Rat King, VerministerRat King, Verminister | Art by Miklós Ligeti

Hello, loyal sewer subjects! I'm Brian and I'm back with a deck tech for a new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TMNT) commander.

I won't lie, I don't really have a connection to the Turtles as a franchise. What I do have a connection with is mono-black graveyard decks, and today's featured commander asks for a build just like that, but with a very fun twist. Allow me to introduce the royalty: Rat King, VerministerRat King, Verminister.

Verminister is a heck of a punny title, and we can build a heck of a deck with this new legend.

What Does Rat King, VerministerRat King, Verminister Do?

Starting off with stats, we've got a two mana, 1/1 commander - nice and cheap, enabling multiple casts from the command zone. The disappear triggered ability is straightforward: something leaves our battlefield, make a Rat and pump the King.

It's the second ability that immediately piqued my interest, and I'm sure long time Magic players had the same thought. Rat King, Verminister is a fantastic commander to lead a Relentless RatsRelentless Rats deck.

If you're unfamiliar, Relentless Rats' rules text regarding the number of copies a deck can have still applies in Commander. So today's build is going to focus on getting a lot of Relentless Rats into the graveyard, and using Rat King's ability to reanimate all of them.

Key Cards for Rat King, VerministerRat King, Verminister

The Name Game

Decks that revolve around "same name" cards are extra fun to write about because of the unique cards that go in the archetype.

Of course, any deck built like this needs to have Thrumming StoneThrumming Stone included. That ripple ability can get out of control very fast. The first Rat cast after it comes down will give you four chances to cast another one, which will give you four chances again. The Rats can add up very fast that way, especially with 40 of them in the deck.

As for other "card name matters" cards, Secret SalvageSecret Salvage is our hidden commander. Here's why: Once we have a Relentless RatsRelentless Rats in the graveyard, we'll exile it with Secret Salvage and pull the rest of them out of our deck and into our hand. On our end step, we discard all of them to hand size and now we're set up to activate Rat KingRat King at the next available opportunity.

I also want to include a sneaky way to win. It involves Syr Konrad, the GrimSyr Konrad, the Grim, which is a fine card to include in the deck anyways. If he's on the battlefield when we resolve Secret Salvage, he's going to do a lot of damage to our opponents, since he pings when creatures go into the graveyard from anywhere. However, he also pings our opponents when creatures leave the graveyard, which is kind of the whole point of this deck.

Seems pretty basic, so why is this sneaky? We can use Echoing ReturnEchoing Return to pull all the Rats out of our graveyard in one shot. Konrad will trigger for each Rat that goes from the graveyard into our hand, and then when we discard them all, he'll trigger again.

Slot Selection

Cards that fill multiple roles are premium picks for this build. While something like Coat of ArmsCoat of Arms is a classic finisher for typal decks, it only provides that one effect. That makes Chronicle of VictoryChronicle of Victory a clear choice over Coat of ArmsCoat of Arms here. It makes all of our Rats (including the tokens made by Rat KingRat King) formidable combat threats, but also fills a card velocity slot in the deck to keep the gas flowing.

For the same reasons, we'll also include Vanquisher's BannerVanquisher's Banner. Bontu's MonumentBontu's Monument also gives us a non-combat way to attack life totals, with mana acceleration tacked on as well.

Herald's HornHerald's Horn and Gathering StoneGathering Stone will also go in as card velocity and mana acceleration combinations. With 40 Rats, we'll have an extremely high likelihood to hit on the upkeep triggers and essentially get our own personal Howling MineHowling Mine.

Lethal SchemeLethal Scheme also counts as card velocity and a way to interact with our opponents. With so many creatures we can convoke it easily, getting up to four Rats to connive, which feeds our mass reanimation game plan if we discard more Rats.

Modal double-faced cards (MDFCs) even offer us lands that can pull double duty. I'm a big believer in MDFCs and I think most decks should be running some amount of them. Malakir RebirthMalakir Rebirth, Fell the ProfaneFell the Profane, and Hagra MaulingHagra Mauling are all good interactive spells for us, while Boggart TrawlerBoggart Trawler gives us graveyard hate to fight opposing decks.

More Than Relentless

I know it's important to squeeze every bit of value out of our limited card slots, but it would be a pretty uninspiring Rat deck if we didn't include at least a couple other Rat payoffs.

Ashcoat of the Shadow SwarmAshcoat of the Shadow Swarm carries an insane price tag, but is the perfect card to pump the Rats and fill the graveyard. Marrow-GnawerMarrow-Gnawer is currently the most popular Relentless Rats commander, so it probably deserves a place in our deck. Giving the Rats fear is really strong, since they'll be nearly unblockable against a lot of decks. Not to mention the potential for a giant swarm of Rat tokens, which leads me to my next card. Revenge of the RatsRevenge of the Rats also gives us quick access to a big swarm and is something easily milled or discarded for later thanks to flashback.

One card function we haven't included yet is a board wipe, and fortunately our choice is easy: Swarmyard MassacreSwarmyard Massacre. This aptly named sweeper will be nearly one-sided unless we happen to be playing against the mirror or other types listed on the card. Sure we could put in Toxic DelugeToxic Deluge; it actually goes pretty well since our Rats all pump each other. But where's the fun in that when we have Swarmyard MassacreSwarmyard Massacre right there?

Rounding It Out

With only a few slots left, we'll round out the deck with some key role-fillers that are good enough to warrant inclusion though not necessarily filling multiple roles.

We'll start with our backup reanimation spells, Bloodline BiddingBloodline Bidding and Haunting VoyageHaunting Voyage. Both can perform the same function as Rat KingRat King's activated ability and reduces the set up cost required for reanimating a graveyard full of Rats.

Ripples of UndeathRipples of Undeath is another immensely powerful card velocity piece for the deck. The self mill is obviously critical to filling the graveyard, but it also provides us card selection should there be something among the milled cards we want in our hand, such as aforementioned Chronicle of VictoryChronicle of Victory or Secret SalvageSecret Salvage.

It's the perfect play on turn two for this deck, and is still strong later in the game.

Ayara, First of LocthwainAyara, First of Locthwain is another non-combat win condition, triggering on nontoken and token Rats alike while also enabling the disappear ability. Woe to your opponents that leave her on the battlefield when you resolve a mass reanimation effect, a big Revenge of the RatsRevenge of the Rats, or Marrow-GnawerMarrow-Gnawer's activated ability.

With a lot of our card velocity being the slow and steady type, I wanted to include at least one big burst effect. Enter Pact of the SerpentPact of the Serpent. Even with only three Rats on the battlefield, this is a really good rate.

The last card I want to highlight is BrainspoilBrainspoil. If we're really desperate we can use it as removal, but it's a way to find some of our key cards: Thrumming StoneThrumming Stone, Secret SalvageSecret Salvage, and Syr KonradSyr Konrad are are all five mana, and Brainspoil is so far from a Game Changer that we can still be Bracket-flexible despite having a tutor.

Gameplay

Pilots of this deck have a few things to consider. As with a lot of decks, the timing of when we cast Rat King is up for grabs. Casting him on turn two doesn't seem like the best idea, especially without a way to enable disappear. I'd rather get something like Ripples of UndeathRipples of Undeath going, and start casting Relentless RatsRelentless Rats. As they pump each other, you can start pressuring opponents into wasting interaction on the Rats while you set up some card velocity pieces to find one of the big payoffs. Who cares if an opponent wipes the board? There are always more Rats.

Regardless of how they get into the graveyard, eventually the plan is to get them out. Activate Rat KingRat King or fire off a reanimation spell, then let our opponents cower under the onslaught of vermin.

Wrap Up

Rat King, VerministerRat King, Verminister is now the king (pun intended) of Relentless RatsRelentless Rats decks. It's hard for me to imagine a commander more purpose-built for the archetype. Unsurprisingly, at time of writing he's the most popular commander from the set. We'll see if that remains true!

The final deck list is below, and I’d love to hear your feedback about my choices or cool tech you found for the deck. Drop me a comment if you think I overlooked something cool or critical to the Relentless RatsRelentless Rats archetype, or if you've got a plan to slot Rat King into your own deck.

Note: I didn't include any Game Changers for the sake of being Bracket flexible, but you can always use them to power up the deck.

Happy brewing, and I’ll see you next time!

Rat King, Verminister Commander Deck List