with both Goyves and with Jace Beleren, who can give you extra draws off of which to Dredge your Void and appeciates that the Void can rob your opponent of the extra card he gave them.

Also, Gilded Lotus isn't much help to you.  I'd replace that with Chromatic Star or Mind Stone.  The Star will help you filter mana in those early turns when you may not have all your colors of mana yet, as well as get you a card deeper into your deck.  The Stone provides colorless mana, but can provide it turn after turn and can also get you an extra card when you're done with it.  And of course both can put themselves in your graveyard to count for Tarmogoyf.

Speaking of mana, you have far too many lands that come into play tapped.  I'd say remove two of each Vivid land, in exchange for three Terramorphic Expanse and three basic lands.  Make one of them a Forest at least, so your Expanses can guarantee you whichever color you need most.  You should also lose Duskmantle-- it just isn't very good.  Svogthos, the Restless Tomb, however....

That's all I can do here, Mike.  Good luck, and may 2009 see you deliver some savage beatings like never before!

~BMoor


  


 

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