Standard: Bant Toxic - Deck Tech & Sideboard Guide

Bant Toxic was one of the most popular archetypes during a period of the last Standard season. Its advantage in the Metagame was mainly due to its positive matchup against Domain Ramp, an archetype that preyed on Midrange and held Aggro, but could not recover from a constant flow of poison counters and micro-interactions with March of Swirling Mist for a combo-kill or to protect creatures from Sunfall.

With the rotation, Toxic lost its place in the format. The blue march gave the archetype a quick win line with additional functions, and without it, there was no reason to play Poison in Standard.

But recent changes have brought it back: the addition of Mockingbird increases the number of copies of Venerated Rotpriest the deck can have, and Rotpriest is relatively well-favored in a Metagame where spot removal is on the rise - coupled with a good threat package and protection, these two creatures have revitalized the archetype back in Standard.

This list follows most of the pattern we see in current versions of Bant Toxic. Some modifications can be applied to adapt to other Metagame.

It has some weaknesses that can be capitalized on by Midranges, but its games against Aggro and the difficulty that Ramp decks have in mitigating the “damage” with poison counters, in addition to its unorthodox means of attacking the opponent, make it a viable option for ranked matches in Magic Arena and also for FNMs or Magic Online Leagues.

Maindeck

The main reason to play Bant Toxic today is that Mockingbird guarantees extra copies of Venerated Rotpriest, the most punishing card in the deck against removal and bounces since it adds a poison counter whenever a creature becomes the target of a spell or ability - this combination allows us to extract maximum value from other spells that we use to protect our threats or extend our clock.

Mockingbird still has the advantage of flying and its flexible cost allows it to copy other relevant threats like Jawbone Duelist or Skrelv, Defector Mite.

Skrelv, Defector Mite provides protection for our creatures from spot removal and/or a clear path to attack over blockers and an extra instance of Toxic.

Jawbone Duelist is our best target for Skrelv or Aspirant's Ascent because it has Double Strike, so each instance of Toxic with it triggers twice, making it our most efficient clock in combat.

Crawling Chorus has the advantage of leaving another body on the board if it is destroyed. It's not the most efficient card in Standard right now, but it's our best option with a one-mana value to get us 12 one-drops.

Annex Sentry has a relevant body against Aggro, and its exile ability is a good way to delay Mono Red or Gruul's turns. Its ETB effect has become more important in the current Metagame, since it permanently deals with Stormchaser's Talent tokens while dodging Go for the Throat and is a terrible target for any Bounce.

Serum Snare works both to deal with troublesome permanents for a turn and to protect our threats while speeding up our clock with Proliferate.

Sheltered by Ghosts is our permanent removal, but it also helps against Aggro mirrors with its Lifelink and Ward , which increases the amount of mana the opponent needs to leave untapped to deal with a threat on the other side of the board.

Skrelv's Hive is a way for us to keep threats flowing on the board in longer games. Its life loss cost and lack of immediate impact make it less relevant in games against Aggro, even though it grants Lifelink to our threats.

Aspirant's Ascent is a combat trick that makes most of our creatures avoid Cut Down in Game 1 against Midranges while also making them more resilient against Lightning Strike and the like, not to mention the possibility of giving evasion during an attack and an extra poison counter on the opponent.

This Town Ain't Big Enough isn't in the best of homes in Bant Toxic, and it's a card that I often wonder if there aren't better options. It's very strong when we have two Venerated Rotpriest / Mockingbird, and we use This Town to return two of our creatures and give our opponent four poison counters. But in that case, wouldn't it be better to focus on an all-in list with Ivy, Gleeful Spellthief?

Sideboard

Hopeless Nightmare is still a pain, and Wilt-Leaf Liege is the best answer we have against it. In a vacuum, it's worse than Obstinate Baloth, but the fact that it grows all creatures allows us to pressure Bounce decks to watch their life total as well.

Fynn, the Fangbearer is a peculiar card: it doesn't have Toxic, but its ability works like Toxic 2, and it might be the card that should replace This Town Ain't Big Enough in the list. However, its place in the Sideboard is mainly in games where we need efficient threats and better blockers against Aggro.

Speaking of Aggro, Elspeth's Smite is a good way to hold decks like Gruul Prowess or Mono Red Aggro by answering a Monastery Swiftspear or Heartfire Hero for a low cost.

Sheltered by Ghosts complements our plan against Aggro by guaranteeing more copies of a piece that significantly slows down the opponent's clock.

Negate is our standard answer against removals, sweepers, and permanents that we don't want on the opponent's board, such as Caretaker's Talent or Kaito, Bane of Nightmares.

Destroy Evil lets you deal with larger creatures, while its utility can be expanded to play against Bounce and Midranges, making it a versatile removal in different matchups.

Esper Bounce

IN

OUT

Mono Red Aggro

IN

OUT

Dimir Midrange

IN

OUT

Azorius Oculus

IN

OUT

Jeskai Convoke

IN

OUT

Domain Ramp

IN

OUT

That's all for today!

If you have any questions, feel free to leave a comment!

Thanks for reading!