Ophiophagus Hapatra

Commander / EDH Aristocrats BG (Golgari) Infect Jank Tokens Tokens

LordBlackblade

Creature (29)

• 1x Ammit Eternal
• 1x Blood Artist
• 1x Carnifex Demon
• 1x Channeler Initiate
• 1x Devoted Druid
• 1x Dusk Urchins
• 1x Elves of Deep Shadow
• 1x Evolution Sage
• 1x Falkenrath Noble
• 1x Festering Mummy
• 1x Fume Spitter
• 1x Fynn, the Fangbearer
• 1x Generous Patron
• 1x Harbinger of Night
• 1x Hooded Blightfang
• 1x Midnight Banshee
• 1x Morbid Opportunist
• 1x Necroskitter
• 1x Obelisk Spider
• 1x Phyrexian Hydra
• 1x Plague Myr
• 1x Poison-Tip Archer
• 1x Skithiryx, the Blight Dragon
• 1x Soul Snuffers
• 1x Vindictive Vampire
• 1x Viridian Corrupter
• 1x Wickerbough Elder
• 1x Yawgmoth, Thran Physician
• 1x Zulaport Cutthroat

Sorcery (5)

• 1x Black Sun's Zenith
• 1x Harvest Season
• 1x Primal Growth
• 1x Smell Fear
• 1x Triumph of the Hordes

Land (33)

• 1x Access Tunnel
• 1x Command Tower
• 1x Darkbore Pathway  ^Flip
• 1x Deathcap Glade
• 6x Forest
• 1x Grasping Dunes
• 1x Ifnir Deadlands
• 1x Karn's Bastion
• 1x Llanowar Wastes
• 1x Overgrown Tomb
• 1x Phyrexian Tower
• 1x Rogue's Passage
• 1x Shizo, Death's Storehouse
• 9x Swamp
• 1x Tainted Wood
• 1x Twilight Mire
• 1x Undergrowth Stadium
• 1x Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
• 1x Woodland Cemetery
• 1x Yavimaya, Cradle of Growth

Enchantment (11)

• 1x Bastion of Remembrance
• 1x Beastmaster Ascension
• 1x Blowfly Infestation
• 1x Crumbling Ashes
• 1x Cryptolith Rite
• 1x Flourishing Defenses
• 1x Growing Rites of Itlimoc  ^Flip
• 1x Nest of Scarabs
• 1x Parallel Lives
• 1x Utopia Sprawl
• 1x Wild Growth

Commander (1)

Instant (12)

• 1x Altar's Reap
• 1x Assassin's Trophy
• 1x Deadly Dispute
• 1x Grim Affliction
• 1x Hagra Mauling  ^Flip
• 1x Khalni Ambush  ^Flip
• 1x Plumb the Forbidden
• 1x Reckoner's Bargain
• 1x Second Harvest
• 1x Splendid Agony
• 1x Village Rites
• 1x Virulent Wound

Artifact (9)

• 1x Ashnod's Altar
• 1x Contagion Clasp
• 1x Contagion Engine
• 1x Idol of Oblivion
• 1x Prowler's Helm
• 1x Serrated Arrows
• 1x Skullclamp
• 1x Thieves' Tools
• 1x Whispersilk Cloak

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Welcome to my Hapatra, Vizier of Poisons EDH! I like to refer to this deck as hot trash, mostly because it is full of cards that seem like real garbage on the surface. Who would ever play Serrated Arrows? Nobody unless they are running Hapatra. The way to interpret the cards in the deck is to read any card that places -1/-1 counters on a creature as also creating one or more 1/1 Green Snake tokens with deathtouch. For example, Serrated Arrows weakens a creature while simultaneously creating a deathtouch blocker for us to chump with, all at instant speed! The best part about playing this deck, is that win or lose, you'll have a good time either way. If you win, you won with a deck full of absolute garbage and everyone else will be at a total loss. If you lose, well it was a pile of hot trash, but at least you got to play some jank cards!

Try setting sort to Custom to see my thought process when designing the deck!

The Commander

Hapatra has a lot going for her. At a mere two mana, she is quite easy to cast multiple times as she will be a lightning rod for opponents removal. Her ability to capitalize on the production of -1/-1 counters allows us to build up a board of tokens while simultaneously removing or neutering our opponents’ combat abilities.

EDH Staples

Some cards have a place in (nearly) every EDH deck. Most of these so-called staples serve one purpose: color fixing. As the number of colors in a deck increases, so too does the need for color fixing. This deck has more of a budget mana base. My research on the topic has lead me to create what I believe to be an optimized budget mana base for the deck. This was achieved by removing as many tap lands as possible and replacing them with dual lands that have a way to enter the battlefield untapped.

The Battlebond Lands Show

These lands come in untapped if you have two or more opponents. In casual EDH, that should be the vast majority of games.

• Undergrowth Stadium

The Check Lands Show

These lands check to see if you have a given land type under your control. We'll usually have a basic land under our control, making this an easy requirement to meet.

• Woodland Cemetery

Command Tower Show

The land of lands in EDH, Command Tower should be in every multicolor EDH deck.

• Command Tower

The Filter Lands Show

These lands are able to tap for a colorless mana on their own, or can be used to filter mana of one color into another color.

• Twilight Mire

The Pain Lands Show

An underrated type of dual land, the pain lands deal one damage to you when tapped for either of their colors; however, they can also be tapped for a colorless mana at no penalty.

• Llanowar Wastes

The Pathways Show

These relatively simple lands are great! They always come in untapped, and let you choose what you need on the spot. I'm not saying they are as good as the fetch lands; however, their ability to fix you is quite high.

• Darkbore Pathway  

The Shock Lands Show

Get Shocked in order to get an untapped dual land into play. The shock lands are true color-fixing staples in any format.

• Overgrown Tomb

The Slow Lands Show

Strictly better battle lands. Only punish you on turns 1 and 2, which is not the majority of the game. Most of the time they function as untapped dual lands.

• Deathcap Glade

The Tainted Lands Show

The tainted lands are a form of black-only dual land originally printed in the Torment set. They are excellent duals and function most similarly to the check lands.

• Tainted Wood

The Miscellaneous Mana Fixers Show

These cards don't fit into the other mana-fixing staple categories, but are used still widely used and can be quite powerful.

• Phyrexian Tower - Gives us a way to sacrifice a creature if we need in order to produce more mana

• Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth - Makes all lands swamps, fixes us for the majority of our cards at a very low opportunity cost

• Yavimaya, Cradle of Growth - A green Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth. Easy, low opportunity cost fixing.

Removal Suite

Removal is a key concept in many EDH decks. If your deck doesn't have the ability to counter a spell, removal is the next best option. The key deciding factor for removal spells in this deck is versatility. Any spell that does more than simply destroy a creature is an outstanding choice.

• Assassin's Trophy - A new all-star! Two mana to deal with any permanent

• Hagra Mauling   - Usually an over-costed Murder; however, has a low opportunity cost to run

• Khalni Ambush   - An over-costed Pounce; however, has a low opportunity cost to run

• Smell Fear - Basically lets us Fling one of our snakes at a creature, and it proliferates

• Viridian Corrupter - Destroys an artifact on ETB, also an infect body, which is super relevant in our deck

• Wickerbough Elder - Ideally, repeatable artifact and enchantment destruction

The Strategy

The deck’s primary focus is two-fold: to generate -1/-1 counters and to generate tokens using effects like Hapatra, Vizier of Poisons. The deck then has two possible routes to victory: Aristocrats-style life drain or token swarm.

-1/-1 Counter Generation Show

The primary focus of the deck. Generating -1/-1 counters triggers many of the deck’s effects and also acts as a form of removal that is difficult to stop.

• Ammit Eternal - Essentially a Noosegraf Mob when combined with our commander

• Black Sun's Zenith - Normally a powerful boardwipe, but in this deck it really shines

• Carnifex Demon - A -1/-1 counter-based version of Pestilence Demon

• Festering Mummy - Generates a -1/-1 counter when it dies

• Fume Spitter - Can sacrifice itself to generate a -1/-1 counter

• Grasping Dunes - Costs us a land, but can place a -1/-1 counter in a pinch

• Harbinger of Night - Places a -1/-1 counter on each creature on your upkeep. A good way to build up snakes

• Ifnir Deadlands - A slightly beffier Grasping Dunes. Can also tap for black in a pinch

• Midnight Banshee - Essentially Harbinger of Night, but doesn’t place counters on black creatures

• Serrated Arrows - Instant speed -1/-1 counter and a blocker if Hapatra, Vizier of Poisons is out

• Soul Snuffers - A 3/3 for four mana that places a -1/-1 counter on each creature upon entering the battlefield

• Splendid Agony - Places two -1/-1 counters divided on one or two creatures

-1/-1 Counter Support Show

The deck does more than just generate -1/-1 counters, it also capitalizes on those counters being generated to enable other effects.

• Blowfly Infestation - Enables infinite loops by allowing us to transfer a -1/-1 counter from one creature to another when that creature dies

• Crumbling Ashes - Ramps up the lethality of our -1/-1 counters by destroying a creature with a -1/-1 counter on it during each of our upkeeps

• Necroskitter - Steals any creature that dies with -1/-1 counter on it

Life Drain Show

An often used strategy is to generate a large or infinite amount of creatures and then sacrifice them to trigger aristocrat effects draining life from one or several opponents at once. Our primary aristocrat loops involve cycling through snake tokens by mass placing -1/-1 counters.

• Bastion of Remembrance - Essentially a Zulaport Cutthroat in enchantment form. Also creates a token on entry which is okay

• Blood Artist - The classic aristocrat. Drain one life from one player whenever a creature dies

• Falkenrath Noble - Blood Artist on a beefier, flying body

• Hooded Blightfang - Helps drain our opponents when we swing with our snakes. Also can help remove pesky planeswalkers

• Obelisk Spider - Drains one life from each opponent whenever a -1/-1 counter is placed on a creature

• Poison-Tip Archer - Drains one life from each opponent whenever a creature dies

• Vindictive Vampire - Deals one damage to each opponent whenever a creature you control dies

• Zulaport Cutthroat - See Poison-Tip Archer

Token Support Show

Tokens are a vital part of many strategies. In this deck, the majority of tokens are generated through the use of -1/-1 counters.

• Beastmaster Ascension - A great buff used in many go-wide strategies. Easy to play and activate in one turn with the number of tokens the deck generates

• Flourishing Defenses - Similar to Hapatra, Vizier of Poisons. Generates a lot of tokens in this deck

• Nest of Scarabs - See Flourishing Defenses

• Parallel Lives - Doubles the number of tokens generated by effects like Hapatra, Vizier of Poisons

• Second Harvest - Doubles the number of tokens you control. A great card to break parity

Sub-Themes

Any given deck has a number of sub-themes running in the background of the overall deck architecture. The sub-themes represent a major component of this particular deck.

Card Draw Show

Drawing cards is a powerful mechanic. Unfortunately for this deck card draw is a major weakness.

• Altar's Reap - Sacrifice a creature to draw two cards. The most basic version of this effect

• Deadly Dispute - The best in class of the Altar's Reap family. More versatile and gives you a treasure token to boot

• Dusk Urchins - Ideally draws three or more cards when it dies

• Generous Patron - Super secret tech! Draws an obscene amount of cards in the deck

• Idol of Oblivion - With as many tokens as the deck can produce, this should be very consistent, cheap card draw

• Morbid Opportunist - A lesser-known gem from Midnight Hunt. Only can trigger once each turn, but it can trigger every turn, not just yours

• Plumb the Forbidden - A scalable Altar's Reap variant. Not as efficient, but has a higher ceiling

• Reckoner's Bargain - A decent member of the Altar's Reap family. More versatile and gives you some life to boot

• Skullclamp - Best-in-class aristocrats card draw. Pay one mana, draw two cards whenever we have a snake to sacrifice

• Village Rites - The strictly better Altar's Reap. Cheapest variant

• Yawgmoth, Thran Physician - This card is a powerhouse in this deck. Goes practically infinite with several cards and is a powerful draw engine

Evasion Show

Hapatra, Vizier of Poisons has to connect to trigger one of her abilities. Making her unblockable is a solid way to enable our engine.

• Access Tunnel - A light version of Rogue's Passage

• Prowler's Helm - An underplayed card. Walls are not as common in EDH, making this essentially unblockability

• Rogue's Passage - An EDH all-star. Four mana to make a creature unblockable

• Shizo, Death's Storehouse - Fear is almost as good as unblockable against non-black decks

• Thieves' Tools - Makes our commander unblockable to help enable our strategy

• Whispersilk Cloak - Works to both protect Hapatra, Vizier of Poisons and make her unblockable

Infect Show

Generating -1/-1 counters is great, but what if that was coupled with a powerful way to kill players? Enter infect, one of the most infamous mechanics ever devised. These cards enable our strategy and help knock out players.

• Fynn, the Fangbearer - Doesn't give our snakes infect, but essentially poisonous 2. Usually gets hated out on sight, and rightly so

• Phyrexian Hydra - A nasty, infect beater that will make snakes when it is injured

• Skithiryx, the Blight Dragon - The big, bad infect dragon. If you run infect, you run this card

• Triumph of the Hordes - Though heavily telegraphed, this infect variant of Overrun is a great finisher in token-based strategies

• Virulent Wound - Drop a weenie and give its controller a poison counter

Mana Acceleration Show

Mana fuels all of our spells, so it makes sense that having more of it, earlier, is a great thing. Ramp is considered especially powerful in EDH due to the average length of the games and the mana cost of the cards involved.

• Ashnod's Altar - The classic sacrifice mana generator. Two mana per creature can lead to a gush of mana

• Channeler Initiate - Mana acceleration coupled with -1/-1 counter generation

• Cryptolith Rite - Turns all of our creatures into mana dorks. Couples well with token-based strategies

• Devoted Druid - Similar to Channeler Initiate, mana acceleration and -1/-1 counters

• Elves of Deep Shadow - A green dork that can tap for black. The life loss is usually not significant in Commander

• Growing Rites of Itlimoc   - Build your own Gaea's Cradle. Easy as pie to trigger in with all of our tokens

• Harvest Season - The go-wide variant of Traverse the Outlands can fetch out an unreal amount of basic lands

• Plague Myr - Not the best mana dork; however, it's infect body can make it more useful in this deck than most

• Primal Growth - Ideally used as an Explosive Vegetation for one less mana and a token sacrifice

• Utopia Sprawl - One mana for one mana. Enchantments are surprisingly difficult to remove, and this is particularly low aggro as well

• Wild Growth - See Utopia Sprawl

Proliferation Show

Any strategy involving counters can benefit from the inclusion of proliferation. Proliferation is a fairly limited print mechanic, but is powerful enough to warrant inclusion of even some of the weaker variants.

• Contagion Clasp - The most basic entry in the proliferation suite. Expensive, but repeatable

• Contagion Engine - Contagion Clasp’s bigger, badder brother

• Evolution Sage - Proliferates on land drops. Synergizes well with our land ramp cards

• Grim Affliction - Instant speed, more powerful than it looks

• Karn's Bastion - Proliferate on a land, at a reasonable cost for the effect

Weaknesses

The deck's biggest weakness is a lack of card draw. I'm working on incorporating more card draw effects, but honestly haven't gotten around to it yet. The deck has a certain charm for its jankiness, and a part of me wants to keep it janky, budget.

Date added	5 years
Last updated	2 years
Legality	This deck is Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	2 - 0 Mythic Rares 34 - 0 Rares 33 - 0 Uncommons 16 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	2.87
Tokens	Copy Clone, Eldrazi 10/10 C, Elf Warrior 1/1 G, Human Soldier 1/1 W, Insect 1/1 B, Snake 1/1 G, Snake 1/1 G w/ Deathtouch, Treasure
Folders	Completed Decks