Ingris Stingerquill Commander Guide

Overview

Ingris Stingerquill is the Rakdos elder sphinx of Hexhaven, and it operates on a fundamentally different axis than the other four founders of that college. Where its peers generate value through filtering, knowledge, and control, Ingris teaches through pressure. It is the battle sphinx: a 1/4 flying body that costs only three mana and immediately converts any attacking creature into a source of simultaneous damage to the entire table. That efficiency is the point. The cost stays low so it arrives early, and from the moment it lands, every creature you play inherits a secondary punch.

The passive ability reads simply but scales brutally: whenever a creature you control attacks, that creature deals 1 damage to each opponent. In a four-player game, a single attacker produces three separate instances of that trigger, one for each opponent. With five creatures attacking, that is fifteen total damage distributed across the table before combat damage is even assigned. Against opponents at twenty life, this takes games from a comfortable position to a dead sprint inside three or four attack steps.

The infect interaction is where the deck becomes genuinely threatening to experienced tables. Infect replaces damage dealt by a creature: to players as poison counters, to creatures as -1/-1 counters. When Ingris's triggered ability fires for an infect creature, that 1 damage becomes 1 poison counter on each opponent simultaneously. Ten poison counters is a poison death. With a wide board of infect creatures and Ingris generating triggers for each one, the poison counter total across the table climbs faster than any lifegain or life-total-based strategy can compensate for. The Cadet token ability provides board state recovery and haste when the infect army runs thin, meaning the pressure never fully relents even after a board wipe.

The Doubling: Ingris + Solphim, Mayhem Dominus

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Synergy Spotlight

Ingris Stingerquill + Solphim, Mayhem Dominus

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Ingris Stingerquill

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Solphim, Mayhem Dominus

Solphim, Mayhem Dominus is a Phyrexian Demon that doubles all noncombat damage you deal to opponents. Ingris's attack trigger creates a separate, noncombat damage instance the moment each creature becomes an attacker. That damage is not combat damage: it happens before blockers are declared, before combat damage is assigned. Solphim's replacement effect applies directly to it.

With both permanents in play, each attacking infect creature triggers Ingris for 1 damage to each opponent, which Solphim doubles to 2 damage, which infect converts to 2 poison counters per opponent. A board of five infect attackers produces ten poison counters on every opponent in one combat step. That is a full poison kill on each opponent simultaneously. The Cadet tokens Ingris generates with the activated ability do not have infect, but they still benefit from Solphim's doubling: five Cadet attackers deal 10 damage to each opponent through the trigger alone, bypassing the lifegain and damage prevention effects that slow down combat damage.

The threshold for Solphim to become threatening is lower than it first appears. Even two infect creatures attacking with Solphim in play puts 4 poison counters on each opponent, leaving them needing only 6 more. At this pace the game ends in poison faster than most opponents can stabilise their board.

Result: Five infect creatures attacking with both Ingris and Solphim on the battlefield produces 10 poison counters on every opponent simultaneously, eliminating the table in a single attack step regardless of life totals, blocks, or damage prevention. Even at two infect attackers, the poison clock runs so fast that opponents need to answer Solphim specifically or lose within two combat steps.

Key Cards

Playing the Deck

The deck opens at the pace of infect. The mana cost of Ingris Stingerquill is three, and the infect creatures that constitute the core strategy cost one to three mana each. By turn three it is possible to have Ingris in play alongside Plague Stinger, Ichorclaw Myr, or Blackcleave Goblin with its built-in haste. The first attacks happen as early as turn four: not enough to finish anyone, but enough to put two to four poison counters on each opponent and establish the clock. Once the clock starts, it does not stop unless Ingris is removed or the board is wiped.

The mid-game is about protecting the attack engine and building width. Dolmen Gate allows the infect creatures to attack without trading, keeping bodies on the board for consecutive attack steps. Hand of the Praetors arriving at this point shifts each infect creature's poison contribution from 1 to 2 per trigger. Skullclamp converts any infect 1/1 that gets removed into two draws without requiring a dedicated turn. Tainted Strike and Phyresis convert non-infect threats like Hellrider or a mass of Goblin tokens into infect bodies for a combat step. Bitterblossom generates a fresh attacker every upkeep, feeding the trigger engine without requiring draw steps.

The late game is generally closer than it looks. Opponents who spend resources answering infect creatures are ahead on tempo but behind on board state relative to the Goblin and Cadet token supply. When the poison clock stalls, the {4} Cadet activation with haste resets the pressure: a full swing of four or five tokens still deals 12 to 15 damage per opponent through Ingris triggers (doubled by Solphim if in play) in a format where opponents at twelve life cannot casually absorb the trigger chain. Hellrider stacks with Ingris to deal a second point of damage per attacker to each opponent simultaneously, meaning at ten or more attackers the damage triggers alone put opponents within reach of a second swing. Jeska's Will produces burst mana to activate the Cadet ability multiple times in a single turn when mana is scarce after a wipe.

Strengths & Weaknesses

Strengths: Ingris generates value on attacks regardless of whether the infect creature lands damage, which separates it from standard infect strategies that lose momentum whenever a blocker stops combat damage. The trigger fires the instant a creature becomes an attacker, so even creatures that are blocked and killed still distributed poison counters across the table first. At three mana, Ingris comes down before opponents establish their defensive stacks. The haste from the activated ability means a rebuilding turn can immediately become an attack turn. Deflecting Swat and Deadly Rollick are free spells while Ingris is in play, providing hard interaction at no mana cost on the most critical turns.

Weaknesses: The strategy is fully dependent on Ingris surviving. A commander that costs three mana is easy to remove repeatedly, and each time it goes to the command zone without landing a trigger, the poison clock loses a turn. The infect creatures themselves are small: most are 1/1 or 2/2 bodies that lose to any size opposition without Dolmen Gate in play. Opponents who bring fog effects specifically to blank combat steps shut down the trigger engine entirely until the fog is answered. There is no graveyard recursion beyond Corpse Cur and Alesha, Who Laughs at Fate, so a sweeper that hits the whole infect roster requires rebuilding from hand. White and green removal packages that grant protection also complicate the infect creatures' ability to deal any damage at all.

Full Decklist

The full 100-card Ingris Stingerquill Commander deck, enriched with current prices. Click any card to expand it.