Burglar RatHow it works & interactions with other cards

What It Does

Burglar Rat features a triggered ability that activates as soon as it enters the battlefield. Unlike targeted discard spells, this effect scales with the number of players, making it particularly potent in multiplayer formats like Commander where every opponent must discard a card simultaneously.

How It Resolves Step by Step

First, you cast Burglar Rat and it successfully resolves, entering the battlefield. This triggers its ability, which is put onto the stack. Starting with the player whose turn it is and proceeding in turn order, each opponent chooses one card from their hand without showing it to others. Finally, all chosen cards are discarded at the same time.

Common Mistakes

A frequent error is thinking the player who controls the Rat chooses which cards are discarded; however, the Oracle text specifies that the opponents choose their own cards. Additionally, if an opponent has an empty hand when the ability resolves, they simply do nothing while other opponents still discard as normal.

When to Play It

Burglar Rat is best utilized early in the game to disrupt your opponents' setups or in decks that can repeatedly blink or resurrect creatures to trigger the ability multiple times. It also serves as a cheap body to sacrifice for other effects after its job is done.

Interaction examples

The Turn Two Play

Ornithopter of Paradise

On your first turn, you might play a land and Ornithopter of Paradise. On your second turn, you tap the Ornithopter of Paradise for black mana and use a second land to cast Burglar Rat, forcing your opponent to discard their best card before they even reach their second land drop.

The Life Drain Combo

Blood Artist

If you have Blood Artist on the battlefield, you can play Burglar Rat to force a discard. Later, if you use the Rat to block an attacker, Blood Artist will trigger when the Rat dies, draining 1 life from your opponent and gaining you 1 life, maximizing the value of your 1/1 creature.