Legacy Deck Tech: Bant Infect

Hello, my Legacy friends! Recently, I discussed the new version of Goblins, which uses _____ Goblin. As it turns out, this isn't the only traditional deck using Unfinity cards!

With the introduction of the Phyrexian creature type in Kaldheim (Vorinclex, Monstrous Raider), and after 227 cards were updated with this creature type in Modern Horizons 2, 3 Simic Infect key cards - Inkmoth Nexus, Glistener Elf and Blighted Agent - got this creature type. This added a precious bonus of +1/+1 to Embiggen, the instant spell, granting a total bonus of +5/+5 to the aforementioned land when it is activated and +4/+4 to the other 2 fellas.

Another new addition, directly from the forests in Middle Earth, was Legolas's Quick Reflexes, replacing Vines of Vastwood as our chosen protection spell. Let's take a look at this deck!

This deck was created with the release of Glistener Elf and Blighted Agent in New Phyrexia, when someone had the brilliant idea of combining Invigorate and Berserk to poison their opponent all at once. The base containing Inkmoth Nexus, Noble Hierarch and the cards listed above, alongside some Legacy staples (Force of Will, Daze, Brainstorm and Ponder), is still today in this article's decklist, but the old spells meant to grow your creatures were replaced by some additions from more recent sets. This deck now also splashes to White so it can access the best removal in the format: Swords to Plowshares.

Here's a special note on Legolas's Quick Reflexes: because it has Split Second, it enables plays that are quite proactive, such as playing enough pump effects pre-combat, immune to almost everything, except Edict effects (things like Sheoldred's Edict, for instance) and remove a blocker with the triggered ability provided by this instant spell. Depending on the situation, it can even serve as an emergency removal tool in case you need to remove a problematic creature.

Though it isn't exactly a Combo deck in the traditional sense, your starting hand should have a clear path where to follow. Considering you only have 12 cards with Infect, there is no guarantee you'll have any of them in your initial hand, but a decent number of cantrips (Brainstorm and Ponder) can remedy this situation.

It is important to understand that this deck puts itself out there a lot, so it's part of its style to keep hands that offer a high risk for a high reward.

Hand samples:

This hand threatens to kill your opponent on turn 2 already, even though it doesn't have protection against removals that aren't based on damage, and it might have problems with Wasteland. But this hand is precisely why this deck exists in the market. Verdict: High risk/high reward keep, as I listed above.

As for this hand, it appears to be a great hand - it has mana, protection, buffs, cantrips. But it is a trap, because having only one Ponder to try and find your outs is not enough and the chances of it not yielding you anything are quite high. Verdict: Mulligan, because it lacks proactivity.

A second green mana source and this hand could threaten a lethal play on turn 2. In any way, it could quickly push your opponent against the wall (the Elf on turn 1 and Embiggen/Nexus on turn 2, if you don't draw a colored land), but it might not do anything. Verdict: Risky keep. Bet on drawing a green mana source.

This is the type of hand which, even though it isn't explosive, can finish the game on turn 3 with an Invigorate, has 2 cantrips to build an offensive front and has Daze for protection. Verdict: Keep.

As said above, this deck has a copy of Savannah to access Swords to Plowshares, capable of dealing with the most problematic creatures that might appear in your way.

Veil of Summer is one of the strongest cards to face both discard and counterspell strategies. Force of Vigor and Endurance are cards that allow you to answer threats without spending mana.

Flusterstorm and Hydroblast are useful to fight on the stack for a low cost. Blast also deals with Blood Moon / Magus of the Moon, two cards that completely ruin your day.

Finally, Torpor Orb is an answer for the growing presence of Initiative and Goblin decks, disabling their creatures' powerful triggered abilities.

Other cards that have shown up in this archetype's sideboards are Ajani, Sleeper Agent, Null Rod, Prismatic Ending, Seeds of Innocence, Spell Pierce, Surgical Extraction, Sylvan Library and Triumph of Saint Katherine.

Grixis / Temur / 4C Delver

Their Wastelands really get in our way if we want to win through Inkmoth Nexus, even though, if they wait for you to resolve the transformation, Legolas's Quick Reflexes may be bad news for them. Actually, this is your main card in this matchup, particularly to prevent Orcish Bowmasters from ambushing your fellas as an answer to pump spells.

As it is common in these matches between decks focused on Tempo, Force of Will comes out to open up space for more efficient cards.

In:

Out:

Reanimator

This is a weird game, because both how costly health-wise it is for them to cast Reanimate and the health they recover through Lifelink matter. Blighted Agent is your main card, as it doesn't ask you to remove anything in front of it to connect.

Glistener Elf and Inkmoth Nexus will need Berserk's help, and, possibly, Legolas's Quick Reflexes also, to go over a Reanimated monster.

Post-side, the Lord of the Rings instant spell holds even more weight, because they tend to add things like Fatal Push.

In:

Out:

Stompy (Red Prison, Gruul, Boros and White Initiative)

Chalice of the Void is a huge problem, and cards such as Blood Moon / Magus of the Moon / Archon of Emeria really limit your ability to play. You can even try to take control of the Initiative, but, unfortunately, one of the best dungeon rooms, Trap!, is useless to us.

However, apart from these elements, they don't offer much interaction with your creatures and Legolas's Quick Reflexes is useful to deal with the interaction that does come along. Daze tends to be inefficient, because they can play around it - be it with Cavern of Souls or with Simian Spirit Guide.

In:

Out:

Uro Control

They can't leave your creatures alive; otherwise they'll risk getting hit with lethal damage through Legolas's Quick Reflexes, regardless of their removals, which will leave them with the only option of countering your pump spells. Like so, through this angle, Inkmoth Nexus is your main threat. It tends to be a very complicated match for them.

In:

Out:

Dimir Shadow / Dimir Scam

These decks, particularly Shadow, are a real problem for you. Orcs, discards, Wasteland, their ability to use their health as a resource, none of this aligns with your game plan. Even Legolas's Quick Reflexes doesn't guarantee a victory, because they tend to use 1 or 2 copies of Sheoldred's Edict.

You need to risk a bit to try and yank out a win.

In:

Out:

With the increase in Uro Control's popularity and the decrease in Dimir deck's popularity caused by the growth of Temur decks, there is now space for Infect to try and dig out a niche of its own in the metagame. We had one Infect list in the top 32 of the North American phase of Eternal Weekend, a gigantic tournament, with 996 players, piloted by Michael Everett. He managed to get a 9-2, only losing to a Dimir Scam and a 4-Color Delver.

Apparently, it is time to deal with the phyrexian disease. See you next time!