"Mono Red Infect Sligh"

"Mono Red Infect Sligh"

by:

Virgilio F. De leon Jr. 

It is no secret that I love dabbling with Infect in the decks that I experiment with. Recently after seeing 2 beautiful red cards I was inspired to revisit a Mono Red Infect deck that I mothballed because I thought that it did not have enough Oomph in it. 

The cards I saw were Madcap skills from Gatecrash that was absolutely abusive because it virtually turns your creatures into unblockable beasts with the right condition.

The other is the Ordeal of Purphoros which made me want to go and play in Modern. Just to change the pace a bit because EDH has been eating all my writing and playing time. I was excited with the possibility because I was finally going to complete my Mono Red Infect Deck or as I called it back then Red Infect Wins.Here is the deck list that I came up with.

18 Mountains

4 Inkmonth Nexus

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22lands

4X Lightning Bolt

4X Magma Jet

4X Lightning Strike

4X Brute Force

3X Ordeal of Purphoros

3X Madcap skills

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22 spells

4X Ichorclaw Myr

4X Necropede

4X Corpse Cur

4X Plague Myr

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16 Creatures

Now the best thing about this list is that there is no color requirement for all of my creatures as they are all Artifact creatures. All 20 creatures have infect and there is a little bit of recursion in the form of Corpse Cur. You never want to run out of Infect creatures to enchant or press the attack on this one.

Brute Force , Madcap skills and Ordeal of Purphoros all provide the stat boosters for the infect creatures who clock in at a measly 1/1 except for the 4 mana cost Corpse Cur who is a last resort when it comes to attacking. The reason for this is that late game stability tends to favor your opponents.

A single Madcap skill on an Ichorclaw Myr for instance makes its a 4/1 creature that could only be blocked by 2 or 3 creatures. 

An Ordeal of Purphoros on the other hand turn your creatures into Sliths(Those growing monstrosities out of the Original Mirrodin block). Better versions of sliths actually because you do not have to deal combat damage to your opponent to get those +1/+1 counters on them. All you need to do is attack and your 1/1 becomes 2/2. If that damage connects then your enemy is already 1/5th phyrexian! 

Counting the damage whenever your creature grows the sequence is: 2 + 3 + 4 = 9 Infect damage! 

This is a dream sequence however because your opponent has ways to deal with creatures. So let us just imagine that this actually comes true. 

As an added bonus when your creature has 3 or more counters on it the Ordeal needs to be sacrificed and it deals 3 damage to a creature or player. In this deck the damage is directed at any creature that managed to survive any of your early burn sweeps.

Another trick to use when your opponent is against the ropes is your Instant Brute force which could come in and pump your creature for +3/+3 to finish an opposing player that has been caught unaware. You could also use it to defend from another Red Mages burn spells. 

All in all the plan is simple. Make your opponent Phyrexian by infecting them. Press the Attack whenever he or she is open. Burn all of the creatures that lands on the wrong side of the battlefield with your Lightning Bolt  , Lightning Strike and Magma Jet. Early damage is a plus but once you get a Madcap skills on a creature and there is only one blocker available then the end is just around the corner.

I think I just found my new training deck for beginners. Now here is hoping that the "Red Infect Wins" lives up to the name.