Rats by Dragonslayer

Format: Commander

Commander: Marrow-Gnawer

Bracket: 4

DeckCheck Threat Index: 44

Deck overview

This deck is an aggressive mono-black tribal swarm and combo strategy commanded by Marrow-Gnawer. The primary game plan deploys early low-cost Rats, accelerates with big-mana engines like Cabal Coffers, Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx, and Three Tree City, and equips the commander with Thornbite Staff to generate infinite Rat tokens and death triggers. Supported by Ayara, First of Locthwain and Blood Artist, the deck can drain the entire table immediately, or use Marrow-Gnawer's static fear granting to swing for unblockable lethal combat damage. In games where the infinite combo is delayed, secondary win conditions such as Coat of Arms, Ashcoat of the Shadow Swarm, Valley Rotcaller, and Pack Rat provide overwhelming typal combat pressure. Potent card engines including Skullclamp and Species Specialist supply continuous card advantage, while mass typal reanimation ensures robust recovery following board wipes.

Decklist (100 cards)

  • 1 Abnormal Endurance
  • 1 Ancient Tomb
  • 1 Archenemy's Charm
  • 1 Ashcoat of the Shadow Swarm
  • 1 Avatar of Woe
  • 1 Ayara, First of Locthwain
  • 1 Baleful Mastery
  • 1 Black Market
  • 1 Blood Artist
  • 1 Bloodline Bidding
  • 1 Bloodline Pretender
  • 1 Bog Rats
  • 1 Bojuka Bog
  • 1 Bolas's Citadel
  • 1 Cabal Coffers
  • 1 Cabal Ritual
  • 1 Carrion Rats
  • 1 Cavern of Souls
  • 1 Chronicle of Victory
  • 1 Coat of Arms
  • 1 Cryptic Gateway
  • 1 Dark Ritual
  • 1 Deadly Dispute
  • 1 Demonic Tutor
  • 1 Drainpipe Vermin
  • 1 Engine Rat
  • 1 Fabled Passage
  • 1 Forever Young
  • 1 Foul-Tongue Shriek
  • 1 Gnat Miser
  • 1 Gnawing Vermin
  • 1 Gravepurge
  • 1 Grim Tutor
  • 1 Gruesome Fate
  • 1 Haunting Voyage
  • 1 Hell's Caretaker
  • 1 Herald's Horn
  • 1 Hexavus
  • 1 Karumonix, the Rat King
  • 1 Kindred Dominance
  • 1 Marrow-Gnawer
  • 1 Mikaeus, the Unhallowed
  • 1 Mudflat Village
  • 1 Nezumi Bone-Reader
  • 1 Nezumi Graverobber // Nighteyes the Desecrator
  • 1 Nezumi Linkbreaker
  • 1 Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
  • 1 Ogre Slumlord
  • 1 Orcrist, Goblin-cleaver
  • 1 Pack Rat
  • 1 Path of Ancestry
  • 1 Patriarch's Bidding
  • 1 Persistent Marshstalker
  • 1 Phyrexian Altar
  • 1 Phyrexian Tower
  • 1 Piper of the Swarm
  • 1 Prismatic Vista
  • 1 Rat Out
  • 1 Ratcatcher
  • 1 Reliquary Tower
  • 1 Skullclamp
  • 1 Sol Ring
  • 1 Species Specialist
  • 1 Strip Mine
  • 1 Sudden Spoiling
  • 15 Swamp
  • 1 Swarmyard
  • 1 Swarmyard Massacre
  • 1 Sword of the Squeak
  • 1 Tangled Colony
  • 1 Thespian's Stage
  • 1 Thornbite Staff
  • 1 Three Tree City
  • 1 Twisted Sewer-Witch
  • 1 Typhoid Rats
  • 1 Unearth
  • 1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
  • 1 Urza's Saga
  • 1 Valley Rotcaller
  • 1 Vampiric Rites
  • 1 Vampiric Tutor
  • 1 Vanquisher's Banner
  • 1 Vesuva
  • 1 Village Rites
  • 1 Wave of Rats
  • 1 Witch's Cottage