Toxrill, the Corrosive – Crimson Vow
Date Reviewed: November 24, 2021
Ratings:
Constructed: 2.33
Casual: 5.00
Limited: 4.67
Multiplayer: 3.88
Commander [EDH]: 4.58
Ratings are based on a 1 to 5 scale. 1 is bad. 3 is average. 5 is great.
Reviews Below:
David
Fanany
Player
since
1995
Crimson Vow is actually quite high on the scary rankings of sets, even compared to others that take place on Innistrad. I think a big part of the reason is that the art’s lighting is much brighter and it has more colors in its palette. You have way too good a view of all the things you shouldn’t be seeing.
Toxrill just oozes flavor (heh) and will take over a game if left unchecked. While he (she? it?) doesn’t have much innate protection, sometimes being big helps – particularly in draft, where there are few Crimson Vow cards that deal with it efficiently. It’s also interesting that all he has to do is sit there and eventually his abilities will pay off for you. I don’t know if that’s some kind of comment on the inevitability and resilience of simple species like slugs, but it’s great for Magic gameplay, and puts a lot of pressure on opponents with creatures (so most of them, nowadays).
I really wonder if slugs are going to be a tribe in an upcoming set, or if Toxrill is just intended to be a one-card combo. Either way, I think we’ll be seeing this guy on the casual tables at least (even if your eyes protest at seeing him!).
Constructed: 3/5
Casual: 5/5
Limited: 5/5
Multiplayer: 4/5
Commander: 4/5
The tribal lord of a tribe that hasn’t really gotten a lot over the years (and a tribe with a dearth of options in those colors), Toxrill, the Corrosive is actually more than just a cute little slug horror that reminds me of my brother. Seven mana gets you a 7/7 that starts vomiting slime all over the unsuspecting board as soon as your turn ends, and creatures dying this way will turn into the army of slugs you seek. You can even cash these slugs in for card draw, which is a nice way to reward yourself for coating the board in a fine layer of slime. Of note is that its slime counters are the same as the ones spread by Sludge Monster from Midnight Hunt, so you can pair the two up in a comical showing of slime.
Toxrill definitely feels more like a Commander plant, but I don’t think it’s completely hopeless in Standard, thanks to it spewing slime at each end step. If an opponent can’t find enough salt in time, Toxrill will chew up their board, and shrinking boards make its ample body more of a problem to try and deal with. I think it’ll see some fringe play in Control decks as a sort of “get out of jail free” card against wide swarm strategies, but it’ll especially prove its mettle in Commander and other multiplayer formats. Seven mana is a tall order, but I think Toxrill is worth it.
Constructed: 3 (probably fringe at best, but I can see it panning out)
Casual: 5
Limited:5 (this thing will win games if it doesn’t get removed)
Multiplayer: 4.75 (“each end step” makes this a surprisingly rude option)
Commander: 4.75 (same deal here, and being able to ooze out of the command zone repeatedly means the slime is here to stay)
Toxrill, the Corrosive
I’m going to be straight with you here, this is a bad card in standard. It is cute and fun but it won’t be in a tier 1 deck, if it somehow becomes tier 1 I’ll play it in Arena and start streaming.
Commander, oh boy this will be fun for you and will annoy you opponents! Seven mana for a 7/7 is a lot but when it comes out in commander it’ll instantly be a target for your opponents so you’ll have to save your cards to protect it. What is really cool is the very last ability of black/blue: sacrifice a slug to draw a card. The reason why this is so cool is that you can make a U/B commander deck and protect this card with counterspells which is the only way you can gain full value for this card since it’ll be the target of every destruction spell out there! In Commander and Multiplayer the first effect of putting a slime counter on all creatures you don’t control affects the board, not just one opponent. The creatures with slime counters on them will get -1/-1 counters on them for each slime counter, this will compound every turn and is an answer to that pesky Avacyn! To top all of that, when one of those creatures dies, you get a 1/1 slime creature token! You keep getting value every turn with this card and there are no negative drawbacks besides the high mana cost. As I mentioned earlier you can sacrifice one of the slugs and draw a card. I’m going to make this in commander, it is a lot of fun and you’ll be able to do some fun things. This likely won’t be a win a commander tournament pod but you’ll have a fun night during kitchen table commander nights! If you are drafting and draft this card, it is a build around but you’ll need a lot to go right for you to make it to turn seven but if you get this out it’ll be game over if your opponent doesn’t have an answer to it.
Constructed: 1/5
Multiplayer: 5/5
Limited: 4/5
Casual: 3/5
Commander: 5/5
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