Plague Rats

Plague Rats first appeared in the Alpha set of Magic: The Gathering in 1993, designed by Richard Garfield as a unique creature card with a mechanic that scaled in power based on the total number of copies present on the battlefield. By the time it was reprinted for the Fourth Edition core set in 1995, it had become a cult classic among players for its ability to dominate games if a player could accumulate enough copies, turning a simple common card into a significant tactical threat.

The artwork for the Fourth Edition version was created by Anson Maddocks, one of the original artists who helped define the game's early dark fantasy aesthetic. Maddocks utilized a gritty, textured illustration style that emphasized the grotesque and swarming nature of the creatures, perfectly aligning with the thematic identity of black-aligned cards in early Magic. The card remains a representative example of the simplified, high-impact design philosophy favored during the early years of the game's release.