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Command Disease of the Body and Mind

Commander / EDH Bracket 3 BRGW

boba2989

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Creature (39)

Land (38)

Commander (1)

Commander: foil Saskia the Unyielding

Artifact (8)

Sorcery (6)

Enchantment (5)

Instant (3)

Deck concept: I came back to Magic during the Magic 2011 summer, so Scars of Mirrodin was my very first expansion since my return to the game. I’ve been a fan of infect since day one and I’ve often tried to play some for of infect deck in Modern or Legacy. When Saskia the Unyielding was printed, I felt like all those small poisonous creatures had finally found a home.

Restrictions: none, currently. Infect if just a very focused and specific strategy, so you can’t really afford much in the way of pet cards or wacky restrictions, if you want the deck to still feel viable at mid-power tables.

Strengths and weaknesses: playing with infect as a core deck mechanic means the list can be extremely fast and explosive, potentially threatening to take out one or two opponents within the first few turns of the game. Saskia the Unyielding as a Commander lends itself perfectly to this time of all-in approach to the game. The aggressive nature of the strategy, however, means the deck has little in the way of a long-term plans, sacrificing inevitability in the name of early-game explosiveness. The key weakness with infect strategies in Commander is that handing out ten poison counters is fairly easy, while getting to twenty or thirty can be a true challenge. So, as much as taking out one player or two can be achieved with relatively little effort, finishing off the last opponent standing with very little resources still available can prove quite tough. Additionally, infect is justifiably feared by most players, so it is very likely that anyone piloting a Saskia the Unyielding deck with a poison subtheme will be quickly targeted during the first stages of the game.

How to play the deck: compared to traditional midrange lists, the deck completely skips the traditional setup stage that is typical during the first couple of turns: there is little to no Mana rock in the deck, as the first turns of the game should be spent deploying threats, rather than ramping. Equipping a small creature with a Sword of Truth and Justice and swinging for three to five poison counters is usually a very reliable play line for the first turns of the game. Alternatively, just going for efficient use of Mana and playing a creature on turn one, turn two and turn three is also a very decent approach. Complementing these kind of early game plays with cards granting evasion, such as Sidar Kondo of Jamuraa or Grafted Butcher, can usually seal the deal on one of your opponents. To sustain the attack, Saskia the Unyielding should ideally come down before turn six, ensuring your creatures with infect can do double duty, quickly piling poison counters up or spreading them efficiently among multiple opponents. Should games grind past turn seven or turn eight, you may have to rely heavily on cards with proliferate, such as Evolution Sage or Yawgmoth, Thran Physician.

Key cards and notable interactions: most of the deck’s creatures are cheap, unassuming 1/1s and 2/2, so providing them with some form of evasion is paramount. Trailblazer Boots and Prowler's Helm are very efficient ways to make sure poison counter can easily sneak in, while more impactful cards like Embercleave, Sword of Fire and Ice and Sword of Light and Shadow take the spotlight among the format’s most famous equipments. Rancor and Necrogen Communion provide a little bit of an additional boost to your smaller creatures: I’ve progressively cut all one-shot Giant Growth-esque effects from the deck, opting for a more sustainable equipment-focused approach. Chandra's Ignition can be an excellent way to seal the deal on a game: provided your opponents aren’t able to kill the targeted creature in response to the spell, you are likely going to spread a ton of poison counters around. An honourable mention goes to Tainted Strike: a most unassuming one Mana common, it can surprisingly steal entire games, giving infect at instant speed to any creature on the board – and even occasionally acting as a fog when you are very low on life and need to save yourself some damage.

Evolving the deck: for a more all-in and aggressive strategy, I would recommend leaning more on Berserk and Giant Growth effects, sacrificing even more long-term plans for an extremely explosive play pattern. Switching to a different Commander can also lead to some fun experiments: Atraxa, Praetors' Voice, Ixhel, Scion of Atraxa and Vishgraz, the Doomhive are among the most popular poison-focused Commander, as they more explicitly support proliferate and toxic strategies.

Origin of the deck's name: a verse from "Erised" by Periphery.

Last updated: August 2nd, 2025.

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