Diseased Vermin
Creature — Rat
Whenever this creature deals combat damage to a player, put an infection counter on it.
At the beginning of your upkeep, this creature deals X damage to target opponent previously dealt damage by it, where X is the number of infection counters on it.
- CMC
- 3
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- B
- Rarity
- uncommon
- Set
- Alliances
- Price
- $0.29
- EDHREC rank
- #22466
Diseased Vermin drains each opponent for one life every time a creature they control attacks — passive, repeating, and stackable across three opponents in a pod. The cost is a three-mana 1/1 with no protection, which means it dies to anything and needs a dedicated shell to justify the slot.
Format Analysis
Where it lives, where it can’t
| Format | Verdict |
|---|---|
| commander | legal |
| legacy | legal |
| modern | not legal |
| pioneer | not legal |
| standard | not legal |
| vintage | legal |
| pauper | not legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
Commander is the only format where Diseased Vermin is worth discussing. Three opponents multiplies each trigger by three, and a politically aggressive table creates constant attack steps that turn the Vermin into a slow clock without you lifting a finger. In Legacy and Vintage it's legal but unplayable — a three-mana 1/1 with a conditional drain trigger has never competed in those formats and never will. Oathbreaker is legal but the same math applies: one opponent means one trigger, and the rate is too slow to matter.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.29 bulk tier
At $0.29, Diseased Vermin is bulk — you're paying for cardboard and shipping, not the card. That price is stable because demand is narrow: it slots into a specific style of black Commander deck and nowhere else.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.