<p><strong>Yes, you can, but it's not trivial.</strong></p>
<p>While Infect works on objects of any type, you can generally only <em>grant</em> Infect to creatures. Therefore, you have to turn Form of the Dragon into a creature first. You can do that through e.g. <a class="mtg-autocard" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer" href="http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Search/Default.aspx?name=%2b%5bLiquimetal%20Coating%5d">Liquimetal Coating</a>, then animate that artifact through e.g. <a class="mtg-autocard" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer" href="http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Search/Default.aspx?name=%2b%5bSkilled%20Animator%5d">Skilled Animator</a>. Or you can turn it into a creature directly with <a class="mtg-autocard" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer" href="http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Search/Default.aspx?name=%2b%5bOpalescence%5d">Opalescence</a>.</p>
<p>Then you can give the resulting creature Infect through e.g. <a class="mtg-autocard" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer" href="http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Search/Default.aspx?name=%2b%5bGrafted%20Exoskeleton%5d">Grafted Exoskeleton</a>.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-08-25T20:37:40.610Z
Shorter route to creaturedom: [Opalescence](https://scryfall.com/card/uds/13/opalescence)
jwodder
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-08-26T03:01:33.967Z
@jwodder That'd stop it from doing damage to things with its ability, though.
nick012000
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-08-26T03:45:55.810Z
@nick012000 Opalescence does not affect abilities.
Douglas
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-08-26T05:57:44.283Z
@Douglas Oh, right. I had it confused with one of the other white "everything becomes a creature" cards that do result in losing abilities.
nick012000
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-08-26T11:45:28.917Z
@nick012000 That would be Humility. The Humility + Opalescence combo is the proverbial textbook example for learning about the timestamp system.
Hackworth
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-08-25T19:02:29.417Z
2020-08-26T11:40:21.363Z
2020-08-26T11:40:21.363Z
Hackworth
<p>I searched Gatherer for cards with &quot;infect&quot; in their rules text, and &quot;creature&quot; neither in their rules text nor their type. <a href="https://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Search/Default.aspx?action=advanced&amp;text=+%5Binfect%5D+!%5Bcreature%5D&amp;type=+!%5Bcreature%5D" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Results</a></p>
<p>There are, at time of writing, only two results. One has reminder text telling us that damage causes loss of life (I guess someone at WotC thought we needed reminding of that fact), but with the qualification that this applies only to non-infect damage.</p>
<p>The other card is <a class="mtg-autocard" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer" href="http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Search/Default.aspx?name=%2b%5bPhyrexian%20Unlife%5d">Phyrexian Unlife</a>, which has</p>
<blockquote>
<p>You don't lose the game for having 0 or less life.<br>As long as you have 0 or less life, all damage is dealt to you as though its source had infect. (Damage is dealt to you in the form of poison counters.)</p>
</blockquote>
<p>So if your opponent controls Phryxian Unlife, it could cause Form of the Dragon to deal damage <em>as if</em> it has infect, but it wouldn't technically have infect.</p>
<p>So it appears that there are no cards that grant non-creatures infect (there does seem to be a trend to allow abilities only on permanents for which they &quot;make sense&quot;), so you can't give FotD infect unless you make it a creature. One way to do so would be to use <a class="mtg-autocard" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer" href="http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Search/Default.aspx?name=%2b%5bOpalescence%5d">Opalescence</a>, which has</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Each other non-Aura enchantment is a creature in addition to its other types and has base power and base toughness each equal to its converted mana cost.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Thus, this would make FoTD a 7/7 creature. You could then use a card such as <a class="mtg-autocard" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer" href="http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Search/Default.aspx?name=%2b%5bTainted%20Strike%5d">Tainted Strike</a>, which has</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Target creature gets +1/+0 and gains infect until end of turn.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>BTW, although you can't give non-creatures infect, AFAIK there's no rule that says you can't have a non-creature with infect. If you make FotD a creature and then cast Tainted Strike on it, and then it ceases to be a creature, it will still have infect. (With Hackworth's suggestion of using <a class="mtg-autocard" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer" href="http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Search/Default.aspx?name=%2b%5bGrafted%20Exoskeleton%5d">Grafted Exoskeleton</a>, however, if FotD ceased to be a creature, then since Grafted Exoskelton is an equipment, it would fall off next time SBA are checked.)</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-08-26T01:59:35.913Z
2020-08-26T01:59:35.913Z
Acccumulation
<p>I'm play primarily EDH and like to play jank ideas. One thing I've been thinking about is the card <a class="mtg-autocard" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer" href="http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Search/Default.aspx?name=%2b%5bForm%20of%20the%20Dragon%5d">Form of the Dragon</a>. Is it possible to give Form of the Dragon the infect mechanic?</p>

<magic-the-gathering><mtg-commander>
Can Form of the Dragon be given Infect?
Twiggy
# Can Form of the Dragon be given Infect?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2020-08-25)

I'm play primarily EDH and like to play jank ideas. One thing I've been thinking about is the card [Form of the Dragon](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Search/Default.aspx?name=%2b%5bForm%20of%20the%20Dragon%5d). Is it possible to give Form of the Dragon the infect mechanic?

**Tags:** magic-the-gathering, mtg-commander


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## 2 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2020-08-25. Score: 9

**Yes, you can, but it's not trivial.**

While Infect works on objects of any type, you can generally only *grant* Infect to creatures. Therefore, you have to turn Form of the Dragon into a creature first. You can do that through e.g. [Liquimetal Coating](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Search/Default.aspx?name=%2b%5bLiquimetal%20Coating%5d), then animate that artifact through e.g. [Skilled Animator](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Search/Default.aspx?name=%2b%5bSkilled%20Animator%5d). Or you can turn it into a creature directly with [Opalescence](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Search/Default.aspx?name=%2b%5bOpalescence%5d).

Then you can give the resulting creature Infect through e.g. [Grafted Exoskeleton](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Search/Default.aspx?name=%2b%5bGrafted%20Exoskeleton%5d).

> **Comments:**
> **username_2**: Shorter route to creaturedom: [Opalescence](https://scryfall.com/card/uds/13/opalescence)  
> **username_3**: @username_2 That'd stop it from doing damage to things with its ability, though.  
> **username_4**: @username_3 Opalescence does not affect abilities.  
> **username_3**: @username_4 Oh, right. I had it confused with one of the other white "everything becomes a creature" cards that do result in losing abilities.  
> **username_1**: @username_3 That would be Humility. The Humility + Opalescence combo is the proverbial textbook example for learning about the timestamp system.  

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### Answer by username_5 on 2020-08-26. Score: 2

I searched Gatherer for cards with "infect" in their rules text, and "creature" neither in their rules text nor their type. [Results](https://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Search/Default.aspx?action=advanced&text=+%5Binfect%5D+!%5Bcreature%5D&type=+!%5Bcreature%5D)

There are, at time of writing, only two results. One has reminder text telling us that damage causes loss of life (I guess someone at WotC thought we needed reminding of that fact), but with the qualification that this applies only to non-infect damage.

The other card is [Phyrexian Unlife](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Search/Default.aspx?name=%2b%5bPhyrexian%20Unlife%5d), which has

> You don't lose the game for having 0 or less life.  
> As long as you have 0 or less life, all damage is dealt to you as though its source had infect. (Damage is dealt to you in the form of poison counters.)

So if your opponent controls Phryxian Unlife, it could cause Form of the Dragon to deal damage *as if* it has infect, but it wouldn't technically have infect.

So it appears that there are no cards that grant non-creatures infect (there does seem to be a trend to allow abilities only on permanents for which they "make sense"), so you can't give FotD infect unless you make it a creature. One way to do so would be to use [Opalescence](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Search/Default.aspx?name=%2b%5bOpalescence%5d), which has

> Each other non-Aura enchantment is a creature in addition to its other types and has base power and base toughness each equal to its converted mana cost.

Thus, this would make FoTD a 7/7 creature. You could then use a card such as [Tainted Strike](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Search/Default.aspx?name=%2b%5bTainted%20Strike%5d), which has

> Target creature gets +1/+0 and gains infect until end of turn.

BTW, although you can't give non-creatures infect, AFAIK there's no rule that says you can't have a non-creature with infect. If you make FotD a creature and then cast Tainted Strike on it, and then it ceases to be a creature, it will still have infect. (With username_1's suggestion of using [Grafted Exoskeleton](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Search/Default.aspx?name=%2b%5bGrafted%20Exoskeleton%5d), however, if FotD ceased to be a creature, then since Grafted Exoskelton is an equipment, it would fall off next time SBA are checked.)


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