UB Mill. It’s a deck that is often relegated to the lowly title of “casual deck” or “UB Burn.” I was guilty of this as well—in fact, everyone on Team Nova was. My teammate Austin Collins was convinced that UB Mill had what it took to be a good Modern deck, and we all laughed at him and talked him into Phoenix instead. But I’ve come to find that maybe, just maybe, I was wrong.
Why Mill?
First off, Mill can control the graveyard. Modern’s most powerful decks (Dredge, Phoenix, Tron, Amulet) are built on just a few cards that form the linchpin of their strategies. That means that they can be limited or completely stopped by the one-two punch of Glimpse the Unthinkable into Surgical Extraction.
On top of that, Mill has picked up some great new additions in the last few sets. Field of Ruin serves a dual purpose in the deck: it can be used to slow down opponents on Tron or Amulet or it can also be a forced shuffle effect to turn on your Archive Traps.
The real prize card, though, is Mission Briefing. UB Mill used to actually be just UB Burn, with the bulk of the deck being made up of lands and mill spells. It wasn’t fancy and was thus known as a casual deck. Mission Briefing allows you to maintain a high density of mill effects, while also allowing you to filter for relevant cards like Fatal Push, Collective Brutality, or discard, depending on the matchup.
The fact that this deck’s “burn spells” can be combined with a card like Surgical Extraction to stop a lot of Modern’s most popular strategies is where the majority of its power comes from. In matchups against control, you have similar inevitability as burn decks, except gaining life isn’t going to stop your opponent from decking. The aggressive matchups are tough, but cards like Collective Brutality, Crypt Incursion, and Ensnaring Bridge help to shore up those matchups.
The Deck
Modern UB Mill
The Sideboard Guide
Izzet Phoenix
+3 Extirpate
+1 Fatal Push
+1 Spell Pierce
+1 Set Adrift
-2 Collective Brutality
-1 Crypt Incursion
-3 Hedron Crab
Surgical Extraction effects are the name of the game in this matchup. Keep your opponent off aggressive Phoenix draws, and clean up the rest of their threats with spot removal. Pyromancer’s Ascension can be a bit of a problem, so I also don’t mind bringing in the Set Adrift. Echoing Truth may also be okay over the fourth Hedron Crab. I think Hedron Crab is often going to be a one mana mill three, maybe six if you’re lucky. Crypt Incursion is simply too slow and clunky at three mana.
Tron
+3 Extirpate
+1 Spell Pierce
+1 Hero’s Downfall
+1 Set Adrift
-2 Fatal Push
-2 Collective Brutality
-1 Ensnaring Bridge
-1 Crypt Incursion
I think this matchup is fairly favorable, but like any deck’s Tron matchup, sometimes they’re going to Turn 3 Karn you regardless of what you do.
I cut the dead spot removal, but I don’t mind leaving in Murderous Cut as an answer to Thought-Knot Seer.
Humans
+1 Fatal Push
+1 Cast Down
+1 Collective Brutality
+1 Torpor Orb
+1 Crypt Incursion
+1 Dismember
+1 Ensnaring Bridge
+1 Damnation
-1 Thoughtseize
-3 Archive Trap
-3 Surgical Extraction
-1 Inquisition of Kozilek
This is probably the toughest matchup. You have to have Field of Ruin to turn on Archive Trap, they have a diverse threat suite to make Surgical Extraction dead, and they have clean answers to Ensnaring Bridge. Bring in all the spot removal and pray.
Dredge
+3 Extirpate
+1 Ensnaring Bridge
+1 Spell Pierce
+1 Crypt Incursion
-2 Collective Brutality
-1 Thoughtseize
-2 Fatal Push
-1 Murderous Cut
Generally, I try to avoid Surgicalling the dredgers, and instead choose to go after the enablers. It’s very context dependent, but try to ignore Prized Amalgams and instead hit the cards that are enabling them: Narcomoeba and Bloodghast. If you have a Bridge, you may want to instead focus on Creeping Chills, Conflagrates and Ancient Grudges. This matchup has a lot of play to it; but if you Surgical the right things at the right time, you’ll typically walk away victorious.
Amulet
+3 Extirpate
+1 Cast Down
+1 Torpor Orb
-2 Collective Brutality
-1 Crypt Incursion
-1 Archive Trap
-1 Ensnaring Bridge
Sometimes you can’t extract Primeval Titan in time, so I like to have an additional removal spell to answer resolved Titan. This matchup is fairly favorable, but gets noticeably worse if they start playing Hive Mind. Archive Trap is a little slow as often they only search they’re library when they’re going to cast a Titan. Since they will have priority after the search effect resolves, you won’t be able to Archive Trap and Surgical them until the Titan is already on the field.
How Many Cards Are in Your Library?
I’m not saying the deck is perfect, but I think it’s time to admit that UB Mill isn’t just a casual deck anymore. This deck has a lot of game against the best decks in the format and Mission Briefing gives it the consistency it needed to find its important cards for any matchup. Plus, when people complain about Modern decks having maindeck Surgical Extraction, you can let them know you also play Extirpate.