Blightbelly Rat
Creature — Phyrexian Rat
Toxic 1 (Players dealt combat damage by this creature also get a poison counter.)
When this creature dies, proliferate. (Choose any number of permanents and/or players, then give each another counter of each kind already there.)
- CMC
- 2
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- B
- Rarity
- uncommon
- Set
- Phyrexia: All Will Be One
- Price
- —
- EDHREC rank
- #2644
Blightbelly Rat enters with a toxic 1 body and, more importantly, proliferates on death — meaning every poison counter, oil counter, and loyalty counter on the board ticks up the moment it trades. Karumonix, the Rat King and Myojin of Grim Betrayal both want it for exactly that reason: it does meaningful work whether it lives or dies.
Best Commanders
Commanders with the highest synergy
Karumonix, the Rat King
Karumonix, the Rat King is the natural home — Blightbelly Rat is a Rat that poisons on attack and proliferates on death, hitting both axes of what the deck wants to do.
Ixhel, Scion of Atraxa
Ixhel, Scion of Atraxa runs a poison-to-win plan, and Blightbelly Rat pulls double duty as an early infect threat and a free proliferate trigger when it inevitably blocks or trades.
Vishgraz, the Doomhive
Vishgraz, the Doomhive floods the board with Mite tokens that already have toxic, so Blightbelly Rat's death-proliferate fits cleanly into a strategy already stacking poison counters through combat.
Skithiryx, the Blight Dragon
Skithiryx, the Blight Dragon decks need every efficient way to push opponents to ten poison counters, and Blightbelly Rat offers both an early chip and a proliferate trigger for the counters Skithiryx has already landed.
Brimaz, Blight of Oreskos
Brimaz, Blight of Oreskos generates a stream of Phyrexian tokens with toxic, and Blightbelly Rat's on-death proliferate means even a chump block accelerates the poison clock without costing a card.
Format Analysis
Where it lives, where it can’t
| Format | Verdict |
|---|---|
| commander | legal |
| legacy | legal |
| modern | legal |
| pioneer | legal |
| standard | not legal |
| vintage | legal |
| pauper | legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
Commander is where Blightbelly Rat earns its keep — proliferate is exponentially better in a multiplayer game where poison counters can stack across multiple opponents and planeswalker loyalty matters more. In Pauper it's a legal common, but a 1/1 that proliferates on death doesn't close games fast enough in that format's tempo-driven landscape. Modern and Pioneer have the legality but not the demand; infect strategies there want cheaper, more aggressive threats that hit harder before turn three. Legacy and Vintage are non-starters on power-level grounds. Stick to Commander for Blightbelly Rat.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Myojin of Grim BetrayalBlightbelly RatAshnod's Altar
Infinite blinking; Infinite colorless mana; Infinite death triggers; Infinite ETB; Infinite LTB; Infinite proliferate; Infinite sacrifice triggers
View on Commander Spellbook ↗
Myojin of Grim BetrayalBlightbelly RatPhyrexian Altar
Infinite blinking; Infinite colored mana; Infinite death triggers; Infinite ETB; Infinite LTB; Infinite proliferate; Infinite sacrifice triggers
View on Commander Spellbook ↗Price Context
Current price
unknown tier
Pricing data isn't currently available for Blightbelly Rat, so check Scryfall or TCGPlayer for the current market rate before buying. Given its narrow tribal and poison focus, it tends to sit in the budget range — expect it to be an easy pickup rather than a notable expense.
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Sources
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.