All 23 Mice in Magic Ranked

Last updated on September 10, 2025

Arthur, Marigold Knight | Illustration by Steven Belledin

Bloomburrow is a furry set, and with it comes a bunch of adorable creature types. This entire Magic set, from Bloomburrow‘s story to its cozy flavor and mechanics, feel like a breath of fresh air.

Bloomburrow has some very concise and fun typal themes, and today we talk about a creature type that, while not really exclusive to Bloomburrow, got some real support with this set: mice! Squeak yeah!

While otters are the creature type that excite me the most out of Bloomburrow, mice hold a close second for me. I really like their identity, I find their mechanics fun, and, well, have you seen the adorable little guys?

But let’s search the whole, and take a look at all of Magic’s mice!

What is a Mouse in MTG?

Whiskerquill Scribe | Illustration by Matt Stewart

Mouse is a creature type in MTG, focused mostly on small, combat-oriented creatures in red and white. Even though most of Magic's mice come from Bloomburrow, the few previous ones were already very combat-focused in their abilities. The BLB batch cemented their aggressive nature with valiant as their main mechanic.

Mice like a wide colony with a tall leader. Valiant fits this well and triggers whenever the creature is targeted by a spell or ability from its controller for the first time each turn; which is to say, whenever you do things like equip them or cast combat tricks on them.

Honorable Mentions

The Alchemy mice remain small in most of their impact but their use of digital-only mechanics is available only for those that play only on Arena. I honestly don’t know how much I can say about Tusk and Whiskers. I didn’t like most of Unfinity, I didn’t like that it wasn’t silver-bordered but still tried to be a comedy set, and I didn’t like stickers. This is a card that seems like it was designed for a black-bordered set, yet shares the comedic themes of an Un-set, and also uses a mechanic that requires you to have stickers at hand and a willingness to stick them on your sleeves (or worse, your cards).

I do find the concept of an elephant and a mouse having a circus act together funny and kinda cute, but that’s as much good as I can say for this card.

#23. Armory Mice

Before valiant, the mice of Wilds of Eldraine also shared a mechanic: celebration. Armory Mice gets a boost to its toughness as long as two permanents entered the battlefield under your control this turn.

There are ways to make such a defensive take on this ability work if you can create tokens during your opponents’ turns, but it honestly feels like a lot of work for too small a payoff.

#22. Canyon Jerboa

Canyon Jerboa is the only mouse card with landfall. It’s easy to see that WotC wasn’t sure what they wanted to do with mouse as a creature type yet, but what we can see is an early glimpse at what they did know: Mice would focus on combat.

This white creature needs a very specific context to properly work, and there aren’t that many landfall decks that run white. That makes it suffer a bit, but in the right place and at the right time, this card’s mass-pump effect can be great.

#21. Pests of Honor

We’re back to Eldraine with Pests of Honor, and this mouse exemplifies what I was talking about earlier a lot better: Celebration has a more long-term effect that can be beneficial both when attacking and defending.

#20. Cheeky House-Mouse

Cheeky House-Mouse is a curious case because I would love to give it a home in my mono red decks because it rarely fit with those from Wilds of Eldraine. Its adventure pairs up really well with the valiant mechanic, and makes it a decent choice for decks that run aggressive mice.

#19. Whiskerquill Scribe

Boros decks have always had one main disadvantage: card draw. Red and white are both colors that can struggle with card advantage. With time, they’ve both gotten ways to work around it: In the case of red cards, we’ve gotten impulse draw, looting, and rummaging. In the case of Whiskerquill Scribe, we got a rummaging mouse.

It is a bit harder to find a place for this card in Constructed MTG formats since you can easily find some better card draw effects in red, but in Bloomburrow Limited this card is a reasonable addition.

#18. Thistledown Players

One thing to keep in mind is that most mouse cards work well when supporting each other. In the case of Thistledown Players, it’s definitely designed to pair well with other creatures that either have abilities that require you to tap them, or that you want to have available both for attacks and for blocks.

As much as I love untap abilities, Thistledown Players is ultimately more filler than anything else if I'm honest, but you’re gonna need filler cards if you absolutely must build a mouse EDH typal deck.

#17. Veteran Guardmouse

Veteran Guardmouse is far from the greatest mouse out there, but it can definitely hold its own in combat, and its hybrid mana cost makes it a bit easier to cast on curve. With some cheap combat tricks up your sleeve, this already large mouse can be made into a decent threat.

I think this works especially well as a defensive card, as it can bait attacks from larger creatures only to then overpower them with an instant that boosts its stats, which also gives it first strike.

#16. Stampeding Scurryfoot

Stampeding Scurryfoot is a fun design with the early 1/1 and the one-time use exhaust to net you a 2/2 and a 3/3 elephant after five mana. I like the flexibility and many times, a +1/+1 counter and a token as a second creature mean much more than a 5/5 for .

#15. Mouse Trapper

Keeping in line with the more defensive side of mouse cards, you’ll probably want to be targeting Mouse Trapper more on your opponents’ turns rather than your own. Having any kind of repeatable targeting effect can turn this creature into a tapper that constantly removes threatening creatures from combat, or removes a problematic blocker from the equation.

#14. Brambleguard Captain

Don’t you just like it when cards have good synergy with each other? Because that’s the case for Brambleguard Captain.

At first glance, the ability on this mouse soldier may not seem like much; giving a base +2/+0 until end of turn to another creature won’t be a game-changer.

However, there are two things to consider here: First, it’s always a good idea to play mice along with equipment and combat tricks. This means that this red creature’s power can be increased relatively easily, making the boost to your other creature bigger. The other thing is that Brambleguard Captain’s ability is a free, repeatable effect that targets another one of your creatures. That means a free valiant trigger each turn while also boosting that creature’s power.

#13. Nettle Guard

My biggest problem with Bloomburrow is that I find pretty much all of its creatures very cute and lovable. This becomes a problem when we have cards like Nettle Guard and I have to explain that its biggest upside is its sacrifice ability. Why would I sacrifice this silly-looking mouse?

But all jokes aside, Nettle Guard is much more than just a decent attacker if you play it in the early turns, and it retains its utility later in the game thanks to its sacrifice ability. A consistent way to destroy artifacts or remove enchantments is truly invaluable both in Constructed and Limited formats.

#12. Brave-Kin Duo

Don’t get me started on the cycle of “Duo” cards from Bloomburrow because I won’t shut up about it. I absolutely adore the design behind these cards, especially from a lore and flavor perspective. But even from a mechanical perspective, I like them a lot.

Brave-Kin Duo, a pair-up of a rabbit and a mouse, can be a great way to consistently trigger your valiant effects while also bumping up your creatures each turn. My biggest gripe is that it can only be activated as a sorcery, which I definitely understand from a balance perspective, but that does prevent some interesting interactions on a more defensive stance.

#11. Roughshod Duo

In the case of Roughshod Duo, we get a pair made up of a mouse and a raccoon, and their expend ability works just right. Raccoons care about spending tons of mana and mice care about combat effects and targeting your own creatures. So there we have it, spend enough mana in a turn and you give one of your creatures trample and +1/+1, as well as triggering their valiant ability if they have one.

#10. Steelburr Champion

I have a small gripe with Steelburr Champion. On the one hand, its effect is definitely good, and the fact that it has offspring (aka the cutest ability ever designed) can help make it a decent threat in the mid-game.

My biggest problem with Steelburr Champion is that it doesn’t really synergize well with the other mice. It’s a solid card on its own and you’d definitely want to run it in a mouse typal deck. But when it comes to interacting with the other mice, it honestly feels lacking, especially for a type that is iconically synergistic, with so many cards designed to interact with each other and dependent on teamwork.

#9. Raging Battle Mouse

When I started this list I honestly didn’t think any of the mice released prior to Bloomburrow would make it into the top 10, but here we are. Raging Battle Mouse was definitely designed to support the celebration mechanic from Wilds of Eldraine, as it reduces the cost of your second spell each turn. But both of its abilities make it a great pair for mice. Say you play two creatures on your own turn, celebration will trigger, you boost one of your other mice, which in turn can be used to trigger valiant. Don’t you just love good synergies? I know I do.

#8. Seedglaive Mentor

In a vacuum and at first glance, Seedglaive Mentor may not be the greatest mouse out there. After all, valiant triggers only once each turn and you need to constantly target it to make it grow, which means tons of mana and spells that could’ve gone to cheaper targets.

But Seedglaive Mentor doesn’t exist in a vacuum. As we’ve already seen, there’s a pretty decent amount of mice that’ll target other cards either for free, as a trigger from something else, or for a very reasonable cost. Haste very quickly turns this Mentor into a threat to be reckoned with.

#7. Flowerfoot Swordmaster

Sure, offspring is another iteration of kicker with a different name, but this time it makes adorable tokens that are also really useful!

Flowerfoot Swordmaster is already pretty good if you play it for its base mana cost. With good stats for a single mana plus an ability that can boost up all your mice, it makes for a great early drop.

#6. Heartfire Hero

All of the good things I said for Seedglaive Mentor’s valiant ability also apply here since they essentially share the same ability. The reason I placed Heartfire Hero higher is its lower mana cost as well as its second ability. It would rank better if not for landing on Standard's ban list.

Any creature that can make itself bigger consistently becomes a target for your opponents’ removal. Heartfire Hero is the exception, and that’s what makes its second ability so important. On the one hand, that makes it a less desirable target, especially against decks that should be running tons of ways to boost its power at instant speed. Either your opponents won’t want to remove it, or they’ll pay the cost for doing so.

If you play in Historic or Brawl, this card is rebalanced to a base power of 0.

#5. Emberheart Challenger

If there’s one thing WotC has definitely learned in previous years it’s that red players love impulse draw. It pairs up really well with red’s no-plan, rush-in type of strategies, and enables a consistent way to give them card advantage.

Emberheart Challenger can definitely get you out of a pinch if you run low on cards. Its main issue is, well, the same issue that most impulse card draw effects have: only being able to play the card until end of turn. Trigger the ability on your turn, or with little mana remaining and you can lose out on your extra card.

It’s still a great 2-drop both in Limited formats as well as Constructed typal decks.

#4. Whiskervale Forerunner

I had originally inverted the places for Emberheart Challenger and Whiskervale Forerunner. The bard has a greater mana value, and the difference between two and four is huge.

Whiskervale Forerunner gets the nod for Commander and offers a great advantage in the late game by cheating other creatures into play and by filtering cards from the top of your library to more easily get to the cards you may need.

#3. Manifold Mouse

I’ve already praised offspring on a card that has a valiant ability, but what could be better than that? A creature with offspring and an effect that can be used to trigger valiant on other creatures for free!

Manifold Mouse is a way to consistently boost up your attacking mice by giving one of them your choice of trample or double strike. That pairs up with the fact that Manifold Mouse has offspring, enabling this ability twice each turn, which can then be used to trigger valiant on your creatures on each of your turns.

This is some lovely synergy right here!

#2. Mabel, Heir to Cragflame

No typal archetype in Magic would be complete without a proper lord effect, and Mabel, Heir to Cragflame is here to fill that niche right up. We’ve already established that mice care a lot about combat, so having a passive way to boost up their stats is key.

On top of the lord effect, Mabel also creates an amazing equipment token. Once again, it’s clear that mice care about equipment, so getting one for free when you play a great mouse is just pure value. Not to mention this token gives some really good keywords, even if the stat-boosting effect is relatively tame. Just an all-around great card for mouse decks, and definitely a great mouse commander for your mice!

#1. Arthur, Marigold Knight

I honestly think there’s a case to be made for switching places between this card and Mabel, Heir to Cragflame. I ultimately decided to leave Arthur, Marigold Knight as my number one pick because it can be great both in mouse decks as well as in other kinds of decks.

This mouse knight can definitely work as a commander for mouse typal, let you cheat them into play and have a strong focus on combat. It also gives access to blue cards which can be great for more defensive measures.

The thing is, this card’s also a great addition in other kinds of decks. Jeskai () EDH decks with a strong focus on combat, like knight typal decks, can definitely get a ton of value out of this card, even as part of the 99.

If it was up to my personal feelings only, I’d have given Mabel, Heir to Cragflame this spot simply because I find it to be more fun as a card, not to mention that I really enjoyed her character in the story. But ultimately I do think Arthur, Marigold Knight is the better (and more flexible) card.

Best Mouse Payoffs

I’ve been mentioning this pretty much since the beginning but the only proper answer here is equipment and combat tricks. Both types of cards target your own creatures to give them some kind of boost, usually ones that make them better for combat, which also lets you trigger their valiant abilities. It’s pure value. Not to mention we got Sword of the Squeak (I swear every card in this set gets a smile out of me), which pairs up perfectly with your mice. Might of the Meek is a fast little red cantrip that adds up in value with mice.

I also place any other cards that enable and boost the combat capabilities of your creatures. Enchantments and artifacts that boost your creatures’ stats, as well as any kind of typal advantage, will definitely work well within a mouse deck.

After that lean on cards like Spider-Ham, Peter Porker, Valley Flamecaller and Valley Questcaller, each boost up your mice even if they’re not mice themselves.

Wrap Up

Mabel, Heir to Cragflame | Illustration by Aurore Folny

I really like how Bloomburrow was designed, and I really like the direction the mouse creature type took with this Magic set. I think valiant is a really fun ability, and we also got several ways to support it within the same creature type. It’s a really fun synergy that dominated some tournaments. I personally love otters, since they’re one of my favorite animals and I really like spellslinger decks, but mice are definitely a close second.

Enough about what I think! What’s your favorite mouse card? Do you agree with my list? What creature type from Bloomburrow do you need more of? Do you wish mice played better with rats? Leave a comment to let us know! And while you’re here, make sure to pay the Draftsim Discord server a visit. There you’ll find an amazing community of MTG fans to share your hobby with.

That’s all from me for now. Have a good one, and I’ll squeak you next time!