Blightbelly Rat: Deck Archetype Performance Analysis

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Blightbelly Rat by Yeong-Hao Han – Phyrexia: All Will Be One card art

Image courtesy of Scryfall.com

Performance snapshot by archetype: Proliferate-driven black poison tempo

In Phyrexia: All Will Be One, a city of oil and chrome, Blightbelly Rat arrives as a small but meaningful engine for toxicity and proliferation. This Phyrexian Rat wears the black mana cost of “{1}{B}” and offers an elegant, low-to-the-ground presence: a 2/2 body with Toxic 1 and a death-triggered proliferate. It’s a classic example of how a common creature can anchor a deck built around one of the set’s most distinctive mechanics—proliferate—without demanding a hyper-dedicated shell. For players chasing poison counters as a win condition, Blightbelly Rat is the kind of resilient, tempo-friendly component that turns otherwise fragile plans into a midrange-to-late-game inevitability 🧪⚔️.

Card at a glance

  • Name: Blightbelly Rat
  • Mana Cost: {1}{B}
  • Type: Creature — Phyrexian Rat
  • Rarity: Common
  • Power/Toughness: 2/2
  • Keywords: Toxic 1, Proliferate (When this creature dies, proliferate.)
  • Set: Phyrexia: All Will Be One (ONE)
  • Legalities: Modern, Pioneer, Legacy, Commander, Historic, etc. (format-specific rules apply)
“In the oily corridors beneath the oil-slicked towers, every bite is a marker; every death, a seed of more counters.”

Blightbelly Rat isn’t a flashy commander of a deck; it’s the patient workhorse that reduces the friction between early aggression and late-game inevitability. Toxic ensures that each strike pushes a potential poison counter, and Proliferate on death makes Blightbelly Rat a consistent engine for stacking up poison or other counters you’re chasing—whether you rely on proliferate synergies elsewhere or aim to overload the board with incremental advantages. The result is a deck that can pivot from a quick race to a grindy, control-adjacent matchup where every removed blocker—the Rat included—still leaves a trail of counters behind 🧙‍♂️🔥💎.

Why this archetype shines in the ONE ecosystem

The One set leans into power-dense archetypes that reward careful sequencing and counter management. Blightbelly Rat’s low mana cost makes it an accessible anchor in builds that want to flood the board with Toxic creatures and then leverage proliferate to accelerate poison accumulation for a late-game win condition. In practice, the Rat plays well with other Toxic threats and proliferate-enablers, turning small exchanges into lasting pressure. Its death trigger is particularly valuable in mid-to-late games where every exhaustion of resources—your opponent’s or your own board—can cascade into stronger board states through proliferate. The card’s accessibility as a common with a respectable stat line also means you’re rarely out of the game if you’re behind on board presence, since the rat’s demise can still tilt the match in your favor 🧪🎲.

Play patterns and deck-building notes

For players exploring a Black-heavy Toxic-Proliferate theme, Blightbelly Rat serves as a reliable early drop that scales into a late-game pressure engine. A typical game plan might involve deploying a handful of Toxic threats to threaten poison counters while you protect and augment your board through proliferate-friendly spells and creatures. When Blightbelly Rat finally dies, you’re not simply losing a body—you’re triggering a proliferate cascade that can nudge multiple permanents and players toward additional counters. That ripple effect makes it a natural fit for disruption-heavy strategies that want to extend the game and tax opponents’ life totals or poison counters with careful, incremental growth 🔥🧙‍♂️.

From a collector’s and value perspective, Blightbelly Rat sits in the common slot, but its recurring utility in Tribal- or Proliferate-focused black decks keeps it relevant for casual to semi-competitive play. The card’s foil and nonfoil prints provide a touch of variety for players chasing aesthetic or tactile differences, and its presence in the ONE set adds a flavorful dose of Phyrexian lore to any collector’s shelf. In terms of price, it tends to hover in the affordable range, making it a practical pickup for budget-conscious builders who want to experiment with a proliferate engine without breaking the bank 💎.

Practical tips for peak performance

  • Pair Blightbelly Rat with other Toxic creatures to maximize pressure per turn. Every attack you land not only wears down life totals but compounds poison counters across the board 💥.
  • Look for death-trigger proliferate enablers—these can turn a single casualty into a cascade of advantage, often reshaping late-game outcomes.
  • Protect your life total and board state with efficient removal and hand disruption. The Rat’s value rises as the game slows and proliferate-themed synergies take hold 🧙‍♂️.
  • In Commander and other multi-player formats, leverage the proliferate payoff on death to shape multiplayer dynamics; a well-timed death spread can tilt political table talk in your favor.
  • Keep an eye on format-legalities and the local meta. While ONE’s Toxic and Proliferate themes shine in many circles, some environments favor heavier control or faster acceleration—adjust your curve accordingly 🔥.

As the multiverse continues to bend under Phyrexian influence, Blightbelly Rat embodies a simple, enduring principle: small tools can trigger big revolutions when placed in the right ecosystem. It’s not just a card in a deck; it’s a reminder that tempo, resilience, and counter-statistics can converge into a surprisingly potent strategy. And if you’re the type who wants to keep playing in style, you can pair your MTG exploration with real-world gear that’s as sturdy as your floor-plan of infinite combos—like the Neon Tough Phone Case 2-Piece Armor for iPhone and Samsung, a little rugged flair for the everyday grind 🚀🎨.

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Blightbelly Rat

Blightbelly Rat

{1}{B}
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.)

ID: 9255cd01-a611-4fec-b9ec-b271687740ba

Oracle ID: b0102259-7a2c-470e-b04b-4a1f615d057c

Multiverse IDs: 602615

TCGPlayer ID: 478927

Cardmarket ID: 693875

Colors: B

Color Identity: B

Keywords: Toxic, Proliferate

Rarity: Common

Released: 2023-02-10

Artist: Yeong-Hao Han

Frame: 2015

Border: black

EDHRec Rank: 2466

Penny Rank: 4773

Set: Phyrexia: All Will Be One (one)

Collector #: 85

Legalities

  • Standard — not_legal
  • Future — not_legal
  • Historic — legal
  • Timeless — legal
  • Gladiator — legal
  • Pioneer — legal
  • Modern — legal
  • Legacy — legal
  • Pauper — legal
  • Vintage — legal
  • Penny — not_legal
  • Commander — legal
  • Oathbreaker — legal
  • Standardbrawl — not_legal
  • Brawl — legal
  • Alchemy — not_legal
  • Paupercommander — legal
  • Duel — legal
  • Oldschool — not_legal
  • Premodern — not_legal
  • Predh — not_legal

Prices

  • USD: 0.19
  • USD_FOIL: 0.24
  • EUR: 0.16
  • EUR_FOIL: 0.16
  • TIX: 0.03
Last updated: 2025-12-16