How does Toxic Work in Commander?
Toxic is a static ability that allows a creature to deal poison counters to a player when it deals combat damage to them, with the number of counters equal to the creature’s toxic value. In Commander, toxic works similarly to other formats, where a player with ten or more poison counters loses the game, making it a formidable strategy to incorporate into decks, especially those featuring black and green cards.
Understanding Toxic in Commander
To dive deeper into how toxic works in Commander, let’s break down the mechanics and strategies involved, including interactions with other abilities like trample and infect, and how it compares to similar mechanics such as poisonous.
Interaction with Other Abilities
Toxic interacts with other abilities in unique ways, such as trample, which allows a creature to deal excess damage to the opponent even if it’s blocked, and infect, which deals damage to players and creatures in the form of poison counters.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Does Toxic Deal Combat Damage? Yes, a creature with toxic still deals combat damage as usual based on its power, dealing damage to other creatures and planeswalkers normally, in addition to applying poison counters.
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How Does Toxic Work with Trample? If a toxic creature has trample, it may deal damage even if it’s blocked, and in this case, all the poison counters from toxic are still dealt to the opposing player.
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Does Proliferate Work on Toxic? Yes, proliferate works on toxic because it can target any number of permanents or players who have a type of counter on them already, allowing for the addition of more poison counters.
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Does Toxic Use the Stack? Yes, toxic does stack. If a creature has multiple instances of toxic, and it deals combat damage to a player, they get a total number of poison counters equal to the sum of the toxic values.
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How Many Poison Counters are Needed to Win in Commander? In Commander, a player needs to accumulate ten poison counters to lose the game, which, while seemingly low for a 40-life format, can be challenging to achieve due to the nature of the format and the prevalence of life gain and counter strategies.
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Does Infect Override Toxic? No, infect does not override toxic. A creature with toxic works whether the damage it deals is infect damage or regular combat damage.
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Is Toxic 1 a Counter in MTG? Toxic 1 is an ability, not a counter itself, but it causes a player to receive a poison counter when dealt combat damage by a creature with this ability.
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Does Deathtouch Stop Trample Damage? Unless the creature with deathtouch has first strike, deathtouch does nothing to stop a creature from trampling over to the defending player, as deathtouch only affects creatures and not players directly.
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What is the Commander Damage Rule in MTG Commander? A player that’s been dealt 21 or more combat damage by the same commander over the course of the game loses the game, with the commander‘s damage tracked across zone changes.
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Does Toxic Count as Combat Damage? Yes, toxic works based on combat damage, and a creature with toxic still deals combat damage as usual, in addition to applying poison counters.
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Can Toxic Do 100% Damage? Toxic is a damage-over-time effect and does not directly deal 100% damage but can be highly effective, especially in combinations with other abilities or in strategies that focus on applying poison counters quickly.
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Does Toxic Give Counters to Creatures? No, toxic has no effect if the creature deals combat damage to another creature or a planeswalker, as it only applies poison counters to players.
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Is Toxic Just Poisonous MTG? No, toxic and poisonous are similar but distinct mechanics. Toxic is a static ability, while poisonous is a triggered ability, though both result in players receiving poison counters.
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Can You Proliferate +1 Counters? Yes, when you proliferate, you can target any permanent or player with a counter and give them another of the same type, including +1/+1 counters on creatures.
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Why is Toxic So Good in Pokémon? Toxic is highly valued in Pokémon for its ability to allow weaker Pokémon to defeat stronger ones by applying a poison condition that dealing increasing damage over time, making it a strategic move in battles, especially against opponents with type disadvantages.