helikaon 34
Here is my build for some off meta deck mill fun. My favorite mill deck so far is eYoda - Wizened Master with eLeia Organa - Heart of the Resistance. I’d like to play it in tournament if I could manage to finally get back to Dragon’s Refuge. I have the cards to make that deck that caused the Millpocalypse scare that won GenCon and was quickly answered at Nova (eYoda - Wizened Master, Cassian Andor - Rebellion Operative, Anakin Skywalker - Podracing Prodigy), but I sort of don’t want to be that guy….sorta.
This deck looks fairly similar simply because it’s yellow and blue hero. The engine is different (and inferior), but I think this deck has the potential to be fairly competitive locally, and to bring a different spin to mill.
The upgrades are pretty standard. Force Illusion is seemingly the biggest “duh” inclusion in nearly any deck that has blue in it. Maz's Goggles might usually be used for part of a special chain when Yoda’s around, but in this deck, I really want to see those focus sides come up (the special sure ain’t bad though). The reason is, the mill engine requires me to get those indirect damage sides (at least one per turn). Maz's Goggles is one of those cards I might mulligan hard for. I don’t run two because I don’t have two, and it’s unique. There are enough other good cards that I think one is enough anyhow. Second Chance should get to see some play with two yellow characters in the mix. Force Meditation is a pretty straightforward inclusion. Again, it doesn’t pack quite the same punch when you don’t have a character constantly fixing dice, but hopefully the Goggles and R2 come up quickly.
Edit for upgrades: I made room for Bartering which I simply forgot the first time. Cut 1x Scruffy Looking Nerf-Herder and Into The Garbage Chute to do it.
Speaking of R2-D2, he’s there for the same reason of needing to fix dice, and he’s oh so cheap for what he does. No blank sides, and a decent chance to roll the specials. Only running one again because of being unique. I only wish he had a discard side instead of disrupt, but beggars can’t be choosers for 1 resource cost. Scrap Heap is there because I get the sense that this deck is not going to make the cash as quickly as some of my others. It doesn’t run Chance Cube (I firmly believe Chance Cubes are only good in decks that easily fix dice), and doesn’t have the versatile Yoda or money machine, Anakin, making constant money either. If I find that I have too much money, or that I’m managing fine when the scrap heaps don’t come up for me, it will likely be my first cut. I strongly considered running the grey Podracer so that I could more consistently roll indirect, and to gain an extra discard side on a die, but that pesky drawback on that card chased me away (the card goes back into your hand if it rolls a blank...although, now that I think about it, it could be decent to include for mill mirror).
Most of the events I run are pretty straightforward given Hero Mill Blue/Yellow. A notable exclusion was Rebel. I felt the play restriction of having to have a die showing discard to play it was a bit too much for these dice to handle. Only the Partisans have 1 discard side each. Even the upgrades I have don’t have the sides needed. Rigged Detonation is there simply to trigger the mill machine when the Partisans can’t get it done. Clearly, my opponent will be focusing on mitigating those indirect sides when they pop up. Speaking of which, I might need to include some Fast Hands. Alas, I do not own them currently. I run both Friends in Low Places and Scruffy Looking Nerf-Herder since this deck has a hard time discarding the opponent's hand. I’d run two Entangles, but I only own one. Clandestine Operation is such a cool card. I only run one since it requires spotting two yellow characters. Hidden Motive is simply my favorite mitigation card in the game. It even finds its way into my Talzin decks despite not being odd. Despite losing two dice, Plo might be the best target to use Into The Garbage Chute on simply because his dice sides are not very mill-centric. It’s situational.
Finally, the location. I chose Imperial Palace - Coruscant since this mill deck specializes in milling the deck quickly, but not the hand. The goal, as it is with most hero mill decks that run Hyperspace Jump, is to NOT take your battlefield if you win the roll off. There are several reasons for this. It is a three wide deck, so the probability of claiming quickly is already not in your favor. You could easily lose key cards every turn by your opponent claiming. Mill decks are as much about survival as they are about milling. Take the shields. I’d say there are very few exceptions to this, but if a battlefield that your opponent brought is just too strong with their deck (Pryce/Kylo maybe?), then it becomes a bit of a tougher choice.
I talked about a few cards I considered along the way (Rebel, Podracer, Fast Hands), and here are a few others:
Plo Koon's Starfighter - It has an awesome ability that clearly synergizes with Plo decks, but it just costs too much for what it does. If I was running a damage deck, I might consider it. R2-D2 was the clear winner for the cost IMO. I have enough other 3 cost cards that are pretty important to get out (Second Chance x2, Hyperspace Jumpx2)
Close Quarters Assault - Chris will chuckle at me, because he saw my first version of this deck that actually included 4 lightsabers along with CQA. I knew it was a bad idea for competitive, but it was more there to create a lower tier deck to play against buddies while purposely playing themey or lower tier decks. That said, I still think it might find a place in this deck if I find I’m struggling discarding the opponent's hand. I could get the dream and both of Plo’s dice land melee (not improbable). Those dice would very likely get ignored in a mill deck because damage doesn’t matter at all. Then I CQA them for two cards. We’ll see. Still not a good enough idea to make my initial cut though.
Force Jump - Pretty fun special side that has built in mitigation a bit. Didn’t make the cut because of two blank sides, and it’s blue character only.
Flames of the Past- A very strong card. I might need to make room for at least one somehow. Maybe I cut one Into the Garbage Chute.
In The Crosshairs - I would only consider one copy due to cost. I just didn’t see it getting as much play in this deck as others where resources are easy to come by. Still, a strong card to be sure.
That’s all for now folks. Hope you enjoyed my first ever write up. I'm very open to feedback. I’d highly recommend doing this as an exercise even if you don’t plan to show it to anybody. It makes you think about your card choices long and hard!