A Plague Tail, Rats. by ShellbackSage

Format: Commander

Commander: Marrow-Gnawer

Bracket: 4

DeckCheck Threat Index: 26

Deck overview

This deck is a Mono-Black Rat tribal deck helmed by Marrow-Gnawer. The central strategy revolves around deploying inexpensive Rat creatures during the opening turns, casting Marrow-Gnawer on Turn 4 or 5, and leveraging its activated ability to exponentially double the Rat count every turn. Because Marrow-Gnawer grants passive fear to all Rats, the resulting wide board bypasses most blockers and presents a lethal combat clock by Turn 6, closing games around Turn 8. In addition to combat aggro, the deck incorporates a two-card infinite token loop using Thornbite Staff, which untaps Marrow-Gnawer on every Rat death. The supporting package features asymmetric tribal sweepers like Crippling Fear and Kindred Dominance, hand disruption via ETB Rats, and secondary win conditions in Ashcoat of the Shadow Swarm, Karumonix, the Rat King, and Bolas's Citadel. Its primary vulnerabilities stem from reliance on a fragile 2/3 commander and limited protection against mass board wipes.

Decklist (100 cards)

  • 1 Access Tunnel
  • 1 Akroma's Memorial
  • 1 Ashcoat of the Shadow Swarm
  • 1 Blightbelly Rat
  • 1 Bloodline Culling
  • 1 Bolas's Citadel
  • 1 Burglar Rat
  • 1 Cabal Coffers
  • 1 Charcoal Diamond
  • 1 Chittering Skitterling
  • 1 Chittering Witch
  • 1 Consuming Corruption
  • 1 Contamination
  • 1 Crippling Fear
  • 1 Crypt Ghast
  • 1 Crypt Rats
  • 1 Diabolic Tutor
  • 1 Dirge of Dread
  • 1 Dread Return
  • 1 Extraplanar Lens
  • 1 Feed the Infection
  • 1 Fell the Profane // Fell Mire
  • 1 Geth's Summons
  • 1 Glistening Sphere
  • 1 Gnawing Vermin
  • 1 Graf Rats
  • 1 Grave Pact
  • 1 Hero's Downfall
  • 1 Ichor Rats
  • 1 Infectious Inquiry
  • 1 Infernal Idol
  • 1 Ink-Eyes, Servant of Oni
  • 1 Karumonix, the Rat King
  • 1 Kindred Dominance
  • 1 Lord Skitter's Butcher
  • 1 Lord Skitter, Sewer King
  • 1 Marrow-Gnawer
  • 1 Midnight Scavengers
  • 1 Nashi, Moon Sage's Scion
  • 1 Nezumi Bladeblesser
  • 1 Nezumi Cutthroat
  • 1 Ogre Slumlord
  • 1 Okiba-Gang Shinobi
  • 1 Old Flitterfang
  • 1 Pack Rat
  • 1 Patchwork Banner
  • 1 Phyrexian Atlas
  • 1 Pile On
  • 1 Piper of the Swarm
  • 1 Polluted Mire
  • 1 Psychic Whorl
  • 1 Rancid Rats
  • 1 Ravenous Rats
  • 1 Refurbished Familiar
  • 1 Reliquary Tower
  • 1 Ripples of Undeath
  • 1 Rogue's Passage
  • 26 Swamp
  • 1 Swarmyard
  • 1 Swarmyard Massacre
  • 1 Tangled Colony
  • 1 Tergrid, God of Fright // Tergrid's Lantern
  • 1 The Dross Pits
  • 1 Thornbite Staff
  • 1 Thornplate Intimidator
  • 1 Throat Slitter
  • 1 Twisted Sewer-Witch
  • 1 Typhoid Rats
  • 1 Urza's Incubator
  • 1 Vanquisher's Banner
  • 1 Vat Emergence
  • 1 Village Rites
  • 1 Voracious Vermin
  • 1 Vraska's Fall
  • 1 Wave of Rats