I'd like to get down to an actual list before I start acquiring the cards in earnest. But I've been fiddling with this for a solid few weeks now. Forgive me for any actual terrible cards or ideas, I'm rusty with the game.
(Mods, if this belongs in the decklist section, my bad. I'm trying to get to an actual decklist and not just a big pile of flavor and themes, is my thinking)
Planeswalker base
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PW Base and Veil, 11
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Naturally The Chain Veil is in the deck as well.
If I was going to drop any versions, it would be Death Wielder for just being overpriced removal and then the M19 versions (Untouched and Necromancer) since I'm not sure if the self-mill strategy should stay or go. Since it's a good spread from 3 to 6 or 7 mana, I've tried to keep the rest of the list somewhat lower in CMC and curve.
Creatures
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21 creatures
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Lords - chosen for combat effectiveness, sheer stat boosts, and/or utility. I've got a few sac fodder and outlet / recursive dudes, some token producers, and some general power and value dudes. I like this selection, and the only ones I'm iffy about right now are Embodiment and Bontu. Demon is cheap, Unearthable, looks good in combat and should be able to come in decently beefy most of the time. Unsure if I need more self-mill for him. Bontu is hella flavorful, and the draw power seems powerful. My thinking is that I would sac some lands and some non-token dudes most of the time. I want to include Crucible and a couple other things for a lands package so Bontu would kind of tie into that as well.
I also pulled a Gruesome Menagerie on Friday, so there's a creature package there as well. It gets most of the lords, the cheap dudes, even Lili HH, Embodiment, Colossus, and mini Pox crafter dude.
Lands package stuff
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Lands and stuff
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A few of the Lili's do have discard, so the only other discard I think I would include would be Raven's Crime due to repeatableness and cost effectiveness. Syphon because we mages burn through our life totals rather quickly, Proliferate to help the Planeswalkers and help control the board, and of course Crucible to keep the flow of mana and shenanigans going. I'm probably going to add Lotus Field to all my mono-color decks, honestly, and for Lili I'm thinking about Field of the Dead too. I understand it's harder to turn on Field in mono, but I am aware of it potentially being busted and am considering it.
Removal
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Removal
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These were generally selected for cost effectiveness, hitting multiple things, or hitting "everything" (any creature, all creatures -2/-2, etc is what I mean). Price is flavorful but I understand might not be worth it, Consume Spirit is more on point flavorwise than Exsanguinate (which is a bit boring, too. Efficient, but boring), and I have a minor love affair with Spoiling. EDIT: Infest should be Toxic Deluge, huh. It can be the placeholder for it, at least.
Necromancy
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Reanimation and tokens
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Cheap, efficient options here. My gut reaction is to go with Army as an instant swarm since it's consistent and even flashback-able. Should it be one of the other X spell ones, so it can scale for any point of the game? Several Lili's have these kind of effects, so perhaps this section could be trimmed down a few cards. Discovery might not be necessary since I want to have the land package which would be able to get those things back anyway.
Enchantments
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Enchants
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Here's where a few cuts might definitely happen. I've always loved the idea of the Legacy Dredge deck, hence Bridge and Leyline. I'm thinking I don't have enough self-mill for that though (Save it for Sidisi, probably?). Oath is probably bad, but that's not gonna stop me from trying to keep them in decks in general
(the flavor!). I'm not sure about Necro in this deck. Yes, you read that right, but give me a moment to explain my thinking. I envision discarding my own stuff to reanimate later, that whole schtick. Am I overthinking the conflicting strategies there? Am I just bad at the game, lol? Lastly, I'm questioning Ranks here since Eldritch Moon Lili has a better version of it as her ultimate (not always gonna get up to it, etc, I know).Draw, Tutors
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Card Advantage
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Pact doubles as draw for me and potentially a kill con as well. I'd be down for splurging on Will for this deck. Final Parting as a mini Gifts Ungiven, fetching combos like Crucible and Buried Ruin.
Ramp and Rituals
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Mana!
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Pretty self-explanatory, I feel. T1 Lili's or dudes, or T2 of the same kinda stuff is always fun.
Lands
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Lands, 38
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Classic Urborg-CoffersHold, with mana boosts, recovery, grave hate, tokens, and fetching. As I mentioned earlier, I'm aware of Field of the Dead potentially being nuts but that it's harder to turn on in mono-color. Maybe it works out, maybe not. Basic count is probably off, I'm thinking 38 total lands for the deck, so whatever actual number of basics would be equally split between Snow and not if I keep in Field.
