Try Not to Hate

Commander / EDH Casual Infect Jank UB (Dimir)

ZuranSorcerer

Creature (40)

• 1x Benthic Biomancer
• 1x Vector Asp
• 1x Blighted Agent
• 1x Dimir Infiltrator
• 1x Flensermite
• 1x Ichorclaw Myr
• 1x Necropede
• 1x Plague Myr
• 1x Plague Stinger
• 1x Swamp Mosquito
• 1x Tetsuko Umezawa, Fugitive
• 1x Thrummingbird
• 1x Cephalid Pathmage
• 1x Contagious Nim
• 1x Guildpact Informant
• 1x Ichor Rats
• 1x Neurok Invisimancer
• 1x Phyrexian Crusader
• 1x Phyrexian Digester
• 1x Septic Rats
• 1x Thassa, God of the Sea
• 1x Whispering Specter
• 1x Blackcleave Goblin
• 1x Core Prowler
• 1x Corpse Cur
• 1x Etrata, the Silencer
• 1x Flesh-Eater Imp
• 1x Hand of the Praetors
• 1x Sakashima's Student
• 1x Viral Drake
• 1x Yawgmoth, Thran Physician
• 1x Ghastlord of Fugue
• 1x Pestilent Souleater
• 1x Reaper of Sheoldred
• 1x Scourge Servant
• 1x Skithiryx, the Blight Dragon
• 1x Chained Throatseeker
• 1x Phyrexian Juggernaut
• 1x Toxic Nim
• 1x Deep-Sea Kraken

Land (36)

• 1x Command Tower
• 1x Creeping Tar Pit
• 1x Darkslick Shores
• 1x Drowned Catacomb
• 1x Inkmoth Nexus
• 11x Island
• 1x Karn's Bastion
• 1x Morphic Pool
• 1x Polluted Delta
• 1x Sunken Hollow
• 12x Swamp
• 1x Tainted Isle
• 1x Underground River
• 1x Underground Sea
• 1x Watery Grave

Enchantment (5)

• 1x Aqueous Form
• 1x Aether Tunnel
• 1x Phyresis
• 1x Corrupted Conscience
• 1x Inexorable Tide

Instant (4)

• 1x Tainted Strike
• 1x Steady Progress
• 1x Fuel for the Cause
• 1x Hatred

Planeswalker (1)

• 1x Mu Yanling

Commander (1)

Artifact (9)

• 1x Hot Soup
• 1x Sol Ring
• 1x Blade of Selves
• 1x Contagion Clasp
• 1x Commander's Sphere
• 1x Crown of Doom
• 1x Sword of Truth and Justice
• 1x Grafted Exoskeleton
• 1x Contagion Engine

Sorcery (4)

• 1x Contentious Plan
• 1x Demonic Tutor
• 1x Tezzeret's Gambit
• 1x Spread the Sickness

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Maybeboard

Creature (1)

• 1x Blightsteel Colossus

Enchantment (1)

• 1x Cloak of Mists

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Try Not To Hate

Inspiration

I wanted a Commander EDH Deck that doesn’t telegraph to its opponents that is using infect. Many commanders (Skithiryx, Atraxa) announce the nature of the deck, allowing opponents to play accordingly from turn 1. Vela the Night-Clad merely warns players that this deck will use evasion, and may even throw them off from infect with her life-loss to each opponent triggered ability. To be fair, with 38 creatures (21 of them with CMC or less), this hard to prevent life-loss is also a viable threat. Black blue certainly doesn’t scream “Infect Deck” either, with only 4 mono-blue infect cards in the format. The blue is there for two reasons: evasion and proliferate. The inspiration for this deck’s name comes from the INXS song “Mediate” (showing my age here) as well as the fact that players tend to loath infect decks in Commander EDH.

Strategy

This deck could be fun in casual, but honestly its design lends itself to being most competitive when opponents haven’t seen it before. The surpise factor of this being an infect deck is huge, and should be kept a secret until at least turn three if possible. Plague Myr is possibly the biggest caveat to this strategy, as any turn two mana accelerator drop is hard to pass up. Opening hand should have at least one or two lands. If not, a mulligan is recommended. There are tons of 3 and 4 drop cards in this deck and the average CMC is 3.42, so it isn’t at all slow for a Commander EDH build.

Hold on to the proliferate cards until you've given each opponent at least one poison counter. Once each player is infected, proliferate at will. They should show up fairly often, as there are fifteen cards that proliferate in the deck, at least eight of which are repeatedble abilities. Karn's Bastion, Contagion Engine, Viral Drake and Yawgmoth, Thran Physician are all great examples, but do require a cost to activate. In contrast, Guildpact Informant, Thrummingbird and Sword of Truth and Justice all trigger for no cost. Any evasion you can offer them is advised.

Evasion is key for this deck. The Commander, Vela the Night-Clad grants some evasion to all your creatures while in play. Intimidate is going to be most effective against Green/Red/White, but the artifact creatures like Phyrexian Juggernaut and Pestilent Souleater will be hard for most opponents to block. Blightsteel Colossus is on my maybe-list for this reason, despite its high mana cost. Besides Vela’s intimidation, there are eight straight-up ”unblockables” in the build, with at least another six with some form of evasion. These cards are great targets for Phyresis, Grafted Exoskeleton and Tainted Strike. Your evasive creatures could also benefit from Corrupted Conscience, but might be better suited taking away an opponent’s creature, especially if they have only one potential blocker, some massive trampler, or a better evasive creature.

Ten cards in this deck grant evasion to your creatures! This cannot be overstated, they are your game winners. Use them wisely on your best infect creatures already in play and ready to attack, as well as creatures who proliferate when they deal combat damage to a player (see above). Hatred is great on an “unblockable” infect creature.

Victory will depend greatly on granting infect and evasion onto the right creatures. If a great choice isn’t obvious, you’re better off waiting a few turns.

Notes

I wanted a deck that wouldn’t break the bank. I purposely left Blightsteel Colossus out of the deck for both its high mana cost, and its sticker price. You may prefer to swap it in.

Cards in the decklist showing FOIL versions are key cards.

Date added	4 years
Last updated	4 years
Legality	This deck is Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	8 - 0 Mythic Rares 23 - 0 Rares 20 - 0 Uncommons 26 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	3.42
Tokens	Copy Clone