This Meta Is Toxic

Magic: The Gathering is a trading card game that is unique in its rights. It is owned by Hasbro and Wizards of the Coast and has been around for several decades. Its latest digital rendition is Magic: The Gathering Arena of MtGA for short. It is the main game played by one of HypeHorizen Rizing’s streamers, GlitterTail!

Now that we’re decently into Phyrexia: All Will Be One, GlitterTail wanted to do a retrospective on the set’s release. Today, they will look at toxic, proliferate, what deck they’re liking in this meta and their most hated card of this set. In their initial prediction, they thought it would be rapid games and would be a very frustrating meta. 

While it has its moments of frustration for sure, there are also a lot of moments of close wins, new strategies and backup plans! Let’s dive into what makes things not so bad on the Toxic and Proliferate fronts before they dive into their most hated Magic: The Gathering card of Phyrexia: All Will Be One!

Poison Counters Are Toxic

Just what are poison counters? Well, they are not a new mechanic, but they have been brought back with the advent of Phyrexia: All Will Be One. If you as a player are hit with ten (10) poison counters it is game over. It’s a whole different level of win mechanic. In the next section, we will go over just what Toxic is and how it works. 

Toxic Is Exactly That

It is well, just that, toxic! Toxic applies poison counters based on their toxic value (usually from a creature) to an opponent rather than affecting their life value. This is typically seen on creatures and requires a direct hit from those creatures to apply their toxic effect. Again, it’s ten (10) of those bad boys and it’s game over! Let’s take a look at proliferate next!

Proliferate

It is a little different. Proliferate effects on all counters on the board at the player’s discretion. It adds one additional counter to any player or permanent with counters already on them. This affects +1/+1 counters, poison counters and even the loyalty counters of planeswalkers. As a note, GlitterTail recently discovered it even affects the advancement of the counters on Saga cards!

(Saga cards are cards that advance one counter per turn and each turn acts as a stage for that card. At the end saga cards typically become or create a creature.)

Proliferate and Toxic

As you may have guessed there are quite a few decks but mainly Selesnya (White/Green) Toxic decks seem to have a good combination of both toxic and proliferate for quick wins. This doesn’t always hold up if you have removal or a good set of defensive creatures on your side! GlitterTail says that good offence may be the best defence when it comes to poison or toxic decks.

Before you get too excited about combining proliferate with things that give +1/+1 counters, it’s not as effective with those as proliferate is with poison counters. That being said, adding extra +1/+1 counters is always a bonus!

That brings us to GlitterTail’s most played deck, just what is it?

GlitterTail’s Most-Played Deck

GlitterTail typically plays Mono-Red Aggro decks. They like to keep games short, quick and punchy. They were worried poison counters would throw a wrench into the workings of the meta, but they were mistaken! They have lost a fair share of matches to a variety of decks, but the toxic decks don’t count on you doing damage to and removing their creatures with toxic in the first place! Thanks to having a battery of creatures at their disposal, it is often not too tricky to diffuse a toxic deck player’s plans by simply blocking their toxic creatures’ attacks or destroying their creatures outright.

This doesn’t always work, however, sometimes you run out of creatures and some toxic creatures have trample so you have to ensure that all of that creature’s damage is blocked. Lots to consider when putting together an anti-toxic deck for sure!

The Most Toxic Card In The Set

GlitterTail’s most hated card in this set doesn’t even involve the toxic mechanic! They said it has to be Jace The Perfected Mind. This card is a brutal combination of mill and creature-dampening that is like no other. As they said in the previous section, they tend to play Mono-Red Aggro, they have a lot of little creatures that add up to a lot of damage. If creatures are being dampened and their better spells are being milled, Jace the Perfected Mind is a real problem!

Not to mention if you get hit with a large enough mill (taking cards from your deck and putting them into your graveyard) it can be a win condition. If there are no cards left in your deck to draw and you need to draw, it is game over! Something to consider when coming up against any deck with blue land in them!

What’s On The Horizen?

Like what we did there? On the Horizen we do not yet know. We can’t wait to see what new decks and mechanics will be released in the new set. For now though, toxic, proliferate and Jace The Perfected Mind are here to stay.

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