Brewing 101, I think is in the minds of the players all over the world as the Magic2012 spoiler has just been completed today. The last card was Time Reversal, Mythic sorcery, and a reprint from M11. Most expected it to be Time Warp but that would be insane in the current build of the Pyromancer Ascension. I think Wizards made a good decision of not reprinting the blue card.

Anyhow, since we are in the brewing stage for Standard, I’ll introduce a potential list for the Infect theme. It might not look as Tier 1 as the other decks, but let us check the improvements it can get from the latest core set.

For reference, here’s a list piloted by Noel Roldan, a fellow Mtg Iloilo player.

Maindeck
4 Inkmoth Nexus
18 Swamp
22 lands

1 Skithiryx, the Blight Dragon
4 Whispering Specter
4 Plague Stinger
4 Plague Myr
4 Phyrexian Crusader
17 creatures

2 Contagion Clasp
4 Go for the Throat
3 Throne of Geth
3 Vampire’s Bite
4 Mutagenic Growth
2 Duress
3 Inquisition of Kozilek
21 spells

I know you will say it is a sub-optimal build for Infect, so let us check the possible changes:

Plague Myr to Ichorclaw Myr – this is the first improvement I’d like to suggest as it is very obvious that the latter’s pump trigger is much needed against blockers.

Vampire’s Bite to Unholy Strength – yes it is so old school, but for this build, I think this is appropriate.

Additional Skithiryx – two copies is the right number for this type of build, in regards to the mana curve.

Here’s a quick view of my other edits on the deck:

For the spells,
-3 Throne of Geth
-4 Mutagenic Growth
-2 Duress
+4 Tezzeret’s Gambit
+2 Virulent Wound
+1 Inquisition of Kozilek

For the creatures,
-4 Whispering Specter
+4 Ichor Rats
+2 Necropede

The updated list would look like this:

Monoblack Infect by Mark Ian Alloso
4 Inkmoth Nexus
18 Swamp
22 lands

2 Skithiryx, the Blight Dragon
4 Ichor Rats
4 Plague Stinger
4 Ichorclaw Myr
4 Phyrexian Crusader
2 Necropede
20 creatures

4 Go for the Throat
4 Inquisition of Kozilek
4 Tezzeret’s Gambit
2 Unholy Strength
2 Contagion Clasp
2 Virulent Wound
18 spells

Additional adjustments on the list would depend on your local metagame, though I suggest you choose generic cards for the sideboard (i.e. Duress, Dismember, Memoricide, etc.).

That’s about it. Thanks for reading.