Plague Stinger
Creature — Phyrexian Insect Horror
Flying
Infect (This creature deals damage to creatures in the form of -1/-1 counters and to players in the form of poison counters.)
- CMC
- 2
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- B
- Rarity
- common
- Set
- Phyrexia: All Will Be One Commander
- Price
- $0.49
- EDHREC rank
- #4674
Plague Stinger puts two poison counters on an opponent before most decks have interaction, and it does it for two mana with built-in evasion via infect and flying. In any deck led by Skithiryx, the Blight Dragon, that's not a filler creature — it's a reliable early threat that advances the poison clock independently.
Best Commanders
Commanders with the highest synergy
Skithiryx, the Blight Dragon
Skithiryx, the Blight Dragon is an infect commander, and Plague Stinger is exactly the redundant evasive infect body that archetype needs — every unblocked swing accelerates the ten-counter clock before Skithiryx even hits the table.
Ixhel, Scion of Atraxa
Ixhel, Scion of Atraxa cares about proliferate and poison counters on opponents, so Plague Stinger's early chip damage feeds directly into Ixhel's corrupted trigger condition, making it easier to steal cards off the top of enemies' libraries.
Vishgraz, the Doomhive
Vishgraz, the Doomhive wants opponents poisoned to trigger corrupted on its own token generation, and Plague Stinger is one of the cheapest ways to land that first poison counter through flying on turn two.
Agent Frank Horrigan
Agent Frank Horrigan layers additional poison counters onto combat damage, so Plague Stinger's repeated flying hits compound fast — each unblocked connection sets up a bigger payoff when Horrigan swings.
Volrath, the Shapestealer
Volrath, the Shapestealer can copy any creature with a counter on it, and Plague Stinger gives Volrath a cheap infect body to become — turning Volrath's -1/-1 counter shenanigans into a legitimate poison-counter threat.
Format Analysis
Where it lives, where it can’t
| Format | Verdict |
|---|---|
| commander | legal |
| legacy | legal |
| modern | legal |
| pioneer | not legal |
| standard | not legal |
| vintage | legal |
| pauper | legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
In Commander, Plague Stinger is a role-player, not a staple — it belongs in dedicated infect or poison-counter decks and has no business in lists that aren't trying to win through poison. Pauper is where Plague Stinger has historically seen the most competitive friction, since flying infect at common is genuinely dangerous in a format with limited answers and slower life totals — though infect's viability there fluctuates with the format's removal density. In Legacy and Vintage, Plague Stinger is strictly outclassed by faster infect threats, so it doesn't show up in serious lists. It's not legal in Pioneer or Standard, which is where the story ends for most players.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.49 bulk tier
At $0.49, Plague Stinger is bulk — you're picking it up as an afterthought in a order, not tracking it down. It's a common with a narrow home, so there's no meaningful price floor to worry about eroding.
Explore
Sources
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.