Blighted Agent – MTG Review

David
Fanany
Player
since
1995

We’re conditioned to think of infect as being a fast deck, mostly because the infect decks that were successful in Standard and Modern tournaments were green-based, Giant Growth-heavy affairs. But it doesn’t really have to be: Blighted Agent suggests something quite different, a more methodical and almost inevitable affair. If you can prevent them from removing the Agent – and in blue, you certainly have some tools to do that – he can win the game even without any help. I don’t often find myself saying that about a two-mana blue creature, but then New Phyrexia is a pretty unusual set.

Constructed: 4/5
Casual: 3/5
Limited: 4/5
Multiplayer: 3/5
EDH/Commander: 3/5

A simple little common with a lot of brutality baked in, Blighted Agent is a, at worst, 10-turn clock with which to kill your opponents. He’s one of the key creatures in the infamous Infect deck, which aims to use a combination of pump spells and small creatures to kill as early as turn 2 or 3. While he’s one more mana than the deck’s primary threat, Glistener Elf, being unblockable is an advantage in and of itself. He only goes in one deck, but being able to quickly win the game if unanswered goes a ways towards justifying his fragile body and lack of actual protection.

Constructed: 4 (only in Infect)
Casual: 3 (fair warning: Infect is not how you gain friends)
Limited: 3.75
Multiplayer: 3 (poison scales weirdly with multiple people, but it can still work)
Commander: 3.25 (remember: poison does not help you keep friends; that said, poison still kills with 10 counters in Commander, if you want to be horrible)