Budget Rat Swarm

Commander / EDH* Budget Casual Mono-Black

SonneKrieger7

Rats (25)

• 1x Bog Rats
• 1x Burglar Rat
• 1x Changeling Outcast
• 1x Chittering Witch
• 1x Drainpipe Vermin
• 1x Graf Rats  ^Meld
• 1x Gutter Skulk
• 1x Lab Rats
• 1x Muck Rats
• 1x Nezumi Bone-Reader
• 1x Nezumi Graverobber  ^Flip
• 1x Pack Rat
• 1x Piper of the Swarm
• 1x Rancid Rats
• 1x Rat Colony
• 1x Rats of Rath
• 1x Ravenous Rats
• 1x Rotting Rats
• 1x Ruin Rat
• 1x Sewer Rats
• 1x Sinuous Vermin
• 1x Skullsnatcher
• 1x Swarm of Rats
• 1x Thriving Rats
• 1x Typhoid Rats

Tutors (3)

• 1x Diabolic Tutor
• 1x Dimir House Guard
• 1x Razaketh's Rite

Card Draw (8)

• 1x Ancient Craving
• 1x Bolas's Citadel
• 1x Night's Whisper
• 1x Read the Bones
• 1x Sign in Blood
• 1x Skullclamp
• 1x Species Specialist
• 1x Underworld Connections

Land (35)

• 1x Barren Moor
• 1x Cabal Stronghold
• 1x Command Beacon
• 1x Path of Ancestry
• 30x Swamp
• 1x Witch's Cottage

Ramp (5)

• 1x Arcane Signet
• 1x Charcoal Diamond
• 1x Crypt Ghast
• 1x Pillar of Origins
• 1x Sol Ring

Board Wipes (4)

• 1x Bontu's Last Reckoning
• 1x Crypt Rats
• 1x Massacre Girl
• 1x Mutilate

Win Conditions (4)

• 1x Ayara, First of Locthwain
• 1x Coat of Arms
• 1x Gruesome Fate
• 1x Skemfar Shadowsage

Commander (1)

Removal (6)

• 1x Epic Downfall
• 1x Feed the Swarm
• 1x Go for the Throat
• 1x Hero's Downfall
• 1x Murder
• 1x Price of Fame

Swarm (5)

• 1x Magewright's Stone
• 1x Plague of Vermin
• 1x Puppet Strings
• 1x Rings of Brighthearth
• 1x Thousand-Year Elixir

Protection (4)

• 1x Bond of Revival
• 1x Dread Return
• 1x Lightning Greaves
• 1x Swiftfoot Boots

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Sideboard

Other (6)

• 1x Barter in Blood
• 1x Cast Down
• 1x Demon's Disciple
• 1x Entreat the Dead
• 1x Merciless Executioner
• 1x Plaguecrafter

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Strategy

The goal is to swarm the board with as many rats as possible. Then when there are enough rats, play a win con and drain every one

Lands

• Barren Moor: Cycling is useful in the late game if you are flooding
• Command Beacon: If Marrow-Gnawer gets targeted, this is helpful
• Path of Ancestry: Scry effect is really useful
• Cabal Stronghold: Budget Ramp
• Witch's Cottage: A little bit of recursion

Notable Rats

• Burglar Rat: The best rat
• Chittering Witch: Usually makes 3 tokens
• Pack Rat: A fat rat
• Piper of the Swarm: Creates rats, gives them menace, and steals things
• Rat Colony + Swarm of Rats : Strong rats

Swarm

All of these cards double the amount of rats you can make a turn. Thousand-Year Elixir is the best one

Removal

I have some pesky voltron players in the group. When that happens, I'll replace targeted removal with sacrifice stuff

Win Conditions

• Play Gruesome Fate or Skemfar Shadowsage when you have a large swarm of rats
• You can also play Ayara, First of Locthwain before you use Marrow-Gnawer to drain everyone
• The easiest way is through Coat of Arms because you'll probably only need 10 rats out to get in a ton of damage

Tutors

These will be pretty situational

• Heavy removal -> Lightning Greaves
• Not enough rats -> Thousand-Year Elixir
• Need a win con -> Coat of Arms
• Dimir House Guard -> Ayara, First of Locthwain or Thousand-Year Elixir

Date added	4 years
Last updated	3 years
Key combos	Rat Colony + Swarm of Rats
Legality	This deck is Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	18 - 1 Rares 22 - 4 Uncommons 30 - 1 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	2.71
Tokens	Copy Clone, Rat 1/1 B
Folders	My Commander Decks