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Magic The Gathering Throne of Eldraine and Brawl format combine
Image via Wizards of the Coast Magic: The Gathering
Category:
MTG

MTG rats run wild in Throne of Eldraine with Piper of the Swarm

Beware of the rat piper.
Image of Danny Forster
Danny Forster
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Published: Sep 4, 2019 11:58 am

This article is over 5 years old and may contain outdated information

Rat tribal themes find a helping hand within the Throne of Eldraine set with Piper of the Swarm. 

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The newest MTG set, Throne of Eldraine (ELD), will feature themes of folklore and fairy tales. Black creatures have been the dominating color in today’s spoilers, with Piper of the Swarm being the most recent reveal prior to today’s livestream announcements.

Piper of the Swarm Twitter image MTG Throne of Eldraine
Image via Wizards of the Coast Magic: The Gathering

Rats in MTG once dominated with Rat Colony, but with rotation, this Dominaria card is out of Standard. Piper of the Swarm, though, has the potential to breathe life back into the rat tribal theme. 

As a one/three, Piper of the Swarm withstands attacks from cards like Shock while being able to defend early on the match. Piper also creates rat tokens for the cost of two mana, which might play a major role in ELD cards that have yet to be spoiled. 

Stacking rats has its advantages with Piper of the Swarm. Paying four mana and sacrificing three rats will destroy a target creature. Combining removal with token stacking is worth the two mana cost attached to Piper and will fit nicely into Mono-Black decks running a rat tribal theme. 

Piper of the Storm is worth the hype due to it giving all rat creatures and tokens menace. Burglar Rat, however, is the only rat surviving rotation, so the ELD set will need to have additional rats joining the fray for Piper of the Storm to truly dominate. 

The Throne of Eldraine set releases on Oct. 4 via tabletop and Sept. 27 via MTG Arena and MTGO. The pre-release event for the MTG set will take place from Sept. 27 to 29.  

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Author
Image of Danny Forster
Danny Forster
Danny has been writing for Dot Esports for over five years, first as a freelancer and now as a staff writer. He is the lead beat writer for Magic: The Gathering and Teamfight Tactics. Danny is also a solid Monopoly GO player, having beaten every main event without spending a dime. When Danny isn't writing or gaming, he's chilling by the water in Spacecoast Florida with his family and friends. He's always got a tan, because touching grass is important, and loves playing strategic digital and tabletop games. Past outlets Danny has written for include TheGamer and ScreenRant.
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