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Lab Rats

Sorcery

Buyback {4} (You may pay an additional {4} as you cast this spell. If you do, put this card into your hand as it resolves.)
Create a 1/1 black Rat creature token.

CMC
1
Mana cost
{B}
Color identity
B
Rarity
common
Set
Stronghold
Price
$1.31
EDHREC rank
#13547
Buy on TCGplayer
Lab Rats card art
Lab Rats generates a 1/1 black Rat creature token every time you cast it, and its foretell mechanic means you can exile it for two mana on one turn and cast it for one black the next — making it a repeatable token source that dodges sorcery-speed disruption. In Witherbloom, the Balancer decks, that steady drip of tokens translates directly into life-loss triggers, making Lab Rats one of the more efficient payoffs in that engine.

Best Commanders

Commanders with the highest synergy

01
Witherbloom, the Balancer

Witherbloom, the Balancer

29.1% of decks · synergy 0.28

Witherbloom, the Balancer demands a constant supply of creatures to sacrifice and drain opponents, and Lab Rats delivers exactly that — a recastable token each turn that feeds the sacrifice loop without requiring a dedicated creature slot in the way a permanent would.

Format Analysis

Where it lives, where it can’t

FormatVerdict
commander legal
legacy legal
modern not legal
pioneer not legal
standard not legal
vintage legal
pauper legal
oathbreaker legal

Commander is where Lab Rats earns its keep, almost exclusively in sacrifice and aristocrats builds where repeatable token generation matters more than raw efficiency. In Legacy and Vintage it is legal but functionally irrelevant — one token per cast at one mana is not competitive in those formats. Pauper is the only other format worth a second look: go-wide black strategies occasionally want cheap, recurring token production, and the foretell cost-splitting lines up reasonably well with pauper's pace. Oathbreaker mirrors Commander's use case closely, so the same aristocrats shells apply there.

Key Combos

Combo lines featuring this card

126 decks
Avatar Aang // Aang, Master of ElementsLab Rats

Avatar Aang // Aang, Master of ElementsLab Rats

Infinite ETB; Infinite storm count; Infinite creature tokens; Infinite magecraft triggers

View on Commander Spellbook ↗

Price Context

Current price

$1.31 cheap tier

At $1.31, Lab Rats sits comfortably in the budget tier — cheap enough to slot in without a second thought and not the kind of card that spikes unexpectedly. Its price is stable because demand is narrow and consistent: players building Witherbloom, the Balancer are the primary buyers, and that ceiling keeps it from climbing.

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Sources

Mentioned

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Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.