RUG Infect

A while back I played standard with a BG Infect capable of killing turn 2 with relatively high consistency. It was kind of my "act of defiance" against standard decks aimed at playing midrange. While it wasn't particularly successful, it was still largely enjoyable due to its extremely high-risk play style. After cycling out Giant Growth and Vampire's bite, I thought it would never be possible to recreate such a ballsy, quick deck. Until now.

The goal of this infect deck is to be completely aggressive to quickly dominate your opponent. It is even more high-risk than my last one, but not longer holds the ideal goal of a turn 2 win, instead opting for turn 3 or 4. This allows me somewhat more room for control and finesse, which seems to be playing out well.

The original goal behind this deck was to silence pesky WU Delver decks and put them in their place. To accomplish this, 2 extremely powerful cards came to mind: Gut Shot and Mental Misstep. Both have the ability to kill-off a Delver with the added benefit of using phyrexian-mana and potentially be cast for "free." The real question was: "Okay so I killed a first-turn delver... Now how do I finish my opponent quickly before the next one hits?" My answer: Infect. Thanks to the return of Rancor, this deck has the viability of striking quickly and ferociously while still holding the opponent at bay.


To accomplish this, here is an explanation of some of the cards:
The creature-base is simple. Glisteners are your hopeful first-turn drop. Ichorclaws are your ideal second-turn since they combo so well with a couple of other cards. Blighted Agent is the closer if the other 2 can't get the job done. (If neccessary, Rot Wolf and Viridian Corrupter are in sideboard in case of creature-removal)
To buff up the creatures, a playset of Rancors, Mutagenic Growths and Titanic Growths are in here, along with 3 artful dodges. The Rancors do a great job of bunching through and are incredible when on Ichorclaw. Mutagenic is a great "free-drop" that can be used to sneak in a few extra counters or save a creature. Titanic Growth is the filler for Giant Growth (grumble grumble) and is here as a potential finisher. My hope is that the large number of cards using phyrexian-mana will help offset this cards' ridiculous cost.
For control, we have a mixture of spells. Gutshot is great for getting rid of whatever they drop first turn. Gitaxian Probe both lets you see your opponent's hand, but also helps fill out the drawing and effectivly make the deck "smaller." Unsummon is great for removal and my favorite combo with it is swinging with an Ichorclaw + Rancor and removing the blocker if someone is dumb enough to block. Mental Misstep serves a number of purposes including countering 1-drop creatures, as well as negating Fogs, Stave Offs, and Unsummons that could poke a hole in my plans. Finally, because this infect is slightly slower than my old one, it needed a hard-hitter to remove 3rd or 4th turn big creatures, which Dismember fills the role of quite nicely.

As always, comments and criticism are very welcome :)

• Experimental