The first poison counter is immediate and
unpreventable. And then you start swinging with
it for 2 more counters a turn. Being a 2/1 is a
pretty big downside, since any blocker outside
of maybe Wall of Omens will kill it. But because
infect deals in -1/-1 counters as well as poison
counters, any creature that blocks Ichor Rats
becomes permanently -2/-2. And later in the
game, that first poison counter up front may
prove to be the fatal one, and there'll be
nothing your opponent can do.
Ichor Rats is one of the best partners for
yesterday's reviewed card, and arguably one of
the better infect creatures in general.
Opponents who can't block it are out of the game
in short order, and the ability to poison
someone directly - and sometimes kill them even
after they've found lots of blockers - is even
scarier. I expect Ichor Rats to be one of the
centerpieces of infect-based decks in any
format.
Welcome back readers today’s card of the day is
a powerful addition to poison decks, Ichor Rats.
Simply by casting this card you can load players
up with poison counters for proliferate
shenanigans as well as just swarming with your
infected horde. In standard this is one of the
better in infect cards alongside Skittles and
Hand of the Praetors, if infect hits the big
time this card may hitch along for the ride. In
extended the same concept applies if an infect
deck takes off this card could be an integral
part as of now Ichor rats has had little to no
effect on the format. In extended and eternal no
chance, not powerful enough compared to the
cards available. In casual rats are quite
popular and something tells me the infect
mechanic will be as well; casual players will
either love or hate this card. In limited Infect
is a legitimate strategy and if you are wanting
to go Infect pick this highly. Overall a
powerful Infect card demonstrating the power of
the new mechanic.
Today's card of the day is Ichor Rats which is
a three mana 2/1 with the Infect mechanic that
also gives each player a poison counter when it
comes into play. This makes it a nice card
in multiplayer, especially when partnered with
yesterday's card Hand of the Praetor for two
counters, but otherwise it is quite a bit
weaker. Without the support of Hand or
Proliferate the 2/1 doesn't do too much and the
double Black in the cost may make it a bit
slower in a Green/Black or Blue/Black build
depending on the mana base. Taking a
poison counter yourself is a small risk and if
your opponent is playing Infect as well this
card is probably going to wind up in the
sideboard for the second game of the match.
For Limited this is a weaker Infect option that
is hurt even more by the double Black and single
point of toughness. Risking a poison
counter is even more likely to cause problems as
your opponent is just as likely to be using
Infect or even Proliferate as well. If you
have a very good Infect pool in Sealed this is
worth including, but otherwise it doesn't stand
up well by itself at all and should be left out
of most decks.
For Booster this isn't a high priority to be
drafted and there are similar threats in the
format with a better survival rate such as
Contagious Nim.
