Overview:

This Rat tribal deck focuses on swarming with tokens, leveraging Ashcoat's pump/recursion abilities, and generating value through sacrifice synergies. While it has strong tribal synergy and some recursion, it lacks fast mana, tutors, and interaction depth, capping its power at the Casual/Precon tier.

Primer:

Core Strategy:
Deploy Rats early via Piper of the Swarm, Marrow-Gnawer, and token generators. Use Ashcoat to buff the swarm (scaling with Rat count) and recover key Rats from graveyard. Close games through:

1. Overwhelming combat damage with pumped Rats
2. Grave Pact attrition + Black Market mana advantage
3. Ashnod's Altar/Skullclamp sacrifice loops for resources

Key Phases:

• Early Game (T1-4): Ramp with Sol Ring, Jet Medallion, and land drops. Establish token engines like Rat Out or Lord Skitter, Sewer King.
• Mid Game (T5-8): Cast Ashcoat with protection (Swiftfoot Boots). Activate recursion via end-step milling. Deploy lords like Adaptive Automaton and Metallic Mimic.
• End Game (T9+): Swing with 10+ Rats (easily 20+ power via Ashcoat's ability) or lock opponents with Grave Pact + sacrifice outlets.

Mulligan Priorities:

• Keep hands with 3 lands + 1 early Rat generator (e.g., Piper of the Swarm)
• Prioritize Urza's Incubator/Heraldic Banner in slow metas
• Reject hands without Rat producers or excessive high-cost cards

Key Tips:

• Time Ashcoat's attack trigger after developing 5+ Rats for lethal swings
• Use Roaming Throne (naming Rat) to double Marrow-Gnawer's token output
• Sacrifice Rats before board wipes to fuel Black Market and Thrilling Encore

Weaknesses:

Critical:

• No graveyard protection (folds to Rest in Peace)
• Limited answer density (only 5 targeted removals)

Moderate:

• Slow rebuild after wraths despite recursion
• Minimal card advantage outside Skullclamp

Minor:

• Weak to flyers (only Ogre Slumlord gives deathtouch)

Most Important Cards:

• Marrow-Gnawer
• Grave Pact
• Ashnod's Altar
• Skullclamp
• Urza's Incubator
• Piper of the Swarm
• Pack Rat
• Rat Colony
• Roaming Throne
• Black Market

Attribute Ratings:

Speed: 4/10

• Goldfishes lethal around T10-12 via combat. No fast mana or cost reducers beyond Incubator/Medallion.

Resilience: 3/10

• Heavy reliance on board presence. Limited protection (3 hexproof sources) and slow graveyard recursion.

Consistency: 5/10

• 8 Rat generators provide redundancy, but only Pyre of Heroes as a tutor. Draw engines require setup.

Interaction: 3/10

• Reactive spells are overcosted (Decree of Pain, Sever the Bloodline). Lacks instant-speed answers to combos.

Rating Justification:

The deck sits between Casual/Precon (4.0) and Focused Casual (4.5). It has clear combat wins and synergistic engines but lacks:

• The speed of optimized combat decks (T8-10 kills)
• Interaction density seen in 5.0+ decks
• Redundancy against grave hate

Power level: 4.0 - 4.5