The MindskinnerThe Mindskinner | Art by Abz J Harding

Greetings and salutations my dear brewers, and welcome to this new Trim, from a place where winter was apparently just a week long. I'm Arnaud, and I'm thrilled to enter a place where your spirit gets shredded to bits, where a full deck is but a distant memory, and where sanity is an abstract concept.

It's been a while folks. The last poll was cast back on December 17, a month and a half ago. I don't think there has been such a long span between two regular Trims since this series' inception... and it shows! You wonderful people provided 315 votes. I haven't gone through all the past iterations, but I'm fairly confident this could be a new record.

With 65 votes (21%), the third spot went to Omnath, Locus of CreationOmnath, Locus of Creation. Can't blame you there. Anyone who has played against this version of the Jellybean will breathe a sigh of relief. Yes, it's that annoying. Second place went to Sami, Wildcat CaptainSami, Wildcat Captain, with 111 votes (35%). This one may return eventually. I've built the deck, and it's both extremely fun and extremely terrifying once the engine gets going.

With 139 votes (44%), the top spot, therefore, went to none other than The MindskinnerThe Mindskinner.

What Does The MindskinnerThe Mindskinner Do?

This is a peculiar creature, all centered around milling people out, but resorting to damage to do so. On paper, getting an unblockable 10/1 for a puny would be enough to make any dedicated Voltron player salivate. Except this bad boy doesn't kill through damage, but rather through mill.

In a way, it's not too dissimilar to Szadek, Lord of SecretsSzadek, Lord of Secrets. Both care about turning damage into library destruction. But where Szadek costs a massive and is restricted to its own combat damage, today's commander is much more lax, taking any damage into account and causing each and every opponent to shred their decks, instead of a single one. My my, how power has crept over the years...

Don't get me wrong, this is still going to be an ordeal, especially with budget in mind. But it's a fun challenge.

So let's get to work by grabbing each and every card from the regularregular and budget sections on EDHREC, and throw them into Archidekt.

337 cards. Not a bad start. To work.

First Trim – The Cardboard Chainsaw Massacre

To all who are new around these parts, a warm welcome! This series is all about budget. The goal is to build a functional deck aiming at Bracket 2 to 3, using no cards worth $1.11 and above.

So first, let's axe anything in that price range, to get a clearer view of what tools are actually available. After this first round, there are still 233 cards costing $2 at most, of which 31 are in the $1.10-$2 range.

Before getting rid of those as well, let's have a look at the best outlets, just in case you've got a bit of spare cash to spend on these still rather affordable cards.

• Cut Your LossesCut Your Losses: At $1.12, this barely misses the spot. Milling half of two libraries is no joke, despite the hefty mana cost.
• March of Swirling MistMarch of Swirling Mist: I've lost count of how many times this neat instant has saved my bacon, by either protecting my creatures from removal or by getting rid of pesky blockers.
• Hydroelectric SpecimenHydroelectric Specimen: Protection and land all in one, what's not to love?
• Silent HallcreeperSilent Hallcreeper: Can become a huge threat, especially if you can have it on the field early on. A very versatile tool.
• Fleet SwallowerFleet Swallower and Terisian MindbreakerTerisian Mindbreaker: Will cause heads to turn, but by the time they can actually attack, I don't expect their effect to be as good as it seems.
• Sphinx's TutelageSphinx's Tutelage: With the proper draw engine active, this can mill a surprising number of cards, especially against mono-colored decks.
• Riverchurn MonumentRiverchurn Monument: This on the other hand is a win-con, pure and simple.
• Inquisitor's FlailInquisitor's Flail: In a dedicated Equipment deck, this means at least 20 cards milled per swing, if not more with additional pump effects.
• Visions of BeyondVisions of Beyond: Ancestral RecallAncestral Recall? Yes please!

There are still a few cards in the $1-$1.10 range:

• Thran Power SuitThran Power Suit: A sure bet if there are enough artifacts around.
• Shadow KinShadow Kin: An interesting clone, able to potentially become a huge threat... or be a total dud.
• Startled AwakeStartled Awake: Milling 13 cards is all well and good, but it's limited to a single target. I'm not sure this quite fits the bill here.
• Champion's HelmChampion's Helm: Protection and pump all in one at a low equip cost, yummy!
• Brass SquireBrass Squire: Potentially a huge mana-saver, or a useless outlet, depending on how much expensive Equipment the deck runs.

With these first cuts, the list is already down to 202 cards, a rather decent average for these builds. Let's move on.

Second Trim – Cardward Scissorhands

Before browsing through the real fun stuff, there are some boring yet necessary steps to jump through.

From this article onwards, I'm going to make a slight change though: I will add some form of protection to the veggies.

Last year, I kept track of 108 games (can you tell I love stats?). One lesson I got out of those was the importance of being able to protect your commander. In the past, I tended to go with a YOLO mindset. But the more a commander is critical for a strategy, the more I feel like it should be warranted some form of protection.

This could be achieved through:

• Instant-speed hexproof or indestructibility;
• Counterspells (not a fan of those in these brews but they get the job done);
• Equipment or Auras.

It's simply not enough to consider your commander will be spared. If you become the threat, it will be a prime target for the table, one you must be prepared to deal with.

With this in mind, let's have a look at what the veggies currently look like:

You'll notice that this chart is much more detailed than the ones in previous articles, and I'd love to know if you prefer this layout over the previous one.

One thing that strikes me with this chart is the sheer number of removal spells in the deck. There's really a lot of them, especially for a mono- deck.

While I'm usually not a big fan of counterspelling in these brews, I think this occasion warrants packing a decent number of them. Again, this commander needs to stay alive, and denying the removal is the best way to do so.

There are also no less than 18 protection outlets, including a few counterspells that focus on permanents you control. While this figure is definitely too high, it's still a testament to how critical The MindskinnerThe Mindskinner is to the strategy.

With all of this in mind, this is what I would cut:

This already feels much better. It's been a while since I had to crop so many veggies at once.

With a healthy revamp of the mana base, the list is down to 155 cards. Let's move to the fun part.

Third Trim – Cutting Off the Rough Edges

Let's talk strategy for a moment, shall we?

The MindskinnerThe Mindskinner is a very peculiar deck. It's definitely oriented towards a milling strategy, but still requires us to deal a hefty amount of damage to reach its goal.

First, some quick math. One can assume that, in any regular Bracket 2 game, and barring heavy draw strategies, a player will draw somewhere between 20 and 30 cards. Seven initial cards, plus give or take about ten turns, to which you have to add the inevitable draw spells.

This means that to reach your goal, you need to mill roughly 70 cards from each opponent. The Mindskinner tends to suggest that dealing 70 damage all around would seal the deal. This isn't too bad, considering that usually there is 120 life to deal with.

The major difference however lies in the fact that damage is a communal resource. You're not pitting yourself against three opponents, all bent on killing you. You're part of a pool that will throw damage here and there, participating in the global effort.

Mill however is a different story altogether. Aside from the extremely occasional situation where you'll have two such decks at the table, you're basically on your own. Therefore, milling 10 to 20 cards a turn would assure you a victory in four to eight turns. To this end, getting your commander as big as possible is one of the keys to victory. The easiest way to do so is through giving it double-strike, adding various pumps here and there.

There are also a few outlets that will damage everyone around the table, providing consistent mill over time. Neither SkullcageSkullcage nor ViselingViseling are in the initial list, and I feel like both are criminal omissions, as they will usually mill four to eight cards per rotation, if not more.

I have another issue with the current list: it packs a hefty mill package, but most of those spells focus on a single opponent, and are nowhere as effective as they need to be for this strategy to work. Therefore expect most of these to be axed.

I'm going to leave the pump package largely untouched, as they are key to the strategy. Sadly there aren't that many good spells that provide a massive outburst of power in mono-, so they'll have to suffice.

There's a certain number of weird evasion outlets, most of which I feel are not that useful here.

Add a few copy spells that, while fun, don't really serve any major purpose here, aside from cloning the occasional artifact.

Finally, there's a bunch of miscellaneous stuff I can't really categorize, and which don't strike me as particularly useful.

Let's trim.

Well, would you look at that. 110 cards already. Time to put the finishing touches.

Final Trim – Heart-Wrenching Choices

Here we are, the final 10 cards.

Before cutting any further, I'd like to say I'm quite happy at where the list's currently at. There are basically no bad cards left, so any choices I make thereafter could easily be swapped with something else.

Let's not dilly-dally; these are my last cuts:

• Bane's ContingencyBane's Contingency, Mana LeakMana Leak and Spell PierceSpell Pierce: While these are all worthy counterspells, I feel like there are still a tad too many.
• Cyber ConversionCyber Conversion and Unable to ScreamUnable to Scream: Similarly, the removal package is hefty enough I can part way with these.
• Imperious MindbreakerImperious Mindbreaker: I rather like the idea of milling at least an additional five cards per turn. But with no evasion whatsoever, this will quickly turn into minced chow.
• Solemn SimulacrumSolemn Simulacrum: The curve is rather low, so cutting a ramp spell isn't too harmful.
• Scourge of FleetsScourge of Fleets: Efficient, but too expensive.
• Callaphe, Beloved of the SeaCallaphe, Beloved of the Sea: She could technically become rather big, but the protection she provides is a bit telegraphed and too meagre to be really efficient.
• Realmbreaker, the Invasion TreeRealmbreaker, the Invasion Tree: Slightly too mana intensive for my taste. But it's a close call.

And with this, I give you...

The Mindskinner Commander Deck List

Additional Trim – A Look Into the Past

Let's end this by taking a look at a deck of the past, to see how it stood the test of time.

Horobi, Death's Wail was a fun commander to build around, albeit quite tricky.

Thankfully, it seems most of the cards included a year and a half ago remained fairly affordable:

• MutilateMutilate: $1.15
• Zulaport CutthroatZulaport Cutthroat: $1.26
• Barad-dûrBarad-dûr: $1.37
• Shelob, Dread WeaverShelob, Dread Weaver: $2.37

These should be easy enough to replace. Let's add the following:

• Squee's ToySquee's Toy: I rather like the irony of preventing one damage to a creature you're actually killing.
• DesertDesert: A replacement for the lost land, and a nice way to disincentivize attacking your way.
• Rathi TrapperRathi Trapper: Best case scenario, it kills a creature. Worst one, it saves your hide.
• Dauthi TrapperDauthi Trapper: Same, but with evasion. And it's a political tool.

You can find the updated list here.

Afterthoughts

It's been a fun journey, as always. A challenging one, but fun nonetheless. I'm rather curious: did any of you actually get to build one such deck? And how did it fare?

I'm looking forward to discussing this further with you below. In the meantime, be safe, have fun, brew madly, and play more.

See you in two weeks!

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