Karuwaru by tachygale

Format: Commander

Commander: Karumonix, the Rat King

Bracket: 3

DeckCheck Threat Index: 38

Deck overview

This deck is a fast-paced mono-black Rat tribal swarm led by Karumonix, the Rat King. The strategy focuses on deploying low-mana Rat creatures during the opening turns, casting Karumonix on Turn 3 to replenish hand resources and grant all Rats toxic 1, and overwhelming opponents through unblockable or evasive combat damage. Anthems and token multipliers like Ashcoat of the Shadow Swarm and Marrow-Gnawer scale creature pressure rapidly, while proliferate spells like Drown in Ichor and Phyresis Outbreak accelerate poison counters toward the 10-counter elimination threshold. Single-mana death-redirection spells protect key pieces from targeted removal, and mass reanimation spells like Patriarch's Bidding and Living Death allow the swarm to recover instantly from sweepers. While vulnerable to mass exile and limited in non-creature removal, the deck executes a consistent, aggressive clock.

Decklist (100 cards)

  • 1 Arcane Signet
  • 1 Ashcoat of the Shadow Swarm
  • 1 Black Market Connections
  • 1 Blightbelly Rat
  • 1 Bog Rats
  • 1 Bolas's Citadel
  • 1 Burglar Rat
  • 1 Cabal Coffers
  • 1 Changeling Outcast
  • 1 Cover of Darkness
  • 1 Crypt Rats
  • 1 Culling the Weak
  • 1 Dark Ritual
  • 1 Diabolic Intent
  • 1 Drainpipe Vermin
  • 1 Drown in Ichor
  • 1 Elephant-Rat
  • 1 Engine Rat
  • 1 Expedition Map
  • 1 Gnat Miser
  • 1 Gnawing Vermin
  • 1 Herald's Horn
  • 1 Ichor Rats
  • 1 Infectious Inquiry
  • 1 Jet Medallion
  • 1 Karumonix, the Rat King
  • 1 Living Death
  • 1 Lord Skitter's Butcher
  • 1 Lord Skitter, Sewer King
  • 1 Malakir Rebirth // Malakir Mire
  • 1 Marrow-Gnawer
  • 1 Muck Rats
  • 1 Mudflat Village
  • 1 Necrogen Communion
  • 1 Nezumi Cutthroat
  • 1 Nezumi Informant
  • 1 Nezumi Linkbreaker
  • 1 Nezumi Prowler
  • 1 Not Dead After All
  • 1 Pack Rat
  • 1 Patriarch's Bidding
  • 1 Persistent Marshstalker
  • 1 Phyresis Outbreak
  • 1 Phyrexian Tower
  • 1 Piper of the Swarm
  • 1 Rancid Rats
  • 2 Rat Colony
  • 1 Rat King, Pale Piper
  • 1 Rat King, Verminister
  • 1 Ravenous Rats
  • 1 Reanimate
  • 1 Revenge of the Rats
  • 1 Rotting Rats
  • 1 Ruin Rat
  • 1 Septic Rats
  • 1 Skullclamp
  • 1 Sol Ring
  • 1 Stronghold Rats
  • 1 Supernatural Stamina
  • 27 Swamp
  • 1 Swarmyard
  • 1 Swarmyard Massacre
  • 1 Tainted Strike
  • 1 Tangled Colony
  • 1 Typhoid Rats
  • 1 Undercity Dire Rat
  • 1 Undying Malice
  • 1 Universal Automaton
  • 1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
  • 1 Vraska's Fall
  • 1 Vraska, Betrayal's Sting
  • 1 Whisper of the Dross
  • 1 Zodiac Rat