Highlights

  • Milling is an alternative win condition in Magic: The Gathering, where players put cards from their deck into their graveyard.
  • Mirko Vosk, Mind Drinker and Umbris, Fear Manifest are both examples of powerful mill commanders in the Commander format.
  • Each entry in this list offers various ways to mill opponents or self-mill, utilize graveyard resources, or create devastating mill effects that can quickly deplete an opponent's deck.

Though combat is the most popular means of winning a game of Magic: The Gathering, there are other ways players can win. One of the most popular of these alternative win conditions is mill. Milling is the act of putting cards directly from a player's deck into their graveyard. If a player were to draw a card and there are no cards left in their deck, that player loses the game, making mill a potential means of taking out other players in a game of Commander.

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While mill can be used on opponents, players are also capable of milling themselves as a means of easily accessing cards in their graveyard. So today, we're going to dive into mill decks in the Commander format and see which commanders are the best options for those seeking to build a mill deck.

Updated August 6, 2023: We've updated this article to include improved formatting and copy!

15 Wrexial, The Risen Deep

Magic The Gathering Wrexial card art
Wrexial, the Risen Deep by Eric Deschamps

A 5/8 for six mana, Wrexial the Risen Deep is a legendary kraken who upon dealing combat damage to a player, allows its controller to cast an instant or sorcery from that player's graveyard without paying its mana cost.

This ability pairs very well with the numerous mill options that a Wrexial player has access to within its Dimir color identity, filling a given player's graveyard with impactful spells that can then be cast for free.

14 Circu, Dimir Lobotomist

Magic The Gathering Circu card art
Circu, Dimir Lobotomist by Cyril Van Der Haegen

A straightforward mill option, Circu, Dimir Lobotomist removes a card from the top of a player's library from the game each time its controller casts a blue spell, and each time its controller casts a black spell, causing two cards to be exiled this way if the spell cast is both colors.

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Circu is a reliable means of consistently milling an opponent due to its ability triggering upon nearly any spell in its respective deck being cast. Additionally, as the cards that Circu mills are exiled rather than being put in a graveyard, even decks with large amounts of recursion will suffer great losses.

13 Mirko Vosk, Mind Drinker

Magic The Gathering Mirko card art
Mirko Vosk, Mind Drinker by Chase Stone

A 2/4 vampire with flying for five mana, Mirko Vosk, Mind Drinker can mill an opponent a substantial quantity of cards each time it deals combat damage to a player. Upon inflicting combat damage to a given player, that player reveals cards from the top of their library until they've revealed four lands. Then, each of those cards are put in that player's graveyard.

This ability can remove tons of cards from a player's deck, especially if Mirko Vosk is left unchecked over the course of multiple turns. This ability can truly be devastating against decks that contain low mana curves and by extension, less land cards.

12 Lazav, Dimir Mastermind

Magic The Gathering Lazav card art
Lazav, Dimir Mastermind by David Rapoza

The head of House Dimir, Lazav, Dimir Mastermind is a shapeshifter who pairs well with copious amounts of mill spells.

Though Lazav is a 3/3 with hexproof for four mana, Lazav is capable of turning into a copy of any opponents' creatures that are put into a graveyard from anywhere. This means that while creatures destroyed with removal spells may be copied with Lazav, the same can be done with milled creatures. This means that a Lasav player may have access to an opponent's strongest creature before they do.

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Furthermore, whenever Lazav becomes a copy of a creature, it maintains hexproof and the ability to become a copy of creatures put in graveyards, so it can continue to adapt as its controller mills their opponents.

11 Araumi Of The Dead Tide

Araumi mtg merfolk wizard Daarken
Araumi of the Dead Tide by Daarken

Printed in Commander Legends, Araumi of the Dead Tide is a criminally underrated Dimir commander that can provide great value to players able to fill their graveyards through the use of mill.

A 1/4 merfolk wizard for three mana, Araumi can be tapped, exiling a number of cards in its controller's graveyards equal to the number of opponents they have. Araumi then provides a creature in its controller's graveyard with encore, with its encore cost being equal to its mana cost, allowing for several temporary copies of that creature to be put into play. This allows Araumi decks to blend the use of self-milling effects and high-impact "enter the battlefield" triggers to potent effect.

10 The Mimeoplasm

Magic The Gathering Mimeoplasm card art
The Mimeoplasm by Svetlin Velinov

A Sultai mill option, the Mimeoplasm has the distinction of being a powerful mill commander whether its controller is milling an opponent or themselves.

Upon entering the battlefield, The Mimeoplasm can exile any two creature cards from graveyards. It then enters the battlefield as a copy of one of the exiled creatures, coming along with an amount of +1/+1 counters equal to the power of the second exiled creature. This makes the Mimeoplasm quite flexible and adaptive, as it can use any creatures in players' graveyards as a source of both utility and offense.

9 Oona, Queen Of The Fae

Magic The Gathering Oona card art
Oona, Queen of the Fae by Adam Rex

As long as a mill player has mana to spare, few can compare with Oona, Queen of the Fae.

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A 5/5 with flying for six mana, at any time, Oona's controller may pay one mana and X, choosing a color. Target player than mills X, and Oona's controller creates an amount of 1/1 flying faerie rogue tokens equal to the number of cards milled this way that were of the chosen color. When paired with massive amounts of mana or even combos capable of creating infinite mana, Oona can mill massive chunks of a player's library at a time, even milling an entire library if infinite mana is involved.

8 Sidisi, Brood Tyrant

Magic The Gathering Sidisi Brood Tyrant card art
Sidisi, Brood Tyrant by Karl Kopinski

A dedicated self-mill commander, Sidisi, Brood Tyrant is a creature capable of converting its controller's library into a self-milling engine of value.

Whenever Sidisi enters the battlefield or attacks, its controller puts the top three cards of their library into their graveyard. This synergizes in noteworthy effect with Sidisi's triggered ability which creates a 2/2 zombie token whenever one or more creatures are put in the graveyard from its controller's library.

Due to the wording of this ability, it's advised to use repeatable effects that are capable of milling small numbers of cards at a time in order to create a zombie horde, as milling a massive portion of one's deck at once will only result in a single zombie being created.

7 Grolnok, the Omnivore

mtg art grolnok
Grolnok, the Omnivore by Simon Dominic

Printed in Innistrad: Crimson Vow, Grolnok, the Omnivore is a creature that nearly converts its controller's self-milling into card draw.

A 3/3 frog for four mana, Grolnok states that whenever a frog its owner controls attacks, that player mills three cards.However, whenever Grolnok's controller mills a permanent card, they exile that card with a croak counter on it. This is key, as Grolnok's controller is capable of casting spells and playing lands from exile as long as they have croak counters on them. This means in a deck made up primarily of permanent cards, even if Grolnok is the only frog present, it can provide its controller access to three additional cards each turn.

6 Anowon, the Ruin Thief

anowan vampire mtg art
Anowon, the Ruin Thief by Magali Villeneuve

For those looking for a Dimir commander that blends milling with tribal synergies, Anowon, the Ruin Thief may be the commander for you. A 2/4 vampire rogue for four mana, not only does Anowon provide other rogues with +1/+1, it states that whenever a rogue under its owner's control deal combat damage to a player, that player mills than mana cards.

As rogues tend to be quite evasive, this allows Anowon decks to simultaneously deal extra damage whilst filling their opponent's graveyards, enabling effects that allow for cards to be stolen from opponent's graveyards.

5 Syr Konrad, The Grim

Magic The Gathering Syr Konrad card art
Syr Konrad, the Grim by Anna Steinbauer

A popular Mono-Black commander, Syr Konrad, the Grim is a mill commander capable of converting mill into direct damage.

Causing one damage to be dealt to each opponent whenever a creature is put in any player's graveyard, Syr Konrad covers numerous bases when it comes to mill commanders. As Syr Konrad's ability triggers off of cards being put in any player's graveyard, it can be used to either mill opponents or Syr Konrad's controller.

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This synergizes in fantastic fashion with Syr Konrad's activated ability which mills each player a single card at the cost of two mana, an ability which becomes proportionally stronger for each player in the game.

4 Umbris, Fear Manifest

mtg art umbriss horror
Umbris, Fear Manifest by Daarken

Like Anowon, Umbris, Fear Manifest is a commander that blends tribal synergies with milling. A 1/1 nightmare horror for five mana, whenever Umbris or another nightmare or horror enters the battlefield under its owner's control, target opponent exiles cards from atop their library until they exile a land. This is key, as Umbris gets +1/+1 for each card its controller's opponents own in exile.

Through the act of simply casting nightmares and horrors, Umbris not only deprived opponents of their resources as it erases their libraries, but it also grows into a massive offensive threat!

3 Muldrotha, The Gravetide

Magic The Gathering Muldrotha card art
Muldrotha, the Gravetide by Jason Rainville

Like Sidisi, Muldrotha, the Gravetide is a commander that incentivizes the use of self-milling effects by its controller.

Enabling one spell of each card type to be cast from its controller's graveyard each turn, Muldrotha essentially turns its controller's graveyard into an extension of their hand. This means that the more cards a Muldrotha player mills, the more cards they will have available to cast, and the more options they have when responding to opponents.

2 Phenax, God Of Deception

Phenax Magic The Gathering card art
Phenax, God of Deception by Ryan Barger

By and large the most reliable and effective Dimir mill commander is Phenax, God of Deception. As one of the gods of Theros, Phenax is incredibly difficult for opponents to remove, possessing both indestructible and a clause stating that Phenax isn't a creature as long as its controller lacks devotion to black and blue greater than or equal to seven.

In regards to mill, Phenax's ability is straightforward, allowing any creature under its owner's control to be tapped in order to mill target player a number t of cards equal to that creature's toughness. This commander retools any and all creatures into effective mill engines capable of quickly cutting through a player's deck.

1 Bruvac The Grandiloquent

bruvac mtg advisor art
Bruvac the Grandiloquent by Ekaterina Burmak

While Bruvac the Grandiloquent may be the simplest entry on this list, it is quite possibly the most effective mill commander the format has to offer.

A Mono-Blue human advisor for three mana, Bruvac states that if an opponent would mill one or more cards, they mill twice as many cards instead. This notably doubles the potency of milling effects, allowing a Bruvac player to burn through their opponent's decks at a blistering pace. When paired with the effects of cards like Traumatize and Maddening Cacophony which can mill half a player's library, Bruvac can instantly mill an opponent's entire deck.

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