Looking for input on a dark elf mill deck I'm working on for casual play. Any help is appreciated as I am fairly new and may have missed some obvious additions.

Updated

Infiltrate! x3

Slave Pen x2

Har Ganeth x2

Contested Village x3

Dark Abyss x3

Warpstone Excavation x3

Walking Sacrifice x3

Shades x3

Vile Sorceress x3

Plague Monk x3

Seasoned Corsair x3

Vanguard of Woe x2

Gutter Runners x2

Mortella x1

We Need Your Blood x2

Seeking New Slaves x2

Caught The Scent x2

Invoke Khaine's Wrath x2

Dark Visions x3

Chillwind x3

A few notes:

Primary method of victory is decking your opponent, accomplished via Infiltrate, Dark Abyss and Plague Monk.

Plague Monk combines with Dark Visions (also used to hunt down your key Infiltrate) and Chillwind for discard tech.

Vile Sorceress combines with We Need Your Blood, Har Ganeth and Seasoned Corsair for personality control.

Seeking New Slaves is just great in a discard deck and potentially game swinging, though it can also be used to just feed your slave pens. Alter of Khaine is very close to getting dropped but can set up a nice moneymaking combo with Slave Pens and Walking Sac.

Hand denial tech compliments the standard discard tech through the Shades and the Vanguard of Woe/Vile Sorceress/Har Ganeth Combo. Originally the deck ran Gutter Runners as well and they are on the fence but currently out.

Connor

Yeah, I'm not really seeing any Mill in there. Looks like a cool deck though, that notwithstanding.

Did you accidentally leave out some quest cards from the list? I ask because you have three copies of Ancient Map. Definitely include Infiltrate!

I assume that one of your milling tactics here is to use Vile Sorceress on Vanguard of Woe and bounce using Har Ganeth. I do the same with my own DE deck but didn't notice until after a few games (thanks to a friend pointing it out) that Har Ganeth is unique, so only one can be in play at a time. While this isn't a deal breaker, it's something to keep in mind.

Yeah, egg on my face there is most definitely Infiltrate x3 in the deck, which is odd as my spreadsheet did not have the deck at 57. That being said I am going to take a look at it again (after suggestions), do some cutting and repost closer to 50.

At this point the mill is basically the 3 Infiltrates and the Dark Abyss.

Thanks for the comments so far!

WWaSP said:

Does the Sorceress work with Har Ganeth? I only ask because Har Ganeth's timing is 'At the beginning of your turn'' and Sorceress is 'After your turn begins', so I assumed that did not work.

This deck needs more hand destruction.

Edit. And subtract two Ancient Maps.

Updated version posted and trimmed down. I liked the idea of Plague Monks but didn't have enough spells, so I cut Ancient Map entirely to add 3 Dark Visions, then added 3 Chillwind for more defense and Plague Monk Tech. If they work out well I may find room for 3. Temporarily took our Lash the Prisoner as it didn't really have any big effect and I really needed to cut this down to the bare bones.

To qwertyuiop: What would you recommend for Hand Destruction? I initially had 6 scouts but have since gone to 3...though I could fit Gutter Runners back in. Any other solid ideas?

CAlexander said:

All those happen during Phase 0, in case of VS and HG, VS is Forced so comes before HG's Action.

Oh wow, I didn't realise that. I was of the same mindset that "after your turn begins" comes after "at the beginning of your turn". Where can I find that in print? just curious....

ps. our local gaming group really enjoys this type of DE deck, too. Add some more hand destruction and gleefully watch steam come from your opponents' ears as they're strategy goes down the discard toilet....

Would love some input on what hand destruction would work well with the deck. All I can see via searching is Caught the Scent, but nothing recurring aside from more scouts. Thanks!

WWaSP said:

Ah I totally didn't see that! I'm going to have to add another vanguard of woe or two to my deck now.

Tauwolf said:

"All instances of “After your turn
begins” should read “At the beginning
of your turn.”

All instances of “after” in card text
boxes should read “when.”" (FAQ, p. 4)

Notes from testing the latest posted version.

**** this deck is fun. If it gets rolling (read: if lots of Vile Sorcereresses come out and it gets a resource engine up) it completely controls the board. If not it dies, but it is a challenge to play right and that is where the fun is.

Primary opponent has been a High Elf indirect damage deck and it is interesting to see them both struggle to control the board. If the indirect damage deck gets it's key cards out though, it gets VERY messy.

Some comments on cards in the deck

Seeking New Slaves is stupid good in the deck and is going up to 3x.

Interestingly, while Infiltrate! is great if you get it up and running and keep the guy alive, it isn't crucial to mill: the suggested Plague Monks are what can really get your opponent up against the ropes. Late game if you can chain together some Dark Visions and have a Chillwind or two saved up you'll find 75% of your decking takes place in one turn. Those guys are innocuous but deadly as hell.

Burn it Down probably needs to be in the deck. It desperately needs some support card control and without Innovation there is really no reason to stick developments anywhere else.

Cards that are questionable now:

Dark Abyss: See above Plague Monk comment. Most of the decking is sudden, and the drops in the bucket these provide isn't all that important. Thinking about dropping them for something more gold producing. Someone commented on a Bottomless Mine, which is an interesting idea. Will test with D.A. a few more games then switch and see if it makes a big difference.

Vanguard of Woe: The combo with the Vile Sorceress and Har Ganeth is cute, but I'd rather be using my V.S.'s on my opponent, and if I get multiples out with Har Ganeth I've already got a pretty good lock on the board. They do compliment the hand control nicely...but they just haven't done a whole hell of a lot for me. Going to think about this one a bit more.

We Need Your Blood: If I've got free gold I'm saving I will typically use it on a Chillwind or Khaines Wrath, so this seems to stick in my hand. Wish it was a spell. It is nice occasionally to compliment the Sorceress, but I think Burn it Down would get a LOT more mileage.

Caught the Scent: This is dancing on the edge, but I think in the end I'll keep it. It sits in my hand for awhile but when I do play it, it's very solid, especially in conjunction with Seeking New Slaves (which netted me an Illyrial last game).

Gutter Runners: I think I'm going to keep 2 in, but the entering play corrupted thing is so obnoxious. They are undeniably good at hand control, but even if I have Chillwind I want to save it for my opponent's turn. Like Caught the Scent they are dancing on the edge of inclusion but I may have to bite the bullet and keep them.

Mortella: She's cute, but not great or crucial. It's a 1x slot so I'm not worrying about it, but after a few more games she may get cut if she doesn't prove a little more useful.

That is all!

CAlexander said:

Caught the Scent. Will of Tzeentch, Journey to the Gate. Gutter Runners. Solid hand destruction forces your opponent to over-commit to his quest zone in an attempt to stay ahead. That can make milling more effective.

Mortella is beautifully usefull in this. Any other and I'd say scrap her but here with so many opponents playing spells and those "spells" ending up in the discard pile well... it's just tempting to cast a few while you have plague monks out. Even if you don't opponents often bring tactics that are useful to destroy their own deck concepts and that just plays out well. Even if she just gets zaped by another card that a card that didn't target your plague monk or vile sorceress.

I'd say the gutter runners for another mortella and another vanguard of woe. The "we need your blood" is usefull when you need a pawn to defend and save a zone. The enemy unit will most likely be damaged and then you can destroy it with a spell. Situational but in a good way and if it comes down it then it makes a good developement. If you want more mileage out of the we need your blood then try dumping the gutter runners for a pair of young wyverns. After the first game your opponent will be educated into which of your zones to attack and when.

And really caught the scent is nice but burn it down and pillage would save you from more losses. Perhaps even the we need your blood for a couple of pillages as well. That way you have a way of destroying a costly support even if you don't have any developements in your battlefield at the momment.

And you are right about the dark abyss but it's there to give you fuel for their discard pile allowing mortella and seeking new slaves to be picky eaters. I also use entropy in my version of the deck. It's a crude counter to order in chaos but necessary until we get a real counter tactic card for disorder and untill then it nicely puts two cards in the discard pile as well. There's just too much sillyness that order can do by putting cards back on top of their deck... like surprise assault 2 and three times in a row...

Alter of Khaine can only be used when units are destroyed. You cant use it when you sacrifice a unit (as with slave pens). Otherwise Alter of Khaine/Lobber Crew would be a pretty potent combo.