Don't You Know that You're Toxic?

Commander / EDH BG (Golgari) Counters Deathtouch Infect

Imperator_in_Chief

Creature (23)

• 1x Ammit Eternal
• 1x Channeler Initiate
• 1x Devoted Druid
• 1x Fynn, the Fangbearer
• 1x Generous Patron
• 1x Grim Hireling
• 1x Midnight Banshee
• 1x Necroskitter
• 1x Necrotic Ooze
• 1x Obelisk Spider
• 1x Phyrexian Crusader
• 1x Phyrexian Hydra
• 1x Plague Stinger
• 1x Putrefax
• 1x Quillspike
• 1x Skinrender
• 1x Soul Snuffers
• 1x Soulstinger
• 1x Toski, Bearer of Secrets
• 1x Viridian Corrupter
• 1x Wickerbough Elder
• 1x Yawgmoth, Thran Physician
• 1x Zulaport Cutthroat

Instant (8)

• 1x Assassin's Trophy
• 1x Beast Within
• 1x Deadly Rollick
• 1x Grim Affliction
• 1x Plumb the Forbidden
• 1x Sudden Spoiling
• 1x Village Rites
• 1x Vines of Vastwood

Land (41)

• 1x Agadeem, the Undercrypt  ^Flip
• 1x Arcane Lighthouse
• 1x Blooming Marsh
• 1x Boseiju, Who Endures
• 1x Cabal Coffers
• 1x Command Tower
• 6x Forest
• 1x Golgari Rot Farm
• 1x Homeward Path
• 1x Karn's Bastion
• 1x Llanowar Wastes
• 1x Necroblossom Snarl
• 1x Nesting Grounds
• 1x Phyrexian Tower
• 1x Shizo, Death's Storehouse
• 15x Swamp
• 1x Tainted Wood
• 1x Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
• 1x Urza's Saga
• 1x Verdant Catacombs
• 1x Woodland Cemetery
• 1x Yavimaya, Cradle of Growth

Sorcery (8)

• 1x Black Sun's Zenith
• 1x Bone Shards
• 1x Demonic Tutor
• 1x Diabolic Intent
• 1x Harvest Season
• 1x Incremental Blight
• 1x Smell Fear
• 1x Triumph of the Hordes

Commander (1)

Enchantment (10)

• 1x Beastmaster Ascension
• 1x Black Market
• 1x Blowfly Infestation
• 1x Crumbling Ashes
• 1x Cryptolith Rite
• 1x Doubling Season
• 1x Nest of Scarabs
• 1x Phyrexian Arena
• 1x Phyrexian Reclamation
• 1x The Meathook Massacre

Artifact (9)

• 1x Cauldron of Souls
• 1x Contagion Engine
• 1x Mox Amber
• 1x Phyrexian Altar
• 1x Skullclamp
• 1x Sol Ring
• 1x The Ozolith
• 1x Viridian Longbow
• 1x Whispersilk Cloak

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Maybeboard

Creature (7)

• 1x Birds of Paradise
• 1x Cinderhaze Wretch
• 1x Dusk Urchins
• 1x Fiend Artisan
• 1x Grim Poppet
• 1x Protean Hulk
• 1x Serrated Biskelion

Instant (2)

• 1x Assassin's Trophy
• 1x Force of Vigor

Enchantment (5)

• 1x Contamination
• 1x Earthcraft
• 1x Glistening Oil
• 1x The Meathook Massacre
• 1x Tourach's Chant

Land (2)

• 1x Darkbore Pathway  ^Flip
• 1x Gemstone Caverns

Sorcery (5)

• 1x Culling Ritual
• 1x Dig Up
• 1x Eldritch Evolution
• 1x Persist
• 1x Victimize

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_emphasized text_This is a revamp of my first ever EDH deck. It's mostly based on controlling the board with -1/-1 counters as you accumulate lethal damage with tokens, but counters alone and infect are very viable secondary win conditions. While I kept it relatively competitive, I avoided combos that would make the game completely boring (infinite, hand lock, etc.).

Part 1: Counters on Counters

The first and core mechanic of this deck is counters. Hapatra is great for a lot of reasons, but first and foremost because she rewards you for popping counters everywhere. Counters are an elegant solution to problems other decks struggle to handle without specific removal such as indestructible, flying, or otherwise unblockable creatures.

Getting Counters on Things

You'll want to get Hapatra out as soon as possible and swing away. Even if you have to put a counter on Hapatra, do it, because that snake will come in handy later. Once Hapatra is out, protect her if you can with Swiftfoot Boots or use Whispersilk Cloak to make her a reliable counter engine.

Quickly crank out cheap wither and infect creatures like Plague Myr, Plague Stinger, Flensermite, Glistener Elf, Phyrexian Crusader, Juvenile Gloomwidow, etc. These make you a less attractive target for early game, and failing that, they will pop counters on things for you, generating your snakes. Poison counters are not the main wincon here, but it can easily work when combined with proliferate engines. It should go without saying that Doubling Season goes out ASAP.

Midnight Banshee and Soulstinger will accumulate counters both on yours and your opponents' creatures, but don't fret! Not only are you still accumulating tokens (or breaking even by killing your own snakes), Decimator Beetle can remove counters (albeit slowly) and pop them onto your opponents' creatures.

Controlling the Board with Counters

Once you've left -1 counters (and maybe poison counters) around, capitalize with one-off proliferators like Smell Fear and Grim Affliction or invest in your Contagion Engine. Also chump block or sacrifice with Core Prowler to get a one-off proliferate.

Does your playgroup play elfball or tokens? Pop a counter on their little elves, goblins, or thopters and Blowfly Infestation will cascade counters across all their tiny creatures and keep them from growing into a threat.

Bigger threats can be dealt with one at a time with Crumbling Ashes.

To capitalize on killing a bunch of stuff, use Necroskitter to steal your opponenents' creatures once they die with a counter on them. You can kill it with Ashes, counters, or spot remove with Murder, Bone Shards, or Smell Fear.

Winning with Counters

Use Obelisk Spider to slowly drain opponents with your counter effects. Effects like Black Sun's Zenith on top of a creature-heavy field can end the game immediately (so don't neglect your tokens). Unfortunately since the Spider triggers once per time you put any number of counters on a creature and not for each counter, you don't benefit from dumping multiple counters on each creature here. However, that means with enough 1/1 creatures on the field you can Zenith to a win on the cheap, only popping a single counter on each. Note that Contagion Engine could also do this go-wide counter dump for the win.

Other Uses for Counters

Now, it won't save your tokens, but Cauldron of Souls will make any board wipe or combat trick less devastating by bringing your creatures back with counters on them. This will keep your important players like Hapatra, Yawgmoth, Thran Physician, and Obelisk Spider safe, restock your board with tokens, and even give utility creatures like card:channeller initiate and Wickerbough Elder new life. If you can't get your Cauldron, one-off recur a creature with Life / Death.

Alternatively, bank counters onto The Ozolith or Soulstinger for additional spot removal.

Part 2: Tokens on Tokens

There are two token generators in this deck: Hapatra and Nest of Scarabs. Obviously you'll want Doubling Season out as soon as possible to capitalize on this, since a single counter will create two snakes.

Tokens for Utility

Hapatra needs to be out as much as possible in order to generate snakes. All these snakes are critically important deterrents that will allow you to build up your boardstate without much interference. But they're also a valuable resource. You only need one to combo with Yawgmoth, Thran Physician to draw and pop counters, and this is only limited by your life total. Other cards like Bone Shards,Smell Fear, Skullclamp/Village Rites, and Ashnod's Altar/Phyrexian Altar burn the tokens for cheap removal, draw, or much-needed mana.

For a more permanent, sustainable mana solution, you can swing your tokens (while keeping some blockers) to Harvest Season into a huge windfall of basic lands.

Winning with Tokens

You can pump that mana into a devastating Black Sun's Zenith that will likely wipe the board but leave you with hundreds of snakes and insects on the field to kill off your opponents before they can recover.

Even with a reasonable number of tokens, you have plenty of ways to end the game. Try Beastmaster Ascension or Triumph of the Hordes to overrun your opponents in a single turn before they even know how dangerous you are. If you're just a bit short of lethal with snakes or insects, you can supplement with lands using Life / Death.

Making it More Competitive

For the most effective possible Hapatra deck, I recommend this incredible deck.

I don't personally like infinite combos, so I've try to avoid them in this build. But feel free to use Zulaport Cutthroat or Blood Artist effects paired with Hapatra and Blowfly Infestation to go infinite if you'd prefer to use them.

I've not been able to avoid them all: It is possible to do infinite damage with Hapatra (plus a token), Obelisk Spider, and Yawgmoth, Thran Physician.

I'm considering Quillspike plus Grim Poppet, Cinderhaze Wretch, Wickerbough Elder, Devoted Druid, Ammit Eternal.

Recent Replacements

- Decimator Beetle out, Ammit Eternal in - Juvenile Gloomwidow out, Generous Patron in - Golgari Signet out, Mox Amber in - Phyrexian Swarmlord out, Grim Hireling in - Lightning Greaves out, Viridian Longbow in - Life / Death out, Phyrexian Reclamation in - Glistener Elf out, Zulaport Cutthroat in - Blightwidow out, Toski, Bearer of Secrets in - Flensermite out, Fynn, the Fangbearer in - Rendclaw Trow out, The Meathook Massacre in - Whispering Specter out, Sudden Spoiling in - Core Prowler out, Cryptolith Rite in - Swamp out, Homeward Path in

Considering Replacements

- Plague Stinger out - Phyrexian Hydra out

Date added	7 years
Last updated	2 years
Exclude colors	WUR
Splash colors	G
Legality	This deck is Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	8 - 0 Mythic Rares 38 - 0 Rares 23 - 0 Uncommons 10 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	2.90
Tokens	Beast 3/3 G, Construct 0/0 C, Insect 1/1 B, Snake 1/1 G, Snake 1/1 G w/ Deathtouch, Treasure
Folders	Hapatra, Cool Ideas