Overview:

This Atraxa, Praetors' Voice deck focuses on poison counter proliferation through infect/toxic creatures and planeswalker synergies. The primary win condition involves applying early poison counters via evasive infect creatures like Blighted Agent and Skithiryx, the Blight Dragon, then amplifying them through Atraxa's end-step proliferate and cards like Inexorable Tide. Secondary value comes from planeswalkers and artifact recursion.

Primer:

Core Strategy: Deploy evasive infect creatures early (T1-4) to apply initial poison counters, then leverage Atraxa's proliferate engine to escalate counters exponentially. The deck operates in three phases:

1. Infect Setup: Use unblockable/flying threats like Blighted Agent/Plague Stinger to apply 1-2 poison counters per opponent by T3-5.
2. Proliferation Overdrive: Activate Atraxa's end-step proliferate alongside Thrummingbird, Contagion Clasp, and planeswalkers like Vraska, Betrayal's Sting to multiply counters.
3. Poison Payoff: Trigger corrupted effects from Contaminant Grafter and The Seedcore while finishing with Triumph of the Hordes or Phyresis Outbreak.

Mulligan Priorities:

• 3 lands including green/black sources
• 1-2 early infect creatures (e.g., Pestilent Syphoner)
• Proliferation enabler or protection piece Reject hands without early poison application or color fixing.

Key Tips:

• Sequence infect creatures before Atraxa - her proliferate works best with existing counters
• Use Birthing Pod to upgrade small infect creatures into Phyrexian Swarmlord
• Hold Tainted Strike as surprise lethal when opponents tap out
• Phyrexian Scriptures provides both creature control and artifact synergy

Avoid Traps:

• Overextending small creatures into board wipes
• Casting Atraxa without protection in removal-heavy pods
• Prioritizing non-poison counter synergies (e.g., +1/+1 counters)

Weaknesses:

Critical:

• Lacks graveyard recursion for key creatures
• No protection against board wipes (only Phyrexian Rebirth as reset) Moderate:
• Relies on 2-3 poison enablers surviving combat
• Limited card draw outside corrupted triggers Minor:
• Vulnerable to flying blockers post-T5

Most Important Cards:

• Triumph of the Hordes
• Blighted Agent
• Ichor Rats
• Skithiryx, the Blight Dragon
• Grafted Exoskeleton
• Inexorable Tide
• Contagion Clasp
• Vraska, Betrayal's Sting
• Phyresis Outbreak
• Birthing Pod

Attribute Ratings:

Speed: 6/10

• Theoretical T4 win with perfect hand (T1 Pestilent Syphoner, T2 proliferate, T3 Tainted Strike)
• Average goldfish win T7-8 through incremental poison

Resilience: 4/10

• 40% creatures vulnerable to 2-mana removal
• Limited counterspells/protection (only Corrupted Resolve)
• Recursion limited to Phyrexian Reclamation

Consistency: 5/10

• 8 proliferate sources but only 3 tutors
• Relies on combat damage for poison application
• Color-intensive costs strain mana base

Interaction: 5/10

• B-tier removal (Beast Within, Black Sun's Zenith)
• Situational counters (Corrupted Resolve)
• No free protection spells

Rating Justification:

This deck exceeds precon levels with focused poison strategy and strong proliferate engines (5.0 benchmark) but lacks the fast mana, free interaction, and combo redundancy of optimized decks. Its T7-8 average win speed and moderate resilience align with 5.5-6.0 on the rubric, though it struggles against faster combo decks. The absence of infinite combos and reliance on combat damage prevent higher ratings.

Power level: 5.5 - 6.0