The RATS by user5831711

Format: Commander

Commander: Totentanz, Swarm Piper

Bracket: 4

DeckCheck Threat Index: 31

Deck overview

This deck is a Rakdos Rat tribal aggro strategy helmed by Totentanz, Swarm Piper. It leverages 20 copies of Rat Colony to flood the battlefield with rapidly scaling threats that boost each other's power. Totentanz converts dying nontoken rats into 1/1 Rat tokens, ensuring board presence survives trades, while offering activated deathtouch to force unfavorable blocks. The deck accelerates into play with cheap ramp like Sol Ring and Bontu's Monument, quickly assembling 4 or more rats by Turn 4. On Turn 5, explosive payoffs such as Marrow-Gnawer, Ashcoat of the Shadow Swarm, Thrumming Stone, or Collective Inferno multiply damage and grant evasion, pushing lethal damage to close out games by Turn 7. While the deck possesses massive threat redundancy and resilient recovery, it remains vulnerable to sweepers that exile and lacks stack-based interaction.

Decklist (100 cards)

  • 1 Access Tunnel
  • 1 Adventurer's Inn
  • 1 Arcane Lighthouse
  • 1 Arcane Signet
  • 1 Ashcoat of the Shadow Swarm
  • 1 Bad Moon
  • 1 Blood Crypt
  • 1 Bloodfell Caves
  • 1 Bojuka Bog
  • 1 Bontu's Monument
  • 1 Burn Down the House
  • 1 Burn at the Stake
  • 1 Cavern of Souls
  • 1 Collective Inferno
  • 1 Conspiracy
  • 1 Cori Mountain Monastery
  • 1 Daily Bugle Building
  • 1 Dark Ritual
  • 1 Death Cloud
  • 1 Diabolic Edict
  • 1 Diabolic Tutor
  • 1 Engine Rat
  • 1 Fell the Profane // Fell Mire
  • 1 Fire Nation's Conquest
  • 1 Haste Magic
  • 1 Ichor Rats
  • 1 Ill-Gotten Inheritance
  • 1 Into the Pit
  • 1 Karumonix, the Rat King
  • 1 Kill! Maim! Burn!
  • 1 Last Kiss
  • 1 Lightning Bolt
  • 1 Lord Skitter, Sewer King
  • 1 Marrow-Gnawer
  • 10 Mountain
  • 1 Ogre Slumlord
  • 1 Outpost Siege
  • 1 Pack Rat
  • 1 Patriarch's Bidding
  • 1 Phyrexian Altar
  • 1 Platinum Angel
  • 1 Rakdos Signet
  • 20 Rat Colony
  • 1 Rat King, Pale Piper
  • 1 Ruthless Radrat
  • 1 Skullsnatcher
  • 1 Sol Ring
  • 1 Splinter, the Mentor
  • 17 Swamp
  • 1 Three Tree City
  • 1 Thrumming Stone
  • 1 Totentanz, Swarm Piper
  • 1 Umbral Mantle
  • 1 Undercity Dire Rat
  • 1 Vanquisher's Banner
  • 1 Voracious Vermin