Legendary Creature — Phyrexian Dragon Skeleton

Skithiryx, the Blight Dragon

Mana value5EDHREC#2,684

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The Commander

Flying

Infect (This creature deals damage to creatures in the form of -1/-1 counters and to players in the form of poison counters.)

{B} : Skithiryx gains haste until end of turn.

{B} {B} : Regenerate Skithiryx.

Guide

Gameplan

Cast Skithiryx, give it haste for one black mana, and beat opponents to death with infect—two unblocked swings deal 10 poison and kill a player. You're a mono-black voltron/aggro deck that protects the dragon with regeneration and evasion while loading it with equipment and pump to threaten lethal poison out of nowhere.

Strengths

Self-contained clock: 5 flying infect means just two connections eliminate a player
Built-in haste and regeneration make it resilient and able to attack the turn it lands
Mono-black gives access to the best tutors, ramp, and disruption in the format
Infect circumvents traditional life-total math, ending games faster than 40-life decks expect

Weaknesses

Telegraphs lethal—everyone fears the dragon, so it draws disproportionate removal and blockers
Regeneration doesn't stop exile, -X/-X effects, sacrifice, or bounce
Mono-black lacks counterspells and has limited interaction with combat tricks/fogs
Glaring weakness to flying blockers, deathtouch, and edicts; one bad block stalls the whole plan

Key Cards

Tainted Strike — Turns any creature's hit into poison and can combo with double strike or pumped Skithiryx for surprise lethal.
Whispersilk Cloak — Grants unblockable plus shroud, making Skithiryx connect reliably while dodging targeted removal.
Grafted Exoskeleton — Adds +2/+2 and infect to any creature, letting you spread the poison plan beyond just the commander.
Phyresis — Cheaply grants infect, enabling backup threats and big mana-value finishers to close games.
Lashwrithe — Scales with your Swamps for huge pump, turning a single connection into a near-lethal poison spike.
Swiftfoot Boots — Cheap hexproof and haste insurance so your commander survives the inevitable removal.

Upgrade Path

Add fast mana (Sol Ring, Mana Vault, Dark Ritual) and tutors (Vampiric Tutor, Demonic Tutor) to find your protection and unblockable enablers consistently. Lean into evasion that dodges removal (Whispersilk Cloak, Steel of the Godhead) and proliferate (Inexorable Tide) to shorten the clock further. Prioritize cheap interaction—Imp's Mischief, Snuff Out, Deadly Rollick—to protect the dragon and clear blockers on the swing that matters.

Core Cards

The most-played cards for this commander, built from aggregated deck data (the Mythic Graph). Build public decks to seed it.

Win Conditions

▸Two unblocked Skithiryx attacks for 10 poison on a single player
▸Tainted Strike or a pump spell turning one connection into surprise lethal poison
▸Spreading infect via Grafted Exoskeleton/Phyresis to multiple attackers for a wide poison kill
▸Infect combat damage plus proliferate effects accelerating poison counters

Archetypes

Voltron — Skithiryx is a self-contained two-hit kill that wants evasion, protection, and pump auras/equipment stacked on it.
Infect Aggro — The 10-poison clock rewards a low curve, fast mana, and redundant infect enablers to race the table.
Stax/Disruption — Mono-black hand attack and removal buy time and clear blockers while your poison clock ticks down.