For the last two sets, we were working on the
theory that infect was as valuable mana-wise as
double strike-- a creature that had either
ability got half as much power as its mana cost
would otherwise indicate. Lost Leoning bucks
that trend-- a 2/1 infector for the same price
as you'd pay for a vanilla 2/1-- in any other
color but white. White only pays W for a vanilla
2/1, so an extra colorless mana for infect seems
reasonable. And it gives White the infector
aggro weenie it had been missing, its best
infectors being Priests of Norn or that 2/1
flyer for 3W.
I bought the Mirrodin Besieged intro pack with
the green-white infect deck and found it to be
an interesting concept, so in one sense I'm a
little surprised we haven't seen more white
decks taking the path of poison. It's worth
noting that the infect-based decks we've seen
recently have been either very fast (making use
of yesterday's card of the day and lots of Giant
Growths) or rather slow (making use of Phyrexian
Crusader and Preordain), and the white poison
cards don't fit quite as naturally in either of
those strategies. Still, we shouldn't forget
they exist, and there might be an opportunity at
some point for an infect strategy that sits in
the middle of these extremes to make use of
them.
Welcome back readers today’s card of the day is
a basic white infect creature Lost Leonin. In
standard this card won’t make an impact,
competitive infect either errs to the side of
blue/black or mono green white does not really
have a place in the competitive landscape. In
extended and eternal the same fate applies to
this card it just doesn’t have enough oomph to
see constructed play. In pauper magic this may
be a solid addition to a green and white infect
deck. In casual and multiplayer it can provide a
small incentive for players to attack elsewhere
and combined with Overrun type effects
this could be a solid addition for casual and
multiplayer green and white infect decks. In
limited it’s a solid creature if you’re in white
or planning on going white infect, aside from
being a solid creature not much can be said
about it. Overall a solid yet unremarkable card.
Today's card of the day is Lost Leonin which is
a two mana 2/1 White creature with Infect.
White only has three other creatures with
Infect, none with more than two power, and all
cost more than two mana which makes this the
most aggressive of the choices despite the
others having Flying or Vigilance. The
options aren't enough to run purely White as an
Infect deck, but with artifacts it could be
possible, just not really recommended. As
part of a two color deck Lost Leonin is a good
choice alongside White's removal and would see
play if anyone builds a deck of that style, but
it is a poor fit in any mono-White builds as
little support exists. Overall with
minimal Infect in White, and no Proliferate in
color, this seems unlikely to live up to the
potential it has despite being a big early game
threat.
In Limited it is extremely unlikely to draft
much in Infect for White, but this still makes
for a decent blocker and attacker when artifacts
are factored in or when playing two colors.
In Sealed it should still be used whenever
running white as a two mana 2/1 is very strong
for the format and in Booster it should be
drafted soon after the removal and major
creatures of the deck.
