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Commander Nexus
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  3. Vishgraz, the Doomhive

Command zone

Vishgraz, the Doomhive

Vishgraz, the Doomhive

Legendary Creature — Phyrexian Insect

Vishgraz wants a deck that wins with poison counters instead of damage. It also works in a deck built around Insects or Phyrexians.

  • Mana cost2 genericwhiteblackgreen
  • White, Black, Green ()
  • Power / toughness3 / 3
  • RarityMythic

Menace, toxic 1 (Players dealt combat damage by this creature also get a poison counter.)

When Vishgraz enters, create three 1/1 colorless Phyrexian Mite artifact creature tokens with toxic 1 and "This token can't block."

Vishgraz gets +1/+1 for each poison counter your opponents have.

Build a deck with Vishgraz Find it in the app

Archetypes

Cards That Fit Vishgraz, the Doomhive

Picked for what they do in Vishgraz's deck. When two cards do the same job, the one with the lower comes first. All of them fit Vishgraz's color identity.Mana ValueThe total amount of mana a card costs, all added up. A card costing two generic and one green has a mana value of three. Wizards renamed this from "converted mana cost" in 2021, so older cards and articles may still use the old name.Sol RingOpen the full glossary

plan6

The 6 Cards

plan6

The 6 Cards

Rulings for Vishgraz, the Doomhive

explain how Vishgraz works in tricky situations. They come from Wizards of the Coast, the company that makes Magic.RulingThe official answer to how a card works in a tricky situation. Most rulings are written by Wizards of the Coast, the company that makes Magic, and a few are notes from Scryfall, the card database Magic players use. A ruling explains a card. It does not change what the card says.Open the full glossary

Wizards of the Coast 4 Feb 2023

A player with ten or more poison counters loses the game. This is a state-based action and doesn't use the stack. In other words, it happens immediately and players can't respond to it, just like a player losing the game due to having 0 or less life.

Wizards of the Coast 4 Feb 2023

Any other effects of that damage, such as life gain from lifelink, still apply.

Wizards of the Coast 4 Feb 2023

Conversely, replacement effects that apply to the number of counters put on a player can modify the counters placed this way. For example, Vorinclex, Monstrous Raider's last two abilities can apply to counters placed this way.

Wizards of the Coast 4 Feb 2023

Damage dealt by a creature with toxic grants the same number of counters regardless of how much damage is dealt. Notably, if a replacement effect modifies the damage in some way (such as that of Gratuitous Violence), the number of counters given remains unchanged.

Wizards of the Coast 4 Feb 2023

If a creature with toxic deals combat damage to a creature or planeswalker, or if it deals noncombat damage, toxic has no effect and no player gets poison counters.

Wizards of the Coast 4 Feb 2023

Multiple instances of toxic are cumulative. For example, if a creature has toxic 2 and gains toxic 1 due to another effect, combat damage that creature deals to a player will cause that player to get 3 poison counters.

Wizards of the Coast 4 Feb 2023

The bonus Vishgraz receives due to its last ability may cause it to survive combat damage in some cases. For example, if an attacking Vishgraz is blocked by a 3/3 and another creature with toxic 1 is attacking at the same time and is unblocked, Vishgraz with deal 3 damage, receive 3 damage, and get +1/+1 at exactly the same time. The end result is that it will stay alive and be a 4/4 creature with 3 damage marked on it.

Wizards of the Coast 4 Feb 2023

Toxic doesn't change the amount of combat damage a creature deals. For example, if a 2/2 creature with toxic 1 deals combat damage to a player, that creature will deal 2 damage. The results of that damage are the player loses 2 life and gets a poison counter.

8 rulings, all written by Wizards of the Coast. Read the originals on Gatherer ↗

Similar Commanders

Commanders that share the most with Vishgraz, and what they share.

Color identityEvery color of mana symbol on a card, in its cost and in its rules text. Your commander's color identity sets the limit for your whole deck: every other card has to fit inside it. A deck led by a green and white commander cannot play a card with any blue in its color identity.Open the full glossaryWBGPlayers write colors as letters: W for white, B for black, G for green.Infect/ToxicInfect and toxic decks win with poison counters instead of damage: a player with ten or more poison counters loses the game. Creatures with infect give players poison counters instead of normal damage, and creatures with toxic give poison counters on top of their combat damage.Open the Infect/Toxic pagePoisonGives out poison counters, or gets stronger when opponents have them. A player who has ten or more poison counters loses the game. Cards with the keyword infect or toxic hand out poison counters when they deal damage to a player.Open the Poison pageEvasionAn ability that makes a creature hard to block, so its attacks reach the player. Flying, menace, landwalk and plain 'can't be blocked' are the common kinds.Open the Evasion pagePhyrexiansPhyrexians are the machine-and-flesh villains of Magic's story, found in every color. Many use poison counters through infect or toxic.Open the Phyrexians pageToken MakerCreates one or more tokens. Different cards make very different ones: creatures Grave Titan, Treasures Smothering Tithe, Clues Tireless Tracker or Food Gilded Goose. This is one of our largest tags, so pair it with an archetype or theme when you are hunting a specific kind.Open the Token Maker pageStat ScalingA creature whose power and toughness count something, so it grows as the game goes on. It might count lands you control or cards in your graveyard. Craterhoof Behemoth, Psychosis CrawlerOpen the Stat Scaling pageETB ValueDoes something useful the moment it arrives: an enter the battlefield ability, which players shorten to ETB. You keep that effect even if the card is removed straight afterwards, which is why these pair so well with flicker cards that make them enter again. Solemn Simulacrum, The One RingOpen the ETB Value page