This was the main figure I wanted in this set. If I got nothing else, I wanted this Falmer-like Rat King, and he did work! I attended my first organized event today, 400 points that just needed a monster, and I went with a TMNT Villain theme with him. The ability to freely hop around hindering terrain, mind control with super-targeting, perplex & PC is just a devastating combo of abilities! Map? What map? I see no map. I teleport where I want and control what I want. Even an inexperienced player like myself was able to completely wreck house with this cheatyface goblin of a man!

I saw his preview and was instantly enamored. After finally getting to use him, I am never letting him out of my sight.

I had a great experience using him as well. He's great at what he does, and he does a lot. Don't forget Mystics feedback, and Poison is a pretty great as the game moves toward more specialized dials with fewer instances of damage reducers.

Out of the Cellar and onto the map! Both R-Ks are great specialists, although this one has a greater edge. Superb keyword selection to make any themed team a threat.

In love with the deity keyword with outwit for divine aura and the like. MC thru almost anything is sweet and there are so few mystic ta that this guy is at the top of my list to play next.

How does water terrain work for Rat King's trait?

I don't think he it does anything. It acts like hindering to stop movement but I am pretty sure it doesn't ocount for his trait.

Yeah, that's basically what I was getting. I reread the rule book on it, and it says water terrains counts as hindering for movement, clear for line of fire, but for all other instances, it is specifically water, so I don't think the Rat King likes water.

This piece is extremely underrated

This is now one of my go to figures. He is incredibly versatile as a supporter or secondary attacker, and effectively having a mind control reach of 12 squares through anything is amazing! He can be a bit squishy if your opponent ever reaches him, but if the opponent fails to kill him quickly those last 2 clicks of regen, SC, and phasing let him get away and heal with or without hindering.

If you are looking for a mean combo, I ran this Rat King with Space Mikey in an animal theme team. With Mikey's free smoke cloud and granting of side step, Rat King was very mobile. I used my opponent's figure to soften up Devil Dinosaur by mind controlling through a wall, allowing Arrmagon to swoop in KO the dinosaur. And having his prob, Mikey's prob, and Arrmagon's prob was really helpful as well. Hopefully this Rat King pulls his weight again in my ROC.

Poor Rat King, getting pseudo-nerfed all the time.
* Mind Control now restricted to a move & attack.
* Mystics nerf.
* Heavy objects no longer considered hindering terrain.
* As of BTAS, if you move first and fail the breakaway, the whole thing's done.

I'm not saying this guy was busted before. To my knowledge, he was never played competitively, and I stand by this thing being amazing. It just pains me to see how many rules changes hurt him.

Bumping to make the conclusion that Rat King is probably, finally, no longer relevant. What used to be my favorite piece just doesn't do enough for his points, and it's not even power creep to blame (maybe a little bit). Now that Rat King is Golden Age, I don't get to make the argument of Modern being so melee focused that this stealthy-sneaky type will be easily hunted, but it certainly means he's got to face a lot more competition. Certainly, with the variety one might expect to see in Golden games, the Mind Control could be relevant, but I'm nowhere near as excited about Perplex + PC with Alex Wilder able to grab 2 of the big 3 for only 25 points. 18 defense just isn't as good as it used to be, to the point that I expect anything under a 19 to be hit (even then, I really aim for 20).

Rat King is still a fine support piece, but he absolutely needs to be in the right map to be played effectively. I think I'd feel most comfortable running him on a team of 500 or 600 points so that I could get justifiable rewards for his MC while also having enough allies that I can protect him. It simply occurs to me that I haven't played this piece at all... basically since my last post here. At this point, I think he'd have to cost maybe 80 for me to feel good about playing him.

Yet another bump for 2021 rules. Now that more powers are constant and Mind Control is therefore more relevant, Rat King may just find his way into more spots. Unfortunately, I can't use an old trick of Perplexing up his damage to break a wall and make an escape route, which was relevant on some maps. It's still a nice tradeoff. With Mind Control better and the removal of pushing damage, Rat King sees an opportunity to get back in the game. Lovely for my favorite piece in the set.