We Ride at Dawn looks to be excellent for Rata, .

Sweet!! I just re-read it too. You can get ANY token from your opponents: treasures, clues, food, etc. Only triggers once per turn, so you may just get one drain/gain trigger, but you could get several against a Dockside. It's also a finisher with Rata and token doublers. Love it!!

Rules question: If I create a copy of an opponent's token with Kambal, Stern Mayor does that also trigger Kambal's drain effect? If so, then it's double-gravy against token decks. Wow!!

Yeah I've been off and on and back again with Athreos. Totally understand. Delney has been absolutely money in my Ranar blink deck. It could work here but is definitely ineffective with anthems.

Wow!! Some big changes. I resonated with a few of your changes and couple not so much...in terms of cards that we are, or were, each running. * Teysa, Orzhov Scion - I was planning to swap her our for either Colonel Autumn or Elder Arthur Maxson when they arrive in the mail. I'm leaning towards the ...

Yeah I was confused about how it would be a legendary creature, but on Gatherer one of the rulings is that it retains its types in addition to being a creature. Makes sense now. Thanks. Seems like something fun to test out. Would definitely be better with Rata and at least another token doubler on t...

Gideon doesn't become a legendary creature, so you can't get Commander copies. You could still benefit from the token doublers though.

I'll be curious to hear your report in a few weeks. Of the cards you listed like the idea of Blade of Selves, Mirror of the Forebears, Mirage Mirror, and Saw in Half, which I'm already running. I feel like Legion Loyalty is definitely a finisher when it works, but otherwise it's a dead card in hand ...

I'm looking at Colonel Autumn for my deck as well and of course, Desolate Mire.

That's a great idea. Thanks!!

Had a glorius victory in a three-player pod yesterday against an ooze deck and a planeswalker deck. Decked the table with Altar of Dementia, 8 copies of Mondrak + actual Mondrak, Anointed Procession, Mikaeus the Unhallowed, Yawgmoth, and 15 copies of Mangara of Corondor. It was glorious because one ...

That's a decent option. It may not hit everything you'd want, especially if you're trying to keep Rata alive, but the sacrifice is good. I was also considering Promise of Loyalty. They still get to keep a creature, but at least they can't attack you.

Well, I've played Rata a bit more and realized that I need a greater density of legendary creatures. Still haven't received Erebos in the mail yet, but that'll go straight in. I've found that I haven't really needed Land Tax , so that'll be a cut. So far I haven't had much success with Grave Pact as...

Glad you got more games in. I've noticed what you discussed earlier with Living Death . I haven't been able to get it set up very well and it hasn't benefitted me as much as I'd like. I too will try out Tragic Arrogance in that slot. So far, my games with Rata have gotten close, but I've never reall...

A couple of cards that have put in great work for me are Peace of Mind and Blind Obedience . Peace allowed me to filter lands out later in the game and Obedience got me three life each cast with three opponents still around. The +1 life cards have been handy for my build as well to get me to the thr...

Yeah token generation for a combat damage wincon isn't that strong with The Gaffer. That's why I run Test of Endurance , Felidar Sovereign , Angel of Destiny , and Aetherflux Reservoir . I tried out Approach of the Second Sun and it felt meh to me even with all the card draw. Also, I put in Elixir o...

Quick post as I gotta run soon. I really enjoy my Gaffer deck. It's super unassuming, but turns out to be incredibly strong. You gain so much life and draw so many cards that it's really hard to kill. I think it's one of my strongest decks and I've won with it both times I've played it against my 4-...

Glad you got more games in. I too finally got an actual non-solitaire 4-player game in. Rata did great, if not, too great as eventually folks caught on and gang-killed me. Mangara of Corondor was sort of an all-star as I got two permanents exiled with it and had the chance for six total. But folks u...

You could add Commissar Severina Raine for the card draw (similar to Sarah Jane) and some lifegain as well as pain. There's also Vraan, Executioner Thane for some pain and gain, but only triggers once a turn. I don't think they're that great though for Rata.

Agreed. There will be more legendaries with a lifegain effect in the future, but for now I think we've scoured the list well. As for Bolas's Citadel, that's an idea. It's higher CMC, but it's good one!! I actually two spares sitting in my binder right now. I'd still like to add some lower on the cur...

Thanks for asking that question. I have a better understanding now. Yeah after thinking about it, I think I should just add another repeatable card draw card in Call of the Ring's place. I think Dark Prophecy is actually quite dangerous in this deck as you can lose a lot life due to death triggers f...

So, I played another "4-player" test game this morning with Ratadrabik of Urborg going 1st, Isshin, Two Heavens as One 2nd, Giada, Font of Hope 3rd, and Ranar the Ever-Watchful blink 4th. I called the game around turn 9 as Rata had a ton of life and token doublers out, but Giada and Ranar ...

Yeah I run Land Tax and it's been useful. I consider it card draw and obviously keeps the land drops flowing. I used to run Tithe too when my deck skewed more [sym=w] than [sym=b]. I feel like things ran smoother then, so I may add Tithe back in anyway. I can find Godless Shrine with it. I also just...

I got a "4-player" test game in early this morning against four of my own decks: The Gaffer , Sidar, Jabari of Zhalfir , and Isshin, Two Heavens as One with Rata going third and the others in the order I listed them (Isshin 4th). Overall, Rata didn't do much and really couldn't get thing g...

Repeatable draw would be better. I forgot about Dark Prophecy and it makes sense that you'd test out Daxos considering you'd lose a lot of life drawing cards. I have a spare Necropotence from an unfinished deck I can add. Maybe I'll add it in. Additionally, I've seen Gift of Immortality in other Rat...