I played this card with Skull collector, and on turn 5 I've locked down my opponent completely ... specific but very good card,
4/5
Mode
★★★☆☆ (3.9/5.0)(4 votes)
i love that card. the "anti-cantrip" ability is quite powerful (and at least annoying for your opponent :D) in my eyes, and you still get a solid 2/2 guy for 1BB.
as sotrmkeeper already said, combined with Soul Foundry, you can easily create a soft-lock :)
on top of this, i like the artwork and name as well as the creature type. while it isn't a too powerful one for a tribal deck, it's still not useless.
besides, i'm always glad to see such interesting cards released as commons without suffering regrettable losses.
ElWongo2
★★★☆☆ (3.6/5.0)(5 votes)
Not a bad card. I can see it being a pinnacle of a Rat tribal deck; and I like the art.
Overall, not a bad card, nothing that stands out, but -definitely- playable.
Forgeling
★★★☆☆ (3.0/5.0)(4 votes)
A nice tempo engine in Rat ninja.
Take THAT, Chimney Imp.
krockgreen
★★★☆☆ (3.4/5.0)(9 votes)
similar effect to Chimney Imp, but its worse because it doesn't have flying.
@ krockgreen: I would prefer playing a 2/2 with this effect two turns earlier, than play a 1-power flyer that has to die to get the anti-cantrip.
That said, this is in my top-ten fave creatures in MTG; I love throwing this into a casual mono-black deck, its slows them down a bit and provides a decent 3 turn creature.
I know I'm gonna get a low rated comment for this, but strictly better than chimney imp.
Superllama12
★★★☆☆ (3.9/5.0)(8 votes)
Predecessor to the greatest combo engine of all time, Chimney Imp, but worse because of NO FLYING!!!!! Plus, it costs BB instead of just B!!! AWFUL!!!!!!!!!!!!
metalevolence
★★★★☆ (4.5/5.0)(2 votes)
Big ravenous rats? Don't mind if I do
SAllison87
★★★★☆ (4.8/5.0)(2 votes)
Guaranteed 2-for-1 by denying a draw, unlike Hypnotic Specter, which if dealt with in a turn will be a 1-for-1.
Is denying a draw better than discard? It all depends on what's in your opponent's hand. If your opponent has a poor hand, denying a draw is stronger than forcing a discard. Play this with discard spells for a balanced black control deck.
Factoring in the clever flavor text and immensely cool art, this is a 4.5
GruesomeGoo
★★★★☆ (4.5/5.0)(2 votes)
Absurd lockdown with Skull Collector. In fact, I might see a deck brewing...Ravenous Rats and Bone Shredder for control, until eventually you lock them down and pummel them.
To understand how annoying and unforgiving this card is, you have to play against it. And the people that play this card will ALWAYS have four copies and recursion such as Eternal Witness and a sac outlet or something like Restoration Angel. It's a fantastic card in that you can also attack with it while it locks your opponent down. The worst part is the light at the end of the tunnel - you can see the end of the lockdown in sight but it never comes.
Just remember not to play this while an opponent has a fetchland out and run it with selective hand destruction like Duress.
Burningsickle
★★★★☆ (4.5/5.0)(1 vote)
wow. judging by all these comments, locking a player down with one of these doesn't seem to even be particularly difficult.
Comments (27)
4/5
as sotrmkeeper already said, combined with Soul Foundry, you can easily create a soft-lock :)
on top of this, i like the artwork and name as well as the creature type. while it isn't a too powerful one for a tribal deck, it's still not useless.
besides, i'm always glad to see such interesting cards released as commons without suffering regrettable losses.
Overall, not a bad card, nothing that stands out, but -definitely- playable.
Take THAT, Chimney Imp.
That said, this is in my top-ten fave creatures in MTG; I love throwing this into a casual mono-black deck, its slows them down a bit and provides a decent 3 turn creature.
Is denying a draw better than discard? It all depends on what's in your opponent's hand. If your opponent has a poor hand, denying a draw is stronger than forcing a discard. Play this with discard spells for a balanced black control deck.
Factoring in the clever flavor text and immensely cool art, this is a 4.5
In fact, I might see a deck brewing...Ravenous Rats and Bone Shredder for control, until eventually you lock them down and pummel them.
"Wanna do somethin' else..?"
It's a fantastic card in that you can also attack with it while it locks your opponent down.
The worst part is the light at the end of the tunnel - you can see the end of the lockdown in sight but it never comes.
Just remember not to play this while an opponent has a fetchland out and run it with selective hand destruction like Duress.
Rather enjoyable card in any Black control deck
...of the library? It would seem so, anyway.