Analysis[]
With base stats of 2/3/1, Irradiated Infantry (commonly referred to as "II") got average to good base stats for a 1 turn delay card.
Its Poison 1 ability makes this one of the strongest rush units in the game as of now, as it can deal a total of 3 damage at only 1 delay on its own without the need of Rally, which is above average in the non-unique section, and the lingering poison effect greatly enhances its over time damage against tanky units even further once applied.
This very strong and fast damage output makes II a very popular unit in PvE as well as low to mid level PvP, as an "II rush" (which usually consists of at least 7 to even 10 IIs, mixed with Mortar Bunkers/Tiamat/Aegis/EMP/Airstrike in the most widely spread deck forms, with other possible variations of course) can quickly overcome an unexpecting opponent by the sheer number of almost instantly ready assault cards on the board and the high damage dealt in short time, especially with the commander Thadius to boost the already great anti assault power even further.
Due to the one-sided strategy of a pure II rush (lack of AA, reliable/good Siege, Pierce etc), it fades away in higher level wars or real time PvP (tournaments), as there are a lot of counters to this deck theme in Armor, Flying, Counter, Structures without Wall skills and high enough healing (for example the popular Mend Wounds spell) to keep a strong unit alive long enough to deploy and then "breaking through" the II line and demolish it as soon as your unit activates.
Due to its low price (only 250 gold per unit) and accessibility at low levels, II rush is a recommendable way for newcomers to get started into Faction Wars as well as the Arena and easily beat a lot of missions/farm gold, but once a certain point of skill level and card pool is reached, it is advisable to change to more "well-rounded" and less one-trick-pony-ish decks than the pure/mixed II rush in any scenario of PvP. It is still a good pick for mono Imperial as well as Rainbow decks due to its overall great performance as a quick bruiser.
Unknown Veteran 2011Sep14@16:18:56(UTC)