If you include all these changes you can easily remove 10 lands, and sit at 35 lands total
However, if you do, and that permanent is an illegal target at the time the ability tries to resolve, the ability won't resolve and none of its effects will happen
Swarmyard looks like the secret sixth member of that cycle
Instead of ensuring you have a card to play each turn in your opening hand, ensure you have cards that work well together
High Noon offers another strong tool to prevent a flurry of spells in a single turn, and Magebane Lizard can also punish the game plan of chaining Opt and Sleight of Hand
Since rats are predominantly black cards, strategies often involve generating a lot of weaker creatures and/or creature tokens so you can make a lot of sacrifices to fill up your graveyard