Primer Monday - Infect

Hi all! This series is all about an in depth look at a deck as a primer. This week, the deck will be: Infect. Infect is one of my favorite decks, and is very polarizing within the community. You either love infect, or you hate it. Let’s dive in:

[[card: Glistener Elf]] [[card: Might of Old Krosa]] [[card: Become Immense]]

What is Infect?

Infect is a aggressive combo deck that aims to deal 10 points of infect damage as quickly as possible. Often able to win on turn 4, through various pump spells and cheap creatures, the deck sets a very fast clock for the opponent, when even a 1/1 [[card_link: Glistener Elf]] can be lethal in just 2 turns.

While UG has been the standard for a long time, due to the consistency of the deck, the recent banning of [[card_link: Gitaxian Probe]] has left many wondering if Infect is still viable. While it was not overly central to the deck’s success, it allowed you to know if you can go all in on a particular turn. While there are other card choices for gaining information, such as [[card_link: Peek]], paying 2 life to gain perfect information, while drawing a card is irreplaceable.

BUG Infect has it’s upsides, with the inclusion of cards like [[card_link: Abrupt Decay]], [[card_link: Thoughtseize]], and [[card_link: Plague Stinger]], the downside is the mana. Because we are running [[card_link: Inkmoth Nexus]], you may not always have the mana you require to cast your spells on curve, which is an imperative aspect of the deck.

Mono G Infect also has a place, with cards like [[card_link: Cathedral of War]] and offering a maximum amount of pump spells, but has some of the worst side board options, and lacks a good infect creature 9-12, usually deploying [[card_link: Necropede]] or [[card_link: Ichorclaw Myr]].

BG Infect is a brew that is worth testing, especially with the recently released [[card_link: Blooming Marsh]], but losing [[card_link: Blighted Agent]] is a hard sell, overall.

Card Choices:

Infectors:

[[card_link: Glistener Elf]] - The best (and only) 1-drop infect creature, it allows you to be as aggressive as possible, and has the ability to win on t3 unopposed.

[[card_link: Blighted Agent]] - Possibly the best, and if not second best, infect creature. Being in blue is a little rough, but being unblockable is an huge plus, having to only worry about removal.

[[card_link: Plague Stinger]] - While not unblockable, it does offer evasion. If you are in black, you are playing this creature.

[[card_link: Inkmoth Nexus]] - Our best, and only, infecting man-land. Being able to dodge removal such as [[card_link: Abrupt Decay]] and any other sorcery speed removal is a huge plus.

[[card_link: Ichorclaw Myr]] - While not the best infector, if you are in mono-G this is one of your go-to infectors.

[[card_link: Necropede]] - If you are not using Black or Green, or any other color, then play this for redundancy. Otherwise, leave it at home.

[[card_link: Blight Mamba]] - Worse than [[card_link: Necropede]], as it requires you to leave up mana, which is something that you will not often do.

[[card_link: Phyrexian Crusader]] - Can be useful in the sideboard, particularly against heavy removal decks in RW.

[[card_link: Viridian Corrupter]] - Like [[card_link: Phyrexian Crusader]], this is best in the sideboard, if you need threats and want to remove a pesky artifact such as [[card_link: Chalice of the Void]].

Pump Spells:

Single Use:

[[card_link: Might of Old Krosa]] - While the restriction of casting on your main phase is a minor drawback, the reward is much greater.

[[card_link: Groundswell]] - This card goes in and out of favor within builds of Infect. The power is undeniable, and gaining +4/+4 off of a fetch can save your creature more often than not. Even +2/+2 for 1 is acceptable, overall.

[[card_link: Become Immense]] - Due to the massive amounts of fetchlands and pump spells, this can easily be deployed on t4 or t5, allowing you to win games out of nowhere. While susceptible to graveyard hate, if an opponent wants to bring in hate just for this, it’s still worth it.

[[card_link: Mutagenic Growth]] - Enables [[card_link: Become Immense]] if you are playing it and pumps your creature 2 for 2 life.

[[card_link: Giant Growth]] - Best used in mono-Green builds, it is still efficient for 1 mana.

[[card_link: Predator’s Strike]] - While gaining trample can be relevant, the extra mana is typically not worth it.

Repeatable Pump:

[[card_link: Rancor]] - +2/+0 and trample that can be reused as long as it is on the battlefield is a great effect. One downside is that on cast, if the targeted creature is removed, it does not return to your hand.

[[card_link: Noble Hierarch]] - This card is fantastic. The exalted trigger alone enables a more common turn 3 win, the ramp is great, and fixes if you are using blue. Also, because many decks use this card, your opponent may be more inclined to use a removal spell on it, which saves one of your creatures.

[[card_link: Pendelhaven]] - Most, if not all, of your infect creatures are 1/1, so this will always pump them. Multiples still fuel Become Immense, and is essentially an upgrade to a basic forest.

[[card_link: Wild Defiance]] - Great card out of the sideboard, and sometimes found in mainboards. While mana intensive, against damage-based removal, this card will often save your creature without you having to use a valuable pump spell on it.

[[card_link: Cathedral of War]] - This card is really only used in mono-colored versions of infect. While we already play 4x [[card_link: Inkmoth Nexus]], and want as few lands as possible, this puts a strain on our mana base.

Protection and Evasion:

[[card_link: Apostle’s Blessing]] - One of our best ways to protect our creatures, it also acts as evasion against some/all of opposing creatures. Also, because it says, “Target creature you control”, the effect can not be redirected to an opponent’s [[card_link: Spellskite]], and offers evasion versus artifacts as well.

[[card_link: Vines of Vastwood]] - Offers protection early, and acts as a finisher later, this card is great. Being able to stop your opponent from targeting their own creature is a neat trick as well, and to clear up any confusion let’s look at an example that may come up against Death’s Shadow Aggro:

Opponent has [[card_link: Death’s Shadow]] on board and it is a 10/10. They cast [[card_link: Temur Battle Rage]], targeting their creature. You cast [[card_link: Vines of Vastwood]] on [[card_link: Death’s Shadow]]. On resolution, it reads as such: “Target creature ([[card_link: Death’s Shadow]]) can’t be the target of spells or abilities the [[card_link: Death’s Shadow]]’s controller controlls.”

[[card_link: Blossoming Defense]] - An upgrade to [[card_link: Ranger’s Guile]], and arguably better than [[card_link: Vines of Vastwood]], it grants +2/+2 and hexproof to a creature “you control”, meaning [[card_link: Spellskite]] can’t redirect this one either, though don’t complain if they pay life to try to.

[[card_link: Distortion Strike]] - Good in combination with [[card_link: Wild Defiance]], it grants a slight pump, and makes a creature unblockable. Generally less desirable when running [[card_link: Blighted Agent]], it still is useful.

[[card_link: Spellskite]] - If we already don’t like the effect of it against us, it must be good in the mirror. It also draws removal away from your creatures fairly well, especially most mainstream damage based removal.

IF PLAYING ON MTGO: If your opponent casts [[card_link: Kolaghan’s Command]] against you, targeting your [[card_link: Spellskite]] and another creature, you CAN redirect so both parts of the card target the [[card_link: Spellskite]]. It is difficult with the prompts, but you want to first click NO to redirecting the “Destroy target artifact” part, and YES to “deals 2 damage”.

[[card_link: Dryad Arbor]] - Useful against [[card_link: Liliana of the Veil]], if running it, count it as a spell, and not a land.

Utility:

[[card_link: Sylvan Scrying]]

Possibly one of the only land searches worth playing, it can tutor up [[card_link: Inkmoth Nexus]] or [[card_link: Pendelhaven]].

[[card_link: Serum Visions]]

[[card_link: Sleight of Hand]]

Since the banning of [[card_link: Gitaxian Probe]], both of these help you find other infect creatures, or more protection.

[[card_link: Thoughtseize]]

[[card_link: Inquisition of Kozilek]]

While most of the removal we are concerned with is 3CMC or less, our life total is not our most important resource, so the 2 life isn’t a huge cost to steal a card like [[card_link: Supreme Verdict]] or [[card_link: Damnation]]

[[card_link: Spell Pierce]]

[[card_link: Dispel]]

[[card_link: Negate]]

These are our best counters in Blue, and the only ones worth running. [[card_link: Remand]] has been considered, but is more of a tempo play, and we want to be able to keep removal out of the opponent’s hand.

[[card_link: Dismember]]

[[card_link: Twisted Image]]

[[card_link: Darkblast]]

[[card_link: Abrupt Decay]]

Removal should either clear the way of blockers, or get rid of any creature that prevents you from winning the game, i.e [[card_link: Melira, Sylvok Outcast]] or [[card_link: Spellskite]]

[[card_link: Nature’s Claim]]

[[card_link: Creeping Corrosion]]

[[card_link: Hurkyl’s Recall]]

[[card_link: Viridian Corrupter]]

Artifact removal is also important, as [[card_link: Chalice of the Void]] and [[card_link: Spellskite]] are problematic, and Affinity is always a popular deck choice.

[[card_link: Grafdigger’s Cage]]

[[card_link: Surgical Extraction]]

[[card_link: Nihil Spellbomb]]

These cards allow you to cut off the opponent’s graveyard, while not hitting your own.

[[card_link: Kitchen Finks]]

If you are in a Burn heavy meta, this is a go to card, often trading at least 2 for 1, and gaining life in the process. Burn is built to get you from 20-0 as quickly as possible, so being able to have anywhere from 22-24 total life points is important.

Lands:

In general, the basic land build of Gx Infect includes:

8 Fetchlands

4 Inkmoth Nexus

2 Shocklands

2 Forest

2 Pendelhaven

Leaving you with 2-3 flex slots. These can be filled with additional fetchlands or utility lands. If your meta is heavy with [[card_link: Blood Moon]] a basic of your splash color is advised, but not necessary.

Technical Play:

Mulligans: Remember, you need pump, creatures, and protection. If your opening 7 does not have an infect creature, mulligan. Ideally, you want 1-2 infect creatures, and protection. You run enough pump where you will draw it.

Fetching: Shocking yourself often does not matter, as you have the faster clock more times than not. If you don’t need to fetch, don’t. Let the fetch sit there, especially versus [[card_link: Liliana of the Veil]] if running [[card_link: Dryad Arbor]], and to let you trigger landfall on [[card_link: Groundswell]]

Pump Spells: Usually you will be using your pumps as often as possible, unless you have gained information on the opponent’s hand otherwise. If you have your choice of pumping a creature that can attack in unblocked, or playing a 2-drop, it is generally better to attack in for as much damage as possible.

Sequencing: On Turn 1, you generally want to play out a [[card_link: Glistener Elf]] if you have one, but if you only have one land in hand, or if you believe your opponent has removal (i.e on the draw, t1 they play mountain), then it is better to play a [[card_link: Noble Hierarch]] first, to ensure 2 mana or to eat a removal spell, respectively. Your turn 2 will largely depend on your turn 1 play and your hand. If you have [[card_link: Inkmoth Nexus]] in hand, you generally want to play it, especially if your turn 1 infect creature was destroyed. This allows you to keep up as much pressure as possible. Many of our spells only require one green source, except for [[card_link: Vines of Vastwood]], so if you can set up a turn 3 kill, but need to use the vines as your pump, you want to play your second green source first. It allows you to play a 2-drop creature, and leave up protection.

Blockers: You generally don’t want to trade 1 for 1, or 2 for 1 yourself, attacking into a bigger creature and using a pump spell to kill it. You have almost no card advantage, so every card matters. Also, if playing against Blue, be careful about creatures like [[card_link: Snapcaster Mage]] or [[card_link: Vendilion Clique]].

Regular Damage: This deck can win though regular damage, even against [[card_link: Melira, Sylvok Outcast]]. You have enough pump in your deck that you can, in general, force enough damage through quick enough to win. Also, if playing [[card_link: Wild Defiance]] and 2 [[card_link: Spellskite]], with one pump spell you can continually bounce that spell back and forth, to pump both.

Sideboarding:

[[card_link: Rancor]] can come out vs non-flying decks, as you won’t need trample to push damage through.

[[card_link: Mutagenic Growth]] while great in a short game, long term 0 mana typically isn’t an issue, and you would rather have more protection or counters.

[[card_link: Apostle’s Blessing]] can come out vs non-removal heavy decks. [[card_link: Blossoming Defense]] can say in, as it still pumps.

Weaknesses:

[[card_link: Melira, Sylvok Outcast]] is a concern, so try to save all of your pump for a one shot kill. Getting the opponent to 9 poison counters, then having to deal with this forces you into a worse position overall. Also of note, [[card_link: Inkmoth Nexus]] does not deal damage with [[card_link: Melira, Sylvok Outcast]] on the battlefield. This is because the, “lose infect” part is time stamped above the [[card_link: Inkmoth Nexus]] animation, so the it actually gains infect. However, since the opponent can’t get poison counters, it does essentially nothing.

Flying blockers are also an issue, even cards like [[card_link: Lingering Souls]] can be problematic. We basically need [[card_link: Blighted Agent]] or [[card_link: Apostle’s Blessing]] to evade them, or we need to keep trading and keeping our creatures alive, which is counter-productive. [[card_link: Ichorclaw Myr]] is an option as well, though is soft overall.

Spot removal is also an issue, and more often than not the opponent will be casting it on their turn. This forces us to play our protection on their turn, and if it is a [[card_link: Blossoming Defense]] we lose the pump. This is where [[card_link: Spellskite]] and [[card_link: Wild Defiance]] come into play, especially against UR and WUR variants with access to a lot of removal.

Sample Decklist:

[[deck: 16093]]

[[published_at: 20 Feb 2017, 9:00 am]]
[[category: article]]
[[preview_content: Modern Infect Primer]]
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