History
I figured since there was a French tournament that was won by an infect Rafiq list we should have a thread for discussing this type of deck. At first the player that won was keeping his list a secret, but after a while it was leaked. Before I had a copy of that tournament list I had drafted up a list based off of a discussion for the deck idea with Khymera from a while back. I've since updated it with some of the card choices in the tournament list and from community feedback. I try to keep up with current card options and update the list when I can.
Quote from KhymeraWell, I guess we're doing this now. I think the 90% Phyrexian NPH is going to take at least 10 slots in this deck, making testing a list now a little pointless, but may as well build it right if you're going to.
I'm not a huge fan of that list. It's too traditional; you've mostly just replaced Rafiq's usual creatures with infectors and added a few pump spells. In theory, a neo-infect build should be fast enough to take advantage of new classes of spells.
Most notably, I think you want to forget about most counterspells, and focus on counterspell blockers instead. This is because the answers we're concerned with are instant-speed spot removal (in response to a pump spell) and counterspells, in that order. Since we're trying to win very, very fast, we're not going to be able to hold mana up in any case.
There are cards that can effectively block both answers. I would start with Defense Grid, City of Solitude, Dosan the Falling Leaf, Orim's Chant, Silence, and Abeyance. Those last 3 make me want to work in Isochron Scepter as backup, which might be good. Some removal is good, but it needs to be 1 mana or free. I'd get Snap and Snapback in there for sure. Maybe Rushing River. Nature's Claim could work. Maybe Emerge Unscathed, since it counters removal and gets past blockers.
Garruk and Venser don't do enough here (even with Venser's -1). Elspeth is good, Jace 2.0 would be okay.
The infectors look like about the best we can do for now. I wouldn't bother with Phyrexian Juggernaut though. Corpse Cur might be okay when we get some more next set. Priests of Norn and Tine Shrike might both be good enough.
There are some other creatures that should be in here. Even though we're infect, Cephalid Constable and Cold-Eyed Selkie are still absolutely brutal and synergistic with all our pump spells. One enhanced hit from either wins games, so play em.
The most important card you're missing is Grafted Exoskeleton, which should be paired with Stoneforge Mystic and Steelshaper's Gift. Our protection spells mitigate the drawback, and it makes Rafiq instantly lethal. It also lets Stoneforge Mystic act as a pseudo-infect creature and turns mana dorks deadly. I probably wouldn't play either of the Swords or Whispersilk Cloak here (too expensive, and SoFaF/Cloak block pump spells), but look at some cheaper equipment. Bonesplitter is okay. Livewire Lash is bonkers with all the pump.
I wouldn't be playing Signets or Rampant Growths here. Those are for decks whose real curve starts at 4. We're trying to win by then. Play some 1-mana elves and Mox Diamond instead. Even Lotus Petal and Elvish Spirit Guide will be good.
Lastly, you want even more pump, but play the right ones. Wildsize is horrible, it costs too much. My list to consider would be Invigorate, Vines of Vastwood, Berserk, Groundswell, Distortion Strike, Wax/Wane, Wild Might, Bounty of the Hunt, Giant Growth, Might of Old Krosa, Gaea's Might, Might of Alara, Stonewood Invocation, Might of Oaks, Gather Courage, Might of the Masses, Predator's Strike, in roughly that order. That's obviously too many, but I'm putting them down to begin thinking about them. I want to include at least 10, maybe more. We want at least 1 or 2 by turn 4 every game.
"Sluggish" is a not a word that should ever be associated with this deck. With a good hand, it's unquestionably the fastest aggro deck in the format. Our mission is to try to maximize the number of good hands. We're aiming to finish every game by turn 5 at the absolute latest.
Why should I play this deck?
If you love infect.
If you like focused strategies and turning critters sideways this is probably the deck for you.
If you want a deck that can still function without the commander.
If Bant Charm is your favorite spell in Commander.
Why shouldn't I play this deck?
If you like non-aggro strategies. Such as control, combo, stax.
If you want more than one way to win.
If you want your deck to rely more on your commander.
If you dislike these colors.
Is there more than one way to play with infect in Bant?
Infect critters + evasion/buffs/protection is the road to victory for my build. Commander damage is usually the fastest aggro strategy so with infect you're not only lowering that amount from 21 to 10, but the majority of your creatures basically do commander damage since the poison sticks around so you don't have to rely on your commander to do all of the work.
On the other hand, if you prefer lots of control it is possible to build this deck with few to zero pump effects. You typically just protect and control your way to victory with one infect critter turning sideways.
Aggressive Pumps Build
DECK STATSExperimental Control Build
Someone's Build that Won
Card Choices
Why it did or didn't make the cut
Explanations to come...
Normal Creatures
Avacyn's Pilgrim
Birds of Paradise
Bloom Tender
Cephalid Constable
Cold-eyed Selkie
Dryad Arbor
Fyndhorn Elves
Llanowar Elves
Mother of Runes
Noble Hierarch
Stoneforge Mystic
Infect Creatures
Blight Mamba
Blighted Agent
Cystbearer
Glistener Elf
Ichorclaw Myr
Lost Leonin
Necropede
Phyrexian Digester
Plague Myr
Putrefax
Rot Wolf
Tine Shrike
Viral Drake
Viridian Corrupter
Apostle's Blessing
Bant Charm
Berserk
Delay
Emerge Unscathed
Enlightened Tutor
Giant Growth
Invigorate
Might of Oaks
Might of Old Krosa
Mutagenic Growth
Mystical Tutor
Nature's Claim
Noxious Revival
Path to Exile
Predator's Strike
Simic Charm
Snap
Swords to Plowshares
Vines of Vastwood
Worldly Tutor
Bonesplitter
Chrome Mox
Livewire Lash
Skullclamp
Sword of Feast and Famine
Sword of Fire and Ice
Umezawa's Jitte
Cathedral of War
Inkmoth Nexus
Wasteland
Yavimaya Hollow
City of Brass
Command Tower
Savannah
Tropical Island
Tundra
Breeding Pool
Hallowed Fountain
Temple Garden
Arid Mesa
Flooded Strand
Marsh Flats
Misty Rainforest
Polluted Delta
Scalding Tarn
Verdant Catacombs
Windswept Heath
Wooded Foothills
Brushland
Yavimaya Coast
Hinterland Harbor
Sunpetal Grove
Flooded Grove
Wooded Bastion
Horizon Canopy
Razorverge Thicket
I need to update this list...
Lotus Cobra
Ajani, Caller of the Pride
Terrifying Presence
Silverblade Paladin
Blessings of Nature
Artful Dodge
Invisible Stalker
Snapcaster Mage
Phantasmal Image
Twisted Image
Ranger's Guile
Wild Defiance
Search for Tomorrow
Gemstone Caverns
Eladamri's Call
Sylvan Tutor
Crop Rotation
Weathered Wayfarer
Writ of Passage
Spirit en-Dal
Seal of Strength
Gaea's Might
Might of Alara
Rushing River
Edric, Spymaster of Trest
Sublime Archangel
Elvish Mystic
Card Synergies
Rafiq + ____ for the kill:
+ Finest Hour
+ Might of Oaks
+ Grafted Exoskeleton (Run this if you want to)
+ Triumph of the Hordes (Run this if you want to)
+ Putrefax (using Rafiq's buff)
Cephalid Constable + Rafiq = Bounce 4 permanents if they even have that many.
Cold-eyed Selkie + Rafiq = Huge card advantage.
Changes for normal ban list
-1 Wasteland
+1 Strip Mine
-1 Fyndhorn Elves
+1 Sol Ring
-1 Chrome Mox
+1 Mana Crypt
-1 Llanowar Elves
+1 Serra Ascendant
-1 Gitaxian Probe
+1 Sensei's Divining Top
-1 Delay
+1 Mana DrainChange Log
11/11/11
-1 Sylvan Might because +2/+2 for 2 mana just isn't enough. Typically we want a 1/1 infect critter to get +3/+3 from a spell as well as +1/+1 and Double Strike from Rafiq for the kill.
+1 Mystical Tutor for consistancy.
-1 Seaside Citadel because it has to come into play tapped, and we have nothing to ramp into it.
+1 Dryad Arbor comes in tapped, but it turns Green Sun's Zenith into turn 1 ramp.
11/14/11
-1 Contagion Clasp
+1 Viral Drake
2/28/12
-1 Elvish Spirit Guide
+1 Bloom Tender
-1 Lotus Petal
+1 Llanowar Elves
-1 Cystbearer
+1 Tine Shrike
-1 Utopia Sprawl
+1 Noxious Revival
-1 Abeyance
+1 Delay
-1 Orim's Chant
+1 Predator's Strike
-1 Silence
+1 Wild Might
-1 Isochron Scepter
+1 Temporal Spring
-1 Grafted Exoskeleton
+1 Sword of Feast and Famine
-1 Stonewood Invocation
+1 Sword of Fire and Ice
-1 Thrummingbird
+1 Skullclamp
-1 Runechanter's Pike
+1 Umezawa's Jitte
-1 Gemstone Mine
+1 Hinterland Harbor
-1 Adarkar Wastes
+1 Sunpetal Grove
-1 Brushland
+1 Horizon Canopy
-1 Yavimaya Coast
+1 Razorverge Thicket
-1 Mystic Gate
+1 Forest
4/12/13
-1 Temporal Spring
+1 Cystbearer
-1 Grafted Wargear
+1 Phyrexian Digester
-1 Spirit Mantle
+1 Simic Charm
-1 Reflecting Pool
+1 Cathedral of War
-1 Island
+1 Yavimaya Coast
-1 Plains
+1 Brushland
-1 Tectonic Edge
+1 Forest
-1 Bounty of the Hunt
+1 Oust
-1 Wild Might
+1 Apostle's Blessing
-1 Triumph of the Hordes
+1 Might of Oaks
-1 Goundswell
+1 Gitaxian Probe
-1 Mox Diamond
+1 Fyndhorn Elves
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I posted this in another thread, hope i'm not violating any forum rules, but the deck i'm planning to build is more like youre's so...
Since you blink and you haste a lot with all those cantrip,
What do you think of abusing Mangara of Corondor???
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I'd say zada too. Cheap, maybe a little glass cannon, but effective.
Stay with as few color as you can.
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What about Harbinger of the Tides
You may cast Harbinger of the Tides as though it had flash if you pay 2 more to cast it.
When Harbinger of the Tides enters the battlefield, you may return target tapped creature an opponent controls to its owner's hand.
Seem nice to me, just as tricky as i like.
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I'm pretty sure this would be appreciated by all.
This thread is nice and i come here often to see the news. Pinguis, do you plan on turning this thread into a primer?
Also, can someone explain me clerly the resonator combo?
Finally, what is the best engine to produce infinite land?
Thx guys!
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