What is the best Standard Toxic deck in Magic: The Gathering?

One of the best parts of Magic: The Gathering is finding a deck that feels completely broken when you play it. A deck that, no matter your opponent, you dominate them, and it feels incredibly easy. A few decks felt like this to me in the Early Access phase of Phyrexia: All Will Be One.

Today, I’m focusing on the “Toxic” deck archetype. There are many ways to play Toxic decks in Magic: The Gathering, but this will be the most monstrous and frustrating one to play against. Can it be countered? Absolutely, but most times, it’s going to be too late.

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What makes the UG Venerated Rotpriest deck so strong in Magic: The Gathering?

What makes this deck so ferocious? First, in terms of tabletop Magic: The Gathering, it’s not incredibly expensive to build right now. As of this writing, the deck I’m going with prices just under $100, but does not account for the cards you might already have in your collection.

This particular deckbuild is courtesy of MTG Malone and is similar to the build I cooked up during the Phyrexia: All Will Be One Early Access period.

Decklist

• 2 Aspirant's Ascent
• 3 Bring the Ending
• 2 Croaking Counterpart
• 4 Distorted Curiosity
• 7 Forest
• 7 Island
• 4 Ivy, Gleeful Spellthief
• 4 March of Burgeoning Life
• 3 March of Swirling Mist
• 4 Shore Up
• 2 Spara's Headquarters
• 3 Stormchaser Drake
• 3 Tamiyo's Safekeeping
• 4 Tyvar's Stand
• 4 Venerated Rotpriest
• 4 Yavimaya Coast

Ideally, you’ll want Ivy, Gleeful Spellthief in your starting hand, alongside Venerated Rotpriest. Hopefully, you'll get a few lands and maybe one of the indestructibility cards (Tamiyo’s Safekeeping/Tyvar’s Stand). As I’ve said, Venerated Rotpriest is an enormously powerful Magic: The Gathering card.

Your opponent gains a poison counter whenever one of your creatures is targeted by a spell. Now, how can we facilitate that as fast as possible? By 1-cost spells that only target one creature. But that’s not quite fast enough. It’s good, but what if we want to start winning on turn 3 or 4?

That’s where Ivy, Gleeful Spellthief, comes in handy in Magic: The Gathering. A 2-cost legendary, she’s a 2/1 flyer and a bit on the flimsy side. However, whenever a player casts a spell that only targets a single creature other than Ivy, Gleeful Spellthief, you may choose to copy it. That spell also targets Ivy.

This means your opponent can’t afford to cast single-target buff spells either because now it benefits us too. How does this all synergize in Magic: The Gathering? You want 1 or 2 Venerated Rotpriests in play, because their ability stacks. I use my buffing spells when my opponent attacks to ensure my creatures survive, and the other players start getting poison counters.

If you have just Rotpriest and Ivy in play, and you cast Shore Up and Aspirant’s Ascent on Rotpriest, your opponent will then receive four poison counters. If you had two Rotpriests in play, it’s eight poison counters.

That’s what makes this deck so devastating. As long as you have single-target spells to cast on your allies, you can force those poison counters in Standard Magic: The Gathering. In addition, if your opponent single-targets your Rotpriest for removal, they gain a poison counter from him.

It’s incredibly easy to get 10 poison counters on your opponent. I would win after three or four turns in most games. I even had a game where an opponent defeated themselves with a cast of Bushwack. There are several other toxic decks you can run, especially in Simic (Blue/Green).

But if I had to pick a favorite that I think is the fastest and most enjoyable, it would be this one. It brings a card draw and a devastating, low-effort combo. You can drop indestructibility or hexproof in a pinch and protect both creatures, which also punishes the opponents. It’s easily one of my favorite combo decks in Magic: The Gathering.