Amid the new Ruinous Powers Commander deck spoilers, one creature had a few players a bit nervous. Dredge is not a new strategy, but it did get a rather dark reputation following the massacre of a Modern format that Hogaak, Arisen Necropolis left behind after its banning. Well, all of these new Warhammer cards are also Eternal Legal, as all Commander cards are. One, in particular, may elevate Dredge back to what it almost used to be. Considering all of this, here are some ways to break what is probably the most powerful card to come out of the MTG Warhammer crossover: MTG Poxwalkers.
MTG Poxwalkers
As long as a Legacy or Vintage deck can consistently trigger this, this card’s power level is absolutely absurd. A 3/1 that Force of Will can’t counter goes a lot further in Eternal formats than it would anywhere else. Triggering this ability is much easier than one may expect as well. Not only is this triggered by other common Dredge cards (as that is the obvious deck that wants this the most), but some multi-format staples like Expressive Iteration can also trigger it.
One of the more obvious homes for Poxwalkers would be the Hollow One Madness deck, like the sample list pictured above. Any of the zero-cost Madness cards that get cast from the various discard effects you have would trigger a Poxwalkers discarded by Faithless Looting or Burning Inquiry. Considering that the card is, unlike many other cards in this list, easily cast multiple times, it may be a better alternative to some of the one-time cards in this list. I am no Legacy expert, but this, outside of a list specifically tuned to abuse Poxwalkers as its only threat, would be my first observation of where it would obviously benefit constructed play.
Unfortunately, Legacy is primarily dominated by “fair” UR Delver decks, which this has no place in. That said, I wouldn’t be surprised if this card ended up creating its own archetype in the format.
Cabal Therapy
This card is absolute nonsense with Poxwalkers. You can cast it on yourself, should you have more than one Poxwalkers, and discard them. Then you can Flashback it and bring all your discarded Poxwalkers into play! Should you have one already in play, this spell will end up being free since the sacrificed Poxwalker will replace itself.
In Commander
Poxwalkers is absolutely insane in Commander. Anything that can sacrifice Poxwalkers as a cost can be used as a one-card engine as long as the card you’re casting is outside your hand. We’ll start with the obvious stuff: Gravecrawler loops.
Phyrexian Altar + Gravecrawler + Poxwalkers
This one is incredibly straightforward. Start with a Gravecrawler in your graveyard and a Phyrexian Altar and Poxwalkers on your board. Poxwalkers is a Zombie, so Gravecrawler can be cast from the graveyard. Using that recognition point, cast Gravecrawler by sacrificing Poxwalkers to Phyrexian Altar to pay the cost (you can’t do this beforehand, as sacrificing Poxwalkers too early will make it impossible to cast Gravecrawler. You have to sacrifice Poxwalkers to the Altar as the cost to cast Gravecrawler). Since Poxwalkers will be in the graveyard once the Gravecrawler is cast, it will trigger from you casting Gravecrawler from outside your hand and come back. Use this loop for infinite mana (and creatures entering the battlefield)!
Skullclamp
While Skullclamp won’t be pulling off any infinites, it will allow you to sacrifice Poxwalkers for two cards. That way, when you cast something else that triggers Poxwalkers, you can get two more cards!
Muldrotha, the Gravetide
Muldrotha will be casting a lot of cards from the graveyard, meaning Poxwalkers becomes a cute two-for-one deal a lot of the time. This is a great way to play Poxwalkers without breaking it and upsetting your Commander table.
Dark-Dweller Oracle
This creature was once a Rare but got downshifted to Common in Double Masters 2022. This card provides a great way to turn your Poxwalkers into card advantage. You can essentially exile as many cards to its sacrifice trigger as you want since Poxwalkers will just come back when you cast them.
Dread Return
Much like Cabal Therapy, Dread Return’s Flashback cost can be reduced by MTG Poxwalkers. Unlike Cabal Therapy, you need two other creatures to cast this from your graveyard. This isn’t as useful in Commander, as a result, but it could be devastating in Legacy should you have more than one Poxwalkers out.
Evolving Door
Evolving Door is a card with a lot of potential, but it seems to play out terribly whenever people try it. Not only can Evolving Door search for your Poxwalkers, but it can also turn into a repeatable tutor effect for two-colored creatures by sacrificing Poxwalkers. Since you are casting the card from exile, MTG Poxwalkers will trigger and return, allowing you to sacrifice it again the next turn.
This Could be the Beginning of Something Beautiful
Black has been looking absolutely cracked lately. The color dominates Standard right now, is primed to take over Pioneer, and has a whole mono-colored deck based around it in this release. Between this and another black card that will create some new infinite combos, it looks like we may have a spicy Muldrotha deck brewing up soon. Should we build it, you’ll be sure to hear about it. Honestly, I’m just happy that I can finally use the Full-Art Foil Evolving Door that’s been sitting in my binder.
