Pestilence Rats

Creature — Rat

Pestilence Rats's power is equal to the total number of other Rats in play. (For example, as long as there are two other Rats in play, Pestilence Rats's power and toughness are 2/3.)

Legality

Format	Legality
1v1 Commander	Legal
Archenemy	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
Planechase	Legal
Premodern	Legal
Quest Magic	Legal
Tiny Leaders	Legal
Vanguard	Legal
Vintage	Legal

Discussion (25)

debuf on infinite rats

11 months ago

why yes, Memoricide is for a specific card, but also others in case it's not in play, like Dragonlord's Servant, Thunderbreak Regent (especially), Dragon's Hoard, Dragon Tempest, and that one dragon card that has in its text "spread out you idiots!" - (name) last words.

I have found that Pestilence Rats are a little bit more expensive but tankier Rat Colony that might or might not have more attack (or whatever you call it, I forgot).

legendofa on infinite rats

11 months ago

Pulling from my own Rat tribal deck (Modern-ish casual, not EDH):

Karumonix, the Rat King gives you an out against lifegain-heavy decks. I don't recommend going deeper than that with poison (i.e. don't add Ichor Rats or Septic Rats), but Karumonix adds a layer to your attacks and keeps rats coming.

I haven't gotten Ashcoat of the Shadow Swarm yet, but I want to. It looks amazing. If your budget can handle it, I'm recommending it just in theoretical grounds.

I personally am not impressed with Swarm of Rats (Rat Colony is pretty much all-around better) and Pestilence Rats, but they might work better in EDH, where you always have access to a fear-granting effect. How have they worked for you?

Ratcatcher is a free tutor for a rat every turn. Highly recommended.

Memoricide is a little odd, since it can only hit one card that isn't in play. Is this a meta choice? Do you have a specific target for it that you know you'll see?

Unless you see a bunch of Voltron, Battlecruiser, or other decks with one big creature, I would diversify the removal a little bit. You have a lot of single-target creature removal. I'm a big fan of discard, so I'm recommending based on what I like at this point. Cabal Therapist, Mind Slash, and Sadistic Hypnotist turn your rats into hand removal. Feed the Swarm offers enchantment removal with a very evocative name for this deck. Try some of these in place of Cast Down or Ultimate Price or something. Also, Despise isn't great if you're just fishing. If you want a T1 discard effect, Thoughtseize is best, Inquisition of Kozilek and Blackmail are solid, and Dread Fugue is pretty good.

Following up on that, I see a good set of mass removal and graveyard recursion, and Marrow-Gnawer lets you rebuild quickly. This part looks solid.

LightEntropy on Syr Pauper, the Konrad

1 year ago

Dazard The Soul Channeling and Blessing of Leeches were specifically for a combo related to Pestilence or Pestilence Rats since you were looking for combos. I understand! I made a sac-outlet deck for rakdos, so if you want any more black suggestions, check my lagamos PEDH deck! Best of luck!

HeyImVegan on [Marrow-Gnawer] The Fast and the Furriest!

1 year ago

Ice_Note Thank you for your comment!

Pestilence Rats is a concideration and i think i have it actually laying around somewhere. Door of Destinies only works with Rat Colony and doesnt affect the rat tokens from the Commander. Vanquisher's Banner is nice for the card draw but also wont work with tokens (since they r not casted), the +1+1 is not worth the 5 Mana i think. Coat of Arms on the other hand is pretty good and is a finisher (if there is no other tribal player at the table).

I just added Ashcoat of the Shadow Swarm as a "Craterhoof" for rats. Has a similar effect to Coat but on a Creature with 4 mana and has a little more flavor for the deck. Also adds a recursion effect for rats. But it may be the card to exchange for Coat.

Ice_Note on [Marrow-Gnawer] The Fast and the Furriest!

1 year ago

This is dope! Have you considered Pestilence Rats as another pack rat? Also, Coat of Arms, Vanquisher's Banner, and Door of Destinies make your rats even more OP. I definitely want to build a rat colony deck and this list helps thanks! A bit pricey but cool idea is Akroma's Memorial. Flying rats with trample.

Squee_Spirit_Guide on Rat Club (No Colonies Allowed)

1 year ago

I love this! I have the same feeling when I update decks with new cards. Sure it's better, but it doesn't feel as fun. My favourite decks are piles of jank from the 90s, but I sure enjoy playing every card!

There's a few rats in here that bring back memories for me. Pestilence Rats was in one of the first packs I ever opened, and I opened a miscut Sewer Rats that I still have in a binder :)

EnbyGolem on Ellie's Rats

3 years ago

I love rats!! My first 'real' deck was rat tribal and it used a bunch of old rat matters cards like Swarm of Rats and Pestilence Rats. It's changed over the years but I still have it :)

Something I recently added to mine is Defile. I find it to be extremely usesful as it's really effective against regenerate and indestructible creatures. I like it better than tragic slip in my deck since I don't have a consistent way to sac creatures.

I also use Vampiric Link. It is one of my favorite cards as you can throw it on your favorite pack rat and pad your life total agaisnt those aggro decks or (and more often than not) you can put it on an opponent's creature and effectively pacify it for 1 Mana.

Yesterday on What will be the power …

3 years ago

"Other" means "Among permanents that aren't this permanent". Unless it specifically says otherwise, any one effect doesn't care about the names of other permanents. Each Pestilence Rats in your example would be a 3/3.