EDH Skithiryx, the Blighted Dragon

Commander / EDH* Control Infect Mono-Black Poisonous Proliferate Silver Bullet

amarthaler

Lands (34)

• 1x Agadeem, the Undercrypt  ^Flip
• 1x Ancient Tomb
• 1x Cabal Coffers
• 1x Inkmoth Nexus
• 1x Karn's Bastion
• 1x Maze of Ith
• 1x Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
• 1x Rogue's Passage
• 1x Shizo, Death's Storehouse
• 1x Subterranean Hangar
• 20x Swamp
• 1x The Black Gate
• 1x Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
• 1x Volrath's Stronghold
• 1x Witch's Cottage

Buffs (7)

• 1x Tainted Strike
• 1x Contagion Clasp
• 1x Dauthi Embrace
• 1x Staff of Compleation
• 1x Unspeakable Symbol
• 1x Vat Emergence
• 1x Contagion Engine

Board Cleaners (6)

• 1x Phyresis Outbreak
• 1x Soul Shatter
• 1x Vraska's Fall
• 1x Phyrexian Obliterator
• 1x Gix's Command
• 1x In Garruk's Wake

Equipment (4)

• 1x Commander's Plate
• 1x Shadowspear
• 1x Swiftfoot Boots
• 1x Sword of Truth and Justice

Poisonous Creatures (14)

• 1x Bilious Skulldweller
• 1x Blightbelly Rat
• 1x Pestilent Syphoner
• 1x Plague Myr
• 1x Plague Stinger
• 1x Ichor Rats
• 1x Phyrexian Crusader
• 1x Suq'Ata Assassin
• 1x Whispering Specter
• 1x Core Prowler
• 1x Flesh-Eater Imp
• 1x Hand of the Praetors
• 1x Nimraiser Paladin
• 1x Reaper of Sheoldred

Card Draw (8)

• 1x Black Market Connections
• 1x Infectious Inquiry
• 1x Necropotence
• 1x Phyrexian Arena
• 1x Read the Bones
• 1x Syphon Mind
• 1x Lolth, Spider Queen
• 1x Vraska, Betrayal's Sting

Target Removal (6)

• 1x Deadly Rollick
• 1x Whisper of the Dross
• 1x Drown in Ichor
• 1x Ashes to Ashes
• 1x Murderous Rider
• 1x Astarion's Thirst

Tutors (1)

• 1x Demonic Tutor

Commander (1)

Ramp (9)

• 1x Sol Ring
• 1x Everflowing Chalice
• 1x Jet Medallion
• 1x Mind Stone
• 1x Thought Vessel
• 1x Astral Cornucopia
• 1x Decanter of Endless Water
• 1x Glistening Sphere
• 1x Crypt Ghast

Protection (7)

• 1x Darkness
• 1x Malakir Rebirth  ^Flip
• 1x Imp's Mischief
• 1x Necrogen Communion
• 1x Shade's Form
• 1x Sudden Spoiling
• 1x No Mercy

Target Poison (3)

• 1x Virulent Wound
• 1x Decimator Web
• 1x Caress of Phyrexia

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Maybeboard

Other (16)

• 1x Glaring Spotlight
• 1x Feed the Swarm
• 1x Pentad Prism
• 1x Trailblazer's Boots
• 1x Grim Affliction
• 1x Heraldic Banner
• 1x Relic Putrescence
• 1x Rust Tick
• 1x Corpse Cur
• 1x Defiler of Flesh
• 1x Koskun Falls
• 1x Liliana of the Dark Realms
• 1x Gulping Scraptrap
• 1x Maha, Its Feathers Night
• 1x Spread the Sickness
• 1x Toxic Nim

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{BP} Welcome to the Phyrexian legions! Your Commander is Skithiryx, the Blight Dragon with the infectious and toxic army of compleated souls at your side. This is NOT a classic voltron or aggro style Skittles deck. What this deck attempts to do is quickly get poison counters onto our opponents and proliferate, proliferate, proliferate while using powerful spells to control the board and protect yourself. Proliferation in this build will also enhance our Planeswalkers, mana rocks and +1/+1 counters. The strategy requires patience and efficient use of control, politics and resources.

What is Infect?

When a creature has the infect keyword ability, it deals combat damage in the form of -1/-1 counters to creatures (-1 loyalty to Planeswalkers), and poison counters to players. The value of combat damage scales with the creature's power. Since infect is still considered dealing combat damage, effects like lifelink and trample still function the same. These counters do not go away unless removed (for example, if a Plague Myr dealt combat damage to a Wall of Runes, the Wall of Runes would have the -1/-1 counter on it, changing its power and toughness to -1/3 until the counter is removed). Counters can be increased via the proliferate mechanic. A player with 10 poison counters on him or her loses the game. For more on Infect, please visit: https://mtg.fandom.com/wiki/Infect.

What is Toxic?

Any time a creature with toxic deals combat damage to a player, that player gets a number of poison counters equal to the toxic value of that creature. The toxic value is the number after the toxic keyword. Poison counters are handed out in addition to the damage being dealt. A creature's toxic value and its' power aren't necessarily connected. If a creature with toxic 6 deals 1 combat damage to an opponent, they're getting six poison counters. Toxic has no effect if the creature deals combat damage to another creature or a Planeswalker. Instead of giving poison counters as a triggered ability like poisonous, toxic acts more like Lifelink, adding the counters instantaneously. For more on toxic, please visit: https://mtg.fandom.com/wiki/Toxic.

{BP} For land base we are using a very basic, consistent and reliable set up. There are a few utility lands which aim to control the board such as Karn's Bastion to proliferate our +1/+1 counters on creatures or poison counters on opponents, Maze of Ith to give us protection from a creature or Agadeem, the Undercrypt   can be used as either a land or graveyard recursion with Agadeem's Awakening   as the back side. We also run Rogue's Passage and The Black Gate which will render any creature we attack with un-blockable.

{BP} In mono-black, we must embrace the fact that life is a resource and digging through our deck is essential to retrieving the pieces we need for a successful victory. In the realm of card draw, we're running very aggressive spells such as Necropotence and Black Market Connections. Do not be afraid to spend life on these cards! The quicker we find the pieces to place poison counters on everyone and start proliferating, the quicker the game ends!

{BP} Sometimes with poison decks, it can be challenging to get the ball rolling with poison counters on one or more of our opponents. To circumvent that, we have 8 cards which immediately apply a poison counter to an opponent(s) such as Infectious Inquiry and Phyresis Outbreak, along with 12 cards which proliferate such as Drown in Ichor and Blightbelly Rat. If we draw Demonic Tutor early in the game, finding a card which immediately gives all of our opponents a poison counter is a must. Lastly, we have tricks such as Tainted Strike which we can cast as one opponent attacks another to start the poison counters.

{BP} Evasion and board control are important to this deck's strategy so that our creatures can connect with our opponents. We use cards such as Dauthi Embrace and Shizo, Death's Storehouse to give our creatures or Commander Fear and Shadow. Edict effects are built in to keep the board void of creatures - spells such as Gix's Command and In Garruk's Wake are asymmetric sacrifices which won't effect our creatures. Examples of board control/protection include Imp's Mischief and No Mercy.

Getting to the win condition

Control the board and surviving while getting a poison counter on each opponent as quickly as we can to then proliferate. It will be very challenging to try and muscle through a wall of creatures with our weaker ones, so remaining patient and finding evasion or a way through is key. In this deck, the strategy is to take someone out if the opportunity arises - it doesn't need to be a 3 for 1 result. Trust me, once the table feels threatened by infect, you're the archenemy and there's no going back. So once you have a counter an opponent(s), proliferate them down. Its a matter of building up the right grip of cards to a) wipe the board and swing big; b) evade and plus up a creature with Shade's Form or Unspeakable Symbol; or c) constant proliferation to eliminate opponents.

Thank you very much for reading this deck description. If you like it, please give it an upvote and be sure to post any comments / suggestions you may have to improve this deck. Happy tapping!

Date added	2 years
Last updated	5 days
Legality	This deck is Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	9 - 0 Mythic Rares 30 - 0 Rares 24 - 0 Uncommons 17 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	2.98
Tokens	Emblem Lolth, Spider Queen, On an Adventure, Shapeshifter 3/2 C, Spider 2/1 B, Treasure
Folders	Other People's Decks I Like, EDH Decks, mono black, Not mine decks