Pack rat: not just a limited bomb?
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Posted on Nov. 11, 2013, 4 p.m. by Nuggettt
Pack rat has been recently shown a little love in the mono-black devotion decks, but is it really worth the spot? It's pretty good, and is resistant to a decent bit of removal and adds devotion, but I want all of your opinions.
I've been playing Pack Rat even before innistrad rotated out, and it's been one of the best win-cons in all of my decks ever since. (and yes, I play it in a competitive deck)
The way pack rat works is that either your opponent has an answer for it, or they don't. If they don't, you win. (always fun to Thoughtseize them and then play pack rat after getting rid of their only answer)
November 11, 2013 4:16 p.m.
Pack Rat was made better by Mutavault 's reprinting. Mutavault counts as a Rat, so it powers up all your copies of Pack Rat .
November 11, 2013 4:34 p.m.
notamardybum says... #5
November 11, 2013 4:52 p.m.
The copies also have Pack Rat 's mana cost, meaning they boost your devotion to black each time you discard some useless card. That's why they're so amazing in mono-black devotion.
November 11, 2013 5:45 p.m.
Now, a question for people that use Pack Rat a decent bit: do you find it as a mana drain or does producing another Pack Rat set you ahead a bunch? In other words, how much does an additional rat impact your board state?
November 11, 2013 5:56 p.m.
I run esper, and I have plenty of answers for Pack Rat my fav being supreme, I wait for them to make a copy or two then just wipe it all away, it's pretty demoralizing and they usually hunch down and look sad for a while, it's classic. Although in the mono-black mirror it's good, and any kind of stalemate ends when you land the grey merchant.
Granted, I don't think it's a deck theme I'd get behind, too reminiscent of Blood Artist I was excited for that archetype to die with rotation but Gray Merchant of Asphodel basically says 'blood artist at etb' equal to devotion. Really kinda looses appeal at that point.
November 11, 2013 6:09 p.m.
If you're playing against UW control and you make more than 1 copy of pack rat, you're doing it wrong...
@Nuggettt - Pack rat is not a mana drain at all, but if your opponent has early removal for it or its copies, it can lose some power. Pack rat is best if you can have 3 mana open and already have 2-3 in play. That way you can add 5 power to your field at instant speed for 3 mana.
November 11, 2013 6:47 p.m.
Ohthenoises says... #10
I ended up doing something similar in my last FNM where I swept all my matches Beetall. Had out 3x Mutavault s and a Pack Rat (ended up getting 5x later because I stole my opponent's as well) and declared attacks for 1. Instantly pumped to a 4/4 when he declared blocks. (He tried to block with a Mutavault of his own so I pumped to a 3/3. He then Selesnya Charm ed his Mutavault to a 4/4 so I pumped till Pack Rat was a 4/4. I felt pretty happy with that trade knowing I had a Desecration Demon in hand.)
November 11, 2013 8:07 p.m.
I faced two decks with Pack Rat this week at my LGS. At first I was like, whatever, then I was like "oh crap", then... Detention Sphere phew damn rats! It's a thing to be taken seriously.
November 13, 2013 10:49 a.m.
On the one hand, Pack Rat can get dangerous really fast. It adds devotion, makes use of dead draws, and really benefits you in the late game. If you drop it down right away Turn 2, making 1 copy of it can be enough to start dealing damage, while still remaining hard to remove. Even when it's dealt with right away, it's a 1 for 1 trade.
On the other hand, large scale removals can deal with it rather well, ie. Detention Sphere , Anger of the Gods , Supreme Verdict , etc, essentially making it 3 or 4 for 1 trades at times; although, at that point you should have dealt significant damage already.
As I see it, Pack Rat makes for a rock solid Sideboard card that works wonders against decks that really favor long drawn games. Even if you spam right away on copies, an opponent is either forced to Supreme Verdict on just 1 or 2 rats to avoid taking any damage, or take damage first and then wait to wipe 4-5 rats after.
Ohthenoises says... #2
Personally I love him. Extra swamps? Now you have extra Pack Rat s. Extra cards that are dead in your matchup? MOAR Pack Rat s! I think what I love the most though? He draws hate away from other, more important, stuff.
November 11, 2013 4:16 p.m.