MTG Bloomburrow finally gives Rat players a Commander with red mana

Wick, the Whorled Mind is a new Rat Warlock debuting in the all-animal Plane of Bloomburrow, and is set to give Commander players exactly what they were asking for with new mana options for Rats.

Rat decks have packed a real punch in MTG in the past, but they run into a stumbling block in Commander by being overly restricted to black mana.

There are many excellent mono-black Rat Commanders available in the format, like Ashcoat of the Shadow Swarm, and Karumonix, the Rat King, but a dearth of options bringing other colors to the table.

With Rats and associated support cards expanding out across Magic’s color wheel – especially into blue and red – MTG players have had to get crafty in the past, bringing in off-theme Commanders to allow their Rats access to more varied mana.

MTG players favoring Rat decks were frustrated to see great Rat support arrive in the Wilds of Eldraine set like Song of Totentanz, only to be barred access due to its red mana requirements.

Now, Wick, the Whorled Mind gives Rat decks access to black, red, and blue mana, as well as a great token creation and burn damage effect.

Wick, the Whorled Mind is a 2/4 Legendary Rat Warlock that can be cast for 3B. Wick won’t often be swinging in combat, instead offering other means of dealing damage to opponents.

Whenever Wick or another Rat enters the board under your control, you Create a 1/1 Snail Creature token. If you already control a snail, instead put an additional +1/+1 counter onto a Snail you control.

This ability brings to mind War of the Spark and Tales of Middle-earth’s Amass effect, quickly stacking your single Snail up into a devastating threat. However, Wick isn’t content with just making a huge, vanilla token.

Wick, the Whorled Mind’s final ability costs UBR, which is what expands this card’s Commander color identity. This ability allows you to sacrifice a Snail, dealing damage equal to its power to each opponent and drawing a number of cards equal to its power.

Adding in typal boosters like Modern Horizons 3’s reprint of Urza’s Incubator can turbocharger Wick, the Whorled Mind, allowing you to cast Rats for cheaper and get as many out onto the battlefield as you can.

Given Rats’ ability to quickly swarm the field – aided by new Bloomburrow Creatures like Vren, the Relentless – Wick can build up a Snail fit for sacrifice in short order, carving out huge chunks of opponents’ life totals and restocking your hand with Rats all ready to cast and keep the cycle going.