Best poison & infect commanders

Complexity: MediumHigh power

Atraxa gives out no poison herself — she proliferates at the beginning of your end step, every turn. Each opponent who has a poison counter gets another, so one hit from an infect or toxic creature becomes a clock that keeps ticking. Four colors give you the best infect creatures, every proliferate card and plenty of removal, and her own flying, vigilance, deathtouch and lifelink make her a strong blocker while the counters pile up.

Best for: Players who want the strongest and most flexible poison deck.

Complexity: LowBeginner-friendly

Skithiryx has infect: its combat damage to players is poison counters. A 4/4 flyer needs three hits to give a player ten counters — two with a little pump. {B} gives it haste and {B}{B} regenerates it, so it can attack the turn it comes down and survives destroy effects. Build around Equipment and Auras that pump it, and it plays like a Voltron deck that needs 10 instead of 21.

Best for: Newcomers to poison and Voltron players.

Complexity: MediumBudget-friendly

Ixhel is a 2/5 flyer with toxic 2, so two hits leave an opponent corrupted — at three or more poison counters. From then on, at the beginning of your end step each corrupted opponent exiles their top card face down, and you may play it, spending mana as though it were any color. Poison becomes card advantage long before it wins. Abzan brings proliferate, removal and more toxic creatures.

Best for: Players who want value from poison, not only a race.

Complexity: LowBeginner-friendlyBudget-friendly

Fynn doesn’t use infect or toxic. Whenever a creature you control with deathtouch deals combat damage to a player, that player gets two poison counters. Deathtouch creatures are bad to block, so they connect, and five hits from them kill a player. Basilisk Collar and other deathtouch Equipment turn any creature into a poison source. At two mana Fynn is out early, and mono-green keeps the deck cheap.

Best for: Players who want a cheap, straightforward poison deck.

Complexity: MediumBudget-friendly

Vishgraz brings three Phyrexian Mite tokens with toxic 1 when he enters, and he has menace and toxic 1 himself. He gets +1/+1 for each poison counter your opponents have — all of them, so he grows as the whole table gets poisoned. Many small toxic attackers plus a few proliferate cards give each player counters quickly. Abzan adds token makers and removal.

Best for: Players who like going wide.

Complexity: LowBeginner-friendlyBudget-friendly

Karumonix gives every other Rat you control toxic 1, and when he enters he looks at the top five cards and takes all the Rats among them. Relentless Rats and Rat Colony let a deck run any number of copies, so the Rats come in numbers and every one of them poisons. Mono-black is simple, and most Rats are cheap. A typal deck with a poison twist.

Best for: Players who like typal decks and unusual themes.

Complexity: HighBudget-friendly

Kilo proliferates whenever he becomes tapped — by attacking, with his haste the turn he arrives, or by tapping for crew, convoke or untap tricks. Each untap effect is another proliferate. He gives no poison himself, so in a poison deck he grows the counters toxic Phyrexians left behind, along with your +1/+1 counters and planeswalkers. Jeskai has the fewest poison creatures, which makes this the most demanding build here.

Best for: Experienced players who like engines and combos.

Complexity: MediumBudget-friendly

Venser has toxic 1 and lifelink, and whenever you proliferate he gives you a choice: create The Hollow Sentinel, a 3/3 Golem token, if you don’t have it, or give an artifact creature flying and lifelink until end of turn. Dimir has many proliferate spells, such as Tezzeret’s Gambit, so each one adds poison and a body or evasion. Two mana, a slow but steady control deck.

Best for: Control players who like poison as a win condition.

Complexity: MediumBudget-friendly

Brimaz deals no poison and has no toxic. He rewards Phyrexians: each Phyrexian creature or artifact creature spell you cast also incubates, giving you a second body, and at each end step after a Phyrexian of yours died he proliferates. In a poison deck the poison comes from toxic Phyrexians in the 99, and Brimaz doubles them and grows the counters. Orzhov adds sacrifice outlets to make Phyrexians die on purpose.

Best for: Players who want a Phyrexian deck with poison as one plan.

Complexity: HighBudget-friendly

Morcant makes each opponent put a -1/-1 counter on a creature whenever an Elf enters under your control, and three untapped Elves tap to proliferate. He has no poison of his own: in a poison deck, Glistener Elf and other infect or toxic creatures give the first counters, and every proliferate adds to them while shrinking opposing creatures. A Golgari deck with two jobs for every Elf.

Best for: Players who want an Elf deck that wins with poison.