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Infectious Inquiry

Sorcery

You draw two cards and you lose 2 life. Each opponent gets a poison counter.

CMC
3
Mana cost
{2}{B}
Color identity
B
Rarity
common
Set
Phyrexia: All Will Be One
Price
$0.37
EDHREC rank
#2426
Buy on TCGplayer
Infectious Inquiry card art
Infectious Inquiry draws you three cards and puts three poison counters on each opponent — that's a meaningful chunk of the ten needed for an infect kill, stapled to a cantrip that replaces itself and then some. At three mana it's not free, but in a dedicated poison or proliferate shell the damage doubles as a win condition, and Storm King's Thunder or Ixhel, Scion of Atraxa decks treat each copy as a clock and a refuel in one.

Best Commanders

Commanders with the highest synergy

01
Ixhel, Scion of Atraxa

Ixhel, Scion of Atraxa

86.5% of decks · synergy 0.82

Ixhel, Scion of Atraxa runs Infectious Inquiry in 86% of lists because the spell does exactly what the deck wants on two axes: it stocks the hand and advances the poison counter count that Ixhel's corrupted ability rewards, making every copy feel like two cards of progress.

02
Vishgraz, the Doomhive

Vishgraz, the Doomhive

77.8% of decks · synergy 0.73

Vishgraz, the Doomhive tokens already carry infect, so the three counters Infectious Inquiry deals can push opponents into range for lethal combat damage far earlier than creature-only pressure would allow.

03
Skithiryx, the Blight Dragon

Skithiryx, the Blight Dragon

69.6% of decks · synergy 0.67

Skithiryx, the Blight Dragon decks are racing to ten poison counters through combat, and Infectious Inquiry accelerates that race passively — three counters per cast means Skithiryx needs to connect fewer times to close the game.

04
Karumonix, the Rat King

Karumonix, the Rat King

60.5% of decks · synergy 0.58

Karumonix, the Rat King shells lean heavily on black draw, and Infectious Inquiry fills that role while contributing poison counters that the deck's proliferate support can then double, turning a simple draw spell into a genuine threat.

05
Agent Frank Horrigan

Agent Frank Horrigan

43.8% of decks · synergy 0.42

Agent Frank Horrigan rewards poison-counter accumulation as a damage multiplier, and Infectious Inquiry is one of the cheapest ways to advance that count across the entire table in a single spell.

Format Analysis

Where it lives, where it can’t

FormatVerdict
commander legal
legacy legal
modern legal
pioneer legal
standard not legal
vintage legal
pauper legal
oathbreaker legal

Commander is where Infectious Inquiry earns its keep — hitting three opponents simultaneously with poison counters means one casting delivers nine counters spread across the table, an effect no other format context can replicate. In Pauper, it's a legal common that sees fringe play in slower poison builds, though the format lacks the proliferate density to make it consistently threatening. Legacy, Vintage, and Modern all have access to it, but poison strategies in those formats are either underdeveloped or outpaced by faster win conditions, so Infectious Inquiry sits on the bench. Pioneer offers a more realistic home if a dedicated infect shell ever materializes, but the card's ceiling is firmly in multiplayer Commander where every opponent is a target.

Key Combos

Combo lines featuring this card

Price Context

Current price

$0.37 bulk tier

At $0.37, Infectious Inquiry is bulk — pick up as many copies as you need without hesitation. Bulk rares with narrow but high-demand applications tend to spike if a new poison or proliferate commander breaks through, but the current price reflects exactly what it is: a role-player that overperforms in its lane and costs almost nothing to try.

Explore

Sources

Mentioned

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Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.