Introduction
This deck is part of the Pauper Decks, which are made from only common cards. The great thing about Pauper is the majority of the cards are cheap to buy, and are still strong as there are quite a lot of good common cards over Magic's history.
Key Strategy
Mono Green Infect is an aggressive deck focused on delivering lethal damage as quickly as possible through the use of creatures with the infect mechanic. Infect allows your creatures to deal damage to opponents in the form of poison counters, with just 10 poison counters needed to win the game. The deck’s strategy revolves around combining low-cost infect creatures with powerful pump spells to deliver a fast, lethal blow.
Key Cards
Glistener Elf and Ichorclaw Myr: These are your most efficient infect creatures, capable of coming down early and being pumped on subsequent turns to deal significant poison damage. Glistener Elf is a one-drop that can easily be lethal with the right combination of pump spells, while Ichorclaw Myr becomes more dangerous when blocked, growing to a 3/3 during combat.
Blight Mamba and Cystbearer: Blight Mamba offers resilience with its regeneration ability, allowing it to survive combat or removal, while Cystbearer provides a sturdier body that can deal more poison damage over time.
Rancor: This aura gives your creatures trample, ensuring that even if your opponent has blockers, some damage will still get through, potentially delivering the lethal poison counter. The fact that Rancor returns to your hand if the creature it’s attached to dies makes it a reliable source of ongoing pressure.
Vines of Vastwood and Apostle’s Blessing: These spells offer protection for your key infect creatures, ensuring that they can survive removal spells or block, while also serving as potential pump spells. Vines of Vastwood is particularly powerful when kicked, providing both protection and a significant power boost.
Mutagenic Growth, Embiggen, and Might of Old Krosa: These are your primary pump spells, allowing you to significantly increase the power of your infect creatures for a low cost, potentially delivering lethal damage in a single attack. Mutagenic Growth is especially potent as it can be cast for free with Phyrexian mana, enabling surprise lethal attacks.
Llanowar Augur: This creature can be sacrificed to give a creature a substantial boost in power and toughness, alongside trample, making it a key enabler for delivering lethal damage. Although it must be sacrificed, its low cost makes it easy to fit into your curve.
Gameplay Strategy
The core strategy of Mono Green Infect is to deploy a fast infect creature like Glistener Elf or Ichorclaw Myr and then use pump spells to deliver as much poison damage as possible in a single attack. The deck’s low curve allows it to deploy threats quickly, often threatening lethal damage as early as turn two or three.
In the early game, focus on deploying an infect creature as soon as possible. Glistener Elf is your ideal turn-one play, while Ichorclaw Myr and Blight Mamba provide follow-up threats. Once you have a creature on the board, use pump spells like Might of Old Krosa, Mutagenic Growth, and Rancor to increase its power and potentially deal lethal poison damage in a single attack.
Use Vines of Vastwood and Apostle’s Blessing to protect your infect creatures from removal or combat tricks, ensuring that your key threats stay on the board. If your opponent is forced to block, Rancor and Llanowar Augur can provide trample, making it easier to push damage through their defenses.
Lotus Petal can accelerate your game plan by providing the extra mana needed to cast multiple pump spells in a single turn or by allowing you to cast a creature and pump spell on the same turn. This can lead to explosive turns where you catch your opponent off guard with a sudden lethal attack.
Mulligan Guide
In Mono Green Infect, your opening hand should ideally contain at least one infect creature and one or two pump spells. Since the deck relies heavily on delivering lethal damage quickly, a hand with only pump spells or only creatures is likely not keepable. Prioritize hands with Glistener Elf or Ichorclaw Myr as your early infect creatures, alongside pump spells like Might of Old Krosa or Mutagenic Growth.
If your opening hand lacks an infect creature, it’s usually best to mulligan, as your game plan hinges on dealing poison damage. Similarly, hands with too many lands or not enough action should be sent back. In this deck, a functional six-card hand is often better than a suboptimal seven.
Mono Green Infect is all about speed and precision. The deck rewards aggressive play and quick decision-making, with the potential to end games before your opponent can establish their defenses. By carefully managing your resources and maximizing the value of your pump spells, you can consistently threaten lethal poison damage in the early turns of the game.
Key Cards
Cards to look for in the opening hand