Rotpriest's Gospel

Ten poison counters. That's the whole sermon.

Simic (Green / Blue) · Toxic / Poison

Casual 60 · Freeform / XMage

Modern Phyrexian toxic energy — you don't need to win on life total if the opponent is coughing oil.

Why it works

Rotpriest turns every targeted spell or ability into a poison threat. Cheap proliferate and toxic creatures race to 10 counters while blue protects the stack.

Signature interactions

Venerated Rotpriest + any pump / bounce / cantrip targeting = free poison
Proliferate chains push 1–2 counters into a kill
Bloated Contaminator as the fat toxic beater

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Rotpriest turns every targeted spell or ability into a poison threat. Cheap proliferate and toxic creatures race to 10 counters while blue protects the stack.

Venerated Rotpriest + any pump / bounce / cantrip targeting = free poison
Proliferate chains push 1–2 counters into a kill
Bloated Contaminator as the fat toxic beater

Scryfall

Raw list

// Rotpriest's Gospel
// Ten poison counters. That's the whole sermon.
// Casual 60 · Freeform / XMage

4 Venerated Rotpriest
4 Crawling Chorus
3 Skrelv, Defector Mite
3 Bloated Contaminator
2 Ichorspit Basilisk
3 Bring the Ending
3 Experimental Augury
2 Prologue to Phyresis
2 Infectious Inquiry
2 Distorted Curiosity
2 Anoint with Affliction
2 Serum Snare
2 Tamiyo's Safekeeping
2 Tyvar's Stand
2 Reject Imperfection
1 Vraska's Fall
4 Breeding Pool
4 Yavimaya Coast
4 Dreamroot Cascade
6 Forest
6 Island

More in this collection

This is the sophisticated black pile: Dark Ritual accelerates Hypnotic Specter and Necropotence; Hymn and Duress empty their hand; pump knights and Sengir close; Drain Life is removal, lifegain, and the kill — the original 'curative' spell. Lake of the Dead and Coffers turn late drains into game-ending math. It still wins fair games today because the engine never stopped being unfair.

Dark Ritual → turn-1 Hypnotic Specter (the classic opener)
Necropotence + Drain Life — pay life to draw, gain it back while killing them
Lake of the Dead / Cabal Coffers → oversized Drain Life finishers

Scryfall

You want creatures dying on your terms. Zulaport and Blood Artist pay you for every funeral; Viscera Seer and Aristocrat keep the assembly line moving. Kalitas turns their removals into your zombies.

Blood Artist + Zulaport Cutthroat = double drain on deaths
Viscera Seer / Indulgent Aristocrat as sac outlets
Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet — their creatures become your tokens

Scryfall

Red gives haste and reach; black gives recursion and Blood Artist math. You pressure early, then convert creatures into damage when the board stalls.

Falkenrath Aristocrat + tokens / fodder = indestructible beats
Stromkirk Captain makes the whole bloodline hit harder
Lightning-style removal clears blockers so lifelink vampires connect

Scryfall

You win through incremental advantage — tokens, lifegain riders, and creatures that punish over-extension. It's the 'I always have another body' deck.