Surprise Rats by derek12093

Format: Commander

Commander: Varragoth, Bloodsky Sire

Bracket: 3

DeckCheck Threat Index: 21

Deck overview

This deck is a mono-black tribal swarm strategy commanded by Varragoth, Bloodsky Sire. The primary objective is to curve low-cost Rats into the commander, attack on Turn 4, and use Varragoth's boast ability to search for critical tribal payoffs such as Marrow-Gnawer or Ashcoat of the Shadow Swarm. Once deployed on Turn 5, these payoffs grant universal evasion through fear and multiply the token army. On Turn 6, the deck initiates an exponential token surge that threatens lethal combat damage across subsequent turns. The deck features high redundancy in aggressive Rat creatures, dense spot removal to clear opposing threats, and alternate finishers like Torment of Hailfire. However, the game plan relies heavily on unhasty creature permanents surviving across multiple turn cycles, leaving it susceptible to board sweepers and artifact-based strategies.

Decklist (100 cards)

  • 1 Ashcoat of the Shadow Swarm
  • 1 Astarion's Thirst
  • 1 Basilisk Collar
  • 1 Bitter Triumph
  • 1 Black Market
  • 1 Blightbelly Rat
  • 1 Bloodline Pretender
  • 1 Bubbling Muck
  • 1 Changeling Outcast
  • 1 Chittering Skitterling
  • 1 Chronicle of Victory
  • 1 Consumed by Greed
  • 1 Cover of Darkness
  • 1 Crippling Fear
  • 1 Crypt Rats
  • 1 Culling the Weak
  • 1 Curse of Death's Hold
  • 1 Dark Ritual
  • 1 Darksteel Plate
  • 1 Defile
  • 1 Demonic Tutor
  • 1 Doom Blade
  • 1 Early Winter
  • 1 Elephant-Rat
  • 1 Fell
  • 1 Go for the Throat
  • 1 Graveshifter
  • 1 Griselbrand
  • 1 Gruesome Fate
  • 1 Hall of Triumph
  • 1 Hex
  • 1 Ichor Rats
  • 1 Imp's Mischief
  • 1 Infernal Grasp
  • 1 Ink-Eyes, Servant of Oni
  • 1 Jet Medallion
  • 1 K'rrik, Son of Yawgmoth
  • 1 Karumonix, the Rat King
  • 1 Leyline of the Void
  • 1 Lord Skitter's Butcher
  • 1 Marrow-Gnawer
  • 1 Matzalantli, the Great Door // The Core
  • 1 Nocturnal Hunger
  • 1 Ogre Slumlord
  • 1 Pack Rat
  • 1 Pestilence Rats
  • 1 Phyrexian Tower
  • 1 Piper of the Swarm
  • 1 Raise the Draugr
  • 1 Ratcatcher
  • 1 Reliquary Tower
  • 1 Savor
  • 1 Septic Rats
  • 1 Shoot the Sheriff
  • 1 Sidisi, Undead Vizier
  • 1 Sol Ring
  • 1 Songs of the Damned
  • 1 Sudden Spoiling
  • 32 Swamp
  • 1 Tangled Colony
  • 1 Torment of Hailfire
  • 1 Tortured Existence
  • 1 Typhoid Rats
  • 1 Varragoth, Bloodsky Sire
  • 1 Victim of Night
  • 1 Vilis, Broker of Blood
  • 1 Village Rites
  • 1 Voracious Vermin
  • 1 Zephyr Boots