Ravenous Rats MTG Card


Card setsReleased in 14 setsSee all
Mana cost
Converted mana cost2
RarityCommon
TypeCreature — Rat
Power 1
Toughness 1

Key Takeaways

  1. Forces opponent discards, offering valuable card advantage and complementing reanimation deck strategies.
  2. While mana-specific and one-time in effect, it can constrain opponents’ strategies effectively.
  3. Vital for hand-control decks, it’s a classic choice despite the presence of similar cards.

Text of card

When Ravenous Rats comes into play from your hand, your opponent chooses and discards a card from his or her hand. (Ignore this effect if your opponent doesn't have any cards.)


Card Pros

Card Advantage: Ravenous Rats shines when discussing the aspect of card advantage. This unassuming creature forces an opponent to discard a card upon entering the battlefield, subtly tipping the scales in your favor by depleting your opponent’s resources while maintaining your own card count.

Resource Acceleration: While the rats themselves don’t directly accelerate your mana resources, the discard effect can be crucial for enabling reanimation strategies quickly. By selecting the right card from your opponent, you might bring a hefty threat back into play sooner than usually possible.

Instant Speed: Employed in decks with flexibility in mind, Ravenous Rats may not be an instant but they can be deployed at end of your opponent’s turn through various means, like with the use of “flash” enabling spells. This strategic play disrupts your opponent’s plan right before your turn, preserving the surprise element of your tactics.


Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Ravenous Rats obliges your opponent to discard a card upon entering the battlefield. This effect, while potentially disruptive to your opponent’s strategy, is a one-time trigger. This can be less impactful in the later stages of the game when opponents might have an abundance of cards or ways to mitigate the loss.

Specific Mana Cost: Requiring one black mana to cast, Ravenous Rats has a mana cost that may not seamlessly fit into multi-colored decks. The need for a specific mana type can make the card a less flexible option for players running a diverse mana base.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: Despite its low casting cost of one black and one generic mana, for a card with a modest 1/1 body, the cost can be considered high when compared to other creatures that offer similar or greater abilities. More competitive options may exist that provide a better power-to-cost ratio or additional abilities beyond a single discard effect.


Reasons to Include Ravenous Rats in Your Collection

Versatility: Ravenous Rats offers a straightforward yet flexible approach to disrupt your opponent’s strategy. This card can seamlessly integrate into various deck builds, particularly those aiming to control the game by attacking the opponent’s hand.

Combo Potential: The ability of Ravenous Rats to force a discard upon entering the battlefield works well with effects that capitalize on the number of cards in an opponent’s graveyard or the act of discarding itself, adding strategic depth to graveyard-centric decks.

Meta-Relevance: In environments where players lean on finely tuned hand strategies, the disruption caused by Ravenous Rats can be pivotal. Its presence often shifts the dynamics by stripping opponents of key cards, making it relevant in multiple MTG formats where hand control is essential.


How to Overcome Ravenous Rats

Ravenous Rats is a creature card that, upon being played, forces an opponent to discard a card from their hand. On the surface, it might seem like a minor inconvenience, but over time, it can severely disrupt a player’s strategy. To effectively counter this card, it’s important to have a gameplan that minimizes its impact on your hand and overall strategy.

One method is to maintain a surplus of cards in your hand, ensuring that a single discard won’t leave you at a significant disadvantage. Cards with drawing capabilities can help you maintain a healthy hand size. Alternatively, utilizing cards with graveyard retrieval abilities can dull the pain of discarding, turning a loss into potential gain. Utilizing instant-speed spells can also reduce your hand size tactically right before the Rats’ effect triggers, leaving less valuable cards for you to discard.

Lastly, having removal spells ready to deal with the Rats upon their appearance on the battlefield can nip the problem in the bud before they start gnawing away at your hand. Ultimately, integrating these strategies can maintain your advantage and ensure that the Ravenous Rats’ effect is little more than a tiny squeak in the course of the game.


BurnMana Recommendations

Delving into MTG’s intricate gameplay brings Ravenous Rats to light, a classic that nudges the tides of battle subtly yet effectively. Beyond the simple act of discard, it’s the strategies that one can build around this card that truly pique the curiosity and challenge the intellect. Whether you’re fostering a graveyard-centric arsenal or hindering your opponent’s hand, every card, including the unpretentious Ravenous Rats, can be the cornerstone of victory. Dive deeper with us, enhance your collection’s diversity, and embrace the tactics that transform a card’s limitations into unexpected strengths. Elevate your MTG experience and strategize with us to outwit and outplay.


Cards like Ravenous Rats

The indomitable Ravenous Rats have been nibbling their way through opponents’ strategies in Magic: The Gathering for decades. A direct comparison can be made with Burglar Rat and Chittering Rats, all of which sport the shared theme of causing your opponent to discard a card upon entering the battlefield. Burglar Rat, much like Ravenous Rats, merges nicely into decks with a focus on discard mechanics due to its minimal mana cost and the immediate effect it imposes on your adversary’s hand.

Liliana’s Specter takes this concept to the skies, offering a flying threat alongside the discard ability, expanding the strategic implications beyond what its grounded cousins can achieve. Then there’s Rotting Rats which includes the reusability factor with its unearth ability, thereby offering more flexibility and potential for card advantage over the course of a game. Unlike these alternates, Ravenous Rats serves as a straightforward, cost-effective play, laying the foundation for discard-centric decks within MTG.

In sum, while other cards offer flashy additional abilities or recurring benefits, the simplicity and effectiveness of Ravenous Rats secures its notoriety as a classic card known for disrupting the early flow of an opponent’s game plan.

Burglar Rat - MTG Card versions
Chittering Rats - MTG Card versions
Liliana's Specter - MTG Card versions
Rotting Rats - MTG Card versions
Burglar Rat - Guilds of Ravnica (GRN)
Chittering Rats - Darksteel (DST)
Liliana's Specter - Magic 2011 Promos (PM11)
Rotting Rats - Conflux (CON)

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Ravenous Rats MTG card by a specific set like Portal Second Age and Urza's Destiny, there are several reliable options to consider. One of the primary sources is your local game store, where you can often find booster packs, individual cards, and preconstructed decks from current and some past sets. They often offer the added benefit of a community where you can trade with other players.

For a broader inventory, particularly of older sets, online marketplaces like TCGPlayer, Card Kingdom and Card Market offer extensive selections and allow you to search for cards from specific sets. Larger e-commerce platforms like eBay and Amazon also have listings from various sellers, which can be a good place to look for sealed product and rare finds.

Additionally, Magic’s official site often has a store locator and retailer lists for finding Wizards of the Coast licensed products. Remember to check for authenticity and the condition of the cards when purchasing, especially from individual sellers on larger marketplaces.

Below is a list of some store websites where you can buy the Ravenous Rats and other MTG cards:

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Printings

The Ravenous Rats Magic the Gathering card was released in 12 different sets between 1998-06-24 and 2014-12-05. Illustrated by 3 different artists.

#ReleaseNameCodeSymbolNumberFrameLayoutBorderArtist
11998-06-24Portal Second AgeP02 871997normalblackEdward P. Beard, Jr.
21999-06-07Urza's DestinyUDS 681997normalblackCarl Critchlow
31999-07-01Starter 1999S99 861997normalwhiteCarl Critchlow
41999-08-04World Championship Decks 1999WC99 js681997normalgoldCarl Critchlow
52000-10-02InvasionINV 1201997normalblackTom Wänerstrand
62003-07-28Eighth Edition8ED 158★2003normalblackTom Wänerstrand
72003-07-28Eighth Edition8ED 1582003normalwhiteTom Wänerstrand
82005-07-29Ninth Edition9ED 1572003normalwhiteCarl Critchlow
92005-07-29Ninth Edition9ED 157★2003normalblackCarl Critchlow
102007-07-13Tenth Edition10E 1712003normalblackCarl Critchlow
112010-06-04Duels of the PlaneswalkersDPA 312003normalblackCarl Critchlow
122012-07-13Magic 2013M13 1062003normalblackCarl Critchlow
132012-09-07Duel Decks: Izzet vs. GolgariDDJ 492003normalblackCarl Critchlow
142014-12-05Duel Decks Anthology: Garruk vs. LilianaGVL 372015normalblackCarl Critchlow

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Ravenous Rats has restrictions

FormatLegality
CommanderLegal
LegacyLegal
PaupercommanderLegal
ModernLegal
OathbreakerLegal
PauperLegal
PremodernLegal
VintageLegal
DuelLegal
PredhLegal
PennyLegal

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