Tetsuko Umezawa: A Mono-Blue Guide to Compleation

<h6 style="text-align: right;"><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Ravenous Rats" href="#" target="_blank">Ravenous Rats</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> | <a href="http://www.carlcritchlow.com/">Art by Carl Critchlow</a></h6>
<h1>Rats, Baby!</h1>
<p>Welcome back to <em>Singleton Shmingleton</em>, where I bend the singleton rules of Commander by building decks with as many functional reprints of a certain card as possible. This week we're going to be talking about a classic engine of redundancy, everyone's favorite Rat. Or maybe <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Rat Colony" href="#" target="_blank">second favorite</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>. Or <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Relentless Rats" href="#" target="_blank">third favorite</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Marrow-Gnawer" href="#" target="_blank">Fourth favorite</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>? Whatever, it's in the top twenty.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Ravenous Rats"></div></div>
<p>That's right, this week we're building around the most underwhelming two-for-one imaginable, the card that has been filling out draft decks since <em>Urza's Destiny</em>. Two mana gets us a 1/1 and makes the opponent discard. They've printed three new versions of this effect within the last two years, which brings us up to five, which is fine but nothing to brag about.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__deck mtgh"><span class="edhrecp__deck-s" name="Rats" site="edhrec" archidekt_link="" cards="*Burglar Rat
*Corrupt Court Official
*Elderfang Disciple
*Ravenous Rats
*Virus Beetle"></span></div>

<p>But this is a design space they've been playing around in for a long time, and there's plenty of redundancy if we widen the scope just a little bit. Here's a non-exhaustive list of cheap creatures that take a card from an opponent's hand when they enter the battlefield.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__deck mtgh"><span class="edhrecp__deck-s" name="Rats" site="edhrec" archidekt_link="" cards="*Acquisitions Expert
*Brain Maggot
*Chittering Rats
*Elite Spellbinder
*Kitesail Freebooter
*Mardu Skullhunter
*Mesmeric Fiend
*Miasmic Mummy
*Mindleech Ghoul
*Nimble Larcenist
*Rotting Rats
*Sin Collector
*Thought-Knot Seer
*Tidehollow Sculler
*Tourach, Dread Cantor
*Vendilion Clique"></span></div>

<hr />
<p>Some versions of this effect are better than others. Some target an opponent, while some make each opponent discard. Some give the card back when they leave play, some make us discard as well. The nice thing is that we actually have room to be picky when building because there are twenty-one of these cards!</p>
<p>None of them see enormous amounts of play, with the <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Ravenous Rats" href="#" target="_blank">original</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> showing up in 2966 decks and the <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Mardu Skullhunter" href="#" target="_blank">least popular</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> only seeing play in 94 decks. One card that is surprisingly low is <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Miasmic Mummy" href="#" target="_blank">Miasmic Mummy</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, which forces you to discard as well but is also a Zombie. Zombie decks are perfect for breaking the symmetry of this effect by abusing their graveyards, and this little guy deserves more than 2870 decks. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Elderfang Disciple" href="#" target="_blank">Elderfang Disciple</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Burglar Rat" href="#" target="_blank">Burglar Rat</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> see the most play since they say "each opponent," and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Virus Beetle" href="#" target="_blank">Virus Beetle</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is catching up with them fast. All three slot into decks like <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Tergrid, God of Fright" href="#" target="_blank">Tergrid, God of Fright</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Tinybones, Trinket Thief" href="#" target="_blank">Tinybones, Trinket Thief</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="The Raven Man" href="#" target="_blank">The Raven Man</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>. Those are all fine homes, but I wonder if mono-black really has the tools to capitalize on what these little critters offer.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Elderfang Disciple"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Tinybones, Trinket Thief"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Tergrid, God of Fright"></div></div>
<hr />
<h2>What Do They Offer?</h2>
<p>All of these creatures provide disruption and a small amount of pressure. In twenty-life formats, 1/1s and 1/2s can eventually add up to a good chunk of damage, but in Commander these stats are basically negligible, so we'll have to take advantage of the bodies in other ways.</p>
<p>A tried and true way to take advantage of enter-the-battlefield abilities is to blink our Rats, both individually with cards like <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Ephemerate" href="#" target="_blank">Ephemerate</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> or en masse using cards like <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Ghostway" href="#" target="_blank">Ghostway</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>. With enough redundancy, we can blink our Rats until our opponents are emptyhanded.</p>
<p>What's cool about this interaction is the ability to force our opponents to discard at instant speed. Outside of weird cards like <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Piracy Charm" href="#" target="_blank">Piracy Charm</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, there are very few instant-speed ways to interact with people's hands. It's why <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Vendilion Clique" href="#" target="_blank">Vendilion Clique</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is so special in 60-card formats. One play pattern that comes up with <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Vendilion Clique" href="#" target="_blank">Vendilion Clique</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and almost no other card is to play the Clique in the opponent's draw step in order to be able to nab whatever they drew before they can play it. We can replicate this pattern with our blink spells, casting them just as our opponents draw and before they can play anything, effectively locking them out of playing any sorcery-speed cards.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Vendilion Clique"></div></div>
<hr />
<h2>Some Sweet Interactions</h2>
<p>The best card in our deck is <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Deadeye Navigator" href="#" target="_blank">Deadeye Navigator</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>. That won't come as a surprise to anyone who was around when players were asking for it to catch a ban, nor even for anyone who has just seen the card work. Deadeye and a Rat form the strongest engine in the deck, as with just two mana for each opponent we can stop their draws without spending any cards of our own.</p>
<p>Some of our Rats don't work very well with blink. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Kitesail Freebooter" href="#" target="_blank">Kitesail Freebooter</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> only takes a card until it leaves play, so it's the worst one. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Mesmeric Fiend" href="#" target="_blank">Mesmeric Fiend</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Tidehollow Sculler" href="#" target="_blank">Tidehollow Sculler</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> are worded differently, though, since they have two triggered abilities instead of one. If we blink them in response to their enter-the-battlefield trigger, the second ability resolves first and attempts to give the card back before we take it. Then the first ability takes the card for good. This won't help when we need to time our blinks to our opponents' draw steps, but it can help when people still have multiple cards in hand.</p>
<p>Once we get our engine running, cards like <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Aetherize" href="#" target="_blank">Aetherize</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Rebuild" href="#" target="_blank">Rebuild</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> become very strong. Returning cards to hand is usually a tempo play that doesn't actually gain card advantage, but we can use our Rats to make our opponents discard all of the goodies they just picked up. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Cyclonic Rift" href="#" target="_blank">Cyclonic Rift</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>'s single-target mode can basically be <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Vindicate" href="#" target="_blank">Vindicate</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> in our deck (not that Cyclonic Rift needed to get better).</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Aetherize"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Rebuild"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Cyclonic Rift"></div></div>
<hr />
<h2>Some Realism</h2>
<p>If all of this sounds a little optimistic to you, you're exactly right. This deck suffers the same problem that other discard decks face: if our opponents get ahead on board or find some other way to gain card advantage, they can overpower us. We put a target on our heads by making our opponents discard those fun cards they wanted to cast, even if we aren't doing anything broken. Our lock isn't incredibly strong; it relies on us drawing blink spells for every opponent every turn, and many of our Rats give cards back when they die.</p>
<p>But maybe our weakness is a hidden strength (it's funny how you can say that in multiplayer). We can use our disruption politically, lock down the draws of the opponent who's farthest ahead, then give the rest of the table the ability to catch up. We can slow the game down very well, but we still need a way to win.</p>
<p>Here's where we can turn to a combo I've been putting in a lot of decks recently. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Mindcrank" href="#" target="_blank">Mindcrank</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> makes our opponents mill when they lose life, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Duskmantle Guildmage" href="#" target="_blank">Duskmantle Guildmage</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>'s ability makes them lose life when they mill. I like this combo because it's very compact. Both pieces cost two mana, so they can sneak in whenever there's a window. Our deck is also full of two-drops, so we can add a <em>Transmute</em> package easily.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Duskmantle Guildmage"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Mindcrank"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Muddle the Mixture"></div></div>
<p>If you're not a fan of combos, you can try to grind opponents out with Rats and beat down with <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Yorion, Sky Nomad" href="#" target="_blank">Yorion, Sky Nomad</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Soulherder" href="#" target="_blank">Soulherder</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>. It will be a lot harder, but it does sound like a heckuva good time. Rounding out the deck we have some ways to <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Mentor of the Meek" href="#" target="_blank">draw cards</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, some ways to <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Return to the Ranks" href="#" target="_blank">recur</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> our Rats if they get killed, and some general purpose answers.</p>
<hr />
<h2>The Decklist</h2>
<div class="edhrecp__deck mtgh"><span class="edhrecp__deck-s" name="Which Card? Discard." site="edhrec" archidekt_link="" cards="[Commander]
*Aminatou, the Fateshifter
[/Commander]
[Creature]
*Abdel Adrian, Gorion&#039;s Ward
*Acquisitions Expert
*Agent of Treachery
*Brago, King Eternal
*Burglar Rat
*Bygone Bishop
*Charming Prince
*Chittering Rats
*Corrupt Court Official
*Deadeye Navigator
*Dimir Infiltrator
*Displacer Kitten
*Duskmantle Guildmage
*Elderfang Disciple
*Kitesail Freebooter
*Lurrus of the Dream-Den
*Mardu Skullhunter
*Mentor of the Meek
*Mesmeric Fiend
*Miasmic Mummy
*Mindleech Ghoul
*Mistmeadow Witch
*Nimble Larcenist
*Ravenous Rats
*Rotting Rats
*Sin Collector
*Soulherder
*Sun Titan
*Thassa, Deep-Dwelling
*The Raven Man
*Tidehollow Sculler
*Tinybones, Trinket Thief
*Tourach, Dread Cantor
*Vendilion Clique
*Virus Beetle
*Welcoming Vampire
*Yorion, Sky Nomad
[/Creature]
[Instant]
*Acrobatic Maneuver
*Aetherize
*Blur
*Cloudshift
*Cyclonic Rift
*Eerie Interlude
*Ephemerate
*Ghostly Flicker
*Ghostway
*Illusionist&#039;s Stratagem
*Lae&#039;zel&#039;s Acrobatics
*Momentary Blink
*Muddle the Mixture
*Path to Exile
*Predict
*Rally the Ancestors
*Rebuild
*Semester&#039;s End
*Shred Memory
[/Instant]
[Sorcery]
*Ascend from Avernus
*Return to the Ranks
[/Sorcery]
[Artifact]
*Arcane Signet
*Mindcrank
*Panharmonicon
*Sol Ring
[/Artifact]
[Enchantment]
*Mind Slash
*Tocasia&#039;s Welcome
[/Enchantment]
[Land]
*Arcane Sanctum
*Ash Barrens
*Command Tower
*Dimir Aqueduct
*Dismal Backwater
*Drowned Catacomb
*Evolving Wilds
*Glacial Fortress
*4x Island
*Isolated Chapel
*Orzhov Basilica
*7x Plains
*Scoured Barrens
*8x Swamp
*Tainted Field
*Temple of Deceit
*Temple of Enlightenment
*Temple of Silence
*Terramorphic Expanse
[/Land]"></span></div>

<hr />
<h2>Until Next Time</h2>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Manalith"></div></div>
<p>You don't want to miss this next one, folks. I'm going to take on one of the pillars (get it?) of the format to see if I can make a functional deck out of nothing but overcosted ramp. If <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Manalith" href="#" target="_blank">Manalith</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> wasn't already the <a href="https://edhrec.com/articles/too-specific-top-10-manaliths/">most</a>-<a href="https://edhrec.com/articles/in-the-margins-manalith/">written</a>-<a href="https://edhrec.com/articles/ranking-every-mana-rock-with-edhrec-part-8-two-ramp-or-not-two-ramp/">about</a> <a href="https://edhrec.com/articles/too-specific-top-10-common-core/">card</a> on this website, it will be now.</p>


muddle the mixture

Tetsuko Umezawa: A Mono-Blue Guide to Compleation

Singleton Shmingleton - Ravenous Rats