Wave of Rats
Creature — Rat
Trample
When this creature dies, if it dealt combat damage to a player this turn, return it to the battlefield under its owner's control.
Blitz 
(If you cast this spell for its blitz cost, it gains haste and "When this creature dies, draw a card." Sacrifice it at the beginning of the next end step.)
- CMC
- 4
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- B
- Rarity
- rare
- Set
- New Capenna Commander
- Price
- $4.58
- EDHREC rank
- #8747
Wave of Rats puts a free Rat token into play every time it attacks, then bounces itself to your hand so you can repeat the threat next turn. The recursion is built-in and costs nothing extra — Totentanz, Swarm Piper turns that loop into an engine that scales faster than opponents can answer it.
Best Commanders
Commanders with the highest synergy
Totentanz, Swarm Piper
Totentanz, Swarm Piper converts every Wave of Rats attack trigger into a Rat that feeds Totentanz's sacrifice and drain effects, making the self-bounce a feature rather than a drawback — you're generating value every combat without spending additional cards.
Karumonix, the Rat King
Karumonix, the Rat King wants a critical mass of Rats in play, and Wave of Rats delivers a new body every attack step without ever requiring a recast, keeping the poison-counter clock ticking.
Ashcoat of the Shadow Swarm
Ashcoat of the Shadow Swarm buffs the whole Rat tribe, so each token Wave of Rats produces is immediately a larger threat, and the steady stream of attacks turns Ashcoat's combat bonuses into repeated pressure.
Wick, the Whorled Mind
Wick, the Whorled Mind rewards decks that flood the board with small creatures, and Wave of Rats guarantees at least one new attacker per turn cycle without drawing removal on itself between attacks.
Marrow-Gnawer
Marrow-Gnawer's untap ability scales with Rat count, and Wave of Rats steadily inflates that number while threatening to go wide faster than spot removal can keep pace.
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 |
Wave of Rats is a Commander card first and almost exclusively — the self-bounce mechanic is too slow for Legacy or Vintage, where the card is technically legal but will never see competitive play. In Commander, it earns its slot specifically in tribal Rat builds, where the repeating token generation compounds quickly and the absence of a hard cast cost each subsequent turn makes it resilient to attrition strategies. Oathbreaker is the one fringe format where it could see niche play in a Rat-focused shell, but the smaller deck size and faster pace make the card's incremental engine less reliable there than in the 100-card singleton environment where Wave of Rats genuinely thrives.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$4.58 cheap tier
At $4.58, Wave of Rats sits in the budget-premium range — cheap enough that no Rat tribal deck should balk at including it, but priced above bulk because demand from Totentanz and Karumonix commanders keeps it from bottoming out. It holds its value as long as those commanders remain popular, which shows no sign of slowing.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
- Totentanz, Swarm Piper
- Karumonix, the Rat King
- Ashcoat of the Shadow Swarm
- Wick, the Whorled Mind
- Marrow-Gnawer
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.