Pointed Discussion

Vampiric Link

the pestilence effect on a creature, opens up the black pump game, gives you a few more ways to play the style... of course the drawback is a bit different, since crypt will take damage as well.. so protect him, or regenerate, but even more to black's nature is the spells available to bring a creature back from the graveyd.... this is a super solid spell.... more? how about trying to mix into the flow of your game ways for spells to be recycled while not significantly altering your theme/deck... how about persist?... especially if one would play with seal of strength (getting rats above their 1/1) ... anyway, you get the point, as a creature it's usually easier to find ways to play it many times during a game... so the more times your opponent deals with crypt rats perhaps another aspect of your game gets a bit more breathing room to trigger.

a great looking card as well.... generally a very fair casting cost.. it just kind of had to fall within 3 or 4 mana... does anyone think it could have gotten away with 2 black to cast? (I don't think it could)... anyway the difficulty is that it's a 1/1.. Most of the time you won't mind losing them so long as they can stay for the duration/during your actual use/activation... still... if your creatures or a creature or next spell could be played as if it had flash... well I'm sure you could take it from there lol

yes vampiric link is excellent for the crypt rats !!

My first experience global removal. <3
My crypt rats liked eating Seal of Strength and destroying all blockers with toughness 3 or less.

i love 'em crypties.

Best rats ever printed, but Ink-eyes is also pretty strong for a rat-themed deck. Caution, playing it with Absolute Grace is not as good as it looks at first sight.

Combos real good with Lifelink.
Also, since the creature's ability does not require it to be tapped, if you have the mana it can be activated the same turn that it is summoned. Thus it is difficult for the opponent to prevent the rats from doing their job at least once.

Lifelink, Black Ward, GG

Or for something more recent, Magebane Armor

Kind of like the poor man's Bane of the Living. With Gorgon's Flail or some other such piece of equipment, the rats wreck house. I love these little guys! :D

an uncommon, and effective board wipe that hits players, too? visions really did have a few hidden gems, didn't it?

Crypt Rats is a great card in a deck able to tap most lands for black mana. So long as you make a deck that can fit it, and come on.... what else is black good at if not building a deck that can get your creatures back from the great beyond faster that your non black opponent (or make use of the poor souls lost to Crypt Rats furry)?

Good decks are full of biffy creatures and high cost cards (I'm over exaggerating to make a point here... don't go ape crazy on me!), great decks take a card like Crypt Rats and build around it.

I, in a humble attempt tried to do just this.

Its a combo deck based off Crypt Rats equipped with Scythe of the Wretched while having a mana creature on the field (ie Blood Vassal) and a life gaining creature (I use a Dross Harvester... for personal taste reasons) and now your off to infinite fun... well not infinite fun as the combo is infinite but your opponents life totals aren't....

And If you have a hard time playing off the combo due to Crypt Rats getting hated by all the other players, fear not! Thats why you add a Necrotic Ooze to the mix and a Will-o'-the-Wisp in your graveyard for good measure.

Any ways heres a link to my 'Wretched Rats' deck for your viewing pleasure! Leave comments if you like it, change it to work for you and have fun in multi-player casual games!

http://www.essentialmagic.com//Decks/View.asp?ID=830159

Cheers NV!

Wouldn't something like Gorgon Flail that gives the rats Deathtouch also kill themselves?

Say no to trollshroud or other shrouded beatsticks, play this, equip Gorgon Flail and enchant Inviolability, then wipe the board for repeatly. If you don't have the enchantment or don't want to mix white, let the rats die and pull it back with Unearth later if needed.

Could also be fun when combo with Everlasting Torment and Ward of Piety or Daily Regimen to screw up protection and indestructible creatures.

not sure if this is really appropriate in a rat deck...

swarmyard

These guys have cleared a few tables for me over the years. they also killed a good number of opponents.

Strictly worse than the Visions art

Pain Magnification

I used to love enchanting this guy with Sadistic Glee. Once one creature hit the graveyard, I could kill everything else on the table leaving just one very fat rat.

This is my favourite rat! I have it in a rat deck. You can use some great combos with this, like:

Vampiric Link for a huge lifelink.
Enchant enemy creatures with Treacherous Link for more direct damage.
Tainted Strike for poison counters.

...And the last trick with Swarmyard.

Crypt Rats + Basilisk Collar is amazing. I also use vampiric link as well, occasionally. I gain a huge amount of life and wipe the board. Dark Ritual and gauntlet of power or caged sun is good for getting a lot of mana for more life gain.

phyresis

loxodon warhammer

Wow, I love these rats!
And these rats love Lifelink, Deathtouch, and/or Protection from black.
I just played a game with these guys equipped with Sword of Light and Shadow and Basilisk Collar in a mono-black EDH, and wow, did it wreck house. He's amazing with either one, or something of similar ilk. But with the pair... ridiculous: just pay to kill everything else and gain 1 life for each thing killed, and with pro-black, he sticks around to do it again and again. Then when you have some more mana, just dump it into him and end the game. Very rad for multiplayer.

Going to see if I can get Crypt Rats enchanted with Charisma this weekend during some casual multiplayer fun.

Great with both lifelink and/or deathtouch. Which makes them pretty ridiculous in conjunction with Basilisk Collar.

Especially if you have a Swarmyard to protect them from themselves.
Ogre Slumlord, while probably experiencing an untimely death, will fill the field with rat tokens after their impact.

One of the best creatures ever designed. I've never not used in a mono-black deck.

Withering Wisp does the same thing and last longer by default. Then again, this is more splashable.