Way better than Relentless Rats. -Costs less black mana -Gets pluses from all Rats, not just Pack Rats -Any card can turn into a Pack Rat, so you can have useful spells and such instead of 40 copies of the same card -Combos with graveyard mechanics, the ability to discard any card in your hand is always good -Not vulnerable to cards like Surgical Extraction
incredible, 5/5
Hylebos
★★★☆☆ (3.7/5.0)(5 votes)
It's very clear that he's good in Limited, I just wonder if he's decent enough in Constructed...
cioskookycards
★★★☆☆ (3.1/5.0)(4 votes)
I am building a mono black rat deck for standard ....I dont know if it would be any good , but luckily , most of the GOOD rats are standard (well ,minus those rat ninjas from Kamigawa.......)
5/5 , theres really no downside to this card ........ 1.1b casting cost 2.economically cheap (75 cents to a dollar each ) 3. there are some really good rats to go along with him in standard ,such as typhoid rats
How to play with the rats :Simple . Just KILL spell all the opponents creatures or give pack rats intimidate and swing with thar horde of nasties !
brilliantmumbler
★★★☆☆ (3.3/5.0)(3 votes)
With Training Grounds, some madness, graveyard shenanigans and card draw... Well I see a beautiful future ahead of us.
That Marrow-Gnawer EDH deck is looking better and better every day.
Goatllama
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Rat Spellshaper (though it doesn't tap)
Trygon_Predator
★★★☆☆ (3.9/5.0)(5 votes)
This thing will be a killer in limited. Myr Propagator was already hard to deal with there.
C5r1a5z0y
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Seems pretty sweet with Necrotic Ooze, even if the ooze doesn't get the boost. Also has nice synergy with filling up your graveyard (with relevant creatures, perhaps?)
Lotsofpoopy
★☆☆☆☆ (1.6/5.0)(4 votes)
Not only can you make a sick rat deck with this, but pros like me also see the potential of using this with scavenge.
IncoherentEssay
★★★☆☆ (3.7/5.0)(7 votes)
Maybe i'm missing something here, but why no mention of using this with populate?
Totema
★★★☆☆ (3.5/5.0)(3 votes)
Maybe I'm crazy here, but I would play this withRelentless Rats, not instead of it.
I'm hoping they make a Rats vs. Squirrels duel decks!
Mode
★★★★☆ (4.2/5.0)(3 votes)
I always liked Swarm of Rats, especially ever since there was Swarmyard to keep "the swarm from the yard".
Now we get a card that's not only strictly better by having a variable toughness, but by getting a ridiculously useful ability on top of that as well?! 5/5 from me. Marrow-Gnawer will be very pleased to hear that.
Splash blue for Training Grounds and things get rather ridiculous. Esepcially if you discard cards that you can make a good use of in the graveyard.
TPmanW
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(1 vote)
If only there were a way to get infinite reflections of him. Probably not a super viable combo but it might not be a bad B plan for my infinite Drogskol deck, especially since he can stock the yard with zombies and stall until I amass the components I need.
Adammoroni
★★☆☆☆ (2.8/5.0)(2 votes)
faced this at the prerelease... and the guy kept populating it... not fun for me, let me tell ya
OneFishTwoFish
★★★☆☆ (3.5/5.0)(2 votes)
Opened a pack today. Had twoPack Rats in it. It must be a sign.
Maybe I can build RAT REANIMATOR or something. Ratties, fatties, and Unburial Rites. Awww yeah.
Ryjhan
★★★☆☆ (3.0/5.0)(2 votes)
Pulled this in a draft last night, and every time it came out it dominated the game. Dropped on turn 2 in one game and did nothing but drop cards to copy the pack rat every turn for the whole game. 10/5.
ronthepurplephantom
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Shouldn't this be a rat spellshaper?
Frightened_Inmate2
★★★☆☆ (3.7/5.0)(3 votes)
Well, looks like I have no excuse not to build a Rodents of Unusual Size deck now.
OpenSeasonNoobs
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Anyone else think this curve out is almost like the evolve mechanic Ethan Fleischer put together for GDS2?
mirosith
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
First pre-release I go to I get Pack Rat AND Lotleth Troll in the Golgari guild. I then realize that I have to go immediately after my first game. FUUUUUUUUUUU!
Kurraga
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Best card in RTR limited, hands down. Resolve it, and once you get a land and a second one on the table your opponent might as well concede.
In Limited, play 2 of these and 38 swamps. Mulligan until you get one. Win the game.
don_miguel
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
i see here a very solid finisher for control decks only being stopped at mass removal. at instant speed you can make a "safety copy" if you have cards in your hand. don't play it with other rats.
Just to give you an idea on why people are calling this thing broken in RtR limited. Let's look at the number of mass removal cards in the set outside of rare. (Targeted removal doesn't work since it can make a copy of itself in response the turn it comes out)
...
Yup, none. Hope you saved a counter for this!
Grumman
★★★★☆ (4.4/5.0)(4 votes)
I definitely like this. There's no such thing as a dead draw when everything becomes a split card for flash rats.
Ferlord
★★★★☆ (4.9/5.0)(5 votes)
At my comic store, in our limited play group, no matter how inexperienced you are, you DON'T pass an opened Pack Rat. You just don't
Someone got two in a pack, and went 38 swamps. They won 3/0, but mulliganned to 3-5 each time.
it that fair? Maybe not, but on turn 2, what counters are you going to have? You'd best mulligan to have some removal before it becomes stupid...
Hunter06
★★☆☆☆ (2.0/5.0)(3 votes)
This guys Almost OP in draft. 3.5/5 Stars
Salient
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Looks like Relentless Rats relented.
Arachnos
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Oh holy shit. Compared to this, Swarm of Rats is absolute turds.
chrome_dome
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
3.5/5. Not geared for limited but best in constructed and casual formats.
James_Kernaghan
★★★☆☆ (3.5/5.0)(2 votes)
Facing this in limited is traumatic, to say the least.
shotoku64
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Pack Rat is a turn 5 win! (assuming your opponent does nothing in response) Turn 2: Pack rat Turn 3, make copy, swing for 2 Turn 4 make copy, swing for 6 Turn 5, make copy, swing for 12 Fastest creature I can think of in recent memory
Antsache
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Two guys played each other with almost identical Pack Rat decks at last FNM. One of the dumbest games I've ever seen.
the_sixth_degree
★★★★☆ (4.7/5.0)(5 votes)
Do NOT let this guy past you in a draft. There's a chance you won't live to regret it.
Yo Pack Rat, I'm really happy for you, Imma let you finish, but Umezawa's Jitte is the best Limited card of all time. The best limited card of all time.
TravisBlanchard
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
It won't be long before wizards turns him into a rat spellshaper
NanakoAC
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
insane. There's almost no mass-removal in standard, and this thing just becomes unstoppable unless you kill it on the turn it comes out
the ability to duplicate itself for only 3 mana is ridiculous.
Doghealer
★★★★☆ (4.8/5.0)(4 votes)
If this is your RTR pack rare, and you DON'T snap pick it, YOU'RE DOING IT HORRIBLY, HORRIBLY WRONG. I don't care if it's not in your colors. You can MAKE it be in your colors. Even if not, you should pull it so someone else can't.
This guy is the bomb of bombs. As long as you have him, a swamp, and any other land (even a gate!) in your opening hand, chances are good that you will win the game.
This guy is weak against two things: 1) Immediate answers (killing him the moment he hits the field) and 2) Mass removal (Supreme Verdict). However, those two things are both rather rare; dropping him on turn 2 means your opponent is limited to removal that costs 2-3 or less; that's a pretty low bar to set. Mass removal is equally as rare as Pack Rat itself.
Similarly, if you have the ability to remove your opponent's turn 2 Pack Rat, and you don't, you're also doing it horribly, horribly wrong. Take it from the guy that played it; he gets out of control very, very fast.
The only downside to playing him is that it tends to lose you friends.
Continue
★★★★☆ (4.4/5.0)(4 votes)
It takes a special kind of card to have a Limited strategy centered entirely on using just the one card and a stack of basics. Meloku and Lost in the Woods also come to mind.
Wulfsten
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Excellent flavour and balance. A beast in draft.
BreadandButter
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
The foil for this card is actually pretty neat. It really accentuates each little set of eyes of the rats and makes that tunnel in the back horrific.
MageofVoid
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(3 votes)
To those who wonder how to make up for the lost card advantage: First, stop wondering, if you're making a creature every turn than it's _not_ a waste in card advantage, you're just using the cards in a different way. Secondly, we now have Erebos, God of the Dead, Dark Prophecy, Read the Bones, and Crypt Ghast to give you all the cards and mana you'll ever need.
LordOfTheFlies87
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Rats won standard. HELL YES.
limitededition
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I too used to believe that this rat was only viable in RTR Limited (where, of course, it was a house). In Limited, the argument was that you either removed it IMMEDIATELY, or you had a rare removal spell in your deck like Detention Sphere, Supreme Verdict, or Mizzium Mortars, or your just lost on the spot. Still, in Constructed, people said that you could too easily have an answer for it.
Now that Innistrad has rotated and the format has slowed down a little bit (and one-for-one removal is no longer as accessible with Snapcaster Mage's rotation), although the same considerations about an answer apply (and add to them timely answers such as Anger of the Gods, Last Breath, and others), the principle applies: answer it IMMEDIATELY or die.
Megadog
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Should have tapped, and been a Rat Spellshaper.
sweetgab
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Mutavault is what makes this card in Standard. It used to be the case that turn four triple 3/3s were too slow against both aggro and midrange. With a single Mutavault it's triple 4/4 on turn four. How else are you gonna get a board that strong on turn four? Elvish Mystic into Loxodon Smiter into Advent of the Wurm? Good luck getting that draw. And I can guarantee you 100% the rats don't stop there.
Of course, Rats are weak to Detention Sphere and Supreme Verdict. That's why you don't make rats against them, but rely on the other 57 cards in your deck. Against anyone else though, just go crazy with them.
AirborneLemming
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
In my return to ravnica booster box I got two, I thought they were terrible, then I played one...
RamenAwesome
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(2 votes)
And suddenly you realize that there is no such thing as a card dead in hand. You realize that every card can have a useful application, you just weren't didn't see it before. You realize that everything...is RAT.
Galerion
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
You can get so many free wins with this its not even funny. Good thing that I play a playset of them on my own
@ pudginamancer That's a whole lot of cards that don't appear in RtR draft you got there, pilgrim. Standard has answers. Standard *needed* to have answers. Draft... well it's a rare, so there won't be that many. You might not face him. If you do?
"FIRE THE TORPEDOES! FIRE THE PHASERS! FIRE EVERYTHING!"
N03y3D33R
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Nothing breaks the monoblack players heart more than when you spark-jolt his T2 pack rat.
kor6sic6
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
FUÇK THIS CARD.
Legendxp
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Combos with Cryptoplasm (and not just as another pack rat). Look closely at cryptoplasm's and pack rat's abilities, you'll have a card like this;
At the beginning of your upkeep, you may have Pack Rat become a copy of another target creature. If you do, Pack Rat gains this ability.
Pack Rat's power and toughness are each equal to the number of Rats you control. {2}{B}, Discard a card: Put a token onto the battlefield that's a copy of Pack Rat.
You'll end up having not only another pack rat, but a fallback in case an opponent plays something like Blightsteel Colossus (Next upkeep you'll have like twelve of them as you change them all into your opponent's creature).
Just in case you doubt my magnificence, here's an excerpt from the comprehensive rulebook.
201.4. Text that refers to the object its on by name means just that particular object and not any other objects with that name, regardless of any name changes caused by game effects. #
201.4b If an ability of an object refers to that object by name, and an object with a different name gains that ability, each instance of the first name in the gained ability that refers to the first object by name should be treated as the second name. #
Example: Quicksilver Elemental says, in part, "{U}: Quicksilver Elemental gains all activated abilities of target creature until end of turn." If it gains an ability that says "{G}: Regenerate Cudgel Troll," activating that ability will regenerate Quicksilver Elemental, not the Cudgel Troll it gained the ability from.
Example: Glacial Ray is an instant with "splice onto Arcane" that says "Glacial Ray deals 2 damage to target creature or player." If its spliced onto a Kodamas Reach, that Kodamas Reach deals 2 damage to the target creature or player.
Example: Dimir Doppelganger says "{1}{U}{B}: Exile target creature card from a graveyard. Dimir Doppelganger becomes a copy of that card and gains this ability." Dimir Doppelgangers ability is activated targeting a Runeclaw Bear card. The Doppelganger becomes a copy of Runeclaw Bear and gains an ability that should be treated as saying "{1}{U}{B}: Exile target creature card from a graveyard. Runeclaw Bear becomes a copy of that card and gains this ability."
Tiger_II
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(1 vote)
Strictly better than "Broken Card".
hypa_dude
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Tribal goblins, elves, and merfolk were good in thier heyday (and are still good in modern), but now imagine that every card you draw for the rest of the game is a +1/+1 creature and is uncounterable.
If your opponent untaps with this, the game is over unless you have a sweeper AND don't miss your fourth land drop, because on your turn 5, your dead. Alternatively, you have a 1-mana or 2-mana counter (the latter only if you go first), or a 2-mana removal spell. The only problem with any of these strategies is that your mono-black opponent is also running 4x thoughtseize, so an opening hand with 3 lands, a pack rat, and a thoughtseize, which is not that difficult to get, is essentially unbeatable. The fact that this costs 2 is criminal. So incredibly unbalanced. Unconditionally dominates Standard right now.
Drewskithelegend
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I love how this card changed over time
At first people thought it was garbage, then people realized it was a bomb in limited but not playable in constructed
...And then Theros.
Nice to see a little bulk rare that was considered to be pack filler become a major win condition in a top tier Archetype.
HubbCapp5
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I have championed this card since the moment I pulled one, despite the naysayers.
What most people miss is that this card is a great way to load your deck with more situation-dependent bombs and not get punished for it late game. A lot of decks have to balance that with aggro. You get both.
Have you ever, playing black, drawn one of the following:
Super-efficient discard when your opponent's hand is empty? Super-efficient removal when they have no threats on the board? Super-efficient dig or tutor when you have the pieces you need? Super-efficient creatures that are mostly good early game?
And that's just how this card helps you win faster when you are ahead. When you're behind he turns:
chump blocks into creatures tokens that trade cards into a boardwide +1/+1 to your tokens AT INSTANT SPEED cards into surprise blockers (more than one if you got the cards and mana) spells that would be countered into creatures that need a stifle to stop them
Add in the fact that all the copies also have his ability to do this and you have a crazy efficient card-converter that is stupid resilient to all removal except a boardwipe. And any card that forces an opponent to need to boardwipe is good in my book.
And watch as your opponent sighs when he remembers his boardwipe doesn't stop regeneration if you are running a swarmyard
HappyMana
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Then all of a sudden you're just like " Woah, Pack Rat and Champion of Lost Souls deck? Aww yiss"
Comments (69)
-Costs less black mana
-Gets pluses from all Rats, not just Pack Rats
-Any card can turn into a Pack Rat, so you can have useful spells and such instead of 40 copies of the same card
-Combos with graveyard mechanics, the ability to discard any card in your hand is always good
-Not vulnerable to cards like Surgical Extraction
incredible, 5/5
5/5 , theres really no downside to this card ........
1.1b casting cost
2.economically cheap (75 cents to a dollar each )
3. there are some really good rats to go along with him in standard ,such as typhoid rats
How to play with the rats :Simple . Just KILL spell all the opponents creatures or give pack rats intimidate and swing with thar horde of nasties !
Now we get a card that's not only strictly better by having a variable toughness,
but by getting a ridiculously useful ability on top of that as well?! 5/5 from me.
Marrow-Gnawer will be very pleased to hear that.
Splash blue for Training Grounds and things get rather ridiculous.
Esepcially if you discard cards that you can make a good use of in the graveyard.
Probably not a super viable combo but it might not be a bad B plan for my infinite Drogskol deck, especially since he can stock the yard with zombies and stall until I amass the components I need.
Maybe I can build RAT REANIMATOR or something. Ratties, fatties, and Unburial Rites. Awww yeah.
There are few answers (In the set of course), all rare:
Detention Sphere
Supreme Verdict
Pithing Needle
Cyclonic Rift
Mizzium Mortars (conditional, but if you don't miss a land drop and you're on the play, you can hit it before they get 5).
Speaking of strictly better, this also beats Swarm of Rats.
...
Yup, none. Hope you saved a counter for this!
Someone got two in a pack, and went 38 swamps. They won 3/0, but mulliganned to 3-5 each time.
it that fair? Maybe not, but on turn 2, what counters are you going to have? You'd best mulligan to have some removal before it becomes stupid...
3.5/5 Stars
Turn 2: Pack rat
Turn 3, make copy, swing for 2
Turn 4 make copy, swing for 6
Turn 5, make copy, swing for 12
Fastest creature I can think of in recent memory
the ability to duplicate itself for only 3 mana is ridiculous.
This guy is the bomb of bombs. As long as you have him, a swamp, and any other land (even a gate!) in your opening hand, chances are good that you will win the game.
This guy is weak against two things: 1) Immediate answers (killing him the moment he hits the field) and 2) Mass removal (Supreme Verdict). However, those two things are both rather rare; dropping him on turn 2 means your opponent is limited to removal that costs 2-3 or less; that's a pretty low bar to set. Mass removal is equally as rare as Pack Rat itself.
Similarly, if you have the ability to remove your opponent's turn 2 Pack Rat, and you don't, you're also doing it horribly, horribly wrong. Take it from the guy that played it; he gets out of control very, very fast.
The only downside to playing him is that it tends to lose you friends.
First, stop wondering, if you're making a creature every turn than it's _not_ a waste in card advantage, you're just using the cards in a different way.
Secondly, we now have Erebos, God of the Dead, Dark Prophecy, Read the Bones, and Crypt Ghast to give you all the cards and mana you'll ever need.
Now that Innistrad has rotated and the format has slowed down a little bit (and one-for-one removal is no longer as accessible with Snapcaster Mage's rotation), although the same considerations about an answer apply (and add to them timely answers such as Anger of the Gods, Last Breath, and others), the principle applies: answer it IMMEDIATELY or die.
Of course, Rats are weak to Detention Sphere and Supreme Verdict. That's why you don't make rats against them, but rely on the other 57 cards in your deck. Against anyone else though, just go crazy with them.
5/5
"FIRE THE TORPEDOES! FIRE THE PHASERS! FIRE EVERYTHING!"
--------------------------------------------------------------
Pack Rat {1}{B}
Creature -- Rat
At the beginning of your upkeep, you may have Pack Rat become a copy of another target creature. If you do, Pack Rat gains this ability.
Pack Rat's power and toughness are each equal to the number of Rats you control.
{2}{B}, Discard a card: Put a token onto the battlefield that's a copy of Pack Rat.
*/*
--------------------------------------------------------------
You'll end up having not only another pack rat, but a fallback in case an opponent plays something like Blightsteel Colossus (Next upkeep you'll have like twelve of them as you change them all into your opponent's creature).
Just in case you doubt my magnificence, here's an excerpt from the comprehensive rulebook.
201.4. Text that refers to the object its on by name means just that particular object and not any other objects with that name, regardless of any name changes caused by game effects. #
201.4b If an ability of an object refers to that object by name, and an object with a different name gains that ability, each instance of the first name in the gained ability that refers to the first object by name should be treated as the second name. #
Example: Quicksilver Elemental says, in part, "{U}: Quicksilver Elemental gains all activated abilities of target creature until end of turn." If it gains an ability that says "{G}: Regenerate Cudgel Troll," activating that ability will regenerate Quicksilver Elemental, not the Cudgel Troll it gained the ability from.
Example: Glacial Ray is an instant with "splice onto Arcane" that says "Glacial Ray deals 2 damage to target creature or player." If its spliced onto a Kodamas Reach, that Kodamas Reach deals 2 damage to the target creature or player.
Example: Dimir Doppelganger says "{1}{U}{B}: Exile target creature card from a graveyard. Dimir Doppelganger becomes a copy of that card and gains this ability." Dimir Doppelgangers ability is activated targeting a Runeclaw Bear card. The Doppelganger becomes a copy of Runeclaw Bear and gains an ability that should be treated as saying "{1}{U}{B}: Exile target creature card from a graveyard. Runeclaw Bear becomes a copy of that card and gains this ability."
If your opponent untaps with this, the game is over unless you have a sweeper AND don't miss your fourth land drop, because on your turn 5, your dead. Alternatively, you have a 1-mana or 2-mana counter (the latter only if you go first), or a 2-mana removal spell. The only problem with any of these strategies is that your mono-black opponent is also running 4x thoughtseize, so an opening hand with 3 lands, a pack rat, and a thoughtseize, which is not that difficult to get, is essentially unbeatable. The fact that this costs 2 is criminal. So incredibly unbalanced. Unconditionally dominates Standard right now.
At first people thought it was garbage, then people realized it was a bomb in limited but not playable in constructed
...And then Theros.
Nice to see a little bulk rare that was considered to be pack filler become a major win condition in a top tier Archetype.
What most people miss is that this card is a great way to load your deck with more situation-dependent bombs and not get punished for it late game. A lot of decks have to balance that with aggro. You get both.
Have you ever, playing black, drawn one of the following:
Super-efficient discard when your opponent's hand is empty?
Super-efficient removal when they have no threats on the board?
Super-efficient dig or tutor when you have the pieces you need?
Super-efficient creatures that are mostly good early game?
And that's just how this card helps you win faster when you are ahead. When you're behind he turns:
chump blocks into creatures tokens that trade
cards into a boardwide +1/+1 to your tokens AT INSTANT SPEED
cards into surprise blockers (more than one if you got the cards and mana)
spells that would be countered into creatures that need a stifle to stop them
Add in the fact that all the copies also have his ability to do this and you have a crazy efficient card-converter that is stupid resilient to all removal except a boardwipe. And any card that forces an opponent to need to boardwipe is good in my book.
And watch as your opponent sighs when he remembers his boardwipe doesn't stop regeneration if you are running a swarmyard