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Legality
| Format | Legality |
| 1v1 Commander | Legal |
| Archenemy | Legal |
| Block Constructed | Legal |
| Canadian Highlander | Legal |
| Casual | Legal |
| Commander / EDH | Legal |
| Commander: Rule 0 | Legal |
| Custom | Legal |
| Duel Commander | Legal |
| Highlander | Legal |
| Legacy | Legal |
| Leviathan | Legal |
| Limited | Legal |
| Oathbreaker | Legal |
| Pauper | Legal |
| Pauper Duel Commander | Legal |
| Pauper EDH | Legal |
| Planar Constructed | Legal |
| Planechase | Legal |
| Premodern | Legal |
| Quest Magic | Legal |
| Tiny Leaders | Legal |
| Vanguard | Legal |
| Vintage | Legal |
Carrion Rats
Creature — Rat
Whenever Carrion Rats attacks or blocks, any player may exile a card from their graveyard. If a player does, Carrion Rats assigns no combat damage this turn.
griffstick on
infinite rats
2 years ago
29 lands is not gonna work. You'll need 34 lands at the least. Cut Blightbelly Rat, Carrion Rats, Gnat Miser, Gnawing Vermin, Phyrexian Battleflies, Rancid Rats, Ravenous Rats, Razortooth Rats, Scrib Nibblers, Vampire Bats, and Wave of Rats. Tomorrow we will discuss cards to add. But in the meantime add 5 to 7 lands.
Caerwyn on 1 mana hate creatures
5 years ago
There's a couple of 1 CMC creatures you can sacrifice for assorted effect, though most of them tend to be pretty limited to specific situations (to find these, you can run a gatherer search with "sacrifice" "creature" "CMC = 1").
I went through the entire list of 1 CMC creatures, and there really are not many great options. Here's a list of I came up with of creatures that (a) don't require a sacrifice to use, and (b) might be considered hatebears (though some are so niche that they bearly made the cut).
- Cabal Therapist
- Carrion Beetles
- Carrion Rats
- Disciple of the Vault (fairly specific to artifact-graveyard combos)
- Giver of Runes and Mother of Runes
- Gnat Miser
- Imagecrafter (vs. tribal)
- Merrow Bonegnawer
- Rag Dealer
- Reef Shaman and Tidal Warrior (might slow down opponent's early-game mana)
WargRave on
Rats all the way down
7 years ago
Needs more Rat Colony
With only 6 Relentless Rats you need half of your total number on the battlefield to even make them 4/4s. Most of the time they will be 3 mana 2/2s. You need a critical mass of Relentless Rats--at least 20. If you want to dedicate only a small portion of your deck to the Relentless effect, then Rat Colony is much better; unlike Relentless Rats it benefits from any rat you control, including Marrow-Gnawer's tokens. Pack Rat is also superior if you have many non-Relentless Rats.
Rat Colony is strictly better than Swarm of Rats. It's also generally better than Bog Rats, Carrion Rats, Muck Rats, Nezumi Cutthroat (fear isn't worth a large power loss and "can't block", especially when Marrow-Gnawer provides fear), Pestilence Rats (Rat Colony gets +2/-2 under most conditions and costs 1 less), and Earsplitting Rats (not enough graveyard/discard synergies).
Other suggestions
Tormod's Crypt -> Nihil Spellbomb, Bojuka Bog. You can run Crypt in addition if needed, but I would use these first.
Kitesail -> Bladed Pinions, Fleetfeather Sandals.
Geth's Grimoire -> remove. Only four or so cards in this deck actually cause an opponent to discard. Since you're running Ancient Craving, might as well slot in Ambition's Cost as well.
Nightmare Lash -> Lashwrithe. Or just run both, but Lashwrithe first.
Sword of the Paruns -> Bad Moon, Adaptive Automaton, Hall of Triumph, Vanquisher's Banner, and Obelisk of Urd are all more mana efficient and consistent ways to pump your rats.
Altar's Reap -> Costly Plunder, Night's Whisper, Sign in Blood.
I'm not sure how Shriveling Rot serves the deck.
There are two Cabal Strongholds, so one needs to come out. Cycling lands--Barren Moor, Polluted Mire, and Desert of the Glorified--hedge against land-heavy draws. Some cheap utility/value lands like Zhalfirin Void, Encroaching Wastes, Mystifying Maze, or Temple of the False God might be good over some number of Swamps too.
Phyrexian Tribute -> Scour from Existence, Unstable Obelisk. I know black is bad with artifacts, but there is a reason Phyrexian Tribute is in 55 edh decks, and the other two are in over 5000 each, and it isn't just color restriction. They cover all five permanent types instead of just one, including the equally hard-for-black enchantments. Requiring two creatures to sacrifice, Phyrexian Tribute isn't even always easier to cast, and it's effect is far less flexible.
Speaking of Unstable Obelisk, more mana ramp would be prudent, like Wayfarer's Bauble, Mind Stone, and Commander's Sphere. Bontu's Monument isn't Jet Medallion, but is still worthwhile with 27 creatures.
I don't think there are enough graveyard synergies to make Living Death appropriate.
Night Dealings is slow, does nothing if the battlefield isn't somewhat favorable, can potentially get removed, makes you reveal, and can't get lands. Razaketh's Rite and Mastermind's Acquisition tutor with no fuss. If you want slow, multi-card tutoring, Diabolic Revelation, Demonic Collusion, and Increasing Ambition are reliable options. Although none feature Nezumi in their art.
Curse of Death's Hold is a bit narrow for multiplayer; I'd prefer Ascendant Evincar which will hit more enemy creatures overall while buffing your own and being a 3/3 flier.
Nethereon on
Rats and their Patron: 1st Budget Build
7 years ago
Concise list of considerations:
The Rack single target is really crappy in EDH
Wheel of Torture Same effect as The Rack except it hits everyone.
Skullcage Hits all opponents who don't have either 3 or 4 cards in hand.
Raiders' Wake Another Caress/Megrim effect, except this one makes your opponent discard if you attack.
Quest for the Nihil Stone Anyone without a hand gets domed for 5 during their upkeep...seems good.
Bloodchief Ascension Self Explanatory card
Mindcrank This is a great card in a discard centric deck.
Get rid of all of these cards Bog Rats, Carrion Rats, Deathmask Nezumi (it's a nombo with everything you're doing), Drainpipe Vermin, Gutter Skulk, Nezumi Cutthroat, Pestilence Rats, Ravenous Rats, Swarm of Rats, and Typhoid Rats.
Relentless Rats Replace all of the cards removed with these. You are not restricted to a single copy, per EDH rules, because Relentless Rats specifically states that card limitation requirements do not apply to it.
Get rid of anything that is single target discard! Especially Raven's Crime, since you don't have enough lands that you can afford to be ditching them for a single discard.
Add more things that hit everybody, such as Necrogen Mists or are renewable.
Specter's Shroud Might be worth looking into.
Jet Medallion and Bontu's Monument would be worth while for the cost reduction effects, along with Thaumatic Compass Flip for the land tutor effect.
You need more board wipes. You have one 9 CMC board wipe with only 32 lands in the deck. The Hyper-geometric distribution doesn't give you very good odds of pulling the lands you need in order to keep the board clear. Consider Bontu's Last Reckoning, Yahenni's Expertise, Crux of Fate (which may work to your favor with all the Dargon decks running around), Damnation is a given but it's pricey, Life's Finale, Kindred Dominance, and Necromantic Selection are all decent options.
Liliana of the Dark Realms is a much better Lili for a deck like this because you need ramp and that Ult is ridiculous plus it combos with...
-/+ Dump Mind Twist and add Torment of Hailfire HOLY CRAP, do I love this card. It gets around so many things plus it hits every opponent.
Let's talk about your mana base for a second...
Thirty two lands? Even for a very cavalier spell slinger deck, that is a very low amount to play. I play a Shu Yun, the Silent Tempest deck on 36 and struggle some times to reach a critical mass of mana/spells. Don't fall into the trap of "I'll cut a land for this cheap spell; it'll be fine." Again, math and probability will not be on your side in the late game, not unless you're willing to invest in Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx or Cabal Coffers. An alternative might be to run Crypt of Agadeem but it's really no substitute for those lands.
Lastly, jam a Bojuka Bog or a Scavenger Grounds or both in there for graveyard hate, along with your choice of Strip Mine, Ghost Quarter, and/or Field of Ruin because if you can't have your Crypt or Coffers, why should they?
Hope this helps, good luck!