The 28 Best Relentless Rats and Rat Colony Commanders in Magic Ranked

Relentless Rats | Illustration by Mathias Kollros

When it comes to building rat Commander decks, one big question always comes up: Is it better to run Relentless Rats or Rat Colony? Today, we’re putting that debate to rest. We’ll break down the best commanders for each strategy, explore what makes them shine, and see which one truly excels depending on your game plan.

Intrigued? Let’s dive in!

What Are Relentless Rats and Rat Colony Commanders in MTG?

Relentless Rats | Illustration by Johann Bodin

Relentless Rats and Rat Colony commanders are legendary creatures and permanents that take advantage of these unique rats, which break the normal deck-building rules of Commander by allowing you to include any number of copies in your deck. They flood the battlefield with a swarm of identical rats, then amplify their power with buffs, recursion, or combat pressure.

While most commanders on the list play the same with Relentless Rats and Rat Colony, several are specific for the rats you choose.

#28. Morophon, the Boundless

Naming rats with Morophon, the Boundless makes every Rat Colony cost , meaning you can flood the board extremely fast. Morophon even acts as a global lord, giving your entire army +1/+1. With five colors available, you also get access to every payoff and support card rats could ever want. This is the “go big or go super big” version of the Colony plan.

#27. Greasefang, Okiba Boss

Greasefang, Okiba Boss lets any rat deck splash white and lean into vehicles for resilience. Your rats keep the pressure up while Greasefang recurs big vehicles for surprise damage. It plays out as a grindy midrange deck rather than an aggro deck that goes all-in on the swarm, and it's just sort of funny to put rats in cars.

#26. The Gitrog, Ravenous Ride

Attacking with The Gitrog, Ravenous Ride can turn even one Rat Colony into huge card draw. Sacrifice the rat that saddled Gitrog to draw cards equal to its power, which counts all your other rats on board. Then you can drop multiple lands into play to cast more rats next turn. While you can also run Relentless Rats for this build, all you care about is the power on the creature, so the cheapest option is better.

#25. Massacre Girl, Known Killer

Turning your swarm into wither attackers thanks to Massacre Girl, Known Killer makes combat miserable for opponents. Even chump blocks permanently shrink enemy boards. Every small death turns into card draw, letting you rebuild quickly after fights or wipes, making it a slower, attrition-based deck that bleeds the table out over time.

#24. Nethroi, Apex of Death

A Rat Colony deck loves graveyard recursion, and Nethroi, Apex of Death brings back a huge swarm all at once. Because each rat only has 2 power, you can reanimate five of them within Nethroi’s power 10 or less limit. Deathtouch and lifelink help stabilize while the rats flood the board again.

#23. Gyome, Master Chef

Splashing green unlocks powerful cards like Bloodbond March, which reanimates every Relentless Rats in your graveyard when you cast one. That means you can rebuild your entire board in a single play. At the same time, Gyome, Master Chef protects your creatures by creating Food that gives indestructible, so most sweepers barely slow you down. Green also provides ramp and better card access, helping you cast multiple rats each turn and making your deck one of the hardest versions to remove from the game.

#22. Mishra, Artificer Prodigy

Turning all your rats into artifacts is the real trick with Mishra, Artificer Prodigy. Cards like Encroaching Mycosynth, Biotransference, or Mycosynth Lattice make your Relentless Rats artifacts — which means Mishra can pull a second copy straight from your library, hand, or graveyard. Grixis colors also give great removal and combo options. With the right setup, even one rat can suddenly grow your board and make the swarm feel like it’s multiplying on its own.

#21. Maralen of the Mornsong

With Maralen of the Mornsong shutting off regular card draw and forcing everyone to tutor, the game becomes a race to set up the fastest win. As a dedicated rat commander, you can use this to keep finding more rats or key payoff cards that help the swarm take over before opponents can stabilize. Adding Ob Nixilis, Unshackled punishes your opponents for the forced tutor, which makes Maralen’s effect feel completely one-sided.

#20. Honest Rutstein

A Rat Colony deck loves having cheaper rats, and Honest Rutstein reduces their cost while also returning a creature from your graveyard when it enters. It helps rebuild after removal and keeps your curve smooth so you can cast multiple Rats a turn. Since Rutstein is in green and black, you can include strong recursion and self-mill cards to exploit its main cost-reducing ability even further.

#19. Meren of Clan Nel Toth

With Meren of Clan Nel Toth, every fallen rat becomes future value. As your rats die, you build experience counters that make it easy to return bigger threats turn after turn. Board wipes and removal only slow you down because Meren brings key creatures back at each end step. Rat decks naturally fill the graveyard through combat, so you always have creatures to return. Your swarm comes back again and again until your opponents finally run out of answers.

#18. Umori, the Collector

Choosing creature with Umori, the Collector makes all of your rats cheaper to cast, making it a natural commander for Rat Colony. The deck is simple because most of your cards are rats, with a few tutors or payoffs to help finish the game.

#17. K'rrik, Son of Yawgmoth

Paying life instead of mana with K'rrik, Son of Yawgmoth lets you play rats much faster than usual, though overcommitting can make you an easy target. K’rrik also grows bigger with every black spell you cast, turning it into a serious threat that helps you recover if things go wrong. The main advantage, though, is how quickly it helps you build a huge rat board.

#16. Ayara, First of Locthwain

With Ayara, First of Locthwain out, every new black creature drains opponents and pads your own life total, letting you win without even attacking. Their sacrifice ability keeps your hand full by turning extra rats into cards, which makes it a consistent and dangerous strategy in stalemates.

#15. Varragoth, Bloodsky Sire

Repeatable tutoring through boast on Varragoth, Bloodsky Sire keeps the rat game plan incredibly consistent. A single attack can stack your top deck with whatever you need—more rats, removal, combo enablers, or finishers. Deathtouch almost guarantees trades with another creature while setting you up for success, so it's a win-win.

#14. Jarad, Golgari Lich Lord

Leaning into self-mill and sacrifice makes Jarad, Golgari Lich Lord a deadly finisher for any rat deck. Cards like Patriarch's Bidding can bring back all your rats at once, which will shrink Jarad but set up a massive life-drain activation that hits the entire table. Even if combat is no longer an option, a single sacrifice can close the game. Green’s ramp and graveyard support make this approach fast, consistent, and explosively lethal.

#13. Nashi, Moon's Legacy

Nashi, Moon's Legacy mixes the rat swarm with a legends package for extra value. Each time you attack, you get to recast a legendary creature or rat from your graveyard, turning fallen threats into fresh bodies. That means legends like Vren, the Relentless can keep the token engine running while Ink-Eyes, Servant of Oni steals the best creatures from opposing graveyards.

#12. Athreos, God of Passage

Athreos, God of Passage makes it hard for opponents to remove your rats. Whenever a rat dies, they either takes a hit to their life total or return the creature to your hand. White support cards like Remembrance help you refill your board even faster.

#11. Grenzo, Dungeon Warden

Even though Rat Colony and Relentless Rats both grow stronger as more of them hit the battlefield, Grenzo, Dungeon Warden still checks their printed power while they are in the library. So even if your rats are attacking as 6/1 or 10/10 monsters, they remain 2/1 creatures until they enter the battlefield. Once your engine is rolling, you can even stack only rats on the bottom of your deck, letting Grenzo cheat them in one after another as a steady win condition.

#10. Lord Skitter, Sewer King

Creating a rat token each combat gives Lord Skitter, Sewer King a steady resource advantage, and they’re the perfect fuel for other rodents like Pack Rat, letting you discard spare cards to create even more terrifying rats that scale with the swarm. Low effort, high payoff, and a great engine commander. Just note that these rats can't block.

#9. Totentanz, Swarm Piper

An aristocrats-style rats deck works well with Totentanz, Swarm Piper. When your creatures die, you get token rats back, so your board never disappears, even after a wipe. Giving your attackers deathtouch makes blocking a bad idea for opponents. Cards like Braids, Cabal Minion and Patron of the Nezumi turn all those death triggers into forced sacrifices, and you end up winning long games by always having more rats ready to replace the ones that fall.

#8. Jon Irenicus, Shattered One

Giving your pumped rats to opponents with Jon Irenicus, Shattered One creates hilarious interactions. Those rats can’t be sacrificed and must attack other players, so your own creatures become weapons used against the table. You also draw cards every time they swing, keeping your hand full. Blue adds great tools like Reflections of Littjara to make extra rats as you cast them, and Homeward Path lets you steal back the donated rats for a fresh round of trouble.

#7. Chatterfang, Squirrel General

A token-heavy version of rat decks pairs nicely with Chatterfang, Squirrel General. Any time you create creature tokens, Chatterfang doubles them with Squirrels, boosting your board even faster. Sacrificing those squirrels gives removal when you need it, letting you overwhelm the board with two swarms at once and even forcing blockers to constantly make bad trades. Going wide has never looked so furry — and deadly.

#6. Wick, the Whorled Mind

The snail finisher from Wick, the Whorled Mind gives your rats a powerful non-combat way to win the game. Every time your creatures enter, your Snail token gets larger, and when you sacrifice it, you deal that much damage to each opponent and draw that many cards. Adding red provides tools like Song of Totentanz, which creates a bunch of tokens all at once to make the snail huge.

#5. Vren, the Relentless

Removal becomes token production with Vren, the Relentless. When opponents’ creatures die, they get exiled and turned into rat tokens at the end of the turn. These tokens help your board grow even when you aren’t casting creatures. By controlling the board while adding to your swarm at the same time, every combat interaction and removal spell pushes you further ahead.

#4. Ashcoat of the Shadow Swarm

Huge attack steps are Ashcoat of the Shadow Swarm’s specialty, boosting other rats by the number you control whenever it attacks or blocks. Milling yourself and recovering rats afterward keeps momentum going even when faced with removal. The result is a terrifying combat-focused rat deck that hits fast and recovers fast, forcing your opponents into defenseless positions.

#3. Lurrus of the Dream-Den

Using Lurrus of the Dream-Den with Rat Colony in particular turns your graveyard into an extra hand. You can cast one permanent per turn from your graveyard, which means you can keep bringing back Rats after trades or even board wipes.

#2. Karumonix, the Rat King

Karumonix, the Rat King gives every rat toxic 1, which creates a new way to win that doesn’t care about life totals. You only need to push through 10 poison counters to take out each opponent. On top of that, its ability to look at the top five cards of your deck and collect any rats helps you maintain momentum. This makes Karumonix strong in games where regular damage is not enough.

#1. Marrow-Gnawer

No matter whether you’re playing Relentless Rats or Rat Colony, Marrow-Gnawer is the best commander for rat tribal, period. Sacrificing a single rat can double your entire board, and giving all your rats fear makes blocking impossible for some opponents. This leads to sudden, game-ending swings that come out of nowhere. If you want the most explosive and iconic version of this strategy, Marrow-Gnawer is the top pick every time.

Example Decklist: Rat Colony in Historic Brawl

Rat Colony | Illustration by Suzanne Helmigh

I wanted to showcase a deck you can build for relatively cheap on Arena. I chose Rat Colony for one simple reason: the Special Guests version looks awesome, and with the new crafting rules, you only need four commons to complete a set — even if you’re running 44 copies in the deck. Sure, this build lack EDH’s core pieces like Thrumming Stone, but it’s still a straightforward way to play Brawl without burning too many wildcards.

Most of the remaining card choices are simply ones I already owned. The only one that truly matters is Echoing Return, which is fortunately just a common.

Which Is Better? Relentless Rats or Rat Colony?

When it comes to building a swarm deck, the choice between Relentless Rats and Rat Colony depends on how you want to play. Relentless Rats costs more but grows in both power and toughness, making your army harder to remove and better in longer games. Rat Colony is cheaper and attacks harder early, but it’s much more vulnerable to blockers and board wipes. If you want fast aggression, go with Rat Colony — but if you want a stronger late-game and better resilience, Relentless Rats usually comes out on top.

How Many Relentless Rats Should You Play?

If you’re building around Relentless Rats, you generally want at least 25–30 copies to make sure the scaling ability actually matters. The more you play, the stronger each one becomes, so many players go even higher — around 35–45 is the sweet spot for most Commander decks. Going past 50 can work, but you risk drawing fewer support cards like ramp, removal, and card draw.

Wrap Up

Tangled Colony | Illustration by Filip Burburan

Regardless of which Rat you prefer, this approach feels stronger than something like Shadowborn Apostle because every rat you play actually impacts the board. It creates a simple yet effective game plan: Play creatures, turn them sideways, and win through combat — just as Richard Garfield intended.

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