Pistus Strike

Instant

Destroy target creature with flying. its controller gets a poison counter.

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
Pauper	Legal
Pauper Duel Commander	Legal
Pauper EDH	Legal
Planechase	Legal
Quest Magic	Legal
Tiny Leaders	Legal
Vanguard	Legal
Vintage	Legal

Discussion (10)

eliakimras on

5 years ago

About your ramp: Farseek, Rampant Growth and Fellwar Stone are better than Obelisk of Bant and Obelisk of Esper, because they enable a turn 3 Atraxa if you drop them at turn 2. I would recommend cutting these cards to put the lands I suggested before: Festercreep, Bitter Ordeal, Retribution of the Ancients, Grim Affliction, Pistus Strike. You may consider Swords to Plowshares, Utter End. You can also check my Atraxa decklist. I organize it by role (draw, ramp, removal, win condition, etc) so I can figure out what I have and what I need. Have fun!

greatdevourer on This Machine Kills Tyrants

5 years ago

OK, consider the following changes. Obviously you'll need to consider the budget you want to keep with this deck. I'm looking at options to bring up the kill speed for this deck. If you really want to hit hard and hit fast, then you need not worry about you own life total early in the game. I know what you're going for in this deck and I think you should look at this dekc from a different perspective. I'm not talking about play styles. I'm working with your aggressive beatdown style. I'm talking about shifting strategies in mid-game. In the early game you go all-out and hit as hard and fast as possible. Get the kill by turn 4 or 5. Once you've taken out the primary threat, you shift strategies. Change your approach and work on recovery and defense, shift to a midrange gameplay.

Ditch that crappy Putrefax. The "sacrifice at the end step" is too much of a hinderance for 5 mana. It it were cheaper, maybe, but nope it is just crap.
I really like Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite but the mana cost is too high for the early game. Not sure on this one.
I also think you should reconsider keeping the Lost Leonin since he's cheap and hits the field early. He's also a great pump target.

Better infect creatures:
Contagious Nim
Cystbearer
Ichorclaw Myr
Mycosynth Fiend
Necropede
Phyrexian Digester
Relic Putrescence - screw your mana rock.
Skithiryx, the Blight Dragon
Whispering Specter

Pump for the kill:
Invigorate - Because we don't care what their life total is.
Tainted Strike - Surprise!
Snake Cult Initiation - 3 poison counters at once.
Glistening Oil
Giant Growth, Mutagenic Growth, Titanic Growth, Might of Old Krosa - The classic pump tactic.

Let's consider toolbox utility cards:
Azorius Guildmage - Because screw your activated ability. Counter a planeswalker ability and watch the looks on their face.
Simic Guildmage - Imagine moving the Rancor or Phyresis after blockers have been declared but before the damage phase.
Prowling Serpopard - Nope, I'm gonna get my creatures.
Melira, Sylvok Outcast - Make the game one-sided.
Lightning Greaves - An additional set of Swiftfoot Boots. Yeah, I know shroud means that you can't pump, but there are ways around that.
Unburial Rites - Here it comes again.
Virulent Wound - Poison and removal.
Pistus Strike - Poison and removal.

There are some -1/-1 counters decks based around Hapatra or Atraxa. Since the infect creatures deal combat damage as whither, we can use that to our advantage.
Hapatra, Vizier of Poisons - Put those -1 counters on opponent's creatures to work making tokens.
Phyrexian Hydra - This gets just stupid with Hapatra, Vizier of Poisons.

Lands you may have missed:
I know we've talked about this in the past, but I think you should really consider getting the shock lands. A quick check of the card prices on TCGPlayer puts the shocks at about @10-15 each. Totally worth it.
Gavony Township - Proliferate!
Vault of the Archangel - Need to stay in the game a bit longer.
Boseiju, Who Shelters All - Screw your counterspell.

belugawhaleonthefloor on Atraxa +1/+1

6 years ago

Every commander deck should have Sol Ring. Strionic Resonator can copy Atraxas profligerate abilty, allowing you to do it twice per turn. Other suggestions I have are: Hardened Scales, Azor's Elocutors, Give / Take, Festering Mummy, Fuel for the Cause, Spread the Sickness, Blighted Agent, Core Prowler, Corrupted Conscience, Necropede, Pistus Strike, Plague Stinger, Tainted Strike, Viral Drake, Viridian Corrupter, Astral Cornucopia, Deepglow Skate, Banshee's Blade, Chimeric Mass, Darksteel Reactor, Grindclock, Lux Cannon, Umezawa's Jitte.

Forr3st on Infect + Wither

6 years ago

changes done are:

Commander Hapatra, Vizier of Poisons > Varolz, the Scar-Striped

Grave Pact > Crumbling Ashes

Black Sun's Zenith > Asceticism

Profane Command > Bow of Nylea

Overwhelming Stampede > Hardened Scales

Blanket of Night > Thawing Glaciers

Ammit Eternal > Phyrexian Hydra

Avenger of Zendikar > Vigor

Tendrils of Corruption > Hollow Trees

Diabolic Edict > Whispersilk Cloak

Vulturous Zombie > Sisters of Stone Death

Corpse Cur > Blight Mamba

Mutilate > Decimator Web

Become Immense > Pistus Strike

Melira, Sylvok Outcast > Spinebiter If an opponent gets control of her, the game ist lost!

Corrupt > Toxic Nim

Exsanguinate > Primeval Bounty

Carnifex Demon > Corpsejack Menace

Cabal Coffers > Rogue's Passage

Malicious Affliction > Grim Affliction

Jester's Cap > Dauthi Trapper

Midnight Banshee > Core Prowler

Ulberth on Atraxa Control

6 years ago

Previous version

Land (30) 1xAcademy Ruins 1xAncient Den 1xBayou 1xBojuka Bog 1xCommand Tower 1xFlooded Strand 2xForest 1xInkmoth Nexus 2xIsland 1xMarsh Flats 1xMisty Rainforest 1xMurmuring Bosk 2xPlains 1xPolluted Delta 1xSavannah 1xScrubland 1xSeat of the Synod 1xStrip Mine 1xSwamp 1xTree of Tales 1xTropical Island 1xTundra 1xUnderground Sea 1xUrborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth 1xVault of Whispers 1xVerdant Catacombs 1xWooded Foothills Instant (11) 1xAnguished Unmaking 1xCyclonic Rift 1xEnlightened Tutor 1xMystical Tutor 1xPath to Exile 1xPistus Strike 1xSwords to Plowshares 1xTainted Strike 1xUtter End 1xVampiric Tutor 1xVirulent Wound Sorcery (8) 1xAustere Command 1xBribery 1xDemonic Tutor 1xExpropriate 1xLife from the Loam 1xMerciless Eviction 1xSeasons Past 1xYawgmoth's Will

Creature (24)
1xBlighted Agent
1xClever Impersonator
1xCore Prowler
1xCorpse Cur
1xCrystalline Crawler
1xEternal Witness
1xGilded Drake
1xGrand Architect
1xGyre Sage
1xHand of the Praetors
1xIchor Rats
1xMaulfist Revolutionary
1xNoble Hierarch
1xPhyrexian Crusader
1xPutrefax
1xScavenging Ooze
1xSkithiryx, the Blight Dragon
1xSnapcaster Mage
1xThrummingbird
1xTorrential Gearhulk
1xTreasure Mage
1xTrinket Mage
1xTrophy Mage
1xViral Drake

Artifact (19)
1xAstral Cornucopia
1xCauldron of Souls
1xChromatic Lantern
1xContagion Engine
1xCrucible of Worlds
1xDecimator Web
1xEverflowing Chalice
1xExpedition Map
1xGrafted Exoskeleton
1xInspiring Statuary
1xLightning Greaves
1xMana Crypt
1xMana Vault
1xParadox Engine
1xSol Ring
1xSwiftfoot Boots
1xThrone of Geth
1xTormod's Crypt
1xVoltaic Key

Enchantment (7)
1xCorrupted Conscience
1xGlistening Oil
1xMirari's Wake
1xPhyresis
1xPrismatic Omen
1xPrivileged Position
1xSylvan Library

Dragoncraft01 on Infect Deck

7 years ago

Glistener Elf would be great in this deck. Also, if you are going to use any budget growth effects, I would recommend Giant Growth over Titanic Growth because paying a whole extra mana for only +1/+1 isn't really worth it. Pistus Strike may be just a little to narrow to be able to effectively use. The poison counter is nice, but if your opponent never has any flying creatures, the card is completely dead. Maybe something like Murder, Doomblade, or Ultimate Price might be better? Also, for lands, Evolving Wilds is cheap mana fixing, and since you don't usually have a turn one play anyway, is great to play turn one. It helps make sure you have the right colors and thins out your deck. Also, Become Immense is probably the best pump spell in the game, and maybe you can fit a copy or two in the list, especially if you use Evolving Wilds. Invigorate is also a very strong pump spell that is also budget. Since you use infect, them gaining life doesn't matter.

dreamistt on Atraxa, the ultimate praetor

7 years ago

Why Angel of Jubilation? It seems out of place to me... Same goes for Juniper Order Ranger, but this one is more of a flavor fail.

You could try Mortarpod for an easy way to deal infect damage.

Lands from the Vivid cycle (Vivid Marsh, Vivid Meadow, Vivid Creek and Vivid Grove) are an auto-include, but I'm sure you are aware of them. Other cheap lands: Mirrodin's Core, Calciform Pools, Dreadship Reef and Saltcrusted Steppe.

Pentad Prism allows you to fix your mana and ramp a bit with proliferate. Same goes with Gemstone Array and Crystalline Crawler

If you feel aggressive enough, Druids' Repository can also work.

Fertilid gives you easy, reusable ramp.

Opaline Bracers fits nicely in Atraxa's hands.

I'd say Overrun isn't all that good, and where's Triumph of the Hordes?

Pistus Strike might open the skyes for you.

Ordeal of Nylea and/or Khalni Heart Expedition and Quest for the Holy Relic might be interesting as well.

TheMadRocketeer on The Jungle Book, vol. 3 (Secret Force)

7 years ago

I'd recommend Plummet over Wing Snare for a faster and cheaper kill for flyers. At the same cost as Wing Snare (but at faster speed), Pistus Strike kills a flyer and gives the opponent a poison counter, which is useful in some decks but less so here.