The 23 Best Infect Commanders in Magic Ranked

Last updated on September 19, 2025

Vishgraz, the Doomhive | Illustration by Andrew Mar

Infect is a very powerful archetype to play in Commander. Instead of having to deal 40 damage or mill 90+ cards to take out one opponent, you only need to give them 10 poison counters. This makes infect one of the quickest and nastiest ways to win a game of Commander. You might not win many friends, but an infect deck is certainly a good way to win a game.

When it comes to choosing the right infect commander, color identity is important. Infect isn’t represented equally across the five colors of Magic, so you’ll want to make sure you’re including at least green or black in your commander’s color identity. Blue can also be helpful because it has plenty of good proliferate cards, and white got some good toxic creatures in Phyrexia: All Will Be One that could be helpful. Red isn’t as helpful in an infect deck, but its combat tricks can be a good way to distribute some extra poison counters.

I’ve put together the best commanders to use for an infect deck. Not all of these have infect themselves:
In fact, many don’t. However, their color identities and abilities synergize very well with infect, making them your best options. If you think of a great infect commander that I left off the list, I’d love to hear your ideas in the comments!

What Are Infect Commanders in MTG?

Karumonix, the Rat King | Illustration by Helge C. Balzer

Infect commanders, for our purposes, are legendary creatures that work well with Magic’s infect mechanic, either distributing poison counters themselves or benefiting from poison. Infect is a keyword ability found on creatures that changes how they deal damage. If a creature with infect attacks a player, instead of doing damage, they put a number of poison counters on that player equal to their power. A player with 10 poison counters loses the game. If an infect creature would deal damage to a creature, they instead place -1/-1 counters on that creature equal to their power.

Infect commanders typically interact with poison counters through proliferation, or they grant other creatures the ability to distribute poison counters. Legends that buff your creatures can also make good infect commanders, since they allow a small infect creature to become a much larger threat.

#23. Cayth, Famed Mechanist

Cayth, Famed Mechanist barely fits into the category of infect commanders, as you can tap it at will once you've cast a Prologue to Phyresis to proliferate poison counters. The problem is that a Jeskai commander isn’t in the best colors when it comes to “giving” poison counters to your opponents outside of Prologue. Maybe I'll move Cayth to a better rank in the future.

#22. Ria Ivor, Bane of Bladehold

Ria Ivor, Bane of Bladehold is a bit unusual as an infect commander because it doesn't immediately put poison counters on your opponents. Instead, it creates an army based on the damage prevented, meaning you'll likely kill your opponents with poison counters during your next combat phase. In my opinion, this is a drawback since you're essentially waiting a full turn. However, if you want to use this creature as your Orzhov commander or as part of your infect deck, it's an option.

#21. Venser, Corpse Puppet

Venser, Corpse Puppet is an odd one for sure even if it is in great colors for proliferate. Certainly, Dimir cards offer plenty of evasion for this version of Vensor to deliver the first poison counter, then cheap creatures like Plague Myr, Myr Convert, and Voidwing Hybrid follow up on the poison and drive it home.

#20. Tetsuko Umezawa, Fugitive

Tetsuko Umezawa, Fugitive is a sneaky one without any way to deal out the poisonous stuff on its own. However, swing with Dune Mover, Ichorclaw Myr, or Phyrexian Digester and your opponents have little time to come up with a solution. Virulent Silencer is a great complement from Edge of Eternities that really compresses that the amount of turns players have before they're eliminated.

#19. Roalesk, Apex Hybrid

Roalesk, Apex Hybrid is particularly appealing because it can make your infect creatures bigger when it enters the battlefield. Additionally, it can proliferate +1/+1 counters and poison counters when it dies, making it a valuable addition to these types of decks. Its excellent synergy with Greater Good shouldn’t be overlooked, especially when you can return your Simic commander to your hand with cards like Eternal Witness.

#18. Agent Frank Horrigan

Fallout‘s Agent Frank Horrigan may be hard to cast, but if you translate this creature's ability to infect damage, it reads, “Whenever it enters the battlefield, each opponent gets two poison counters,” which is a big deal in a multiplayer environment. Attacking with Frank is a plus, but you can always cast it, sacrifice it, reanimate it for extra value, and of course, kill your enemies. 

#17. Xavier Sal, Infested Captain

I’ve always thought that some creatures get a lot worse with slight wording additions, and making Xavier Sal, Infested Captain‘s activated abilities work at sorcery speed is a big downside and cuts this creature's potential. That said, a Sultai commander has the best color identity to support both poison counters and infect creatures, and Xavier is one of the very few populate commanders in Magic.

#16. Kilo, Apogee Mind

If you told 2011 me that infect on a Jeskai card made for a feasible deck, I'd have said ‘”‘no way'. Since that time of New Phyrexia, there is much more poison available outside of green and black that one of the best proliferating commanders in Kilo, Apogee Mind is a possibility. Fallen Ferromancer, Prologue to Phyresis, and Norn's Decree may not be the most efficient, but they lay down good tracks for red, white and blue's proliferate train. If you were worried about safely tapping Kilo, stations, convoke, and untapping cards like Manifold Key and Unwinding Clock, can solve that problem.

#15. Karumonix, the Rat King

Thanks to Karumonix, the Rat King’s static ability, you only need to hit a given player with 10 rats to take them out of the game. Rat decks are already great at establishing a wide board state, and Karumonix makes it even easier with its ETB effect. There are also rats with infect, which toxic stacks with, allowing those creatures to dole out more than one poison counter each turn.

#14. Brimaz, Blight of Oreskos

There are a good number of Phyrexian creatures that can be effective tools for a Brimaz, Blight of Oreskos infect deck. This cat commander makes these creatures even more valuable, since you also get an incubator token whenever you cast them. This makes it easy to trigger Brimaz’s proliferate ability each turn, especially if you build in ways to sacrifice your Phyrexians.

#13. Vishgraz, the Doomhive

Vishgraz, the Doomhive makes a good number of other toxic creatures, and it can become quite the threat once you’ve distributed some poison counters. White also offers some options like Ephemerate which allow you to get more value out of Vishgraz’s ETB effect.

#12. Mr. Orfeo, the Boulder

Mr. Orfeo, the Boulder can make any of your infect creatures a much bigger threat thanks to its attack trigger. Green and red also have good ways to buff creatures, so you can play something like a Giant Growth on your creature before combat then double its power again. This means you can quickly get at least one player to 10 poison counters.

#11. Vorinclex, Monstrous Raider

Running Vorinclex, Monstrous Raider is basically like having the relevant half of Doubling Season for an infect deck sitting in your command zone. This commander speeds up your ability to eliminate your competition while also nerfing powerful abilities and planeswalkers that they may be using.

#10. Ezuri, Stalker of Spheres

Simic is a great color combination for infect thanks to blue’s proliferate abilities. Ezuri, Stalker of Spheres adds value to each proliferate card you play, and it can also help you proliferate when it enters the battlefield. It can work especially well with Thassa, Deep-Dwelling, giving you a chance to proliferate multiple times each end step.

#9. Saskia the Unyielding

Saskia the Unyielding allows you to give a certain player poison counters each time your infect creatures damage another player. This means you can target your biggest threat at the table but take them out by swinging at the player with the worst board state. You’ll also be able to potentially take out multiple players in a single turn.

#8. Fynn, the Fangbearer

Fynn, the Fangbearer makes up for being a mono-green commander by allowing your deathtouch creatures to also act like infect creatures. There are plenty of low-to-the-ground deathtouch creatures that can help you start dealing out poison counters before players can establish a strong board state. Your opponents are then forced to choose between taking more poison counters or losing their creatures.

#7. Ixhel, Scion of Atraxa

Ixhel, Scion of Atraxa isn’t only a reliable way to give players poison counters, it also has a very powerful ability once those counters start to stack up on your opponents. Abzan has access to plenty of ways to keep Ixhel safe or bring it back from the dead, making it much more likely you can get its ability off.

#6. Volrath, the Shapestealer

Because infect creatures deal damage in -1/-1 counters, Volrath, the Shapestealer has lots of options to choose from when it comes to copying creatures. Sultai decks also have access to lots of the best infect cards to help this shapeshifter clone the best targets.

#5. Yawgmoth, Thran Physician

Yawgmoth, Thran Physician’s proliferate ability is easy to activate multiple times in a turn, meaning you can quickly get your opponents to 10 poison counters. Yawgmoth is also a flavorful infect commander since he created Phyrexia, where most infect creatures come from. This black cleric is definitely one of Magic's best mono-black commanders.

#4. Ezuri, Claw of Progress

Lots of infect creatures have lower power to balance out the danger posed by poison counters. This means they synergize well with Ezuri, Claw of Progress’s ability to gain experience counters. This allows you to play lots of cheap infect creatures and give them a significant buff.

#3. Brokkos, Apex of Forever

Brokkos, Apex of Forever can be a difficult commander to keep off the field, thanks to its ability to mutate from the graveyard. Mutating Brokkos onto an infect creature can make it a huge threat, especially if that creature has other strong keywords like Plague Stinger.

#2. Skithiryx, the Blight Dragon

Skithiryx, the Blight Dragon is the only commander on this list that actually has infect. It can also regenerate itself or give itself haste, making it an effective way to deal large amounts of poison damage.

#1. Atraxa, Praetors’ Voice

It’s hard to beat Atraxa, Praetors' Voice, the best proliferate commander in the game, when it comes to infect decks. This 4-color commander gives you free proliferation each turn and has access to all the best infect cards in the game. You can throw most of these other commanders into the 99 of an Atraxa deck; even if you’re having trouble choosing which to use, this card has a solution for you.

Best Infect Commander Payoffs

The best payoffs for infect decks are the cards that allow your attackers to get through and deal damage.

Cards that help your attackers get through unblocked like Cyclonic Rift are essential for infect decks. You can also use cards to buff your creatures like Overrun or Craterhoof Behemoth (although Craterhoof is a game-finisher for any green deck) and end games swiftly. 

Notably, Triumph of the Hordes is an excellent Overrun effect with the added benefit of granting the infect keyword to creatures that don't have it. In a grow tall rather than wide angle, Grafted Exoskeleton grants infect to things that weren't designed to have it.

Also, as you might expect, proliferating your opponents' poison counters is a strong strategy for winning games, and cards like Inexorable Tide or Contagion Engine are effective ways to achieve this. Non-combat related ways to dish out poison counters are also important for any infect strategy and Reaper of Sheoldred, Vraska's Fall, Bloodroot Apothecary, and Venerated Rotpriest do some dirty work.

Here are some additional cards you might want to consider for your infect-themed decks that are popular across the archetype:

• Filigree Vector
• Blightsteel Colossus
• Tainted Strike
• Inkmoth Nexus
• Corrupted Conscience
• Phyresis
• Dreamtide Whale
• Whispering Specter

Commanding Conclusion

Skithiryx, the Blight Dragon | Illustration by Chippy

Infect decks can be very powerful, but some players might argue a little too powerful in Commander. The commanders listed here are some of the most popular options for infect decks, and it’s easy to see why. They all synergize well with the mechanic and are in the right color identities to give you good options for your 99.

Did I miss your favorite infect commander? Do you want a wither commander from Lorwyn Eclipsed? Do you enjoy playing or playing against infect in Commander? Let me know in the comments or on Draftsim’s Twitter.

Thank you for reading, make healthy choices, and I’ll see you next time!