Rise of the Varmints
Sorcery
Create X 2/1 green Varmint creature tokens, where X is the number of creature cards in your graveyard.
Plot 
(You may pay and exile this card from your hand. Cast it as a sorcery on a later turn without paying its mana cost. Plot only as a sorcery.)
- CMC
- 4
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- G
- Rarity
- uncommon
- Set
- Outlaws of Thunder Junction
- Price
- $0.15
- EDHREC rank
- #18169
Rise of the Varmints turns your opponents' hand sizes into a creature count — in a four-player Commander pod where hands run deep, that's routinely eight to twelve 1/1 Squirrels on turn five or six for five mana. It's a one-card board presence spike that scales with the game state rather than your resources.
Format Analysis
Where it lives, where it can’t
| Format | Verdict |
|---|---|
| commander | legal |
| legacy | legal |
| modern | legal |
| pioneer | legal |
| standard | legal |
| vintage | legal |
| pauper | not legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
Rise of the Varmints is a Commander card in design and in practice — the effect scales with the number of opponents, and a four-player pod routinely puts seven to fifteen cards across three opposing hands, meaning five mana buys a board presence that would cost far more in individual token producers. In 1v1 formats like Modern, Pioneer, or Legacy, you're looking at three to five Squirrels on a good draw, which is poor rate for sorcery speed on turn five against faster, interactive decks. Standard legality is technically on the table, but the card sees no meaningful competitive play there — it's too slow and too dependent on opponents holding cards to compete in a format that closes games early.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.15 bulk tier
At $0.15, Rise of the Varmints sits firmly in bulk territory and is unlikely to climb — it's a casual Commander card with no competitive demand pulling the price upward. Pick it up in a bundle or pull it from a collection; paying singles price for it is a cent decision, not a financial one.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.