Wizards of the Coast continues to support the Rat typal in Magic: The Gathering with Lord Skitter, Sewer King, a noble rat in Wilds of Eldraine that pairs with another rat king from All Will Be One.
Rats have not ruled over the MTG Standard meta since Rat Colony from Dominaria and Piper of the Swarm from Throne of Eldraine were legal to play. The typal build was shown some love through Karumonix, the Rat King from Phyrexia: All Will Be One, pairing well with other Standard-legal rats like Nezumi Prowler, Blightbelly Rat, and Nashi, Moon Sage’s Scion. And a Wilds of Eldraine (WOE) spoiler from Aug. 17 could edge the Rat Standard typal deck into a meta threat.
Lord Skitter, Sewer King WOE spoiler
Lord Skitter, Sewer King has a passive ability that some players might sleep on, able to exile a target card from an opponent’s graveyard each time a rat enters the battlefield. The ability is great against Adventure cards, card draw engines that exile cards, and Flashback.
- Casting cost: 2B
- Type: Legendary Creature—Rat Noble
- Rarity: Rare
- Stats: 3/3
- Passive ability: Whenever another rat enters the battlefield under your control, exile up to one target card from an opponent’s graveyard
- Ability: At the beginning of combat on your turn, create a 1/1 Black rat creature with “This creature can’t block.”
The Rat Noble of Eldraine also slots into Rakdos sacrifice decks by creating one sacrificial rat at each start of combat. But the true power of Lord Skitter, Sewer King comes to light when the noble is paired with Karumonix, the Rat King, who uses the Toxic mechanic to give those rats who can’t block additional power when they attack.
A major downside to Lord Skitter, Sewer King is that the rat noble is a three-drop. Karumonix, the Rat King, and Nashi, Moon Sage’s Scion are both three-drops as well. And even Lord Skitter’s personal cook Lord Skitter’s Butcher from WOE is a three-drop.
Players can test out the power of Rat typal when Wilds of Eldraine digitally releases on Sept. 5.
