What Are The Top Decks In Modern – Infect

Moderns Infect deck is very similar to what you may expect having seen the Legacy and Standard versions: play a cheap creature with Infect, make sure you can protect it, and pump it up to deal 10 poison counters to your opponent as quickly as possible. While we have classified this deck as a combo deck due to its ability to win very fast and relative fragility, a strong Infect pilot should treat this deck as an aggressive deck that simply has less damage to deal to win the game.

The most important part of the Infect deck is its creature base. Noble Hierarch is the strangest inclusion to most people new to the deck, as the fact that it deals no poison damage and making mana seems irrelevant in such a fast deck. However, this card is the most important in the deck due to its ability to provide extra damage through Exalted triggers as well as making mana to protect creatures while killing the opponent. Glistener Elf, Blighted Agent, Inkmoth Nexus as well as either Ichorclaw Myr or a black splash for Plague Stinger fill out the creature base, as they are the cheapest and most evasive threats available. Inkmoth Nexus in particular is the best creature in the deck, avoiding sorcery-speed removal as well as Abrupt Decay.

The other major part of the Infect deck is the pump spells. The core package consists of Groundswell , Might of Old Krosa , Vines of Vastwood , and Mutagenic Growth , with Distortion Strike, Apostle’s Blessing and Wild Defiance providing additional support and protection. These spells are the most efficient available, either providing a high power/mana ratio or accomplishing an important role such as protection or unblockability. The most consistent and powerful version of the Infect deck is UG, but some pilots will choose to go mono-green for budget reasons, splash black for Plague Stinger, discard spells and Abrupt Decay, splash white for Path to Exile and other hate cards, or red for Assault Strobe and Ancient Grudge in the sideboard.

Sideboarding Against This Deck

One of the biggest strikes against the Infect deck is Spellskite. The deck plays a lot like Hexproof, and both are weak to the 0/4 redirecting their pump spells. If you are worried about this deck, Spellskite is your best option. Note that most Infect pilots have access to Twisted Image in the sideboard specifically for the purpose of dealing with this card. Sideboarding in more removal is always a good idea against this deck, as it has a small creature base that can easily peter out without protection spells.