Stronger Rats by Sandman

Format: Commander

Commander: Rat King, Verminister

Bracket: 3

DeckCheck Threat Index: 44

Deck overview

This mono-black deck runs an aggressive tribal swarm strategy built around 25 copies of Rat Colony led by Rat King, Verminister. The primary game plan develops mana using cost reducers and scaling lands, sets up the commander to generate fodder, and floods the battlefield with Rats using Thrumming Stone, Buried Alive, or Secret Salvage. Because each Rat Colony grants +1/+0 to every other Rat, assembling a wide board quickly scales individual creature power into double digits. Evasion effects like Cover of Darkness and Marrow-Gnawer ensure the swarm bypasses blockers to eliminate all three opponents in a single combat step. If the initial assault is disrupted, Rat King, Verminister can reanimate every Rat Colony from the graveyard at once, while engines like Skullclamp and Species Specialist keep hands full. The deck's primary limitations are a lack of countermagic, vulnerability to mass exile effects, and reliance on combat connections.

Decklist (100 cards)

  • 1 Arcane Signet
  • 1 Ashcoat of the Shadow Swarm
  • 1 Ashnod's Altar
  • 1 Bolas's Citadel
  • 1 Bontu's Monument
  • 1 Buried Alive
  • 1 Cabal Coffers
  • 1 Cabal Stronghold
  • 1 Cavern of Souls
  • 1 Chronicle of Victory
  • 1 Corrupted Conviction
  • 1 Cover of Darkness
  • 1 Crypt Ghast
  • 1 Crypt Rats
  • 1 Crypt of Agadeem
  • 1 Culling the Weak
  • 1 Deadly Dispute
  • 1 Deadly Rollick
  • 1 Demonic Tutor
  • 1 Echoing Return
  • 1 Grave Pact
  • 1 Herald's Horn
  • 1 Jet Medallion
  • 1 Karumonix, the Rat King
  • 1 Lightning Greaves
  • 1 Malakir Rebirth // Malakir Mire
  • 1 Marrow-Gnawer
  • 1 Mirror Box
  • 1 Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
  • 1 Path of Ancestry
  • 1 Phyrexian Altar
  • 1 Phyrexian Tower
  • 1 Pitiless Plunderer
  • 25 Rat Colony
  • 1 Rat King, Verminister
  • 1 Reanimate
  • 1 Reliquary Tower
  • 1 Secret Salvage
  • 1 Skullclamp
  • 1 Sol Ring
  • 1 Species Specialist
  • 22 Swamp
  • 1 Swarmyard
  • 1 Swarmyard Massacre
  • 1 The Meathook Massacre
  • 1 Three Tree City
  • 1 Thrumming Stone
  • 1 Toxic Deluge
  • 1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
  • 1 Valley Rotcaller
  • 1 Vampiric Tutor
  • 1 Vanquisher's Banner
  • 1 White Lotus Tile
  • 1 Witch's Cottage
  • 1 Withering Torment