Standard: Selesnya Toxic Deck Tech & Sideboard Guide

Infect is a well-known mechanic in Magic: the Gathering that hasn't been around since Scars of Mirrodin, but Phyrexia: All Will Be One brought the Toxic keyword, which is nothing more than a nerfed Infect. Selesnya Toxic is a deck aimed at creatures with Toxic that can end the game both by combat damage and by giving poison counters to the opponent.

Let's take as a basis for this article a list that recently went 5-0 in the Magic Online Standard League.

The deck has a base of 22 lands, a number consistent with the curve. The utility lands Mirrex and The Seedcore run very well in this list. Mirrex will be excellent to populate the board, or put that missing creature to complete the poison counters, while Seedcore will allow some combat tricks.

Let's start by talking about the heart of the deck, Venerated Rotpriest. Without that card, Selesnya Toxic would be much less viable. Rotpriest greatly accelerates the deck's Poison plan, being the best one-drop available. Its synergy is such that even if it is destroyed or exiled, it will still act in favor of the game plan.

Crawling Chorus, a creature that may seem harmless, but synergizes with The Seedcore and works like a two for one.

I said that Ropriest is the best one-drop right? In fact, it is the best in green, because in white, we have Skrelv, Defector Mite. It can protect your creatures, grant evasion in the attack and help with the poison plan.

Jawbone Duelist is a good two-drop, which works very well with Skrelv, being able to generate up to four poison counters alongside it, in addition to being an option to block in some situations.

Slaughter Singer has a good body, can add two poison counters and can grow one of your creatures for combat.

Annex Sentry: a great blocker that can remove Reckoner Bankbuster or open the way for the attack.

The deck's bomb, Bloated Contaminator. Almost always granting two poison counters to the opponent. Works well with Skrelv or Rotpriest on the board as it can greatly speed up our game plan.

Skrelv's Hive is the best two-drop in the deck. Populates our board and grants lifelink to our creatures.

An excellent card alongside Venerated Rotpriest, we have Tyvar's Stand. It protects your creatures, it can work as a combat trick, or it can help you get to lethal damage.

Soul Partition: our main removal. It can target any nonland permanent and knock out creatures that Annex Sentry can't deal with, or even any other impactful permanent that the opponent might pull out.

Mulligan and Posture

With this deck, all you could want is a starting hand like this:

The game posture here is to try to pressure the opponent by putting your most impactful creatures on the board against Midranges, but being cautious against sweepers. Against other Aggro, you should be as aggressive as possible, but watch out for unfavorable trades.

Melira is an excellent card against mirror and other decks that use Toxic, Wedding Announcement is here for the most grindy matchups, where it generates card advantage while populating the board and strengthening your creatures.

Destroy Evil is very versatile, and is well-positioned in the Metagame. Lantern Flare and Knockout Blow are there against other aggro, mainly Mono Red, but can also be used in other matchups.

Vs. Grixis Midrange

This matchup can be quite difficult, as the opponent generates a lot of value, has good creatures to trade in combat and an excellent blocker with Sheoldred, the Apocalypse, in addition to an efficient removal package. The games will be resolved soon in the first few turns. Skrelv can make a big difference here.

IN

OUT

Vs. Mono Blue Tempo

A favorable matchup. Mono U doesn't have as effective answers as Grixis, and it's not a deck that can deal with many creatures easily. Here the posture is aggressive, applying pressure on the opponent. Slaughter Singer and Jawbone Duelist are a great team in this game.

IN

OUT

Vs. Mono White Midrange

One of our worst matchups. Mono White has many blockers and sweepers, in addition to having a lot of card advantage, but the deck only starts to really do damage from turn 4 onwards, until then, we have a window to try to reach 10 poison counters, or cause a lot of damage.

Post-side, unfortunately, the game gets even more difficult. A starting hand with a lot of pressure and draws that bring more creatures and protection against removals is the only possible way to win this matchup.

IN

OUT

Vs. Mono Red Aggro

Here we have a more balanced matchup. Mono Red is also a deck that needs to attack to win the game, and it is precisely this aggressive nature of the deck that we must explore, taking advantage of the opponent's openings, but be careful, as Mono Red is a deck that must be respected and that can adapt into a Midrange plan against Aggro.

IN

OUT

Vs. Selesnya Poison

The mirror match is a game that will be defined by who has the most power on the board and the most Skrelvs. Skrelv and Contaminator are the most powerful cards in the game, followed by Slaughter Singer and Skrelv's Hive.

Post-side is Melira's time to shine, being a great body on the board, in addition to holding the poison counters and also working as a reanimator for an important creature that died during combat.

IN

OUT

Toxic is a very underrated mechanic in the format, but it has its place and should get even more interesting after the release of March of the Machine, where we will have more Phyrexians in Standard. In the sea of midranges where the format is today, Selesnya Toxic is one of the aggros trying to survive, being a viable option when it comes to budget cost as well.

Thank you for reading and if you have questions and/or suggestions, you can send them in the comments, and I'll try to answer them all.