"Fast Mutations, Phyrexian Infection"

"Fast Mutations, Phyrexian Infection"

by:

Virgilio F. De leon Jr.

I love Infect. In this sense I am Phyrexian and I want to share this love of Infect with this Simic Mutation experiment. While it is no surprise that in its Glorious days in Standard Infect was a feared Mechanic , no one seems to remember how butt hole clenching facing one of these rapid killing decks can be.

I would like to remind people of this fact. This is a Modern Pauper Deck because when I hoard stuff I just hoard stuff and they were all just lying around in my room. Most of these cards were glaring at me like I was some creator who ignored them for hundreds of years.

I succumbed to the glare and came up with these Fast Mutations:

4 X Simic Guildgate

8 X Forest

8 X Island

4 X Serum Visions

4 X Vapor Snag

4 X Mutagenic Growth

4 X Giant Growth

4 X Distortion Strike

4 X Blight Mamba

4 X Glistener Elf

4 X Ichorclaw Myr

4 X Blighted Agent

2 X Chained Throat Seeker

Sideboard:

4 X Disperse

4 X Unsummon

4 X Mizzium Skin

2 X Ground swell

Move Forward, Move Fast

The aim of the deck is pretty straight forward , turn your opponent into a phyrexian in the least possible amount of time. 10 Poison counters is all it takes anyway and with the creatures in this deck are all easy to cast at 1 and 2 mana costs this could mean a lot of transformed enemies and a lot of oil slicked opposing creatures.

Now the 1 drop Glistener Elf is the real focus of the deck. Pushing in damage on turn two is key. The Dream Kill scenario for the deck is on the 2nd turn where you could attack with the Glistener Elf you summoned last turn with 2 open mana. Once your opponents confirms that he or she is not blocking since it is a measly 1/1 elf. You could now PUMP the little guy with 4 Mutagenic Growths paid with 8 life and then a Giant Growth for good measure. If you count the poison counters after enjoying the stunned look on your opponents face. It will tally up to 12. An overkill really since all you really need is 10.

Of course matches don't always end up this way and you could expect your opponent to be ready with a blocker once he or she sees any Infect creatures on the battlefield. They will block anything that move from your side. During this time you could utilize one of my favorite cards from the Zendikar block. The good old Distortion Stirke that makes a target creature unblockable and gives it a +1/0 boost too. You could pump this unblockable creature as well to end it all or if you don't have any growth spells at hand you could just wait for the Rebound of Distortion Strike to take effect so that you could again have a +1/0 on your unblockable creature.

Glistener who?

In case that you do not get the Distortion Strike or The early drop Glistener Elf. There is the Blighted Agent that by his lonesome is already unblockable you just have to give him the muscle from growth spells and he would Infect the way for you. With this guy around you could win early with your spells or be patient and just attack per turn. 10 turns and the win is yours. Unless he gets doombladed.Oh well , there is a reason why you have a set of this guy in your deck.

Making a case for the Seeker...

The 2 Chained ThroatSeekers in this deck may seem out of place because of the speed tactics that I normally employ but I just like my decks to have that extra monster that could end it all. At 5/5 and I assume some early infect Damage from your other creatures this beast is well...a beast. He could finish off the job and make sure that you are half way there. There is a reason why they keep this thing chained after all. 

Final Notes:

When playing with the deck always be wary of removal. The more creatures you have the more outlets for Infect and this is something that you want to do early on. In dealing with a deck that packs a lot of removal always remember to board in the Mizzium skin. Hexproof at instant speed. And since it is hexproof you could still pump it later on if you want. 

You could always Vapor snag or Unsummon things that are in your way.These two cards are the only answer to big creatures in this deck so use them sparingly. Opponents are always wary. They always have to decide if they would allow your creature to go through even if they have a blocker and risk being dead or they could block with their big creature and it ends up dead from Infect after you have pumped your creature to the approriate size. 

So there we have it. Fast Mutations. Phyrexian Infections. Let the Contagion begin.