Rats

Finishing kindred month (see this post), today I look at Rats.

Introduction

The Rat creature type has been in Magic since the game's beginning (Alpha in 1993). 

From 1994-2004, Rats were frequently in sets, but not in great numbers: there was normally one (and no more than two) released in 17 different sets (from The Dark through Fifth Dawn).

Rats became a focus in the Kamigawa block (2004-5); 15 were released across those three sets. Then it was back to "onesy twosy" until a return to that plane in 2022's Neon Dynasty, which gave us 7 more.

Rats were a focus in two more sets: 

- 2023's Wilds of Eldraine (5 cards)

- 2024's Bloomburrow (14 cards + 1 in its Commander release)

In all, 108 Rats (counting 8 cards in the newest set, TMNT) have been printed. Most (88) are mono-black, 12 are multi-colored (black splashed with another color), and six are blue.

Sample/Staple Cards

Rats love to roam in packs; this kindred type has several cards that produce (or benefit from) large numbers of the creatures on the battlefield. A few even let you violate the "four copy limit" rule.

Rats also can care about your own graveyard (for milling/surveil decks) or making your opponents discard.

Sample cards below.

Deck Ideas

For casual decks, the cards presented above can be nice options for a kindred Rat deck.

For Commander, there are 22 unique legendary Rats. Seven of those are new, so I haven't seen them in action yet. For the others, Lord Skitterfang (shown above) and four others (shown below) can be fun options to build around.

My personal favorite isn't a Rat but likes them: Totentanz, Swarm Piper. My Rat Commander deck features him (plus many of the above if they are mono-black in the 99).

Until next time, keep exploring.

Centaurs

Continuing kindred month (see previous post), today I look at Centaurs.

Introduction

Centaurs are those half-man, half-horse creatures that were featured in Greek mythology. In Magic, the first appearance of this creature type was Windseeker Centaur in 1995 (as a part of a book promotion of all things).

After seeing one Centaur each in Ice Age (1995), Mirage (1996), and Urza's Saga (1998), this kindred type took off with the 14 new cards in the Odyssey block (2001-2). Themes included green color, the reach ability [it wasn't a keyword yet], and graveyard-related abilities.

A smattering of Centaurs followed in subsequent years until there was another 14 of the creatures printed for the Theros block (2013-14), which suitably focused on Greek mythology. In this block,  Centaur themes included +1/+1 counters or enchantments. And when Magic went back to the Theros plane in Theros Beyond Death (2020), it gave us five more.

Expansions set on the Ravnica plane consistently has these creatures as well. The first Ravnica block (2005-6) featured five, the second block (2012-13) had two, and the third (2018-19) had five, and the fourth (2024) had five as well. Themes here included life gain.

In all, 75 Centaurs have been printed to date. Of these, 52 are mono-green, fifteen are multicolored (always with green, accompanied by red or white or even black), five are mono-white, two are mono-black, and one is mono-red.

Sample/Staple Cards

Courser of Kruphix (the headliner card above) is in many of my mono-green Commander decks. The 14 cards below were selected to be representative of this creature type across Magic's history. No Centaurs are expensive today; the most costly one (Windseeker, above) can be purchased for under $4.

Deck Ideas

If you want a casual deck focused on this kindred, pick up four copies of Pheres-Band Warchief.

If Commander is your style, the three below are fun options (though none focus on the kindred type). Karador in particular is a popular choice; you can see cards that go well with it on EDHRec.

Until next time . . . keep exploring.

Myr

Fresh off this year's look at creature types, I will look at three specific ones this month. In prior years, I covered 14: soldiers, merfolk, zombies, goblins, elves, skeletons, treefolk, angels, elementals, sphinxes, scarecrows, minotaurs, unicorns, and octopi . Today: myr.

Introduction

Myr are artifact creatures and first appeared in the Mirrodin block (2003-4), suitably set on a metal world. The three sets in that block (Mirrodin, Darksteel, Fifth Dawn) featured 19 Myr in aggregate.

43 Myr have been printed to date. They are almost always colorless (40/43); the 3 that aren't are white or blue.

Sample/Staple Cards

In the first Mirrodin block, some myr had basic abilities centered around mana generation (one myr per color) or artifact synergies. Examples:

Other myr in the block were pretty vanilla.

In the next six years, we got only one more myr (in 2007's Future Sight). Then Magic revisited Mirrodin.

The Scars of Mirrodin block in 2010-11 (Scars of Mirrodin, Mirrodin Besieged, New Phyrexia) returned to the Mirrodin plane, and myr once again featured. In that block we got 20 myr (15 were new cards; the other five were reprints of the mana generators. Note: I ignore tokens returned in these searches). Here, this kindred type got a little stronger: more mana abilities and more kindred synergies. And a hint of the Phyrexian taint.

Since, we've gotten 8 more myr cards (again, I omit tokens) across a variety of releases.  

Modern Horizons 2 (2021) saw 3 more. 

Phyrexia: All Will Be One (2023) and its corresponding preconstructed Commander deck saw 4 more.

Modern Horizons 3 (2024) saw 1 more.

Myr is a kindred type that sticks around, but it doesn't feature overly powerful cards. They are the little guys in the background.

Deck Ideas

I am working on a Commander deck centered on myr kindred. And for that, there is really only one choice: Urtet, Remnant of Memnarch. 

Urtet's ability is to go far and wide with Myr, getting an extra one each time you cast a myr spell, and giving you the ability to buff them big-time. He's not the strongest commander, but either is this kindred type.

Until next time . . . keep exploring.