Overview:

Atraxa Infect is a high-speed poison strategy leveraging Atraxa's proliferation to amplify infect damage. The deck combines efficient infect creatures, proliferate synergies, and premium tutors/interaction to deliver lethal poison counters through combat and counter multiplication. While lacking infinite combos, it achieves consistency through redundant threats and explosive turns enabled by fast mana.

Primer:

Core Strategy: Deploy infect creatures early (T1-T3) via fast mana, then use Atraxa's end-step proliferate and dedicated proliferate engines (Evolution Sage, Throne of Geth) to escalate poison counters. Backup plans include combat overkill via Triumph of the Hordes and Blightsteel Colossus. The deck operates in three phases:

1. Early Infection: Use 1-2 mana infect creatures (Glistener Elf, Blighted Agent) and toxic enablers (Venerated Rotpriest) to establish initial poison counters.
2. Proliferation Surge: Activate multiple proliferate triggers per turn through landfall (Evolution Sage), artifact sacrifice (Throne of Geth), and combat damage (Bloated Contaminator). Vorinclex/Tekuthal amplify counter output.
3. Overwhelm Interaction: Protect key pieces with free counterspells (Fierce Guardianship) and tutor for silver bullets (Skithiryx) to close games.

Mulligan Priorities:

• Keep hands with T1-T2 infect creature + proliferation enabler
• Require 2+ mana sources with color flexibility
• Prioritize hands with free interaction (Fierce Guardianship) against removal-heavy metas

Key Tips:

• Sequence proliferate triggers post-combat to maximize poison gains
• Use Finale of Devastation as both tutor and game-ender (X=10 with Triumph backup)
• Blightsteel Colossus serves as backup wincon through Atraxa's proliferate
• Hold Swan Song/An Offer for critical protection of Triumph turns

Avoid Traps:

• Overextending non-infect creatures without proliferation
• Casting Atraxa before establishing infect foothold
• Wasting tutors on non-essential pieces

Weaknesses:

Critical:

• Relies on fragile 1-toughness infect creatures vulnerable to incidental damage
• Limited recovery from mass removal (Cyclonic Rift) without counter backup

Moderate:

• Poison counters draw immediate hate; struggles in 3v1 scenarios
• Some proliferate engines require board presence (Evolution Sage)

Minor:

• Mana base resilient to common disruption (Blood Moon immune)

Most Important Cards:

• Vorinclex, Monstrous Raider
• Triumph of the Hordes
• Tekuthal, Inquiry Dominus
• Skithiryx, the Blight Dragon
• Blightsteel Colossus
• Demonic Tutor
• Fierce Guardianship
• Vampiric Tutor
• Mana Vault
• Throne of Geth

Attribute Ratings:

Speed: 7/10
Goldfish T4 wins possible (T1 Glistener Elf → T2 proliferate engine → T3-4 lethal proliferate). Average T6-7 kills through interaction.

Resilience: 6/10
Free counterspells and hexproof-granting (Skrelv) protect critical turns, but 20% of deck folds to early board wipes.

Consistency: 8/10
12 tutors + 8 card draw engines ensure threat redundancy. 14 proliferate sources mitigate creature removal.

Interaction: 7/10
10 instant-speed answers (4 free) and 3 board wipes. Lacks graveyard hate but covers key permanent types.

Rating Justification:

This deck exceeds Optimized Casual (5.5) through T5-6 deterministic poison kills with protection, but lacks cEDH's T3 consistency. It outpaces most High-Power (6.0) decks in speed while matching their interaction density. Falls short of Focused Competitive (7.0) due to combat reliance and vulnerability to chump blockers.

Power level: 6.5 - 7.0