$0.25 Legend Turns -1/-1 Counters to Infinite Life Drain, Tokens, and Mana

With thousands of legendary creatures in MTG, Commander offers tons of different themes to build around, and some Commanders that mesh two popular ones together. Hapatra, Vizier of Poisons Hapatra, Vizier of Poisons Whenever Hapatra deals combat damage to a player, you may put a -1/-1 counter on target creature.
Whenever you put one or more -1/-1 counters on a creature, create a 1/1 green Snake creature token with deathtouch. , for instance, perfectly combines Counters and Tokens themes to take over games on the cheap. With tons of infinite combo potential at its disposal, this legend is quite a powerful Commander option.

MTG Hapatra, Vizier of Poisons

Most of Hapatra’s value comes from its second ability, which rewards you for putting -1/-1 counters on creatures by generating Snake tokens, and connecting in combat can get things started. Luckily, evasion-granting equipment like Whispersilk Cloak Whispersilk Cloak Equipped creature can't be blocked and has shroud. (It can't be the target of spells or abilities.)
Equip {2} and My Precious My Precious Equipped creature has hexproof and can't be blocked.
Equip—{2}, Pay 2 life. make this trivial.

Given that there’s no cap on how many times Hapatra’s second ability can trigger, though, you’re incentivized to fill your deck to the brim with -1/-1 counter support. Synergizing with Hapatra, Persistent Constrictor Persistent Constrictor At the beginning of each opponent's upkeep, they lose 1 life and you put a -1/-1 counter on up to one target creature they control.
Persist (When this creature dies, if it had no -1/-1 counters on it, return it to the battlefield under its owner's control with a -1/-1 counter on it.) and Sinister Gnarlbark Sinister Gnarlbark At the beginning of your end step, draw a card and blight 1. (Put a -1/-1 counter on a creature you control.) provide value every turn cycle, making them strong inclusions. Alternatively, effects that put -1/-1 counters on all creatures at once, like Soul Snuffers Soul Snuffers When this creature enters, put a -1/-1 counter on each creature. and Black Sun’s Zenith Black Sun’s Zenith Put X -1/-1 counters on each creature. Shuffle Black Sun's Zenith into its owner's library. , can create instant board states with Hapatra.

After getting some -1/-1 counters on board, any Proliferate staple from Evolution Sage Evolution Sage Landfall — Whenever a land you control enters, proliferate. (Choose any number of permanents and/or players, then give each another counter of each kind already there.) to Plaguemaw Beast Plaguemaw Beast {T}, Sacrifice a creature: Proliferate. (Choose any number of permanents and/or players, then give each another counter of each kind already there.) can keep the Snake-generation train rolling. With the help of Nest of Scarabs Nest of Scarabs Whenever you put one or more -1/-1 counters on a creature, create that many 1/1 black Insect creature tokens. and any token doubler like Parallel Lives Parallel Lives If an effect would create one or more tokens under your control, it creates twice that many of those tokens instead. , it won’t take long before you amass a huge army. From there, Mirkwood Bats Mirkwood Bats Flying
Whenever you create or sacrifice a token, each opponent loses 1 life. and various typal payoffs like Coat of Arms Coat of Arms Each creature gets +1/+1 for each other creature on the battlefield that shares at least one creature type with it. (For example, if two Goblin Warriors and a Goblin Shaman are on the battlefield, each gets +2/+2.) and Seshiro the Anointed Seshiro the Anointed Other Snake creatures you control get +2/+2.
Whenever a Snake you control deals combat damage to a player, you may draw a card. help press your advantage.

Notably, because all of your Snakes have Deathtouch, you even have the luxury of abusing Deathtouch payoffs like Fynn, the Fangbearer Fynn, the Fangbearer Deathtouch (Any amount of damage this deals to a creature is enough to destroy it.)
Whenever a creature you control with deathtouch deals combat damage to a player, that player gets two poison counters. (A player with ten or more poison counters loses the game.) and Hooded Blightfang Hooded Blightfang Deathtouch
Whenever a creature you control with deathtouch attacks, each opponent loses 1 life and you gain 1 life.
Whenever a creature you control with deathtouch deals damage to a planeswalker, destroy that planeswalker. . These cards add tons of pressure on your opponents to block with their beefy threats just to stay alive.

Then, as your opponents’ creatures start biting the dust, Necroskitter Necroskitter Wither (This deals damage to creatures in the form of -1/-1 counters.)
Whenever a creature an opponent controls with a -1/-1 counter on it dies, you may return that card to the battlefield under your control. and Dread Tiller Dread Tiller When this creature enters, put a -1/-1 counter on target creature.
Whenever a creature with a -1/-1 counter on it dies, you may put a land card from your hand or graveyard onto the battlefield tapped. start pulling you further ahead. Any Blood Artist Blood Artist Whenever this creature or another creature dies, target player loses 1 life and you gain 1 life. effects start popping off in the process, and with the help of a sacrifice outlet like Ashnod’s Altar Ashnod’s Altar Sacrifice a creature: Add {C}{C}. , ending games should be trivial.

Infinite Life Drain, Tokens, and Mana

While Hapatra is fully capable of spiraling out of control without going infinite, there are plenty of combos that end the game on the spot. By pairing Hapatra with Blowfly Infestation Blowfly Infestation Whenever a creature dies, if it had a -1/-1 counter on it, put a -1/-1 counter on target creature. and any Blood Artist effect, for example, you can infinitely drain your opponents of all their life. You just need two one-toughness creatures in play to start, but this should be a trivial task for Hapatra.

To start, simply put a -1/-1 counter on one of your one-toughness creatures with any effect. This causes Hapatra and Blowfly Infestation to trigger, netting you a 1/1 token and letting you put a -1/-1 counter on another one-toughness creature you control. Thanks to the continuous token production, you’re free to repeat this process until all opponents are dead. Notably, Host of the Hereafter Host of the Hereafter This creature enters with two +1/+1 counters on it.
Whenever this creature or another creature you control dies, if it had counters on it, put its counters on up to one target creature you control. fills the same role as Infestation, adding some nice combo redundancy.

If infinite life drain weren’t enough, you can also generate infinite tokens and mana by utilizing Devoted Druid Devoted Druid {T}: Add {G}.
Put a -1/-1 counter on this creature: Untap this creature. and Ivy Lane Denizen Ivy Lane Denizen Whenever another green creature you control enters, put a +1/+1 counter on target creature. . You’ll want to start by tapping Druid for G, then untapping it by putting a -1/-1 counter on it. This triggers Hapatra, netting you a token that triggers Ivy Lane Denizen in the process. Now, you can put a +1/+1 counter back on Devoted Druid, letting you reactivate it again and again.

Digging even deeper, if you manage to land Hapatra alongside Yawgmoth, Thran Physician Yawgmoth, Thran Physician Protection from Humans
Pay 1 life, Sacrifice another creature: Put a -1/-1 counter on up to one target creature and draw a card.
{B}{B}, Discard a card: Proliferate. (Choose any number of permanents and/or players, then give each another counter of each kind already there.) and a Blood Artist effect, you can successfully kill all opposing creatures at once. While this technically isn’t an infinite combo, executing this synergy will typically enable you to draw a ton of cards and drain your opponents a bunch.

Super Cheap and Super Powerful

Ultimately, between its impact as a value engine and combo piece, Hapatra, Vizier of Poisons is an extremely strong Commander option. Opposing creature decks risk getting their boards completely demolished, too, especially those relying on small tokens.

With this upside in mind, it’s a bit surprising that there are under 6,000 Commander decks to Hapatra’s name, according to EDHREC. The good news, however, is that copies can be picked up for a measly $0.25. This makes the legend a low-risk, high-reward pickup that’s certainly worth giving a shot.

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