Identifying all the bats in MTG

[@theArcosa]

More bat fun facts that didn’t make it in: 1. Bats are not related to rodents at all and are in fact more related to whales and camels. 2. The oldest recorded living bat was at least 41 years old. An average bat lives for 8-15 years, making bats extremely long-lived for animals their size (living almost 10x as expected). 3. When bats fly, their internal body temperature raises to up to 42C (107.6F). Birds get warmer, but this is still hot enough to be a medical emergency for most mammals. 4. The agave plant is pollinated primarily by bats, meaning bats are responsible for tequila as well 🤮

[@33elk]

Elk is the preferred animal creature type I’ve heard

[@theArcosa]

@@33elk Maybe I’ll do a video about Elks sometime 😈😈😈

[@jacobmullin3428]

Oko, is that you?

[@Kasaaz]

I've seen one squirrel take down an electrical grid. Emrakul requiring 15 squirrels acting in concert seems reasonable.

[@salubrioussnail]

Delightful! Love me some bats, such cute little guys. Also, Darkstar Augur is definitely my favorite card printed this year, I love that it summons a little friend to help out with its devious, life-total-consuming task.

[@theArcosa]

@@salubrioussnail TWO Dark Confidants in a BAT SUIT???

[@SomeGuy712x]

I've definitely gotten a lot of usage out of Darkstar Augur in my Zoraline deck for Commander. I also run Dark Tutelage as an additional "Dark Confidant", along with Phyrexian Arena and Black Market Connections as additional methods of trading life for card advantage. Of course, Zoraline's ability helps me gain some life back as I attack with Bats (including the changeling Shapeshifter I can hire with Black Market Connections), and I have plenty of other life-gain effects too, such as Lifecreed Duo (the Bat version of Soul Warden), along with an actual Soul Warden and the new Dazzling Angel from Foundations, even though they're not Bats. Then, I have additional life-gain payoffs such as Ajani's Pridemate, and of course the Bat version of him, Essence Channeler. I also just added in the new Exemplar of Light from Foundations as another creature that gets +1/+1 counters when I gain life, even though it's an Angel, not a Bat. I had a match recently where I managed to get myself up to 73 life (Elenda, Saint of Dusk certainly helped, hitting with 10 points worth of lifelink every turn, even though she's also not a Bat), and I included Triskaidekaphobia in my deck mainly as another means of getting life-gain triggers, but I actually scored a kill on an opponent with it too when I got them down to exactly 13 life, which was neat. (My life total probably could've gone even higher, but time ran out on our match just after I got the Triskaidekaphobia kill, so we had to stop there, and I don't know how the rest of the match would've played out. Oh, well.) Oh, and if I get out Starscape Cleric too, especially with offspring, all my life-gain effects can just cause the opponents' life totals to automatically drop like a rock. This deck has certainly been fun.

[@lunondisposable5382]

I love both interpretations of bats, both cute and spooky. I enjoy the vampire/demon vibe we've given them as a society, but it does make me sad how afraid of them people are in general. Years back I built a bat box for them to nest in near my house, and nobody would understand why I was helping them :( I even did an assignment on bat trivia in college, I remember one fact was: "The largest species of bat has an approximate wingspan of 1 Bruce Wayne"

[@mattie5097]

love love this video n v happy we got to see more cute bats with bloomburrow, hopefully we get to see even more in the future. and a note on only two of the bats in magic having hadte, in mono black only ~30 creatures have haste (depending on how u count it) and of those 2 of them are bats, given there are ~2500 and only 34 bats i think thats actually a pretty good ratio!

[@theArcosa]

@@mattie5097 My thought was if Phoenix Hatchling was a bat! One of the reasons why bat-borne illnesses are so rare and deadly in humans is because of their insanely strong immune systems. One of their features is that bats habitually spike their body temperate to ~108F / 42C, which means viruses can survive long past where a human would not. So, what if we pushed this to the extreme and we made bats red? Like, a lava/fire-filled bat!

[@Kitten_Cacophony]

I feel similarly about the lack of foxes in the game. Sure, there is one more fox then bat printed (49 as of the end of 2024) but only 17 of those are actual foxes and not kitsune, which upsets me more because we only get kitsune in Kamigawa and yet in our most recent visit we only got six more to add to the collection. Then we went to Bloomburrow where they promised foxes in the marketing and we only one for the commander deck, which coincidentally has a bat swooning in the background.

[@danielsniff6405]

Foxes are a little niche as a creature type, since you need to justify making one over the more popular canid creature types wolf and dog.

[@salvasaur]

I love bats. Was so excited to see them as a featured creature type in BLB. First Standard deck I put together. Orzhov for the win!

[@Soraligh]

I would highly suggest looking into moths too. Moths have a lot of parallels with bats, being harmless to humans, and being nocturnal flying things that people fear and demonize. The death's head hawkmoth is mostly known for the skull pattern on its back and its appearance in Silence of the Lambs, but the worst it actually does is steal honey from bees. In that arms race between bats and moths you mentioned, the death's head hawkmoth has evolved to squeak through its proboscis, disrupting bats' echolocation. Duskmorn leaned heavily into moths as a horror motif, rather than as an actual creature. Outside of Valgavoth himself (who is not typed as an insect) and a single Insect Token, moths are either an aesthetic for Valgavoth's cult, or a reminder of Valgavoth's presence.

[@theArcosa]

@@Soraligh I was thinking about this too! I definitely know less about moths than I do bats, so I’ll need to do some reading up.

[@treetheoak8313]

Okay that bat lore theory goes really hard for a duskmourn bloomburrow crossover

[@TopDecking101]

Loved this! I've been hoping that wizards would make a two sided card where one side is a vampire and the other side is a bat. Would be a cool way where you can do something with the vampire side and then maybe pay mana to flip it into a bat with evasion. Keep up the great content!

[@theArcosa]

Screeching Bat is a vampire DFC! But it's not very good!

[@TopDecking101]

@ Damn, At least it’s a flavor win!

[@SomeGuy712x]

Sengir Nosferatu is a Vampire that can effectively transform into a Bat as well, by exiling itself, and then the Bat token that's produced has the ability to sacrifice itself to bring the exiled Sengir Nosferatu back to the battlefield, which is neat.

[@Reytromancer]

New Arcosa video dropped?! Let’s gooooo. I think bat is the only kindred I haven’t explored yet. I deeply appreciated the fun facts though!!

[@SkyeGMSquad]

I'm here to drop the Local Internet Bat Seal of Approval! This was a real fun video. Keep it up!

[@Debatra.]

Love to find a fellow bat-nerd. Instant sub, even if I didn't also love magic. I'd been wanting Bat Tribal to be viable in commander (without resorting to Morophon and a bunch of changelings) for years. Then they released Aclazotz and I felt like I'd just been Monkey-Pawed since I didn't want to play discard-shutdown. Bloomburrow was a blessing, but I'd love to have more bats.

[@chudleycannonfodder]

This was amazing! Didn’t expect to learn so much biology AND look at cute animals in a Magic video! Now I want to build my friend that loves bats a bat themed deck!

[@ZonamaPrime]

Your channel punches above it's sub-count. This had a very Rhystic Studies feel. Love it.

[@samuelham4520]

This is in fact the only good MTG video that’s ever been made. Bat sweep.

[@JamesWWare]

My wife and I are huge animal lovers (we just became members of our local zoo). We had a little brown bat get stuck in our bedroom window last year (thankfully, she managed to escape a few hour later). I have been fascinated by bats ever since. This is the perfect intersection of my bat interest and MtG nerdom. Thank you very much! Now I need to go build that bat commander deck I've been dreaming...

[@theArcosa]

@@JamesWWare Hopefully many more bats in MTG to come in the future!

[@crashka5860]

the colony of microbats living in my street tree and the flying foxes that eat my apricots aprove of this video

[@theArcosa]

You're so lucky to get to be near both 😭

[@ThickpropheT]

Green bats would be pretty cool. Maybe help drop a little splash of flying into green. Maybe there could be one that generates a food token or something and the flavor would be that he's delivering you some fruit :3

[@theArcosa]

I think Birds of Paradise and Gilded Goose are definitely color pie breaks, but their cards could have easily been bats!

[@ThickpropheT]

@@theArcosa Well, that's what I get for playing so much mono black xD Had no idea about the goose

[@halocrap]

excellent bat content

[@parke4112]

The algorythm delivered

[@rionoftheburningabyss570]

I have a feeling a bat made this video. But jokes aside I loved everything about this thank you a lot

[@thetrinketmage]

Lizard > Bat

[@PerfectSevenMTG]

Gev players unite!?

[@PerfectSevenMTG]

Such a solid video Arcosa! Will we see a Bat deck played on GMR one day?! Most likely after this video! 😂

[@theArcosa]

@@PerfectSevenMTG Maybe they’ll make a bat precon the next time we go to Bloomburrow. What kind of coffee will you serve for it?

[@Thror251]

I want to keep subscribing to bat facts!

[@texansaguaro220]

If you look to the neighboring WotC IP, D&D, the Dragonborn of Forgotten Realms use Giant Bats as their highly prized steeds.

[@theArcosa]

@@texansaguaro220 Wow, thanks for the tip! I’ve been slogging through BG3 and haven’t encountered that yet.

[@texansaguaro220]

@@theArcosa I don't think it's featured in BG3. It's mentioned in novels: "The Spectral Blaze" by Richard Byers in addition to two books from the Brimstone Angels saga by Erin M. Evans "Ashes of the Tyrant" and "The Devil You Know".

[@theArcosa]

@ Ah, okay, bummer! I was interested because my character is a Dragonborn! I’ll have to check out more of the Forgotten Realms, though.

[@DuskyPredator]

My familiarity with a 5th D&D book I think put up that giant bats were also steeds of some orcs. I am only mentioning as an update to lore is expanding orcs as not a more inherently evil race. I hope that when they expand on the new versions of orcs that they integrate bats as similarly misunderstood in reputation.

[@geeknseek]

Bloomburrow giving lots of rep to vamp diversity. I wonder what direction the artists were given

[@theArcosa]

@@geeknseek I would guess they got a vague prompt of “big eared bats” since that’s the only design element I can find in common!

[@Necrodreaded]

That’s cool anyway more zombies pls

[@DrowningMoon]

Pretty sure a bat that learned human language made this video actually propaganda

[@theArcosa]

@@DrowningMoon 🦇 *nervous chittering*

[@midnightbard3935]

As an aspiring linguist, that inclusion of the IPA took me down 😂

[@daggerpuppets]

I thought the Büttikofer’s bat was a fake, but no! That’s actually what their heads look like. They do look like someone took a small dog’s head and has sewn it onto a bat’s body.

[@paulwestmoreland3757]

Did you recognize any other cards as being similar to Mexican Free Tailed Bats? As a native Texan Mexican, the species js really close to my heart.

[@ZonamaPrime]

I'm a Spider-Deck guy!

[@alexanderiverson707]

Not to be that guy but the Peregrine Falcon is actually fastest due to its drop speed.

[@theArcosa]

@@alexanderiverson707 The Mexican free-tailed bat is the fastest mammal on Earth. Falcons aren’t mammals! 😜 Later on, I specify that free-tailed bats also have the fastest sustained horizontal flight speed of any animal. Diving is an expression of aerodynamics, but horizontal flight also includes power and endurance. The fact that little (truly tiny) bats can maintain such speed is commendable.

[@Aaron-ch7zt]

Bats

[@henrycai5029]

D1 yapper

[@brutusthebear9050]

It's too bad bats are the most common vector for the transmission of rabies

[@theArcosa]

@@brutusthebear9050 It’s regrettable but animal-borne illnesses aren’t rare (e.g. swine flu, bird flus, plague). Bats shoulder a lot of the blame because their immune systems are so robust that they select for deadly diseases. However, in many cases, zoonoses of all sorts spread most often due to human influence. Since you mention rabies, though, I would like to point out that globally the human infection rate of rabies is around 99% from dogs. If you are watching from the US, rabies from dogs is rare due to our fastidious vaccination program. From the 40s to the 90s, the main vector in the US was actually the raccoon and would remain so until the early 2000s. Since we started vaccinating raccoons in the late 90s, that number has steadily decreased and bats have only taken their #1 spot (~30% of cases in US) within the last decade. This statistic is often thrown around, but in context, rabies is quite rare not only in humans, but also bats. Less than 1% of bats have rabies in nature, but the bats we test are more likely to have it (we only test the ones that seem rabid), so there is also confirmation bias at play. This doesn’t mean that wildlife isn’t dangerous to handle, or that we should put down all dogs / raccoon / bats-but that there’s a bigger picture and the conflation of bats = rabies is harmful. (Not accusing you of doing this, but it is a widespread misconception.)

[@brutusthebear9050]

@theArcosa Bats account for 33% of all wildlife rabies cases in the US while racoons are, as you said, 30%. While rabies may in fact be rare in bats, it remains true that most people who get rabies will get it from a bat. Further, bats and humans rarely interact because we have different sleep cycles and they fly (as well as trying to avoid people). So if someone comes in contact with a bat, there is a good chance that it is rabid (as it would be acting abnormal). Much like how a racoon approaching in broad daylight means it is likely rabid. Trust me, I have a real appreciation for bats. Gnats swarm here during the summer and bats are their main predator. But I would never interact with a bat directly if I can help it.

[@theArcosa]

@@brutusthebear9050 I agree and don’t think that ANYONE should approach any form of wildlife unless the situation calls for it. The 30% value I cited was accounting for the fact that only 90% of cases in the US are from wildlife, hence 33% of 90% is 30%. Raccoons account for 27% of rabies cases in the US. However, this is ONLY in the United States and globally, dogs are still #1. The 99% statistic was not an exaggeration.

[@brutusthebear9050]

@theArcosa Yes, but it's important to remember that places that are more likely to have wild dogs, poor healthcare, and a lack of education about rabies are where the majority of rabies cases would be found. Comparing 1:1 between 1st world and 3rd world on this doesn't make sense, any more than comparing GDP of countries with wildly different populations. To get a useful number, you would have to divide the cases for a specific animal by the total cases in that country, and then average those numbers together. I think this adjusted number would have a less extreme bias toward dogs. It should also be noted that humans and dogs are around eachother far more. If 1% of dogs have rabies and 50% of bats have rabies, humans will still get rabies from dogs far more often than bats, simply because we roll the dice (so to speak) more often with the 1% odds.

[@theArcosa]

@@brutusthebear9050 That’s the crux of why I bring all of this up in the first place. Bats are only highly-ranked in rabies transmission in 1st world countries, and only recently took the #1 spot. Our neglect of bats and mistrust of them is feeding into the stigma, which in turn worsens the situation. I don’t follow what you mean by isolating each country’s statistics. The 99% statistic is not comparing 1st and 3rd world. It includes 1st world countries on a global scale, so isolating individual countries would only push the transmission rate from dogs in many, many countries closer to 100%. This isn’t bias; it’s fact. Your point about dogs interacting with humans is salient-and this is why I brought up raccoon vaccines in the first place. Dogs interact with humans, so our regulations have helped greatly. We only worked on raccoons in the United States because they were becoming a problem. Few are willing to work on bats. Once again, bats ARE the #1 vector for rabies ***in the United States***, but only recently. The same way you say comparing the 1st and 3rd world is unfair, it’s unfair to then say that bats are “the most common vector of rabies” (in regard to your original comment) when (1) we neglect them and (2) rabies is not an endemic health issue for places where bats are the highest transmittors. In every place where rabies is a real issue, with a margin of 95-to-1, the most common vector (99%) is dogs. The most common vector for rabies is dogs. SARS, Marburg, or Nipah are better examples of demerits for bats. But, those are discussions for another time.