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Rataliation

Commander / EDH Mono-Black Theme/Gimmick Tribal

Liquidbeaver

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Artifact (22)

Instant (7)

Creature (20)

Enchantment (9)

Commander (1)

Commander: Marrow-Gnawer

Land (34)

Sorcery (7)

Maybeboard

Artifact (27)

Land (5)

Sorcery (20)

Instant (8)

Planeswalker (2)

Creature (16)

Enchantment (11)

Hello everyone and welcome to my deck!

I really, really enjoy pretty strict tribal decks, and I tend to gravitate towards the under-used ones. I am trying to make this as competitive as possible, while also staying on theme wherever I can. With that said, I am pretty new to the game, so if you have any critiques, criticisms, or questions please comment!

RATALIATION

Artwork by Charles Lister

Rat Bastards

  • Marrow-Gnawer: All rats having Fear is really strong when I only have 4 non-rats total. His tap ability is amazing token generation, as long as you have at least 3 rats out already (including Marrow-Gnawer), otherwise you are trading 1 for 1, and the one you sac'd is probably a better rat on its own.
  • Ink-Eyes, Servant of Oni: A 5/4 for 6 with Ninjutsu, regenerate, AND recursion to the battlefield from an opposing player's graveyard? Yes please.
  • Nezumi Graverobber: A low cost 2/1 that can consistently exile cards, that when brought out early has a very high chance to flip on the next turn. Another recursion of an opponent's graveyard, although at a pretty high cost.
  • Ogre Slumlord: Just a great card. Giving Deathtouch to all but 4 of my creatures is brutal. Also, when you use Attrition to destroy another player's nontoken creature, if you sacrifice a rat token, you get a rat token right back (because what you are killing is a nontoken creature!). Attrition then becomes a spammable removal for the low, low price of .
  • Okiba-Gang Shinobi: More Ninjutsu for those double attacks, which can really punish opponents for not declaring a blocker for one of your creatures. Another card that can guarantee a flip for Nezumi Shortfang. Very punishing if you attack somewhere every turn, especially early game.
  • Pack Rat: This creature can get really insane a few turns after Marrow-Gnawer gets on the board. I will often save a non-vital card just so I have something to discard for it.
  • Pestilence Rats: Another solid Pack Rat-like (his toughness doesn't scale) that benefits from any rat on the table. That doesn't make much sense, until you factor in any rats other players created through Plague of Vermin. Even if they don't want to make any, you can still put out as many tokens as your health can handle.

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  • Rancid Rats: Skulk AND Deathtouch out of a 1/1 for 2 makes this my second best chump blocker.
  • Ratcatcher: Not only does he have Fear himself, but he also may tutor for any rat on each upkeep, guaranteeing I get the creature state that I want. Most often this would be one of the * / * rats, as they tend to be the most potent for the price.
  • Scrib Nibblers: I almost didn't include this rat in the deck, but after I realized that I could tap it for exile, bring a land into play, and then tap it again, I really needed to keep it in. The heal is a nice added benefit, even if it is small and subject to chance.
  • Skullsnatcher: Even more Ninjutsu (4 total double attacks for 3 if I have all the Ninja rats out), plus a double graveyard exile on every attack. Can help Nezumi Graverobber flip.
  • Throat Slitter: The last of the Ninja rats. Ninjutsu with an incredibly strong removal. As long as it has fear, this is almost guaranteed free creature removal every turn. Even more powerful combo'd with Attrition.
  • Tree of Perdition: I've included this tree for a few reasons. I like to tie my decks together by carrying over at least one creature or key card from each deck I make to the next, whenever possible. The deck I built before this is my Treefolk Tribal deck, so this was an easy inclusion. Not only that, it is an amazing defender, on top of having an overpowered tap mechanic that can be used just before an attack to help guarantee a finisher.
  • Typhoid Rats: Quite possibly the best chump blocker in the game, it's a 1/1 Deathtouch for . This is so strong I quite often will not sac it for Marrow-Gnawer, unless I already have Ogre Slumlord out.

Rat Combos

Here is my mini-voltron for Marrow-Gnawer that will spread his buffs to all the other rats.

  • Darksteel Plate: Protect him during the Voltron.

  • Dragon Throne of Tarkir: Makes him a Defender, but allows a cheap Overwhelming Stampede that transfers his full Power to every other rat. Not only does this make tokens into monsters, it makes all the * / * rats very scary.

  • Illusionist's Bracers: Strictly for Marrow-Gnawer to get double rat tokens for every sac.

  • Nightmare Lash: One half of Hulk Mode for Marrow-Gnawer. Can be added before Dragon Throne to spread it around, or without the Throne if I want to swing with him instead.

  • Stoneforge Masterwork: Second half of Hulk Mode. If I have both pieces on, sometimes I don't even need to swing with the other rats to demolish people.

We need to get our rats swole, so this is how we do it.

  • Coat of Arms: Yes it can end up benefitting your opponents just as much, but this is incredibly unlikely in most playgroups I have ever seen. This is a HUGE buff to every Rat you control, and it happens as soon as it hits the table. I prefer this over Door, but I have included Door anyway.

  • Door of Destinies: As long as this comes down early, it can provide a huge benefit, and only to you and your rat babies.

  • Konda's Banner: Potentially a 1/1 buff to an opposing black player, but a 2/2 buff to you, so overall a net positive. This of course only goes on Marrow-Gnawer.

  • Obelisk of Urd: Great early play to make all your tokens strong enough to avoid quite a bit of removal, but tapers off later in the game. Still worth the include. Convoke really saves this card.

  • Akroma's Memorial + Eldrazi Monument : Currently I don't run either one of these cards because flying rats is called pigeons.

The Rat Hole

Where does all this fighting take place? In the Crawlspace of course! Such a fun card, and on theme as well. The flavor text is also great.

Well, that's it. Eventually I will elaborate on the combos more, but that is the jist of it.

Thank you for visiting, and let me know what you think!

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Mythic Overkill — Feb. 17, 2017
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The deck is running pretty smoothly right now, with only a few awkward spots here and there that I haven't figured out how to tighten up.

I had a bunch of fantastic draws lategame during a Forge playtest, and decided to run with the deck to see just how ridiculous I could get it to go. I ended up getting a trophy for my best Mythic Overkill and best Life Total, at -722k and 722k. Three rounds of Illusionist's Bracers and Rings of Brighthearth, with Door of Destinies, Coat of Arms, and Whip of Erebos out made for the largest swing yet. All of it was made possible by a Crawlspace that the AI wasn't drawing an answer to, so I could sit back for a few turns and build up a huge swarm of rats (~450).

This deck is definitely the one I am the most proud of, and it is still a lot of fun to play every time. I am always looking for suggestions, whether they are for theme, or power, or just consistency.

Coming Up On 1500 Views! — Jan. 26, 2017
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First Playtest — Sept. 23, 2016
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Revision 21 See all

(5 years ago)

+1 Nezumi Graverobber  Flip main
-1 Nezumi Graverobber  Flip main
+1 Nezumi Shortfang  Flip main
-1 Nezumi Shortfang  Flip main
Date added 7 years
Last updated 5 years
Key combos
Legality

This deck is Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)

2 - 0 Mythic Rares

40 - 0 Rares

23 - 0 Uncommons

13 - 0 Commons
Cards 100
Avg. CMC 3.08
Tokens Copy Clone, Rat 1/1 B
Folders Black, rats, Finders, Edh, Eventually, Themed EDH Decks, Nice EDH's, decks i'm thinking about, Rats!, Deck Crafting
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