Skithiryx, the Blight Dragon

Legendary Creature — Phyrexian Dragon Skeleton

Flying

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

{B}: Skithiryx, the Blight Dragon gains haste until end of turn.

{B}{B}: Regenerate Skithiryx. (The next time this creature would be destroyed, instead tap it, remove it from combat and heal all damage on it.)

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
Pre-release	Legal
Quest Magic	Legal
Vanguard	Legal
Vintage	Legal

Discussion (51)

leovolt884_ on Rotpriest Infection

1 week ago

Definitely Does not need as many pump spells. Keep the Vines of Vastwood for protection and maybe a Snakeskin Veil or two if you want to argue for that. Heroic Intervention is a good alternative as always but doesn't have pump capabilities. I think it would be decent as mass removal is pretty common especially with -x/-x to all creatures being a common effect on black cards and your deck is very susceptible to that kind of removal. Most mass removal doesn't target so you wont even get Venerated Rotpriest triggers so some board wide protection seems necessary. Might of the Masses seems like a good cut because only 16 creatures with very limited card draw won't end up pumping more than other spells too often. Groundswell and Might of Old Krosa seem pretty redundant so picking one or the other would be best.

Depending on how you feel about splashing, maybe consider red for something like Rhythm of the Wild for protection and better aggro. Something to provide trample can be found here as well. Temur Battle Rage is an okay option and can be deadly but requires an additional pump spell to be at full potential. Can't think of any other cards like it off the top of my head but they definitely exist. If staying in two colors, consider 3-4 Vexing Shusher to simulate Rhythm and serve as removal bait in which case Triumph of the Hordes can maybe be justified as a boardwide buff and trample enabler, also giving shusher infect. In terms of creatures, running a few more may perform well, possibly a few copies of Flensermite and I would highly recommend Skithiryx, the Blight Dragon to close out games if you can't take them early. It would be a good idea to at least sideboard it against control or burn. Some of your current sideboard cards should be run mainboard like Dismember, a Force of Despair, and some Thoughtseize to disable your opponent.

I understand running Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth especially with the Inkmoth Nexus but it feels a bit pricey and could be replaced with an Overgrown Tomb since your mana ratio is already pretty good. A few lands may also be cut, considering 1.4 average cmc is very low and with limited card draw you really don't want to get mana flooded.

The deck feels almost like a "one trick" kind of deal and would be pretty easy to work around. You have to play really well to force your opponent into numerous combat tricks so maybe take it easier on yourself by running more removal and card draw. Dumping your hand then drawing 1 to 2 combat tricks per turn may not work against control decks or even aggro decks that can afford to chump block. Unearth is a good idea, consider running 1 less in favor of a mass recursion effect or something that lets you access multiple cards from the graveyard later in the game when you've run out of resources.

Mattio38 on ABZAN HOUSES

1 week ago

Thanks a lot austintayshus and Exoflo, your comments were both very helpful!
I've ended up removing Skithiryx, the Blight Dragon and Thalia and The Gitrog Monster.

About some of the other cards mentioned: I'd like to keep Smothering Tithe in the deck because it's just bonkers. It also works well with Mazirek, Kraul Death Priest and Doubling Season. I think Toxic Deluge is a very flexible cards. And if my creatures got higher toughness because of the counters I'm able to duck the Deluge just under that for a one sided boardwipe.

I think you're right about Flare of Malice. The idea was to somehow sac a creature after casting Skithiryx, put the counters on it and give it haste. And no matter how much of a cool win that would be, those might just be too many hoops to jump through.

I don't play tutors anymore. I know it'd increase the powerlevel of my deck but just as you said I rather play cards I like vs cards just strong ones.

Again, thanks a lot for your thoughts!

Exoflo on ABZAN HOUSES

1 week ago

Forgotten Ancient needs one full turn to trigger and the reward is not that great

Smothering Tithe has no synergy with your deck, you just become the archenemy instantly

Thalia and The Gitrog Monster is not a good card for your deck imo

Skithiryx, the Blight Dragon brings no synergy to the deck but is a strong kill. This is better than Thalia and gitrog however

Toxic Deluge is a very good card but is anti-synergistic with your deck because it goes over indestructible (so you can't protect you board and then wrath). Consider Damning Verdict if your are the only counter-matter player in your playgroup

Abzan Battle Priest is a strong card because lifelink is a powerful mechanic, even more when you keep your creature in defence

Keep in mind you only have 8 black creature + your commandant for Flare of Malice

You have very strong creature cards in deck like Sovereign Okinec Ahau. If members of your playgroup play tutors, you can improve your deck by adding Eladamri's Call and others

Anyway, this is a very good brew for sure and never forget to play the cards you like rather than the strong ones.

austintayshus on ABZAN HOUSES

2 weeks ago

I think you could probably cut Skithiryx, the Blight Dragon as it doesn't really make fit with the overall theme of +1/+1 counters, though I can definitely see why you included him, he can be a a tough threat with a few counters on him.

Otherwise this list looks nice, idk what else to cut. Hope this helps :)

Belfore on Pestilence of Phyrexia

1 month ago

strong textAny price cap per card cause Vorinclex, Monstrous Raider is a bit pricey but fits very well into your deck. You might also consider Evolution Sage and also doing a text search on the gatherer for infect. You might also consider Skithiryx, the Blight Dragon, Sheoldred  ^Flip, and Phyrexian Reclamation. that is just for starters.

Apollo_Paladin on Oh Rotty

1 month ago

+1 just for seeing another Arena player on this site honestly, but you deserve it just for sticking out Timeless format. I hung in for a while, but the meta was just too stale for my tastes. I had a couple card suggestions for your build here, but then noticed your pretty extensive Maybeboard & they're already on it so just cheers I guess (hah)

Really though Poison counter decks live on in my heart going all the way back to the days of Marsh Viper, well through the Infect era(s), and now back onto the older-style mechanic with Toxic. In fact, one of my Timeless decks a while back was a mono-black Poison build ramp/cheating out Skithiryx, the Blight Dragon & hitting him with pump spells specifically because he's the only Infect creature currently on Arena.

Cool build you have here, hope it keeps doing well for you

Infernalshell on Inflicting Pain and Everlasting Bloodshed

4 months ago

Profet93 these are great suggestions, especially the lockout pieces in black since those are cards I'd never thought of using (or even really heard of before) and that'll protect my board pretty nicely. I also didn't realize there was a baby Cabal Coffers out there so that'll be an immediate include over Mortuary Mire or Grasping Dunes and Thespian's Stage will likely replace the other one since that'll give me access to better ramp.

The wincon(s) at this moment is either through combat damage or through sacrifice synergies with Syr Konrad, the Grim, Vein Ripper, and/or Zulaport Cutthroat and as a last resort Skithiryx, the Blight Dragon will help close out some games too. I toyed with the idea of Chain of Smog + Professor Onyx for an alternate wincon but that felt like it would be too close to cEDH for my pod since we generally don't play combos that are less than 3 cards.

Hypersayia9001 on Kill, Kill and Kill some more.

4 months ago

@Basshunter: Thanks for the input. There are a few things I feel the need to justify keeping in though.

The primary reason I have Paragon of Open Graves and Hero's Blade is so I can easily buff up Sarevok, causing his ability to drain extra life when it triggers. Death-Priest of Myrkul is somewhat expensive, but when he's out, I just got to pay a mana at the end of each turn to ensure I maintain a consistent fuel supply for Cultist (and a lot of my token generation is zombies anyway so... bigger dead dudes.). Similar vein, Palace Siege allows me to sac something to Cultist then play it again on the same turn, which goes real good with Gray Merchant of Asphodel for life gain and Doomed Dissenter for a free Zombie token, if I just don't sac Gravecrawler to play it again cause it cheap.

Skithiryx, the Blight Dragon and Squelching Leeches are mostly there to be big beefy bois if I need them, but yeah, of the suggestions you've made, I'd probably swap them for Black Market Connections and Priest of Forgotten Gods to net me some more card draw. Ophiomancer, Grave Titan and Phyrexian Altar are also on my radar.

Not a fan of Skullclamp, at least in this deck. I'd need either altars or Yahenni, Undying Partisan out to actually get consistent value out of it, otherwise I'd need to pay for another sac outlet.