Pointed Discussion

I jst love this card...the fact that it has haste, it has the probability to do high damage when it hits the battlefield...and it may cause additional 2 damage if it doesnt get blocked... a good addition in a black-red discard deck..

Love The Art And Love All The Useful Abilities

Red= Haste
Black Rat= Discard
Red + Black= Burn Discard
Awesome card for black/red

Not bad, but I like Singe-Mind Ogre better. You might be able to force them to discard that land they needed because they don't want to take the damage, but normally they'll toss a land or a fairly cheap card that they didn't really need.

For guaranteed damage, just use Megrim.

this card is gold in my LD deck. after i blow up enough land ill drop this and they either have to discard land (not smart), something with a low cost (which they coulda played) or something with a high cost that they coudnt play, but take much damage. its fun to watch their faces as they look through their hands

I'm totally agree with God_of_Destruction, these rats are awsome.

This card is so sick combined with the card Psychotic Fury. 6th turn 2/2 double strike haste + discard! PWNED!

This is simply one of my favorite cards. Flavor/effect goodness.
Maybe I just have really good luck with these rats, but they almost always leave a mark.
Usual exchange: "I pay four, 2/2 rats, discard a card & take cc damage." "Sigh. Fine." "& two comin' at you." "What? Haste?! ..damn it."

This is begging to be used with Splinter Twin

This is comparable to Bloodbraid Elf. On the plus side, it gives guaranteed card advantage, whereas with the Elf there's a chance you'll cascade into something unplayable; on the minus side, it has one less power. On the plus side, it has the potential to deal a hefty amount of damage; on the minus side, the opponent could just discard a land. But by turn four it becomes less likely that they're holding a land, and more likely that they're holding high CC cards that they're waiting to cast. I'd say it's about a tie.

Did Viggy ever make that water watchdog? We may never know.

I think this is my all time favorite magic card. I'm a casual player but this card is solid, it was in one of my best type 2 decks. Whenever I played it people didn't know whether to discard the cheap stuff that they wanted to get onto the table or the more expencive stuff they cared less about, and then add haste it normally dealt around 6 damage, plus still around to threaten more. To add to that was when I layed Kiki Jiki next turn and started copying it. And when they ran out of cards they were locked down. All in all, a solid, agressive, and downright enjoyable card. With sweet art curtisy of Kev Walker, you should see this card foil!

Better or worse than Singe-Mind Ogre?

This card is an absolute powerhouse. Haste is big because its usually early enough in the game to dish out some damage, and the direct damage effect is brutal; I've had opponents take 5-6 damage from their discards, and even if the opponent discards a land, they just threw away a valuabe resource. I run 4 of these in a Black/Red deck and it wins 9/10 times.

favorite card of the set made some dicard akroma once and another game acheon wurm.better then mind singe because if they dicard some thing low cost it still triggers megrim and lilianna's caress

I made a whole deck based on these rats. I run it with Pain Magnification. It's fun. XD

I like this card simply because it has the word Hellhole on it.

Not to mention that it's good.

holy crap it's a swarm of rats on fire!

holy hell thats a badass rat

Here's hoping for a water-spouting watchdog in Return to Ravnica. I loved the little interactions between the guilds told in the flavortexts.

The best thing about this card is the CMC of 4. This means on a typical curve your opponent is probably out of lands, and stockpiling either situational stuff or cards they can't afford yet, and making them have to ditch a Lightning Bolt or the like in order to not shoot themselves with Elesh Norn is a pretty good scenario in my book - better if they're only holding big things!

Turn one land Thoughtseize
Turn two land Hymn to Tourach
Turn three landBlightning
Turn four land Duskmantle Seer
End of their turn four, provided Duskmantle is still alive cast Noxious Revival on their biggest dude...
So in theory, if they played first, hit three land drops and played two things land and drawn no extra cards their hand should be empty aside from the fatty.

Then drop this guy turn five. Win. Depending on the size of the card you put in their hand I guess...

@Kryptnyt: He did, but it sucked:
Aquus Steed

@Ninjaraken: Much better. The random element of singe-mind is sometimes relevant, but this card actually makes them discard, which means that your opponent has to make a (mostly difficult) choice, and in terms of cards, this is card-neutral immediately once it hits the field. As to the bodies, I'd rather have a 2/2 haste than a 3/2 for the most part. The haste makes it more likely to connect since it is a surprise. Keep in mind that the ogre first gets to attack on turn 5. The chance your opponent can't get a bigger creature in the way on 5 mana is low.


Burndiscard is a really cool thing. The hope is that you've disrupted their hand enough at this point that they have to discard a land they really need, or discard a spell they can cast normally, or discard a big dude that will burn them for a lot. Blightning T3 into this puts your opponent into a pretty bad spot, handwise, lifewise, or both.

That said, it is a 2/2 for 4. The body is a little disappointing. Overall, I've had it shine, and I've had it be awful. It depends on when you draw it. When it hits the battlefield turn 4, generally it's good. Sometimes you can catch your opponent with an almost empty hand on a later turn and the discard gets them for 6 or even 7. Later in the game, often they just cast whatever instant they were holding in response to the discard.

Overall, sweet, but not amazing.

I just realized water-spouting watchdog would a very good un- card.