Hand of the Praetors

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Legality

Format Legality
1v1 Commander Legal
Archenemy Legal
Block Constructed Legal
Canadian Highlander Legal
Casual Legal
Commander / EDH Legal
Commander: Rule 0 Legal
Custom Legal
Duel Commander Legal
Highlander Legal
Legacy Legal
Leviathan Legal
Limited Legal
Modern Legal
Oathbreaker Legal
Planechase Legal
Quest Magic Legal
Vanguard Legal
Vintage Legal

Hand of the Praetors

Creature — Phyrexian Zombie

Infect (This creature deals damage to creatures in the form of -1/-1 counters and to players in the form of poison counters.)

Other creatures you control with infect get +1/+1.

Whenever you cast a creature spell with infect, target player gets a poison counter.

Mortlocke on The Song of Phyresis

1 year ago

Vlasiax,

Thanks for posting! ONE is definitely going to shake this deck up considerably in that I absolutely plan to incorporate some of the spells that give opponents Poison counters - without targeting them, no less. I have a number of changes already planned and would love to hear your thoughts as I'm honestly having a bit of a tough time speculating on what to cut to make room. So far, here are my planned changes

  • Ixhel, Descendent of Atraxa for Hand of the Praetors: Given that Infect will be less dominant of a mechanic among creatures in this deck cutting Hand of the Praetors seems logical. Besides, with the host of cards that allow me to place poison counters directly on opponents, Hand of the Praetors seems even less relevant.

  • Skrelv, Defector Mite for Viridian Corrupter: Skrlev provides so many benefits being a psudo Mother of Runes that also grants Toxic and evasion. Viridian Corrupter's ETB effect is far too narrow for my liking, and only amounts to just a 2/2 with Infect. Toxic creatures such as Skrlev boast so many "goodstuff" effects that it's a no brainer why Corrupter has to be cut.

  • Myr Convert for Grateful Apparition: Apparition has long been on the replacement list as it's a non-phyrexian. Myr Convert is a perfect replacement as it's another mana dork that can put poison counters on players. Losing a proliferation source is a loss, but given the horde of new Toxic creatures that proliferate off of one trigger or another, this overall is a net gain.

  • Bloated Contaminator for Priests of Norn: Bloated Contaminator is actually my dream creature for the set. Evasion, Poison and Proliferate on a great body is just a dream come true. My only hope is that there is another creature just like it in March of the Machines. Priests of Norn is an okay creature for the most part but doesn't amount to much beyond just being a 1/4 infect creature.

  • White Sun's Twilight for Winds of Abandon: I've always been somewhat disappointed with Winds of Abandon as it more likely than not can ramp my opponent far beyond my ability to stop them. Sure, a horde of tokens can be wiped out - but at what cost? White Sun's Twilight isn't exactly a one sided boardwipe, but it can get me a bunch of 1/1 creatures that put Poison counters on players on top of slowing them down.

  • Vraska, Betrayal's Sting for Sheoldred, Whispering One: Obviously i'm happy to see Phyrexian themed planeswalkers and I'm overjoyed to see another Planeswalker with a focus on Poison counters. Swapping Vraska in for Sheoldred is both a mechanics and a flavor win - Sheoldred turned her back on Elesh Norn to pursue her own misguided and selfish desires along with the heretic Urbrask.

  • Tyrranax Rex for Vorinclex, Voice of Hunger: I've enjoyed the Soft lock VoH places on the board just by virtue of being there alone, but I've felt that his control never really synchronized with the rest of the deck. Vorinclex, Monstrous Raider compliments the deck directly and is a huge flavor win. Tyrranax Rex just seems like the perfect upgrade as it is CMC cheaper, has almost as many keywords as Questing Beast and places multiple Poison counters on an opponent when it hits. Rex in my eyes is a "backup" Skithiryx, the Blight Dragon in terms of power level and "feel".

  • Phyresis Outbreak for Toxic Deluge: Phyresis Outbreak is the mass removal I've always wished for and is a direct upgrade to Deluge - within the context of this deck that is. This card is absolutely a must include.

  • The Seedcore for Swamp: The Seedcore gives me Sliver Hive vibes, but having a card that fixes my mana in a 4 color deck and is a flavor win just seems like a no-brainer.

  • Venerated Rotpriest for Glistener Elf: Venerated Rotpriest is just a deterrent as this deck has very few spells that I would consider worthwhile for targeting my own creatures. Glistener Elf is an okay card but within the context of EDH it's "meh". Late game it hardly makes an impact without a horde of +1/+1 counters and some form of evasion.

  • Contaminant Grafter for Blight Mamba: Containment Grafter feels like a great card that can help reinforce a boardstate and put additional pressure on opponents mid to late game. Early game it would essentially help me run away with the game through conditional ramp and card advantage. Blight Mamba has honestly never done much for me and generally is as impactful as Glistener Elf.

Now comes the list of cards I think are at least worth considering (that I may or may not include) but don't exactly know what to cut to make room for:

  • Staff of Compleation: This is a big flashy card that caught my attention given the myriad of things it can do. However without the right combo piece this card could end up doing me more harm than good.

  • Glistening Sphere: There are very few drop mana rocks that are worthwhile, but this one definitely caught my eye. I'm not sure if it's any better than Astral Cornucopia though, as i've been ramped into the stratosphere with just a few proliferation triggers. Not to mention it only gets better just by having Atraxa on the field. I really want to like this card, but it doesn't seem to make the cut. If only it were

  • Infectious Inquiry: this seems like an absolute must have and am honestly considering cutting Phyrexian Arena for it. Arena does nothing the turn it ETBs and if I draw it late game it'll literally do nothing. Infectious Inquiry on the otherhand is always relevant, replaces itself and draws me a card. I just can't help but feel like i'm missing something by cutting Phyrexian Arena. I want to go ahead with this decision but I can't help but feel apprehensive and would really like your thoughts on this one.

  • Infectious Bite: I want to love this card but unfortunately besides the commander there are relatively few creatures whose bite would make any meaningful impact on the game. I think I might pass on this one.

  • Prologue to Phyresis: Everything you said about this card is spot on, and it is relevant at any point of the game. The question is - what to cut for it? I think cutting Contagion Clasp might be the move on this one, but i'm not entirely sure. Clasp is very conditional removal but what's important is that it's a repeatable proliferation source. But, maybe the new inclusions will help offset the loss of a proliferation source? I think this is the right move but I would like to hear your thoughts.

"What's your experience with Blightsteel Colossus and Contagion Engine? Do they ever come out to the battlefield or just happen to be on-theme inclusions?" To answer your question both hit the battlefield on a regular basis. Blightsteel Colossus is surprisingly easy to cast with a proliferated Astral Cornucopia or Everflowing Chalice. One of my best plays was countering a Villainous Wealth with being equal to 8 with Mana Drain and funneling that mana into a turn 5 Blightsteel. Contagion Engine is great for mass removal as well as a proliferation engine. If I tutor for it it's usually alongside Tangle Wire after Ichor Rats hit the field. It essentially grinds the game down to a snail's pace - or a halt under the right conditions.

End rant, sorry to write you a book but I had a lot on my mind. Please let me know what you think of all the upcoming changes!

TheoryCrafter on Dominaria United Spoilers

1 year ago

Here's my take:

Glad to finally see an Alt win Card in a new color scheme. Ajani, Sleeper Agent should be a boon to anyone looking to a Selesnya infect deck. If built right Abzan Infect Storm with Hand of the Praetors could be a possibility.

While Karn, Living Legacy doesn't add anything new to Tron or animate noncreature artifacts, it should be a help in Karn Tribal decks. The first ability can either help cast Karn Liberated sooner or be a support for the constructs made by by Karn, Scion of Urza. Plus it's ult can get around the Karn, the Great Creator/Mycosynth Lattice combo. KLL's power may be in its subtlety, but there's more to it. And I can't figure it out.

I'm liking the enlist mechanic. It should mesh well with exalted and other abilities and mechanics that give creatures a bonus for attacking alone.

The read ahead mechanic on the new sagas is a brilliant idea. You can farm the lore counters with Power Conduit, move them onto non-saga cards like Mind Unbound or speed up other Sagas through Nesting Grounds.

No new slivers or thrulls. Disappointing, but not unexpected.

As happy as I am about Liliana making an appearance, why reprint Liliana of the Veil, but not Arvad the Cursed? I don't know, maybe I'm being ridiculous.

Shivan Devastator is the kind of card I'd like to put in a monored Dragon deck. Now if the price can only come down a lot.

Tear Asunder is a huge upgrade from Revoke Existence.

While playable in 1v1 games, Ramses, Assassin Lord's alternate win ability is meant for multi-player. Unless of course you build a deck where everyone loses and Ramses prevents that.

Overall, we got a good set.

Kazierts on Pushing Poison

1 year ago

After reading your comment taking another look at your deck, I realized it has 70 cards. While, as I said, I don't intend to change your deckbuilding style, you should basically never go above 60 cards, unless your deck runs Yorion, Sky Nomad or Battle of Wits.

Your deckbuilding guidelines are quite interesting. Here's a few things I'd like to mention regarding them:

  • First, a compliment so it doesn't like I'm just criticizing everything. What you mentioned about legendary creatures is basically the correct way to play with them, in most cases. Too many can brick you and too few makes them hard to draw.

  • While, in some cases, it's good a backup windocondition, that does not apply to every archetype, Infect included. Because of the Infect keyword, the literally doesn't care about the opponent's life total. So, when you suddenly try to change to hit their life total with one or two creatures that don't have Infect, you're basically starting everything from scratch in the middle of a game. This goes into my next point which is your fear of hate cards.

  • I completely understand some cards that can shut your deck down are scary, but I feel like you're letting your fear get in the way of your deck. I'll use my deck as example. My manabase is almost completely made of nonbasic lands, yet Blood Moon doesn't scare me. Why? I have Thoughtseize and Inquisition of Kozilek. If that's not enough, then I also have Ratchet Bomb in my sideboard. Melira, Sylvok Outcast? Fatal Push, Damn, Collective Brutality and Liliana of the Veil all deal with it. My point is there multiple ways to deal with threats that don't force you into an extremely narrow path. Also, if you're playing Modern, no one will use Back to Basics because it's not legal. This also goes into my next point, which is the mana effiency.

  • Despite you saying you like to be mana effienct, a lot of cards here aren't. As I mentioned, some of them basically do nothing. Some actually do, but are overcoste, even in you examples. Sage's Row Denizen is very inefficient because mill decks like to turbo mill (which is something I personally don't like). This means the best mill creatures are Ruin Crab and Hedron Crab. When we come fo poisoning opponents, that's why Hand of the Praetors sees basically zero play outside of commander. Usually people just cast a Glistener Elf turn 1 and a Scale Up turn 2. Also, you're looking at the ratio, but not the usefulness of the creature. Sure, Cystbearer costs the same, manawise, as a Rot Wolf, but is incredibly worse.

If you want to follow this path of winning bast cast infect creatures with the hand on the field, then:

I understand if the above mentioned are a bit above your budget. A lot of these Infect cards haven't had a reprint yet.

I love when people go for nonstandard builds of decks. I hope you cam improve this without sacrificing too much of your own style.

Kazierts on Pushing Poison

1 year ago

As someone who loves infect, I have to say your list has waaaaaaaaaay too many creatures and lands. Even slower versions like mine, a Monoblack one, run around 12 creatures + 4 Inkmoth Nexus. Infect is a strong mechanic. So, in order to make it balanced, WOTC made the creatures really bad, which is why it's usually a bad idea to run this many of them. And 28 lands is asking to get mana flooded

Nevertheless, I'll give my suggestions without trying to chance to core ideia of the deck. If playing this was is how you have fun and it works for you and your friends, then I just want to help you make it better without modifying its core.

https://scryfall.com/search?q=%28c%3Ag+or+c%3Ab%29+usd%3D%3C1+legal%3Amodern+%28o%3Adestroy%29&unique=cards&as=grid&order=cmc&dir=asc

If you want me to give you suggestions more aligned with how Infect is normally played, tell me and I'll be happy to help. I just wanted to respect your deckbuilding style as much as possible with these.

TheoryCrafter on Infect

2 years ago

Have you considered Hand of the Praetors? This card will strengthen your creatures and give your opponents poison counters.

Sorin Markov Is good, but with Dread Presence, those affects are cumulative. May I suggest replacing Sorin with Plague Stinger! This will give you some early game flyers that won't be susceptible to cards like Blood Moon.

With two copies of Damnation in your deck I think you can get away with removing Cast Down and To the Slaughter. Keep Grasp of Darkness due to it being usable against creatures with indestructible. While To the Slaughter also deals with Indestructible creatures you have no control over which creature your opponent chooses to sacrifice.

I hope this all gives you a good start. Thank you for reading me out. Happy Hunting!

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