Commander Collection: Toxic Garden

Commander / EDH* Bracket 3 GU (Simic) Infect Proliferate Toxic

Jurrane

Land (38)

• 1x Bonders' Enclave
• 1x Boseiju, Who Endures P
• 1x Botanical Sanctum
• 1x Breeding Pool
• 1x Command Tower
• 1x Dreamroot Cascade
• 1x Fabled Passage
• 1x Flooded Grove
• 1x Flooded Strand P
• 6x Forest
• 1x Hinterland Harbor
• 1x Inkmoth Nexus
• 4x Island
• 1x Karn's Bastion
• 1x Mirrex
• 1x Misty Rainforest P
• 1x Otawara, Soaring City P
• 1x Polluted Delta P
• 1x Prismatic Vista P
• 1x Rejuvenating Springs
• 1x Rogue's Passage
• 1x Scalding Tarn P
• 1x Scavenger Grounds
• 1x Verdant Catacombs P
• 1x War Room
• 1x Waterlogged Grove
• 1x Windswept Heath P
• 1x Wooded Foothills P
• 1x Yavimaya Coast
• 1x Yavimaya Hollow P

Card Draw (4)

• 1x Mystic Remora
• 1x Pollywog Prodigy
• 1x Rhystic StudyGC
• 1x Sylvan Library

Protection (1)

• 1x Heroic Intervention

Poison Counters (24)

• 1x Blight Mamba
• 1x Blighted Agent
• 1x Bloated Contaminator
• 1x Bloodroot Apothecary
• 1x Contaminant Grafter
• 1x Glistener Elf
• 1x Ichorspit Basilisk
• 1x Infectious Bite
• 1x Myr Convert
• 1x Phyrexian Hydra
• 1x Phyrexian Swarmlord
• 1x Plague Myr
• 1x Prologue to Phyresis
• 1x Spinebiter
• 1x Tainted Observer
• 1x Triumph of the Hordes
• 1x Tyrranax Atrocity
• 1x Tyrranax Rex
• 1x Venerated Rotpriest
• 1x Venomous Brutalizer
• 1x Viral Drake
• 1x Viridian Corrupter
• 1x Virulent Silencer
• 1x Vorinclex, Monstrous Raider

Removal (6)

• 1x Beast Within
• 1x Cyclonic RiftGC
• 1x Pistus Strike
• 1x Pongify
• 1x Rapid Hybridization
• 1x Reality Shift

Countermagic (4)

• 1x Arcane Denial
• 1x Counterspell
• 1x Mana Drain P
• 1x Negate

Commander (1)

Proliferate Sources (11)

• 1x Cankerbloom
• 1x Contentious Plan
• 1x Dreamtide Whale
• 1x Evolution Sage
• 1x Experimental Augury
• 1x Flux Channeler
• 1x Inexorable Tide
• 1x Smell Fear
• 1x Tekuthal, Inquiry Dominus
• 1x Thrummingbird
• 1x Unnatural Restoration

Ramp (9)

• 1x Birds of Paradise
• 1x Everflowing Chalice
• 1x Exploration
• 1x Farseek
• 1x Nature's Lore
• 1x Rampant Growth
• 1x Sakura-Tribe Elder
• 1x Sol Ring
• 1x Three Visits

Tutors (3)

• 1x Merchant Scroll
• 1x Mystical TutorGC
• 1x Solve the Equation

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{U}{G} Introduction: Witness the Sickness {U}{G}

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Welcome to my primer for "Toxic Garden", a Simic infect/proliferate deck for Commander. This is one of my newer lists but it's in pretty much its final form after several iterations and playtests.

I've taken the view that an infect deck should be part of the 40-deck collection that I've put together. Initially I built it out of obligation more than anything else but I've enjoyed playing it (although you quickly have to accept you'll be the archenemy if you're running a poison strategy), as it creates some interesting game states and attacks on a slightly different axis to other decks.

Infect was always at least a semi-viable archetype in Commander but, with the release of Phyrexia: All Will Be One and the Toxic mechanic, it's received a healthy (or should that be unhealthy?) dose of power. Although toxic was very much intended by WotC to be a 'fixed' version of infect, it's had the advantage of introducing a whole bunch of new cards into the EDH card pool for us to build around. And that's very much the purpose of this deck, together with its Commander, Ezuri, Stalker of Spheres.

Our Commander

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While poison/infect can be played in various different colour combinations, I've gone with Simic colours and chosen Ezuri, Stalker of Spheres as our Commander. As is often the case with {U}{G} commanders, he's a powerful value engine who enables us to draw plenty of cards during the typical EDH game - as if all goes to plan, we'll be proliferating a lot. He also supports our poison counters/proliferate strategy as we can pay what's essentially a kicker cost of {3} when he ETBs and proliferate twice (and draw two cards).

For the most part, Ezuri's not one of those Commanders we'll want to cast right away. He'll usually cost {5}{G}{U} the first time we play him, as we'll often want to use his proliferate cost to increase the number of poison counters our opponents have already accumulated. We have plenty of ways to generate poison counters (see the "It's Time To Get Ill" section below) and we'll want each opponent to have at least one counter before all the proliferation fun begins (or continues) when Ezuri hits the table.

The main downside of Ezuri is he's a very expensive Commander to cast once you take into account his additional kicker cost and any instances of commander tax. I've typically found I only get to play him once or twice before he becomes prohibitive but, if things are going our way, that's usually enough.

Deck Strategy

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Our strategy when playing this deck when playing this deck is pretty straightforward: win by dealing ten poison counters to each opponent. Our typical actions can be summarised in three distinct eary/mid/late game phases as outlined below. Obviously this is an oversimplification, as we'll be dealing with several other players who want to disrupt our strategy and take us out of the game as quickly as possible, but it should give an idea of what we're looking to achieve.

Early Game
In the first few turns, we should be aiming to do several things. The first is to ensure each opponent gets at least one poison counter as quickly as possible, so we can start proliferating. This will usually be with cards like Prologue to Phyresis, or by attacking with our infect or toxic creatures. We also want to be using our ramp spells (if we have them) to develop our resources as Ezuri is a mana-hungry Commander and we want to use his ETB ability whenever possible. Finally we also want to start playing - and hopefully - sticking early threats, as we want to take the fight to our opponents and play on the front foot whereever possible.

Mid Game
Once each opponent has at least one poison counter, we want to use the mid game to rapidly increase the number of counters each player has. That's often quite difficult as once we signpost ourselves as a toxic deck, we invariably become the archenemy and our opponents will probably join forces against us. To this end, watch our for threats that disrupt or nullify our game plan and think carefully about best to use our countermagic and removal spells. But, as with the early game, we'll rarely succeed by sitting back and doing nothing, so it's often best to attack aggressively (but not suicidally) and force opponents into tough decisions about trading creatures or getting more poison counters.

Late Game
The late game can be difficult to define as you won't always know it until you're in it (and it's EDH so sometimes players will just win out of nowhere) but once our opponents are approaching 10 poison counters, it's usually time to go for it. This can mean attacking in big waves of infect or toxic creatures to flood the board with poison counters, or saving up lots of cheap spells for proliferate bursts (or using Inexorable Tide). Always keep back countermagic for existential threats that stop us winning, or that will win the game for other players. At the risk of stating the obvious, if you're forced into choices about how to distribute poison counters, always take out the most threatening opponent first, or prioritise the player who's most likely to impact our game plan.

It's Time To Get Ill

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There are a multitude of ways in this list that we can inflict poison counters on our opponents. I'm not going to list them all here individually but have instead grouped them into categories by theme or card type. Obviously your own mileage may vary but these are the most effective tools I've found in the Simic colour combination.

Creatures
I've tried to pick creatures across the deck's mana curve, starting with Blighted Agent and Glistener Elf at {U} and {G} respectively, and topping out with Tyrranax Rex at {4}{G}{G}{G}. In the middle we have a wide range of creatures with the infect, proliferate or toxic keywords. Highlights include Bloated Contaminator, Bloodroot Apothecary, Contaminant Grafter, Tainted Observer, Tekuthal, Inquiry Dominus, Venerated Rotpriest and Vorinclex, Monstrous Raider. As a general rule, we want creatures that are as efficient as possible, with an emphasis on lower mana values to ensure our overall average CMC for the deck stays below 3.

Instants & Sorceries
Although the primary way we'll notch up poison counters on opponents is through combat, we can also turn to our various instants and sorceries as another route of attack, or if we can't get through with our creatures. For versatility's sake I've prioritised cards with useful effects that also grant poison counters or proliferate as an additional effect. These include Contentious Plan, Smell Fear, Tezzeret's Gambit, Unnatural Restoration, Bring the Ending, Experimental Augury, Infectious Bite and Prologue to Phyresis. Triumph of the Hordes gets a special mention for being such a good finisher card.

Other Permanents
Many of our other permanents support the deck's infect theme, whether they're artifacts, enchantments or lands. As with our other card categories, we're looking for efficiency and versatility. Inexorable Tide is amazing and will win games if you can make it stick. Sword of Truth and Justice is another handy source of proliferation and grants protection from white, the most popular colour for removal in the format. Finally we have lands like Karn's Bastion, Mirrex and Inkmoth Nexus, each of which are good options for a toxic or infect strategy.

Supporting Cards

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We support our suite of toxic, infect and proliferate cards with a selection of other spells that we generally need to compete effectively and impactfully in most EDH posts. These fit into a number of categories outlined below.

Card Draw
Simic is a pretty good colour combination for drawing cards. We run popular staples such as Sylvan Library, Rhystic StudyGC and Mystic Remora alongside the proliferate cards mentioned above that draw us cards as an additional benefit. Pollywog Prodigy is great too as we have plenty of ways to proliferate the counters from its evolve ability. We supplement them with useful lands that fit into pretty much any deck but work particularly well here: War Room and Bonders' Enclave.

Removal
Conversely, one of Simic's weaknesses is its limited selection of removal options. However we have a number of cards that can take out creatures, such as Pongify, Rapid Hybridization, Reality Shift, Pistus Strike and - when played correctly - Infectious Bite and Smell Fear. Beast Within is our most versatile option, being able to deal with any permanent on the battlefield. Otherwise we rely on our countermagic to proactively deal with problematic cards.

Counterspells & Protection
As we're in blue, it seems silly not to play to our strengths and include at least some counterspells. We only have room for a small number though, so it's usually best to save them for existential threats. Currently we're running Arcane Denial, Counterspell, Mana Drain and Negate.

Alongside our counterspells, we also have Heroic Intervention to save our creatures from removal spells or boardwipes. It's best used as a combat trick or when opponents try to take out multiple creatures in one go.

Ramp
If blue's strength is in countermagic, then green's is definitely ramp. As mentioned in "Early Game Strategy" above, we want to ramp as fast as possible in the early game to develop our resources for later. Everflowing Chalice is amazing in this list as we can use the proliferate mechanic to increase the number of counters it has. We also have green estaples like Exploration, Farseek, Nature's Lore, Rampant Growth and Three Visits to put plenty of lands into play.

Strengths

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We attack on a completely different axis to most other EDH decks. Opponents can gain all the life they like but all it takes is ten poison counters and they're out of the game. Sometimes it can be almost trivially easy to take a player out if our toxic or infect creatures get through their defences and we have the right combination of proliferate cards. Our game plan is akin to Commander damage: once we commit to removing a player, it puts them on an irreversable timer. As long as we can notch up the first few poison counters, we present inevitability with the numerous ways we can proliferate.

At our heart we're an aggro deck and as our Commander, Ezuri fulfills a role that many aggressive lists struggle with: he keeps our hard full of cards thanks to ability that allows us to draw each time we proliferate. The Simic colour combination also rewards us as an aggro tempo deck: we can stay on front foot playing creatures that must be answered, all the while drawing cards, ramping quickly and dealing with the most problematic threats with our counterspells.

Weaknesses

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Let's be honest, people are irrationally scared of infect. Our reputation preceeds us and we're going to get targetted... a LOT. In fact our bark is often worse than our bite and we rarely deserve our archenemy status. Aggro strategies are hard to execute in EDH because of the abundance of boardwipes, removal and other defensive measures, not to mention that we have to somehow kill three opponents. I've heard it said that infect is great at destroying one opponent but it struggles with two or more, which definitely has an element of truth. Although the card pool has deepened recently with Phyrexia: All Will Be One but the power level of infect creatures is below the curve compared to other creatures of the same mana value.

The other problem I've found is that we're very reliant on creature damage to notch up the first few poison counters. If our creatures are removed in the early turns, or we don't see an early Prologue to Phyresis (or a Mystical TutorGC etc to find it), it's an uphill battle for us. I recently had a game when my first four or five toxic creatures were destroyed in consecutive turns after they were played, leaving me with a hand full of proliferate cards but no poison counters to spread. I lost the game without dealing a single poison counter. It was utterly depressing.

Finally, the downside of a poison counters strategy is we don't get to take advantage of the damage our opponents inflict on each other. We can't swoop in when life totals are low: it's ten poison counters or nothing and we're not going to win off the back of other players' efforts.

But if you don't mind all that, it can still be fun to play an infect deck. You just have to be aware of the risks.

Power Level

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I categorise decks in my collection according to four tiers of power, from 1 (most powerful) to 4 (least powerful):

Tier 1: Higher powered decks with fast mana, free spells, and infinite combos or instant wins that are searchable with tutors.
Tier 2: Well tuned decks which may have infinite combos or instant wins that are searchable with tutors, but not many fast mana sources and/or free spells.
Tier 3: Reasonably well tuned casual decks that are capable of powerful plays. May occasionally have infinite combos or instant wins but don't generally use tutors to find them.
Tier 4: Lower powered or linear decks, weak enough to play against other casual decks.

I would classify this as one of my Tier 3 decks. Although toxic is a feared and hated mechanic, it's not particularly degenerate and tends to be self-regulated because it gets targetted by so many other players. This list doesn't do anything fundamentally unfair or unfun, and tends to make for dynamic, interactive games. It runs a few game-breaking cards like Fierce GuardianshipGC, Cyclonic RiftGC, Rhystic StudyGC and Vorinclex, Monstrous Raider, but is still a casual build at heart. I'd be happy to try it at most medium power tables, providing opponents are happy to play against a poison deck.

In terms of where it sits in WotC's new EDH power brackets, I'd say this list is in Bracket 3. It runs three game changer cards (Mystical TutorGC, Cyclonic RiftGC and Rhystic StudyGC) and is fairly well optimised. So it's definitely stronger than most preconstructed decks and overall, B3 seems about right.

Budget

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Becuase of the incluson of the game-changer cards mentioned in the previous section, the budget for this deck is quite high for a casual build, currently sitting at around $650 on Card Kingdom. You don't need to include those game-changers to be successful with a poison list, however, as most toxic/infect/proliferate cards themselves aren't that expensive to buy. Here's a link to some budget Ezuri, Stalker of Spheres options, if you're interested in giving it a try with relatively low investment. https://edhrec.com/commanders/ezuri-stalker-of-spheres/infect/budget

Future Improvements

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As mentioned in the introductory section, this list is in pretty much its final form for the time being. I've recently adjusted the countermagic package and adjusted the number of infect/toxic creatures, so I hope the overall balance of the deck is right.

Thanks for reading this primer and don't be daunted by the threat of being the archenemy: infect can be a lot of fun to play in EDH. Enjoy it! :)

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All My EDH Decks

{W} Giada, Font of Hope {W}
S(i)erra Sidewinder: Mono-White Angel Tribal

{U} Orvar, the All-Form {U}
Clone Zone: Mono-Blue Shapeshifters Combo

{B} Sidisi, Undead Vizier {B}
Swamp Thing: Mono-Black Midrange Combo

{B} Ayara, First of Locthwain {B}
Black Diamond: Mono-Black Aristocrats Combo

{R} Torbran, Thane of Red Fell {R}
Red Force: Mono-Red Group Slug

{R} Rionya, Fire Dancer {R}
Firebird: Mono-Red Storm/Tokens

{G} Titania, Protector of Argoth {G}
Timber Terror: Mono-Green Land Sacrifice

{W}{U} Grand Arbiter Augustin IVGC {W}{U}
Control Freak: Azorius Control

{W}{U} Elminster {W}{U}
Crystal Wing: Azorius Skies & Scry

{U}{B} Oona, Queen of the Fae {U}{B}
Dreamcatcher: Dimir Faeries Tribal

{U}{B} Narfi, Betrayer King {U}{B}
Ice Breaker: Dimir Snow/Zombies

{U}{B} Lord of the Nazgul {U}{B}
The Black Gate Opens: Dimir Spellslinger

{B}{R} Rakdos, Lord of Riots {B}{R}
Steamin’ Demon: Rakdos Life Loss

{B}{R} Juri, Master of the Revue {B}{R}
Pandemonium: Rakdos Sacrifice

{R}{G} Wort, the Raidmother {R}{G}
Barnstormer: Gruul Conspire

{W}{G} Sigarda, Font of Blessings {W}{G}
Stampida: Selesnya Humans Tribal

{W}{G} Captain Sisay {W}{G}
Legendia: Selesnya Legendary

{W}{G} Sythis, Harvest's Hand {W}{G}
Diamondback: Selesnya Enchantress

{W}{B} Daxos the Returned {W}{B}
Curse of Novgorod: Orzhov Constellation

{W}{B} Kambal, Consul of Allocation {W}{B}
Oblivion: Orzhov Lifegain & Lifedrain

{W}{B} Eriette of the Charmed Apple {W}{B}
Flight of the Wicked Witch: Orzhov Auras

{U}{R} Firkraag, Cunning Instigator {U}{R}
Dragon’s Fury: Izzet Dragons/Goad

{B}{G} Hapatra, Vizier of Poisons {B}{G}
Scorpion Express: Golgari Deathtouch

{B}{G} Nath of the Gilt-Leaf {B}{G}
Outlaw Run: Golgari Elves/Discard

{W}{R} Bruenor Battlehammer {W}{R}
Steel Force: Boros Equipment

{W}{R} General Ferrous Rokiric {W}{R}
Gatekeeper: Boros Multicoloured

{U}{G} Ezuri, Stalker of Spheres {U}{G}
Toxic Garden: Simic Infect

{W}{U}{B} Tivit, Seller of Secrets {W}{U}{B}
Steel Vengeance: Esper Artifacts

{W}{U}{B} Yennett, Cryptic Sovereign {W}{U}{B}
Riddler’s Revenge: Esper Topdeck

{U}{B}{R} Marchesa, the Black Rose {U}{B}{R}
Revenge of the Mummy: Grixis Dethrone/Combo

{B}{R}{G} Vaevictis Asmadi, the Dire {B}{R}{G}
Dragon Wagon: Jund Dragons Tribal

{W}{R}{G} Pantlaza, Sun-Favored {W}{R}{G}
Raptor Attack: Naya Dinosaurs Tribal

{W}{U}{G} Galadriel, Light of Valinor {W}{U}{G}
Vapour Trail: Bant Flicker

{W}{B}{G} Karador, Ghost Chieftain {W}{B}{G}
Hair Raiser: Abzan Reanimator

{W}{B}{G} Bilbo, Birthday Celebrant {W}{B}{G}
A Long-Expected Party: Abzan Lifegain/Combo

{W}{U}{R} Kykar, Wind's Fury {W}{U}{R}
Storm Runner: Jeskai Tokens

{W}{U}{R} Hinata, Dawn-Crowned {W}{U}{R}
Phantom’s Revenge: Jeskai Control

{U}{B}{G} Yarok, the Desecrated {U}{B}{G}
Boomerang: Sultai ETB Triggers

{W}{B}{R} Kaalia of the Vast {W}{B}{R}
Abyssus: Mardu Angels & Demons

{U}{R}{G} Omnath, Locus of the Roil {U}{R}{G}
Boulder Dash: Temur Landfall

{U}{R}{G} Eshki, Temur's Roar {U}{R}{G}
Thunder Striker: Temur Power Matters

Date added	1 year
Last updated	1 month
Legality	This deck is not Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	5 - 0 Mythic Rares 43 - 0 Rares 24 - 0 Uncommons 19 - 0 Commons
Cards	101
Avg. CMC	2.65
Tokens	Ape 3/3 G, Beast 3/3 G, Frog Lizard 3/3 G, Manifest 2/2 C, Phyrexian Insect 1/1 G, Phyrexian Mite 1/1 C, Treasure