Can I just bring everyone's attention to this crazy black lifegain synergy?
Commander (EDH) forum
Posted on June 9, 2020, 7:06 p.m. by StopShot
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Normally when you pay any amount of mana into Crypt Rats ability it will deal enough damage to kill itself in the process. With Shadowspear it gains +1 toughness and lifelink. So if you really wanted to every turn you can pay just without it dying. By doing so you can gain life equal to the number of opponents + the number of creatures on the battlefield every single turn - not just on your turns; every turn. If you're playing a four player game you are guaranteed to always gain 4 or more life every turn just by adding your 3 opponents + the Crypt Rats itself. That's a guaranteed 16+ life gain between your last turn and your next turn.
Of course that damage multiplier gets absurd if you decide to boardwipe with it and being you're in black, reanimation should be easy. It's already a strat I'm planning to run in my Alesha, Who Smiles at Death commander deck, but I'm sure this works great in a lot of other commander decks as well.
I'm hoping to get feedback on what other people think of this synergy. I'd argue both cards are already great just by themselves if your deck has good black mana fixing for the Crypt Rats as its a Rolling Earthquake
on a stick. If you're in black you should also have all the black tutors you could want and if your commander's color identity extends into white you also get more equipment tutors too. Thoughts?
TypicalTimmy you’re forgetting the 1 damage to the rat. It’s 16 per go around. Also if you really wanna crack this in half in B/W, throw in an Archangel of Thune since each instance of damage is a unique life link trigger, your creatures can all gain +20/+20 per round.
June 9, 2020 10:47 p.m.
Hi_diddly_ho_neighbor says... #5
Yup, I run similar combinations in my Ashling the Pilgrim deck. It's pretty awesome when she goes off dealing 10+ damage and my life total doesn't take a hit.
I'd say go for it if you want to run that combination. Both cards are solid in Alesha on their own, and together they are very potent!
June 10, 2020 1:07 a.m.
Lifelink on Crypt Rats has been one of my favorite, or at least entertaining to me, win conditions in a deck for many years.
Here is my deck that showcases the rats and synergistic cards with them: Born Among The Dead. It's not min-maxed but fun to play.
A great effect to land on the rats is Lashknife Barrier. It won't let you gain life from your own creatures, but they will stay around while everything else dies from your rat activations.
Or giving the Crypt Rats deathtouch from something like Ogre Slumlord lets them deal lethal for 1 black mana. If the barrier is on them then you won't even lose your creatures this way either.
June 10, 2020 1:36 a.m.
This is one of the best synergies in Pauper EDH, since it is one of the few boardwipes. Using Lifelink, Deathtouch, or Infect to clear the board and gain massive value. Even better if it is your commander.
RiotRunner789 says... #2
How are you getting 16 life a go around? It looks like you get 4 lifegain triggers but no lifegain.
You pay a B and you deal one 1 damage to each creature and each player (including yourself) and the rat stays alive. Multiply by 4, then every go around you deal 4 damage to each opponent and kill any 1/1s.
June 9, 2020 8:58 p.m.