(Ashcoat of the Shadow Swarm | Art by Christina Kraus)

The Evolution of the Rat Deck

Rats have gotten a lot of love in recent years. From getting some sick Jumpstart cards to being an integral creature type in Wilds of Eldraine and Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty, Rats have become a bigger and bigger part of Commander.

However, I have not seen anyone playing a Rats deck in a while. So today I set out to figure out what a 2023 Rats deck looks like. How do the new Rats fit in? How strong is it? Most importantly, how fun is it? Let's find out together.

A Rat-ical New Approach to Rat Decks

I have always been a fan of Rat decks. I have built Rat decks around Rat Colony and Relentless Rats, but these cards make building a Rats deck a little boring. I think we have enough Rats to build out a fully-fledged rat deck without relying on these classics.

Similarly, Marrow-Gnawer has had its time in the sun, but I want to try out one of the new kids on the block, Ashcoat of the Shadow Swarm. The play patterns with this commander are very similar to Marrow-Gnawer, but I love the added card advantage built into this one. 

Navigating Through the Ratty Data with EDHREC Tools

Building this deck can be a little tricky. Much of this commander's page is dominated by decks that are running one of the two aforementioned Rats that can have any number in your deck. This throws off all the data the page gives us on creatures and what creatures are included because it is torn between multiple different types of builds. Echoing Return, Thrumming Stone and Secret Salvage are all cards that are all stars in that deck, but complete misses in the deck we are building.

Luckily, EDHREC gives us a variety of ways to filter for the deck we are building. First, we can filter out all the decks that are playing either Relentless Rats or Rat Colony and we are left with just 204 decks. This data leans into the Rat strategy. We see a greater variety of Rats and Rat synergies that we aren't seeing on the other page.

One of the biggest advantages of using all the other Rats that Magic has to offer is that unlike the other two, most Rats have more to offer than just being big. Rats love to make our opponents discard. Ten of the Rats in our color identity have a discard effect stapled on. We can combine these with cards that are strong to begin with like Syphon Mind and Dark Deal and just like that, we have a discard package in our deck. Now for the payoffs.

EDHREC allows us to filter themes. If we head over to the Discard theme page and filter for mono-black we see all the payoffs for leaning into the discard abilities of our Rats. Waste Not does a little bit of everything. It's a huge value engine that can refill our hand and give us some mana for acceleration. Megrim and Liliana's Caress both present a win-con in case our giant Rats can't get the job done. Bottomless Pit adds fuel to the fire and Geth's Grimoire gives us an additional card draw option in case our commander isn't doing enough.

But Which Rats are the Best at Getting the Job Done?

Burglar Rat and Nezumi Informant both affect each opponent putting us up on card advantage against the table as a whole. This helps them shine more than Ravenous Rats, but with all the discard synergy it's still worth an include. Rotting Rats affects you as well, but benefits from the Unearth ability that lets us sacrifice it or recur it with our commander's ability.

However, those are just the tip of the iceberg. Many of our other options are even more interesting. Stronghold Rats is a powerhouse in this deck. Shadow lets this thing sneak through even when our commander has made it huge. Okiba-Gang Shinobi and Nezumi Shortfang add some of that classic Kamigawa flair. The ninja can pick up our Burglar Rat to make our opponents discard again and Nezumi Shortfang can turn into a win-condition in the late game.

New Rats on the Block

Wilds of Eldraine inspired this deck, so let's take a look at the 5 new Rats introduced in the set. Rats tend to be a little boring, but these Rats have a lot of text on them. The Rat power creep is real! Let's take a look at what we've got:

Lord Skitter, Sewer King and their partner in crime Lord Skitter's Butcher. What do these have in common? Multiple Rats on a three mana creature is just efficient, especially for a deck where every creature counts. It also ups our Rat count without having to fill our deck with some of the less effective Rats. The Butcher is versatile as well. Sacrifice an extra Rat for some more cards or go for the killing blow and give all your Rats menace. This card is good from turn 3 till the end of the game.

Voracious Vermin has the same upside as the last two. Three mana for two on type creatures. This one gives us a payoff for sacrificing those extra Rats. It opens up another avenue to push through damage and make use of all the Rats even if we can't cast or don't have access to our commander. Old Flitterfang has a very similar impact on the game. You can trade in Rats to push damage through on an evasive body. This Rat plays both the go-tall and go-wide strategy. Whether you're sacrificing them for value or building out a huge board, this card will beat for a lot of damage and be hard to block.

Tangled Colony is the kind of creature that's a nightmare to deal with if your opponents don't have a removal spell ready. Our commander will turn this guy into a giant quickly, and even if a player chump blocks it, they're giving you another Rat to grow your board and your creature.

The Best of the Rest

Some of the best Rats in the game have been released in the past few years. Karumonix, the Rat King gives us card advantage but also gives us another option to close out the game via Infect. Without our commander, 1/1 Rats may struggle to close the game and this could give us a sneaky win out of nowhere when the game seems hopeless. Nashi, Moon Sage's Scion also gives us card advantage and lets us cheat on mana for some explosive plays. Wave of Rats is a card I had never seen before researching this deck, but is another option that can push damage with trample and is extremely hard to keep off the battlefield.

Of course, Rats aren't exclusive to the last few years. Pack Rat is a classic Limited bomb. It pumps our Rats and the discard is mitigated by the fact that we can get those cards back with our commander. Crypt Rats gives us access to a repeatable board wipe. Our Rats may even be big enough to survive.

In Conclusion

There are many more options for commanders for a Rat deck. Greasefang, Okiba Boss adds a really cool twist that brings Vehicles into the mix. Nashi, Moon's Legacy can be a Legends-Matter deck but it also makes for a pretty interesting Rat deck with added colors. Which Rat commander is your favorite? Let us know in the comments below! 

Check out the full deck below!

[Commander]

*1 Ashcoat of the Shadow Swarm

[/Commander]

[Creatures]

*1 Karumonix, the Rat King

*1 Piper of the Swarm

*1 Ogre Slumlord

*1 Marrow-Gnawer

*1 Nashi, Moon Sage's Scion

*1 Crypt Rats

*1 Pack Rat

*1 Wave of Rats

*1 Ink-Eyes, Servant of Oni

*1 Ratcatcher

*1 Burglar Rat

*1 Chittering Rats

*1 Changeling Outcast

*1 Drainpipe Vermin

*1 Lord Skitter's Butcher

*1 Lord Skitter, Sewer King

*1 Nezumi Bone-Reader

*1 Ichor Rats

*1 Razortooth Rats

*1 Nezumi Shortfang

*1 Nezumi Informant

*1 Gnat Miser

*1 Locust Miser

*1 Okiba-Gang Shinobi

*1 Old Flitterfang

*1 Ravenous Rats

*1 Tangled Colony

*1 Rotting Rats

*1 Stronghold Rats

*1 Throat Slitter

*1 Voracious Vermin

*1 Chittering Witch

[/Creatures]

[Enchantments]

*1 Haunted One

*1 Waste Not

*1 Liliana's Caress

*1 Bottomless Pit

*1 Megrim

[/Enchantments]

[Artifacts]

*1 Skullclamp

*1 Geth's Grimoire

*1 Herald's Horn

*1 Jet Medallion

*1 Wayfarer's Bauble

*1 Bontu's Monument

*1 Sol Ring

*1 Arcane Signet

[/Artifacts]

[Instants]

*1 Defile

*1 Deadly Dispute

*1 Infernal Grasp

*1 Pile On

*1 Deadly Rollick

*1 Hagara Mauling

[/Instants]

[Sorceries]

*1 Sign in Blood

*1 Patriarch's Bidding

*1 Gruesome Fate

*1 Feed the Swarm

*1 Plague of Vermin

*1 Mutilate

*1 Night's Whisper

*1 Read the Bones

*1 Pact of the Serpent

*1 Toxic Deluge

*1 Syphon Mind

*1 Dark Deal

[/Sorceries]

[Lands]

*1 Swarmyard

*1 Cabal Coffers

*1 Bojuka Bog

*1 Cabal Stronghold

*1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth

*1 Nyxthos, Shrine to Nyx

*1 Takenuma, Abandoned Mire

*1 Castle Locthwain

*1 The Black Gate

*1 Phyrexian Tower

*26 Swamp

[/Lands]

[/Deck]

Read more:

• Singleton Shmingleton - Ravenous Rats
• Wilds of Eldraine: The Starring Roles
• Achievement Unlocked - What Creatures Make the Best Ring-Bearers?

Benjamin Nicol

Ben is a Michigan native who fell in love with Magic just a few years ago in 2019. He loves making big splashy plays in Commander as well as crunching the number to optimize his decks. Outside of Magic, he works in marketing and loves a great cup of coffee to start each morning… maybe with a splash of hot chocolate for his sweet tooth.