Grixis Rats & Snail | Wick, the Whorled Mind $100 Budget EDH Deck Tech
Wick, the Whorled Mind | Illustrated by Andrea Piparo
Snail | Illustrated by Steven Russell Black
Hey, nerds! In this week's article, I wanted to tackle one of my favorite commanders from Bloomburrow, Wick, the Whorled Mind. This Rat Warlock reminds me a bit of my favorite Gruul commander, Minsc & Boo, Timeless Heroes. They both create a creature token that they can pump and then sacrifice for value. There are a few differences between these two, aside from their colors. Wick hits all opponents, so if we sacrifice a 10/10 Snail, we deal 30 total damage, compared to just 10 for Minsc & Boo, and because Wick is dealing the damage, we can use Tainted Strike and one-shot the table with infect, and if the Snail dies before we can sacrifice it, we need to have another Rat enter before we get a new copy, unlike Boo, which we always get a fresh copy of on our upkeep. However, that shouldn't be a problem, especially in Grixis, so let's dive in and see how we want to build Wick!
The Rats!
First and foremost, Wick is a Rat-focused commander. We don't get the Snail unless Wick or other Rats enter. Creatures like Vren, the Relentless, Lord Skitter, Sewer King, and Pack Rat should make the cut in pretty much every deck. They all make additional Rats, so we can get a larger Snail. And Wick counts whenever a Rat enters, so if we make ten Rats with Vren, our Snail gets 10 counters. If you have the extra budget, Marrow-Gnawer is essentially a Krenko, Mob Boss for Rats, and it gives all of our Rats fear, which makes them pretty much unblockable.
The Fake Rats!
Much like amass, Wick's ability checks if there is already a Snail in play. By the way, if you're wondering how many Snails there are in Magic, the answer is one. Skullcap Snail is the only pure Snail. However, changelings, like Taurean Mauler, Bloodline Pretender, and Changeling Outcast, are technically Snails. This means Wick needs to give them counters instead of making a Snail token. Tauren Mauler and Bloodline Pretender can already get large incredibly fast, giving us even more value when we sacrifice them to Wick.
The Rat Combo!
The other option is just turning all of our creatures into Snails or Rats with Arcane Adaptation, Conspiracy, and Maskwood Nexus. Technically Maskwood turns all of our creatures into every creature type, but you get the idea. Notably, Arcane Adaptation and Conspiracy let us go infinite so long as we have a sac outlet. Just be careful because, without a sac outlet, if you name Rats with Conspiracy, it will cause an infinite loop and draw the game.
Let me explain. If you have Wick and Arcane Adaptation, naming Rats, in play, when a Rat enters, we get a Snail, so when the Snail enters, it is also a Rat, triggering Wick. With Wick's ability on the stack, you sacrifice the Snail to Ashnod's Altar for colorless mana, Goblin Bombardment for damage, or Altar of Dementia for mill, then since there are no Snails in play we get a new Snail token, which then triggers Wick again. Now we sac the token again, and so on. Any sac outlet works with this combo, but if your sac outlet doesn't let you win, Impact Tremors and Mirkwood Bats can just end the game. If you do include this combo, I'd just pick sac outlets that let you win on the spot. Notably, this combo doesn't work with Maskwood Nexus since it turns everything a Snail and Rat, so you don't get a Snail token.
However, Maskwood Nexus with a card like Cauldron of Souls provides incredible board wipe protection, and since your creatures would come back with a -1/-1 counter, then Wick would let you put a +1/+1 counter on them, removing the -1/-1 counter.
Prolife-a-rats & Infectious Rats
Aside from the combos and Rats, there are a few other cards we could add to Wick. If you want to lean into the +1/+1 counters, you could go with a proliferation theme with cards like Inexorable Tide, Contagion Engine, and Contagion Clasp. If you do go this route, you can also lean into infect with Karumonix, the Rat King and Ichor Rats. You might get some heat for this, but do what you think is fun!
Blinking Rats
The other option, which I think is much more realistic, is a blink package. Panharmonicon and Virtue of Knowledge, while not blink cards, are great at doubling up Wick's trigger. Conjurer's Closet, Thassa, Deep-Dwelling, and a weird card, Mirror of Life Trapping, are repeatable ways to blink our Rats. Also, Vren and Mirror of Life Tapping is a cute interaction.
And if you decide to add blink spells, like Ghostly Flicker, Teferi's Time Twist, or Planar Incision, consider adding Orvar, the All-Form. They are technically a Snail, and they'll let you make token copies of your creatures. The same is true if you run cards like Not Dead After All, Feign Death, and Malakir Rebirth. I think this might be a little too niche, but I just wanted to point this out.
Fun Ideas
There is one card I want to talk about with the disclaimer: it's probably not good in the deck, but Spike Cannibal steals all +1/+1 counters, so if you can make this a Snail somehow, it instantly becomes a huge beater that can be sacrificed to Wick.
If you wanted to build a Gyruda, Doom of Depths companion Rat deck, there are 49 even mana value Rats for you to include. Personally, I'd avoid this, but it is something you can do.
#Winning
So how do we win with the deck? Like I said at the start, since Wick deals the damage, Tainted Strike, Phyresis, and Glistening Oil can one-shot the table. I'm only going to be adding Tainted Strike to the deck since it is such a cheap trick. Also, the combos mentioned earlier are great ways to close out the game, granted they require a little setup. Twisted Sewer-Witch will give all of our Rats Wicked Role Auras, that will ping the table when they hit the graveyard. Bastion of Remembrance is always a good option if you're going to be sacrificing creatures.
