rats! by ars3nd

Format: Commander

Commander: Karumonix, the Rat King

Bracket: 3

Deck overview

This is a mono-black Rats tribal deck helmed by Karumonix, the Rat King, whose ETB looks at the top five cards and tutors any number of Rats into hand - a powerful command-zone draw engine that fuels a wide board. The primary game plan is to deploy a swarm of Rats, boost them through lords (Ashcoat of the Shadow Swarm, Marrow-Gnawer, Coat of Arms), and either overwhelm opponents with commander-damage or regular combat, or finish with a massive Exsanguinate. A secondary poison subtheme (Ichor Rats, Septic Rats, the commander's own toxic 1) can accelerate wins via poison counters. Rituals like Dark Ritual and Culling the Weak provide explosive starts, while recursion spells (Ashcoat of the Shadow Swarm, Bloodline Bidding, Ink-Eyes, Servant of Oni ) let the deck rebuild after wipes. The deck is linear but resilient within its tribe, relying on card advantage from tutors and draw-engines to find its critical pieces.

Decklist (100 cards)

  • 1 Ashcoat of the Shadow Swarm
  • 1 Black Market
  • 1 Blightbelly Rat
  • 1 Blood Money
  • 1 Bloodbender's Rise
  • 1 Bloodline Bidding
  • 1 Bubbling Muck
  • 1 Cabal Coffers
  • 1 Coat of Arms
  • 1 Corrupted Conviction
  • 1 Crippling Fear
  • 1 Crypt Rats
  • 1 Culling the Weak
  • 1 Dark Ritual
  • 1 Deadly Dispute
  • 1 Deadly Rollick
  • 1 Demonic Tutor
  • 1 Engine Rat
  • 1 Expedition Map
  • 1 Exsanguinate
  • 1 Foul-Tongue Shriek
  • 1 Gnat Miser
  • 1 Gruesome Fate
  • 1 Herald's Horn
  • 1 Ichor Rats
  • 1 Imp's Mischief
  • 1 Infectious Inquiry
  • 1 Ink-Eyes, Servant of Oni
  • 1 Jet Medallion
  • 1 Karumonix, the Rat King
  • 1 Liliana of the Dark Realms
  • 1 Locust Miser
  • 1 Lord Skitter, Sewer King
  • 1 Marrow-Gnawer
  • 1 Necropotence
  • 1 Nezumi Graverobber // Nighteyes the Desecrator
  • 1 No Mercy
  • 1 Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
  • 1 Pack Rat
  • 1 Pact of the Serpent
  • 1 Persistent Marshstalker
  • 1 Phyresis Outbreak
  • 1 Piper of the Swarm
  • 1 Plague of Vermin
  • 1 Rancid Rats
  • 2 Rat Colony
  • 1 Rat King, Pale Piper
  • 1 Rat King, Verminister
  • 1 Rat Out
  • 1 Reliquary Tower
  • 1 Revenge of the Rats
  • 1 Septic Rats
  • 1 Skullclamp
  • 1 Snuff Out
  • 1 Sol Ring
  • 1 Spread the Sickness
  • 1 Stain the Mind
  • 1 Sudden Spoiling
  • 26 Swamp
  • 1 Swarm of Rats
  • 1 Swarmyard
  • 1 Swarmyard Massacre
  • 1 Tangled Colony
  • 1 The Darkness Crystal
  • 1 Three Tree City
  • 1 Throat Slitter
  • 1 Typhoid Rats
  • 1 Unseat the Usurper
  • 1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
  • 1 Valley Rotcaller
  • 1 Vampiric Tutor
  • 1 Vat Emergence
  • 1 Vraska's Fall
  • 1 Wave of Rats