With the war for Mirrodin in full swing and the prerelease only a week and a half away, people are starting to play around with the new cards in the format and trying to see what optimal cards and combos are going to be. Today, I'm going to be delving into infect specifically – since it's a playstyle I really enjoy. I think that the MBS cards are going to give infect a new option, but probably won't dramatically alter the strength of the deck.
This time, I'm going to go through the various colors and see what they could add to a possible infect deck, see if they'll work out. I'm only going to note creatures that I actually consider to be constructed worthy – sorry Contagious Nim. You don't make the cut. You're just not good outside of limited.
Black:
Unsurprisingly to many who had heard of the Phyrexians before, Black is a nearly-critical infect color. We've got a lot of the best infect creatures in here, as well as a boatload of support cards that interplay very well. To start out our creature base, Scars brought us the Plague Stinger, Ichor Rats and Hand of the Praetor. All of those see plenty of play in current era infect, and I anticipate they'll all remain staples in the future. Though he's not seen much at the moment (since infect is so fast) is Skithiryx, the Blight Dragon. At five mana, it breaks the curve a little bit, especially if you're planning on playing him turn 6, for the benefit of haste. But we'll see.
Obviously, on the utility end of things, you get Doom Blade, Inquisition of Kosilek, Duress, and all the usual black staples.
Mirrodin Beseiged adds in Septic Rats, which would fill a good creature spot, as well as a strong creature in the Phyrexian Crusader. With protection from Red, White, and most black removal, as well as first strike, the Phyrexian Crusader is just about the deadliest thing this side of the Mephidross. The Phyrexian Vatmother is a huge body that comes with a negligible downside, and at 4 mana, it could be playable. Thusfar though, black doesn't leap much ahead of where it is.
Blue:
Blue seems a strange place to go next, but this is actually my preferred second color for infect. While proliferate isn't spectacular (too slow unless you're playing full-blown control), Blue still provides the best utility package of any color. First, you get access to potent counter magic, add in some gems like preordain for card advantage and distortion strike to make sure your bodies connect, and you'll have a pretty nice low-mana-cost splash. Jace could theoretically see play in variants here, but come on, we don't really *need* a $100 card to assimilate everything, do we? I didn't think so.
However, it is worth mentioning that Tezerret 2.0 can do fun things with the artifact infect creatures. Amusing, yes. Viable? Eh. Other than him, Blue isn't currently rocking any ground breaking news for infectors. Barring an incredible source of proliferation, or a new great utility spell, blue doesn't gain much from the new set.
Green:
Bringing in the Blight Mambas and, of course, Putrefax, Green helps out with the creature base, but holding mana for regenerate hurts infects tempo a lot. Putrefax is a good finisher, but in my opinion, probably not as good as Hand of the Praetor. Green's real advantage is in power-amplification. Vines of Vastwood protects your creatures while getting them up to two-shot range. Giant growth is always beneficial, and Prey's Vengeance gives you some great bang-for-your-buck.
Green gains some creatures in Beseiged, notably the Rot Wolf and Viridian Corruptor (2/2 infects that destroy artifacts are just the answer to those damned Monuments and Wyrmcoil engines.) Phyrexian Hydra's made some splashes – if only for the 7/7 body – but I think that the self-infect drawback ruins it.
Red/White:
I've seen some experimental builds using RDW beatdown plus tainted strike. Sending a gigantic Kiln fiend in and then hitting it with a tainted strike can get you an easy win, but it seems inconsistant and not terribly beneficial over the B/G/U variants. I'm not going to pay much attention to it. On the white end of things, the situation looks even more bleak. Maybe in New Phyrexia, guys.
Artifact:
Infect does get a lot of help in the artifacts – as one would expect from a Mirrodin themed set. Necropede and Ichorclaw Myr are solid artifact creatures that fit into a deck regardless of color identity. Corpse Cur sits a little higher on the mana curve, but still seems decent. Any power increasing equipment (like Darksteel Axe) is solid. Livewire Lash, in my opinion, is the real lynchpin of any good infect deck – and lets you strike creatures and players alike for infect damage with impuny.
Mirrodin Beseiged brings more to the table with Plague Myr, whom I have mixed feelings about. The lower mana numbers are fairly tightly packed. In addition, there's also the giant 11/11 trample infect indestructible Blightsteel Colossus. Admittedly, 12 mana makes him all but unreachable for a deck that isn't designed to tutor him out somehow.
There's a good chance that we'll see some more infect-benefiting cards in MBS before release. At time of writing, we only have 46 spoilers so far, so there's plenty more to go. I'll post my current infect list in a few days, and trying to explain the current strategy against various decks.
What do you guys think about infect as a mechanic? Do you hate how insular it is? Love it? Who do you want to win? Mirran or Phyrexian? Who do you think is going to win? Post em down in the comments.
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