Is having infect always an upside? I think so.
Sure, if you've got infect and non-infect
creatures swinging, you're spreading your
resources among two axes of attack, but you know
what? If you're swinging and connecting with
multiple creatures each turn, it doesn't
matter-- you're probably going to win. And
that's not even starting on what infect
creatures do when blocked or blocking. Which I
would argue makes Corrupted Conscience strictly
better than Mind Control. Trouble is, nobody
plays Mind Control. Is there room in the format
for a 5-mana creature-steal spell? Even if it
gives infect? Well, here's the thing-- Corrupted
Conscience can give infect to creatures that
were never meant to have it. Creatures like
Inferno Titan, which can then dole out -1/-1
counters like they're Snickers bars on Halloween
before slamming the opponent for six poison
counters. Or Pestilence Demon, which nobody
plays but boy will they be surprised if they do.
Or perhaps something with double strike? Double
strike and infect would make a creature very
hard to thwart in combat, yet very hard to not
block.
Creature-stealing effects of this type can be
downright devastating. Not every deck banks on,
or is prepared for, facing its own best
creature. Even fewer decks can stand up to their
own best creature, plus infect. Since it's
effectively twice as "fast" as regular damage, a
creature that would otherwise be manageable when
Mind Controlled might become downright
horrendous when Corrupted Conscience is
involved. This card alone might be enough reason
to play blue in infect decks.
Today's card of the day is Corrupted Conscience
which is a five mana Blue variant of the Mind
Control concept that also gives the creature
Infect. As Blue does not otherwise have Infect,
but does have Proliferate, it is more likely to
be part of a Blue/Black or possibly Blue/Green
deck with Blue in the support role with cards
like Distortion Strike. The concept certainly
has merit as turning whatever threat your
opponent has against them and attacking with
your own Infect forces is likely to win the game
in a single strike. Not adding Haste and the
somewhat high cost are drawbacks compared to Red
forms of stealing a creature, but this is still
a very powerful option as Blue can control the
pace of a game quite easily.
For Limited this is a steal at uncommon as a
form of removal and card advantage as it adds a
creature to your side of the field in return.
Depending on the rare this can be picked first
in Booster, but the following choices can be
difficult as staying mono-Blue will likely limit
Infect to artifacts. Black and Green are avenues
available for support and it is even possible to
have more than one copy if it gets passed. In
Sealed using Blue/Black or Blue/Green is likely
best and as this is a method of handling almost
any threat it is worth playing unless your pool
can't support the mana base.
Today’s card of the day is
Corrupted Conscience from Mirrodin Besieged.
This enchantment is easily one of my new
favorites. For five mana, two blue and three
generic, you gain control of target creature and
it gains infect.
No matter what the format, this card is handy. It costs as
much as a Mind Control and grants infect, which
could easily turn the tide of any battle. In
standard, it could easily grab you something
that could become a major factor to win with.
Imagine grabbing a Hellkite Igniter from your
Mirran faction opponent and smacking them with
it.
In vintage or older style formats, it could easily become
even more ridiculous. Grabbing anything and
granting infect could devastate any deck. And
since it is blue, there are plenty of ways that
it could become unblockable while under your
control. Meaning that now they are in a lot of
trouble, from their own creature.
All in all a very decent card, especially for an uncommon.
