PDA

View Full Version : [Deck] Infect



4eak
08-13-2011, 03:42 PM
Fairly cheap and fast, this should perform acceptably in Modern. I also expect pump spells to continue to be developed, which should only help this deck over time.

There are several color schemes the deck can go for. UG looks weaker in Modern. BG looks pretty good, RG might be worth it, and Mono G is always available. Here is a take on Mono Green Infect:

// Mana Sources - 22
14 Forest
4 Pendelhaven
4 Simian Spirit Guide (Looks weird, but the acceleration is necessary for consistently going turn 1 Infect Creature)

// Infect Creatures - 18
4 Glistener Elf
4 Blight Mamba
4 Ichorclaw Myr
4 Necropede
2 Plague Myr

// Pump - 20
4 Vines of Vastwood
4 Prey's Vengeance
4 Mutagenic Growth
4 Might of Old Krosa
4 Groundswell

// Sideboard
SB: 4 Mindbreak Trap
SB: 3 Ratchet Bomb
SB: 4 Nature's Claim
SB: 4 Pithing Needle

The deck performs surprisingly well against opposing creature decks. Blockers turn pump spells into removal. Blocked creatures turn pump into removal. Pump spells often counter burn used as removal. You can win pretty consistently on turn 3. That's a fast deck in this format.


peace,
4eak

trivial_matters
08-13-2011, 04:09 PM
You can win pretty consistently on turn 3. That's a fast deck in this format

Seems to me then that some infect creatures need to get banned. AFAIK, decks which win by turn 3 aren't allowed in this format.

264505
08-15-2011, 11:52 PM
I never much liked mono green infect. I run a GW version in standard to have spells like Emerge Unscathed (dont know how to tag cards, but to spare looking it up its W, gives a creature you control pro color of your choice and it has rebound) that allow you to push through extra damage. Dropping Preys Vengence for it seems like a no brainer. It also gives you a 2 power infect guy for 1W which, besides from not working well with Pendehaven, gives you a faster clock. Also, Inkmoth Nexus is a must if you don't manage to win by turn 4 (happens more often than you think). I can basically change 4 Giant Growths from my standard deck into 4 MoOK and have about the same clock you do with a better aggro match up because I can push guys through blockers. Basically this list:
http://sales.starcitygames.com//deckdatabase/displaydeck.php?DeckID=39055
with -4 Sunpetal Grove, -4 Forest, -4 Giant Growth, +4 Tempe Garden, +4 G fetch, +4 Might of Old Krosa and you have a list nearly as fast with the ability to beat creature decks with ease and have better options out of the board.


Seems to me then that some infect creatures need to get banned. AFAIK, decks which win by turn 3 aren't allowed in this format.

Dragonstorm still can win turn 1 with a god draw. Mountain+Rite+Rite+Rite+Seething Song+Dragonstorm

Merged posts.
Also, tags are {cards}xxxx{/cards}, where {} are actually [].
-4eak

Gui
09-20-2011, 09:18 AM
I can see this deck happening. In a slower format, infect looks a great mechanic

I'd start by adding moarr Giant Growths cuz the spell is great in monogreen stompies in general and usually criminally underrated, and consider Predator's Strike, which is a fairly good card.

Simian Spirit Guide, nice idea 4eak.

Will definitely think about a list.

EDIT: Here's a list I'll try. I ended up adding more mana to try to make Groundswell better, but if I come back, then I'd use Giant Growth

// Mana/Accel [23]
17 Forest
2 Pendelhaven
4 Simian Spirit Guide

//Creatures [16]
4 Glistener Elf
4 Necropede
4 Blight Mamba
4 Ichorclaw Myr

// Pumps/Utils [21]
4 Groundswell
4 Might of old Krosa
4 Vines of Vastwood
4 Predator's Strike
2 Ranger's Guile
3 Prey Upon

Other good stuff involves Prey Upon from inninstrad as a possible Removal, and Ranger's Guile looks good here, although sub-optimal dmg. I will start testing with this list.

4eak
10-24-2011, 03:53 PM
This deck continues to do well for me. This is, in part, because players make mistakes against it all the time (and, yes, you should metagame against mistakes), but also because the deck is just plain fast and good at winning attrition wars. I think it is the fastest deck in Modern (in terms of average kill turn), but it is also quite easy to disrupt and mulligans too often (despite my best efforts).

Ranger's Guile is a good card. It is an auto 4 in the 75, I'm just not sure how much maindeck space should be devoted to it. It is weaker than Vines, but still vitally important in the face of removal.

Prey Upon is terrible. It usually requires you to pump for your creature to live, 2-for-1'ing yourself. Furthermore, if you are playing correctly, they are forced to block - that is where you can trade pump spells for their creature, 1-for-1. You want to 'catch-22' them, where they lose their shit if they block, and they flat out lose the game if they don't.

I'm, in varying degrees, on the proverbial fence about everything but Vines of Vastwood and Prey's Vengeance (that card is amazing). I've started using Giant Growth because it isn't conditional. The other slots, eh, I'm not sure. Might is almost guaranteed out - I hate telegraphing my play. Mutagenic Growth has the same problems as it always has -- being free can be amazing, but it lacks the oomph I'm looking for in the card slot. Groundswell is likely the best - it forces you to play awkwardly with your lands, but it is almost always +4/+4. Predator's Strike should perhaps replace Mutagenic Growth - that trample is really nice.

Here's what I have for now:

// Mana Sources - 22
14 Forest
4 Pendelhaven
4 Simian Spirit Guide

// Infect Creatures - 18
4 Glistener Elf
4 Blight Mamba
4 Ichorclaw Myr
4 Necropede
2 Plague Myr

// Pump - 20
4 Mutagenic Growth
4 Prey's Vengeance
4 Vines of Vastwood
4 Groundswell
4 Giant Growth

// Sideboard
SB: 4 Nature's Claim
SB: 3 Ratchet Bomb
SB: 4 Relic of Progenitus
SB: 4 Ranger's Guile

It is slowly evolving for me. Relic is a nod to several problems, including Punishing Fire. I'm staying at 18 creatures for now. You simply can't keep a hand without at least 1 creature in it, and you'd prefer 2. It mitigates the value of removal. Multiple creatures enables you to win combat math way more often as well.

Splashing for Blighted Agent and Plague Stinger are likely worth it at this point, despite increased instability in the mana-base.


peace,
4eak

marit
10-24-2011, 03:58 PM
I think there should atleast be some sort of removal in the sideboard other than ratchet bombs. Melira Pod pretty much stops this deck cold, and is one of the most popular/well situated decks in the format right now. Just some food for thought.

4eak
10-24-2011, 08:08 PM
I agree, if you expect Melira in decent numbers, then you want more outs to it (Ratchet bomb is slow).

From my experience, I believe Infect is neither cold to Melira as a deck, nor necessarily dead when Melira is in play. Most of the time, they won't have Melira within the window of time Infect is supposed to win the game. Further, even with Melira in play, you can win from playing straight pump-stompy, although it is obviously not preferred.

If you splash, Black has plenty of options (Death Mark, Doom Blade, Go for the Throat, etc.). If you play mono green, I think Beast Within is the best option for removal, it handles Birthing Pod as well (which is card often worth hitting).


peace,
4eak

perm
10-24-2011, 09:12 PM
Pendlehaven is pretty ingenious

264505
10-25-2011, 12:50 AM
Dismember is INSANE in this deck and can keep it mono green.

4eak
10-25-2011, 01:12 AM
Derp, of course, Dismember is the answer. I'm not convinced it is maindeck material, but it is insanely good in some matchups.


peace,
4eak

TheG
11-08-2011, 12:39 PM
Heir of UG berserk from legacy, here's to you UG infect.
Taking advantage from a permanent berserk effect the gameplan is simple
1 Cast threats > 2 protect threats > 3 Attack.

Usualy it takes 2 attacks to take down the enemy.

// Lands
4 [ISD] Hinterland Harbor

3 [SOM] Forest (3)
3 [TSP] Island (3)
4 [ZEN] Misty Rainforest

2 [FNM] Pendelhaven

4 [MBS] Inkmoth Nexus

// Creatures
4 [NPH] Glistener Elf
4 [NPH] Blighted Agent

// 4-Up
4 [TSP] Might of Old Krosa
4 [ZEN] Vines of Vastwood
4 [WWK] Groundswell

// Cantrips
3 [FD] Serum Visions
3 [ROE] See Beyond

// Smart Equip
2 [SOM] Livewire Lash

// Counter measures
4 [ISD] Ranger's Guile
4 [ZEN] Spell Pierce
4 [WWK] Dispel

some explanation:
1. no hard counters as Corrupted Resolve Rune Snag to lower the mana costs and be faster
2. Ranger's Guile over Turn Aside to protect creatures also from abilities like a Ghost quarter on our Inkmoth or a Oblivion Ring.. moreover triggers Livewire Slash and add a nice +1/+1

the deck lacks of Removal/bouncers. but often are not needed with Agent/Inkmoth.
Need ideas to counter Melira.deck

Thx for reading, and if you do, for answering :D

4eak
11-08-2011, 11:09 PM
Infect threads merged.


-4eak

Davran
11-18-2011, 03:04 PM
the deck lacks of Removal/bouncers. but often are not needed with Agent/Inkmoth.
Need ideas to counter Melira.deck

Melira.dec hinges pretty heavily on actually having Melira in play, so that's likely a good place to focus the hate. Lucky for us, she is mostly just a 2/2, and legendary to boot.

Dismember is a good starting point because it is essentially colorless and has a decent upside in other match ups (nice Goyf bro). The real question is whether or not that 4 life is relevant.

The next thing to consider would be something like Beast Within or Prey Upon, but both of those are somewhat problematic. Beast Within is a 3 mana commitment, and it leaves your opponent with a blocker that is bigger than our guys pre-pump. Prey Upon is mediocre at best, requiring a Pendelhaven activation or a pump spell to kill the Melira and still end up with a guy to attack with.

If you go with blue splash, bounce always works (Vapor Snag, Into the Roil, Echoing Truth, Repeal), but that only really buys you one turn to swing in for the win. It's too bad Wipe Away costs 1UU - split second seems pretty relevant against that deck.

Something somewhat "rogue" might be Phantasmal Image - you can use it to "legend rule" Melira, or if Melira isn't really an issue you can just copy some other guy for a little extra pressure. The problem with this is that you can't actually pump the image, and any competent opponent will let him through knowing that. So it's probably sideboard tech at best. Phyrexian Metamorph does mostly the same thing, but it's much more expensive.

Someone above mentioned a white splash...which opens up Path to Exile. That might actually be worth it too, potentially giving us access to things like Emerge Unscathed and Stave Off if we felt that they were needed.

TheMightyQuinn
11-18-2011, 04:30 PM
@4eak:

Just wondering about your exclusion of Inkmoth Nexus. Budget reasons? Or the fact that it produces colorless and requires a mana investment to activate?

4eak
11-18-2011, 05:01 PM
Coloration is part of it. If it tapped for green, this wouldn't be a discussion at all. It would obviously be an auto-4.

The problem is that it is too slow. Inkmoth nexus costs 2 land in a given turn. I don't expect to have a third land in most of my games. I want to be tapping land to play pump spells on turns 2 and 3, not tapping to activate a manland. Inkmoth nexus becomes worthwhile in the wrong circumstances (e.g. when I have 3-4 land, or more). I want to play cards that enable me to win very early (like, I'm shooting for turn 3) and consistently. Inkmoth belongs in the deck if you expect to go longer, and I don't.


peace,
4eak

Wangtopia
06-29-2012, 02:31 PM
Melira.dec hinges pretty heavily on actually having Melira in play, so that's likely a good place to focus the hate. Lucky for us, she is mostly just a 2/2, and legendary to boot.


Since we're already running 4 Simian Spirit Guide, would it be feasible to splash some red duals for Lightning Bolt? Some other possible red tech could be Smoldering Spires (although coming into play tapped really hurts what we're trying to do) and Assault Strobe.

wilson
06-30-2012, 03:49 AM
Btw, Rancor gets the reprint in M13.

Also, Llanowar Augur is some kind of mana-storage. Downside is it can't be used to protect your creatures.

Here is my List:

Creatures

4 LLanowar Augur
4 Glistener Elf
4 Ichorclaw Myr
4 Necropede
2 Blight Mamba
2 Plague Myr

Spells

3 Rancor
3 Ranger's Guile
4 GG
4 VoV
4 Might of old Krosa

Lands

15 Forest
4 Pendelhaven
3 Inkmoth Nexus

Davran
07-26-2012, 02:01 PM
Been tinkering with this archetype as I search for something different to play. Came up with the following list:

4x Glistener Elf
4x Ichorclaw Myr
4x Necroepde
4x Blight Mamba
2x Plague Myr

4x Might of Old Krosa
4x Groundswell
4x Mutagenic Growth
4x Vines of Vastwood
3x Ranger's Guile
3x Rancor

16x Forest
4x Pendelhaven

I think this main deck configuration maximizes removal protection and fast kills. There is some turn 2 potential, but the probability is pretty low. I think we're mostly looking at turn 3-4 on average, which is right in the sweet spot for this format. Too bad there isn't one more 1 drop infect guy...we could really use it.

I'm stumbling a little when it comes to the sideboard, though. I'm thinking something along these lines:

3x Apostle's Blessing - Mostly as a hedge against pyroclasm type effects. Also, may be helpful vs. tokens or other early blockers.

4x Autumn's Veil - "Tech" against the high number of blue decks out there. A well timed Spell Pierce, Spellstutter Sprite, Spell Snare, Mana Leak and/or Vapor Snag is pretty bad for us. This may end up being garbage, but it seems like it bears some testing first.

2x Livewire Lash - Gives us some reach, as well as a few freebie damage points vs. removal/blocker heavy match-ups. Another possibility for this slot is Wild Defiance, but I like that the Lash does damage directly.

3x Nature's Claim - Hedge against Ghostly Prison, Affinity, Engineered Explosives/Ratchet Bomb and other random things. The 4 life is irrelevant to us.

3x Gut Shot - Removal for early blockers. There's a good chance that these should be Dismember instead (more useful vs. twin and goyf), but again, testing will show that.

Gui
08-13-2012, 08:29 AM
Really? 3x Rancor? What's wrong with Rancor? It's the best pump spell available, imho.

Davran
08-13-2012, 02:31 PM
Really? 3x Rancor? What's wrong with Rancor? It's the best pump spell available, imho.

It's an enchantment. Rancor doesn't save your guy from a bolt or a block. Snapcaster + Bolt/Pyroclasm/Lightning Helix is a very real problem for this deck, especially given the low number and durability of infect guys, so I ultimately decided the third Ranger's Guile is more valuable than the 4th Rancor.

Rancor is also relatively lack-luster in multiples since the deck never really wants to play out all of its creatures at the same time. If they remove my first guy, the Rancor is coming back anyway.

Lastly, it interacts poorly with Pendelhaven.

sillyandrew
05-16-2013, 12:42 AM
i'm surprised that this thread hasn't seen more action with the recent infect t8's i've seen, but i guess it's due to the overall inactivity of the modern forums as a whole. oh well, here's my question:

i've been toying with the idea of building UGr infect instead of UGb infect, because i really don't think that 3x discard spells and plague stingers instead of myr are any better than the strict UG versions of the deck, and i want to try something new.

assault strobe is the obvious addition here, and in some scenarios functions as a replacement for noble hierarch (1power + 4pump + Double Strike = 10, just like 1power + exalted + 4pump + 4pump = 10) although i think you lose her versatility. with this being said, we need more red cards to help justify the third color. with the better blue cantrips and filter cards gone, i'm wondering if faithless looting is the anonymous red card we need here, and we can build around it a little bit. here's the list i've brewed up:

4 Misty Rainforest
4 Breeding Pool
2 Stomping Ground
2 Steam Vents
2 Grove of the Burnwillows
1 Forest

4 Glistener Elf
4 Inkmoth Nexus
4 Blighted Agent
3 Ichorclaw Myr

4 Vines of Vastwood
4 Might of Old Krosa
4 Groundswell
4 Mutagenic Growth
4 Assault Strobe

3 Artful Dodge
3 Apostle's Blessing
4 Faithless Looting

SB
3 Ancient Grudge
2 Deglamer
2 Dispel
2 Twisted Images
2 Wild Defiance
2 Gut Shot
2 Dismember

in addition to the filtering/digging, faithless looting makes artful dodge better than distortion strike (arguably), and makes ancient grudges better post-board. is this enough? are there other obvious cards with faithless looting synergies here?

without if faithless looting turns out to no be worth it, i think a UGr list would look like this? maybe pendlehavens? but i'm not sold on 'em.


4 Misty Rainforest
4 Breeding Pool
2 Stomping Ground
2 Steam Vents
2 Grove of the Burnwillows
1 Forest

4 Glistener Elf
4 Inkmoth Nexus
4 Blighted Agent
4 Ichorclaw Myr

4 Vines of Vastwood
4 Might of Old Krosa
4 Groundswell
4 Mutagenic Growth
4 Assault Strobe

4 Distortion Strike
4 Apostle’s Blessing
1 Gut Shot

any input is appreciated!

Celtus Kasady
06-24-2013, 06:56 PM
Virulent Sliver is another 1cc creature it does not have infect but it poison the opponent and you can keep it mono green (even if I dont like mono green infect)
my deck has 4 birds of paradise and 4 phyrexian crusader

JDK
06-24-2013, 07:05 PM
The Sliver only deals 1 poison counter, regardless of any boosts - so he's completely useless.

@RUG Infect
Aussault Strobe is nice, but it's a Sorcery and you'd have to swap Hierarchs for Birds in order to not lose speed - but you'd lose Exalted. Hierarch is a huge deal and dropping an excellent beater (Plague Stinger - evasion!) and really good SB options (Thoughtseite, IoK, Abrupt Decay ...) isn't worth the card, in my opinion.

cherub_daemon
06-25-2013, 11:52 PM
The Bloodrush mechanic in Gatecrash might be useful. Three cards might be cheap/good enough to use:


Slaughterhorn
Ghor-Clan Rampager
Rubblebelt Maaka


Obviously, only Slaughterhorn is going to fit in a shell without red. Whether these are of any use probably depends on how much you need to dodge Chalice/Counterbalance/counters in a given meta.

Megadeus
12-27-2013, 07:47 AM
Played BUG infect last night. Deck was nasty. I advise people to try it out. Getting all of the evasion men in plague stinger and blighted agent makes for great consistency.