$30 of Varmints vs. Standard | Budget Magic

How many Rise of the Varmints tokens does it take to win a game of Outlaws of Thunder Junction Standard? Let's find out on today's Budget Magic!
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0:00 Start
4:20 Games

[@brysonlambes7175]

The flavour of plot is that you are the big villain, monologuing about your plans to the hero.

[@madgodloki]

Very true, I was originally thinking it was plot like a plot of land you're settling down but they're actually plots like evil plans lol

[@zeusalternative1270]

You're planning for the future, and is fun that is mostly used to make combos so you're literally and metaphorically plotting.

[@braddtheodd3390]

The Flavor is that if it was facedown you'd confuse it with Foretell.

[@laurentrobitaille2204]

@@braddtheodd3390 Imo, mechanically foretell and plot should have been swapped. When you foretell something you know something in advance whereas you don’t want someone to know you’re plotting something against them.

[@laurentrobitaille2204]

It’s still weird because if you’re “revealing” your plan, then you’re not plotting anymore.

[@zachgray4767]

Foretelling an event is secretive, plotting an event is public knowledge. Got it.

[@laurentrobitaille2204]

WotC moment

[@jaysonking4055]

Was going to comment literally the same thing. Cause it makes absolutely no sense

[@malcomchase9777]

Foretell means a seer told you what's coming, Plot means you are a villain monologing about your plan. Yeah, the names work better backwards, but the mechanical implementation of the free spell needs it to be face up, or it would be too overwhelming.

[@laurentrobitaille2204]

@@malcomchase9777 Would’ve been smarter to make another mechanic altogether or reuse an older mechanic that would work thematically like raid.

[@TheGrifcannon22]

Instead of plotting, it should be scheduling.

[@theodorestephens2504]

Screaming at my screen that picklock prankster's adventure is an instant...

[@Samst0n]

It’s basically engagement bait at this point. Read the cards Seth!

[@MTGGoldfish]

@@Samst0n Never! (Okay, maybe sometimes...)

[@deadneck13]

Glad I wasn't the only one screaming....

[@YohWolf]

The term is non pretentious if you watched the video

[@MurdoktheMimicKing]

For anyone curious I looked it up and the difference between vermin and varmint is that vermin refers specifically to small pests like mice and insects. Varmint is broadly just any troublesome animal like a wolf to sheep even, technically.

[@mostlyholy6301]

"Varmint" is actually just a variant spelling of "vermin", they have the exact same meaning.

[@RedWurm]

@@mostlyholy6301 yes - a fun relic of changing pronunciations. 'Vermin' kept the same spelling but changed the vowel sound, 'Varmin(t)' kept the old vowel sound, and updated the spelling to match.

[@derrickthewhite1]

I've heard "Varmit" used as a legal term meaning "An animal you can shoot without worrying about hunting licenses, hunting tags, or hunting seasons". As in a coyote, prairie dog, skunk or jackrabbit.

[@MurdoktheMimicKing]

And as the English language tends to go, there seems to be a hundred definitions that nobody can agree on lol who knows the real mystery behind the elusive varmints...

[@WusigiDr1]

So I’m a varmint to the closest pizza place got it.

[@Terrabyte13]

Varmits were unrionically my prerelease draft all star. Its so easy to get a massive amount of bodies on the board.

[@51gunner]

I'd kind of dismissed it as a "whatever" uncommon, but seeing it in a self-mill style deck is really cool. That really is a lot of 2/1s. Part of me wants to brew it Gruul or Naya-style and see if I can use green's self-mill tools well enough to fill the yard, then rock something like Plotted Varmints into Imodane's Recruiter for a ton of hasty 3/1 Varmints. I may not even need the white mana for Recruiter's adventure.

[@benjamingillispie5614]

I wasn't expecting the first 20 seconds 😅

[@joelhoskins2066]

At <a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="3005">50:05</a> I love the new lore that “The Magic Gods” are the ones asking if you had fun at the end of a match 😂

[@AutkastKain]

I love all the recent budget episodes. Sometimes it's just a different take in monored, but these have all been so good

[@MTGGoldfish]

Thanks!

[@hugmonger]

Seth just shipped a winning game at <a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="1740">29:00</a>... he had 2 adventure fairies and a fairy in hand against an opponent with 4 life.... seth why?

[@vipershark1]

1 blue

[@TheCarJesus]

Agreed... just cos your salty that your big play didn't end up winning doesn't mean you can't chip away with tiny creatures. Won like that many times, and the opponent had a mere 3 cards after burning most of their hand trying to cope.

[@ruthpol]

Jep, definitely salty ... I guess he says his stupid catchphrase "people yell at me when I scoop early!" now only when the match is almost unwinnable, which is ironic ...

[@dracish123456789]

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="1743">29:03</a> with 3 1/4 fliers and opponent t 4 life. Like that was one of the weirdest positions to concede in.

[@jamblock1]

Were you really out of the game at <a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="1740">29:00</a>? You have all these potential vigilant (can't be exiled to gain life) flyers and opponent is at 4 with 2 cards?

[@holopldl]

Yeah, it's not over until the flyers are also answered.

[@OGNoNameNobody]

This Comment is Correct; Opponent had only 3 cards left & no *Deluge* in yard. Seth was about 17% to win, but its a shot.

[@Xorthis]

He doesn't seem to realize Free the Fae is an instant too. He complained about not being able to mill enough in the second game, but passed through the opponent's turn with the mana to cast it, then main phased it in the next turn instead of holding ertai and deciding if he wanted to mill or not. But yeah that was totally a saltyscoop despite having lethal in 2 in hand.

[@claytortise154]

Yeah I was thinking the exact same thing. He's 100% still in it

[@TransformersBoss]

Yet another preemptive scoop. Salty because his varmints died

[@machtus]

Plot is face up because every good villain monologues about their evil plan before it's realized

[@MooGiGon666]

That intro was peak

[@jakecollin5499]

I checked like 5 times to see if it was an ad or I was on the wrong video

[@cuddlequeen3225]

Thanks for teaching us about ground squirrels

[@TForgery]

When you said Varmint Time it just made my mind to to Muddstah's "game review time"

[@Mercra]

The sourcing of that intro clip is already impressive.

[@MTGGoldfish]

It made me laugh, I wasn't sure anyone else would get it.

[@HurricaneGregor]

Marty Stouffer's Wild America. Now THAT is pure nostalgia :)

[@xchronox0]

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="1435">23:55</a> Opponent steals an island and plays it "What are they gonna steal from us?" later "Jokes on you opponent we got no blue mana" 😂

[@samuelgardner2653]

When Seth finally actually said 'Analyst' instead of 'analysis', I literally felt a knot in my shoulder vanish

[@chronosorion6911]

Attacking with the 0 power Archeologist probably confused the heck outta that opponent, what a power move! 😂😂😂

[@TheLunaLockhart]

"unpretentious main phase play with fire" KILLED ME LMAO

[@Jimmy.1979]

OMG!! I love the intro!! Wild America was my favorite show as a kid!

[@Dsmky117]

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="376">6:16</a> the disbelief in seth's voice was so funny to me

[@sen6516]

Seems like in a lot of game this deck is starved on blue sources, this deck could use more of then

[@Enhame_]

Yeahh you mention the bo3 grave hate: one of those was def me, it's a shame since just as you mentioned it was incidental casualty from temur analyst :( I was playing a bant Flicker list which can do really cool stuff but g1 was decided quickly then G2 I just hit the turn 2 RIP and it was over. Still fun to run into you on ladder!

[@josemiguelcolella5508]

I tired this deck yesterday and it is really fun. Thanks for sharing!

[@Truthkills002]

Great Deck and love the idea behind it!! As always, awesome content guys

[@MTGGoldfish]

Thanks!

[@kentloucks5301]

Interesting deck. Even more fun to watch

[@jesseknorr8037]

I was looking at this card with Immodane's Recruiter and Bitter Reunion They let you give your Varmints haste, and Immodane's Recruiter makes your varmint swarm 3/1s with haste

[@WusigiDr1]

Only time I ever play standard or historic or anything really on arena is when Seth puts together a budget deck. Love it.

[@punklingyt]

Magic's flavor is peak, "I have outlaws, dragons, machine beings, angels to help me to victory!" "...so I'm going to maul them, and then you, to death with squirrels"

[@chronosorion6911]

Analyst❤! Oh, and I think the difference is that Varmints can be vermin, but not the other way around, because varmints live outside and prefer it that way, vermin invade homes and cities and sewers. It’s a subtle difference, but it’s like the difference between rats/mice and something like prairie dogs, possums, and armadillos. 😀 Squirrels and chipmunks are both at the same time, it depends on if they’re in the woods, or stuffing your attic with nuts.😂

[@LyonsDenMedia]

I need Seth to write a children's book called "Everyone Punts". To go on shelves next to "Everyone poops".

[@brushwagg7735]

Wild America shoutout! Nice!

[@michaelburt9888]

I’m getting Innistrad Spider Spawning vibes from this deck. Cool budget brew Seth!

[@Martini_1911]

I feel like there should be more than 2 islands in this deck considering the number of blue spells present. Seth was pinched on blue mana literally every game lol

[@derrickthewhite1]

totally. the blue cards are key to the deck. you never need double blue, but the blue spells tend to be either very cheap or things you want to do twice in a turn.

[@Pehr81]

This reminds me of a deck I played back in the 90s. It used Ertais familiar to mill a lot of creatures into the graveyard, then I smacked Tombstone Stairwell on the board and attacked with a lot of zombies for lethal. I might craft this.

[@zeusalternative1270]

I would try to combo with Imodane recruiter to increase the damage even more and have letal in that one turn.

[@Nate303]

This deck is so much fun

[@masonsavage4532]

Fun list. Makes me wanna experiment with a Gruul list. Use the plot and use the mana to sac a Bitter Reunion for some haste

[@brenton6016]

Could be fun to add red for imodane's recruiter. when you cast the varmints for zero you have mana up to give them haste.

[@chartypeplays2396]

It's always fun to haste up your massive board, but I don't think that imodane's recruiter is optimal for this deck. Having haste doesn't usually make a difference unless your opponent has a board wipe, and ertai is a better answer to that. It's within the colors that this deck wants already, and it has a useful effect when you don't have your lethal board assembled.

[@brenton6016]

@@chartypeplays2396 Oh yeah I wasn't going for optimal, I was going for fun haha.

[@classycasual3910]

Love that intro 😭😀

[@jaysmith7062]

I’m thinking about making this deck. I was considering, because I’m cheap, replacing some of the rares with bitter reunions to give the varmints haste. You’re already running riveteers land, so throwing a couple of mountains might not hurt that much.

[@Tordo123]

Exceptional opening

[@DctrJimbo]

Wow I literally already have all the rares for this. The deck seems super fun

[@SAAdams]

Best intro EVER!

[@nathannishi9]

So sad to not see ol 'stick here but the deck looked great

[@SirLanik]

I haven't had a chance to play games with it yet myself, but another card I wonder about a lot for this (especially as a budget option) is Slickshot Lockpicker. Still a creature, can plot for when it's needed, and will let us directly flashback some Varmints.

[@zachgray4767]

For future reference when gang-blocking, you can just click the number above the tokens and click what you want to block.

[@noobtube2799]

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="3190">53:10</a> there is a cut that made my brain break

[@jasonbelkengren1855]

Surprised more people aren't talking about Rise of the Varmits. I've been brewing with i a ton. I've found Gruul is the best combo allowing to give your varmints haste, plus the thrill of playing a Devilish Valet then dropping a Rise if the Varmits feels soooo good!

[@joshcushing2652]

I dont know if anything is funnier than Atraxa being overwhelmed by a large pile of homey badgers.

[@zaksaturday1693]

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="1433">23:53</a> The most excruciating thing here is seeing them take YOUR ISLAND

[@dmsnaz7474]

The little varmints that could

[@viserproductions1]

Other than the mana base what upgrades do people recommend?

[@swisssaga4419]

i would love to pair a one of turtle for bouncing in the early game and shegeky loops later

[@christopherealy8025]

Varmints should have been squirrels. That way we could get some cross synergy with Bloomburrow in the next set. Thank you fir coming to my ted talk.

[@DonovanPresents]

Vermin are small, rat creatures in nature, and Varmints are slightly larger rats that are a cross between a squirrel and a possum

[@thygrrr]

Tip: if you click the number next to a stack of units, you can declare the whole stack to block, or attack. And then you can individually split the units out to the stack.

[@ADruid25]

Honestly it would have been better thematically to have swapped the definition of Plot and Fortell. It would make more sense for Fortell to be known to all, but the Plot would be hidden.

[@galacticgamer6635]

Wow, what a bold, radical take. I’m sure wizards will hop in their Time Machine if enough of these get made.

[@DerpyLaron]

Could you do another Pioneer budget deck next?

[@dankrocka64]

Case of the Locked Hothouse + Tatyova, Steward of Tides = create 2 4/4 flying creatures with haste for free ... tech: Lost in the Maze(which you can play off the top with case) to tap any flyers in the way, or buy time on defense

[@OnePointSafety]

@<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="1980">33:00</a> Ertai can counter abilities

[@pablolins]

Wish I could See a Varmints and first day of class deck

[@honkforpeaceandquiet]

Varmints plus Devilish Vallet is my favorite deck right now

[@BeCurieUs]

Does this card work in modern? Is there any reason to use it instead of some other mass-reanimator like all the cascade decks?

[@Tinil0]

Aw, when I saw Varmints I thought you were playing the interesting combo deck I saw on ladder that uses Rise of the Varmints+Devilish Valet to OTK you out of nowhere. That was an interesting deck.

[@Tinil0]

Also daily reminder that I am committed to having you actually pronounce Takenuma right for once in your entire life. Just one time. I would give anything. It's my life's mission. Please give this to me. It can be your birthday present to me.

[@Sientir]

I want to see this deck concept, but with Anger. XD

[@ReyosBlackwood]

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="523">8:43</a> The standard legal mono red sweeper for you would be End the Festivities, not likely main deck, but i could see it in sideboards to use against go wide token decks like this

[@LordZurkov]

I'm honestly surprised it doesn't see more maindeck action. Hoses boros, cleans up low PWs, and worst case scenario it's 1 to face and a prowess trigger.

[@ReyosBlackwood]

@@LordZurkov those are reasons id expext it in a sideboard

[@forgottonpast6847]

I am shocked founding of the third path isn’t in this deck! It works with adventure cards mills for cards and lets you recast the varmits. It may not be a create itself but it does pull it’s weight!

[@tthakshmm3349]

@<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="1330">22:10</a> you had exactly leathel even if you didn't kill Atraxa, that's how overwhelming the varmints were

[@ryangainey94]

Vermin has a negative connotation, meaning the creature is a pest or unwanted creature. A varmint can refer to the same kind of small, furry, troublesome creature, but it lacks the same negative connotation usually. It's more like just a wild animal in general, if that makes any sense, while vermin is very specifically an unwanted pest. Some vermin are varmints and some varmints can be vermin as well, but on the whole they're distinct groupings. For example, a Rat might be both vermin and varmint, a regular mouse is a varmint that could be vermin but isn't necessarily vermin, and the same might go for a raccoon (some people keep raccoons as pets), and a cockroach or mosquito is an example of a vermin that isn't a varmint.

[@bjarkov12]

Hi Seth! Thoughts on Bitter Reunion in the deck?

[@MTGGoldfish]

Giving all the varmints haste does seem pretty sweet :)

[@bjarkov12]

@@MTGGoldfish After watching I've built the deck using 2 Bitter Reunions as well as some jund and grixis triomes and a mountain or two in the mana base to support them. It has been really good for me (Reunion is also mill if you squint) - as you yourself experienced the turn you have to protect your varmints can be a problem and Reunion solves that nicely Urborg Lhurgoyf is the first card to add when going further above budget, btw. I think it plays even better than the Somnophages

[@murlocmasher3368]

Amazing intro

[@rnew1496]

It’s so overtly crazy, the opponents never believed it was coming.

[@ToadboyMTG]

Make a version of this deck that has a actually functioning mana base please.

[@ManaPirate]

Plot and foretell should swap hidden and revealed. Makes way more sense flavourwise that way

[@jameshayes-barber9340]

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="1745">29:05</a> You had a good chance of winnign with Picklock beeats. They were at four life and you had three in total. Picklock has flying and vigilance so Wandering Emperor cant exile them or make tokens to block it. Your life total was high enough that even if they did deal with the faeries that gives you tons of time to rebuild for another varmit wave or just beat them down with creatures.

[@person3176]

i tried building sultai graveyard/varmints in standard but i was really unimpressed. 2 mana 18/18s with no evasion that either get chumped for days or die to removal.. I was hoping varmints would help the deck push through, but i didn't get to cast it very often.

[@herbertwiley]

No Vilespawn Spider from VOW? {u}{g}, 2/3 creature with reach, at the beginning of your upkeeep mill a card, then {2}{u}{g}, {t}, sac ~: create a 1/1 green insect creature token for each creature card in your graveyard. No, 1/1 insects are not 2/1 varmints, but it does self-mill, puts a creature card in the graveyard when it sacs itself, and does a decent Rise of the Varmints approximation in mid-to-late game. You could use them in place of Blanchwood Prowler, which underperformed every time it showed up.

[@sgjuxta]

What's funny is that at the end of game 2 against domain, they were just dead on board if you swung out *through* the Atraxa. The best they could do is block one of the 14 varmints and the Echo and Ertai, which would put them exactly dead to the 27 damage from 13 varmints and the archeologist 😳

[@frankclosser3901]

Isn't the flavor of the "Plot" mechanic related to land? Like plotting a stretch of land for development.

[@seanv42]

I feel like you could fuse this with the insidious roots deck to make a really powerful self mill brew.

[@11macedonian]

I thought the same at first, but they do kinda work opposite each other since insidious roots beeds creatures to leave the graveyard

[@zigzag2370]

Wonder how good rosenof varmints is with the legendary creature that changes all of the tokens you create into a 3/1 dog with vigilance or 2/2 cat with haste suddenly youre able to win on the spot

[@zigzag2370]

Jinne fay jetmirs second

[@jameshayes-barber9340]

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="1986">33:06</a> Ertai can counter abilities. It could have countered that land effect and blocked

[@FelisPuma]

Love the deck, but I don't think Seth knows the spell side of Picklock Prankster is an Instant (unless he's just being unpretentious).

[@Brooks0511]

it’s the plural tense i believe right ? vermin is plural varmint

[@thecrazycapn]

The artistic design of Varmints is kinda strange. They have a big, beaver-like tail, but otherwise are a cross between an armadillo and a Gremlins gremlin. They're cute in the Rise of the Varmints art, but gross looking on the token.

[@StarshadowMelody]

run aftermath analyst as removal protection

[@muhammadrafi4723]

Met someone with Temur version of this while playing Grixis Poison, i thought i was against Temur Worldsoul combo but they then cast Devilish Valet and cast Rise of the Varmint. Too bad i have Invoke Calamity in hand, dude scooped immediately when i recast Ill-Timed Explosion from my graveyard lol

[@ashtonwestfall4777]

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="720">12:00</a> foretell and plot should switch names

[@TimeWalkTV]

Says there is no combo with analyst.. proceeds to play 12 + sac lands 😂 love the deck idea

[@user-im7uj2mm3r]

I think I can fuse this with my insidious roots deck😮

[@zigzag2370]

There is also a new creature that costs 3 mana its name has lockpicker in its name unsure of what its full name is but it is uncommon in ourlaws and has an etb that gives spells in our graveyard flashback... for 3 mana and leaves behind the 2/3 body ...its actually how i have been playing limited with rise.ofnthe varmints 😅

[@olipod5470]

Someone steamrolled me around a week ago by playing this game plan but all the Rise of the Varmints are plotted to then put a Devilish Valet on the battlefield and swing with a stupidly lethal threat

[@GaleeStorm]

At game 2, did seth forget that picklock prankster's adventure is instant speed? He kept ertai up to counter board wipes but kept forgetting to cast the prankster at end step.

[@GaleeStorm]

Also, the deck def looks like it needs more islands lol, game 3 opp stole an island and i think he milled another one so seth was stuck with one island the whole game

[@FlyingSpaceOstrich]

I love me a good build-around uncommon

[@thelocustgod9098]

Can’t even keep dang varmints off my farm

[@camfunme]

You do know Free the Fae is an instant right?

[@garmatey3816]

why Ertai over just regular counterspells?

[@Samst0n]

Creature in graveyard for the varmints, also it’s removal for atraxa that’s already on board if you draw him later, and it can counter abilities but Seth forgot that part.

[@303dannyb]

@<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="1740">29:00</a> Why concede? Am I missing something? Oppo only has one mana and you could topdeck a sorcery, blue mana, or another creature; or just run out your fliers one by one? You have life total and untapped advantage. Isn't he in a better spot than the oppo?