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Pojo's Magic The Gathering
Card of the Day
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Image from Wizards.com |
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Chittering Rats
Reviewed March 30, 2004
Constructed: 2.8
Casual: 3.2
Limited: 3.7
Ratings are
based on a 1 to 5 scale
1 being the worst. 3 ...
average.
5 is the highest rating
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our
Card of the Day Reviews
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Chris
Gerhardt
*
game store owner in CA,
ShuffleAndCut.com |
Time Walk, hamster
style. To some newer or casual players, this
may seem like an innocuous ability, but as anyone
that has played with Power 9 cards knows, it's
quite powerful. By putting a card from their
hand back on your opponent's deck, you are
basically causing they to "miss" a turn by denying
them a card to draw. They lose tempo with the
game, and this is significant. Do it multiple
times, and the card advantage it will gain you can
turn the game heavily in your favor. Once again,
repeat after me... "Card Advantage Wins Games."
This ability also punishes an opponent who keeps a
poor draw or mulligans. It's a 2/2 for 3,
albeit black intensive, but still decently costed
for it's size when you take into account its very
good ability. So, it could sneak it's way into
some mono black constructed decks.
In casual, this guy
can really throw a punch in a deck sticking to the
Time Walk theme. Consider
Chimney Imp and
Agonizing Memories. If you want to go
with or add a Rat theme, how about
Razor Tooth Rats or
Ravenous Rats. Maybe add a hand destruction or
land destruction theme with it, and it gets kinda
ugly. And best of all, this is a very inexpensive
deck to put together.
In limited, this is a
very respectable and solid pick for black. The
more of these you have, the more profound the
impact. In draft, you can play as many as you want
in your deck since you are not limited to 4 in
this format, and since these rats are common, you
might see a few come your way..
Constructed:
3.5
Casual: 4
Limited: 4
Current Price:
Chittering
Rats - Darksteel - $0.19
Chimney Imp
- Mirrodin - $0.19
Agonizing
Memories - 7th Edition - $0.79
Time Walk
- Unlimited - $350.00
Razortooth
Rats - Weatherlight - $0.50
Ravenous
Rats - 8th Edition - $0.19
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Judge
Bill
*Level 2
MTG Judge
*game store employee
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Ah yes, the "Time
Walk Rats." So named because of the tempo this
guy provides in allowing you to effectively make
your opponent skip his next draw phase (if he
has a card in hand). A great tempo card, this
can really punish mana light draws. I am
surprised that this is not being used more in
type 2 right now.
In casual, I would
shy away from this, because although you can set
up a situation where you can lock your opponent,
I think most people won't want to play against
that deck for very long.
In limited, it's
great if you can cast this guy on turn 3, which
sets your opponent back one draw, which is quite
a bit more relevant than you might think.
Constructed: 4
Casual: 3
Limited: 4
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DeQuan
Watson
* game store owner (The Game Closet - Waco,TX)
* pro tour player
* Scrye writer since 2002 |
Chittering Rats
I didn't think this
was going to be that great of a card when I
first saw it. In constructed, it fits into a
couple of decks. It mainly goes into any deck
that's trying to "turn lock" you. It can force
you to keep drawing the same card over and over
again. It's cute.
Casual players just
see it as one more guy for their rat or discard
deck. In limited play, this card is stellar when
you can get two or three of them.
Constructed: 2
Casual: 2.5
Limited: 3
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Jeff Zandi
5 Time Pro Tour
Veteran
Level 2 Judge |
Chittering Rats
These are the rats that teach your opponent how to
tell time, by sending
them BACK in time one turn every time they hit the
board. This delicious
ability comes attached to a 2/2 permanent with the
cutest picture to be
found in Darksteel. Chittering Rats became an
immediate hit in limited.
Because they cost two black mana to cast, not
every deck can afford to
splash for them, the way that you can for Terror,
Betrayal of Flesh,
Murderous Spoils or even Irradiate. Because of
this, one player in a draft
will usually get most of the Chittering Rats to
himself. Therefore, just as
in real life, when you SEE one rat hit the board,
you can assume there are
MORE to come, sooner or later. Combos with Crystal
Shard, says Captain
Obvious. Great constructed card for casual play,
and could appear in some
serious mono black control decks.
CONSTRUCTED: 3.5
CASUAL: 4.0
LIMITED: 3.5 |
Ray
"Monk"
Powers
* Level 3 DCI Judge
*DCI Tournament Organizer
*Game Store Owner (Gamer's Edge) |
Chittering Rats
Rats! MmmmMMmMmMmmm!
So tasty with barbeque sauce. So good at tempo.
That guy is great. He’s a 2/2 for three mana, so
your basic Grey Ogre, but his ability is great for
tempo in a normal game. Play one of these cards
and you not only put a beater on the board, but
also remove a draw step from your opponent. Play
another one and you’ve gained so much tempo and
card advantage that you should win the game
easily.
While its lack in pure
damage dealing ability knocks it down for
constructed decks, this card is a great pick for
limited, and well worth your time.
Constructed:
2
Casual:
4
Limited:
4
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Jason
Matthews
* Level 1 DCI
Judge
*game store employee
* gaming for over 15 years |
Chittering Rats This
is my favorite card art from Darksteel. How can
you not fear the power of Chittering Rats. He is
well costed at double black and a colorless. His
power and toughness are grizzly bear like but his
ability is pretty solid. He gets the nickname
timewalk rats from me. I like the ability because
setting you opponents draw back by a turn is
pretty cool. In constructed he has been spotted in
a couple of control decks. In limited he is a mid
range pick what with the double black in his cost.
In casual play he might be cool in a rat deck.
Constructed 2.5
Casual 2
Limited 2
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Jonathan
Pechon
2 Grand
Prix Top 8's
Multiple Pro Tour
appearances |
Chittering Rats
This guy definitely
wasn’t supposed to be taking a seat at the
constructed table; however, I’m seeing him pop up
more and more frequently in various builds of
mono-black, either control or aggro. I’ve
included him in a decklist in one of my own
articles. While Gray Ogres don’t normally do
anything good in constructed, this guy’s ability
is just a kick in the pants no matter what
environment you’re in. Combined with fun things
like Foundry, Crystal Shard and Aether Vial, he’s
seeing play in all sorts of places. Keep an eye
on him.
He jumps right into
your rat deck for fun games and causes a ton of
trouble, heh. I’m not really sure what else he
might work out to be. For BB1, I definitely see
this guy as a strong candidate in Mental Magic;
there’s not too much stuff at that casting cost to
use, and unless Infest is a must-use at the
moment, this is a great way to net some cards
without enabling your opponent through discard.
An absolutely solid
play on his own in limited, he gets more
ridiculous with numbers. Any game where you
manage to drop one of these on turn three then
another on turn four should be a game you can’t
possibly lose; it’s absolutely crippling to stunt
someone’s development so badly. Draft these
highly and looks for tricks to go with them; if
you have a Crystal Shard in your deck, pump up
their value.
Constructed: 3.0
Casual: 3.0
Limited: 3.5
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Chase
Secret Squirrel
on the
Pojo.com
Message
Boards |
Chittering Rats Extremely powerful in limited,
especially if you can pick up a Crystal Shard.
In effect this says, your opponent cannot draw a
card next turn. On top of that, it’s a 2/2. It
also has the equivalent facial expression of the
player that pulls this. It’s been a pretty high
pick for a while and should stay that way. I
haven’t seen it played that much in constructed,
or this card specifically. It’s good, but I
haven’t seen a specific deck revolving around
it, and it can’t really be a filler.
In Casual, sure, why not? It’s a nice common
I suppose, and it annoys the opponent.
Constructed: 2
Casual: 3
Limited: 4.5
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