All 13 Rat Commanders in Magic Ranked

Last updated on October 11, 2024

Karumonix, the Rat King | Illustration by Jason A. Engle

Typal builds are one of the easiest ways to get into MTG, and especially with typal Commanders. Start with the creature type you want to build around, choose your high impact Magic cards, fill out the deck with some role players, and boom! You’re ready for your opponents to do their best James Cagney impressions.

Rats get a bum rap. Sure, the pests that live on them might be carriers of disease, but the rats themselves are quite clever. Magic players get to see both ends, whether you’re a fan of Typhoid Rats or Nashi, Moon Sage's Scion.

But which rats should you run in your command zone? And are there other non-rats you can run at the head of your rat Commander deck? Lemme give you something to gnaw on!

What Are Rat Commanders in MTG?

Old Flitterfang | Illustration by Chris Seaman

Usually, I’d say that rat commanders are legendary creatures that have the rat creature type, but I’m stretching the definition today to any legendary creature that mentions rats in their rules text.

If you want to run another commander at the head of your rat deck, keep in mind that many rats in Magic are black. They’re often small, low mana value creatures that benefit from gaining combat abilities or being made unblockable, and they pair nicely with effects that care about your creatures dealing combat damage.

Honorable Mention: Yuriko, the Tiger’s Shadow

While neither a rat nor directly synergistic with rats, Yuriko, the Tiger's Shadow does have commander ninjutsu, and they’re both one of the best Dimir commanders, and one of the best aggro commanders. There are eight rat ninjas with ninjutsu as of Modern Horizons 3, and rats play well as creatures that your opponents might not want to block, so thematically, there’s room. You’re probably running Yuriko with rogues before rats, but the deck design space is available if you want to explore it.

#13. Genku, Future Shaper

This is my mandatory posterity pick, but let’s be honest with each other: You aren’t running Genku, Future Shaper as your rat commander. Sure, it can make you Rat tokens with lifelink, but it's an Azorius commander (), so it’s a payoff for flickering, not creature deaths. Besides, you aren’t even remotely in black. Trash tier rat commander, but I’m judging a blink commander on its ability to support rats, so what did I expect?

#12. Old Flitterfang

As a flying rat, Old Flitterfang makes me think of Romulus from Kenneth Oppel’s Silverwing series. It doesn’t do enough for its mana value when there’s some more obvious rat commanders on offer. It has a built-in sacrifice outlet, which is appreciated, but I see Flitterfang as a support piece for rat or Food builds.

#11. Patron of the Nezumi

Patron of the Nezumi is an awkward fit as a rat commander. Rat decks tend to be filled with cheap creatures, while this black commander costs a whopping 7 mana. Make sure that control player is tapped out before you cast this bad boy!

Rat offering can help to reduce that cost, and to reduce the impact of commander tax, but this Patron’s slow life drain isn’t really doing it for me. If this was a Golgari commander with access to green cards, I’d suggest a bunch of deathtouchy rats and some bite spells, but I’ve learned to stop when I feel I’m stretching.

#10. Nashi, Moon Sage’s Scion + Ink-Eyes, Servant of Oni

Ninjutsu won’t matter if you’re using Nashi, Moon Sage's Scion out of the command zone (unless you have a Rule 0 conversation that gives Nashi commander ninjutsu or something). And since Nashi cares about dealing combat damage to a player, that’s a big hurdle. Nashi also uses life as a resource, so any deck that uses this rat as a main rather than a side piece needs some lifegain to balance that.

Ink-Eyes, Servant of Oni has many of the same issues with a higher mana value. It doesn’t cost you life to use its combat damage ability, but I like my rat commanders to cost less mana to bring out.

#9. Lord Skitter, Sewer King

In a world without Marrow-Gnawers and Karumonixes, Lord Skitter, Sewer King is a much more usable black commander. Heck, in another creature type, Skitter might even actually be king. Unfortunately, that’s not the case. A little bit of graveyard hate, a lil bit of token generation…. But Lord Skitter’s tokens can’t even chump block for you. When is a pawn not a pawn?

#8. Greasefang, Okiba Boss

Greasefang, Okiba Boss is certainly no slouch as a vehicle commander, but I wouldn’t really use it as a rat commander unless I were going purely on theming. Listen, a horde of rats to crew your vehicles can be a neat idea, but it’ll play like an EDH precon with mish-mashed theming rather than a cohesive deck. Good Orzhov commander, but this isn’t the rat to put at the head of your rat deck.

#7. Nashi, Moon’s Legacy

Nashi is the only rat character to have multiple creature cards as of MH3, which is at least mildly strange. How many Krenko’s and Squee’s do we have by now, yet most rats are one-and-done?

Nashi, Moon's Legacy is a Sultai commander () with an ability that you can use with either rats or legendary permanents. Menace and ward are going to help you attack profitably and avoid removal, at least somewhat. Not the worst, not the best, but at least a card I’d consider running as a commander.

#6. Totentanz, Swarm Piper

Totentanz, Swarm Piper was a signpost uncommon of the Wilds of Eldraine Limited format, making use of rats and creatures that make Rat tokens when they die. A number of those WOE cards fit into a deck with this Rakdos commander, along with other creature death payoffs like Garna, Bloodfist of Keld. Having access to red cards also means you get access to red removal and red card draw effects, which can help to churn through your deck for the answers you need.

#5. Vren, the Relentless

Bloomburrow’s Vren, the Relentless is a Dimir rogue that pumps out virtual Pack Rat tokens as creatures get exiled. Vren also gives you built-in graveyard hate, while ward helps to shelter it from removal. Rats are your main theme here, but keep an eye out for effects that force your opponents to sacrifice creatures like Flare of Malice.

#4. Wick, the Whorled Mind

Instead of Stockpile into a Spit Up, this is Stockpile into a Self-Destruct (for the Pokémon players out there). The red in Wick, the Whorled Mind’s color identity gives you access to Fling, which is cheaper but hits only one target, compared to Wick’s color-specific activated ability. I'm not ashamed of giving Wick bonus points for the sheer novelty of this whole strategy.

#3. Ashcoat of the Shadow Swarm

Ashcoat of the Shadow Swarm is extremely powerful, as you’ll find with some Jumpstart and Jumpstart 2022 cards. The first ability triggers both when Ashcoat attacks and blocks, which makes a wide board formidable no matter whose turn it is. The second ability keeps your hand stocked with fresh rats to bring out, which helps make any deck that uses Ashcoat more consistent.

#2. Marrow-Gnawer

Even novice Commander players learn that Krenko, Mob Boss is a busted, powerful goblin commander. Marrow-Gnawer is virtually the same, though it also gives all your rats fear. Definitely a strong commander, but I’m docking points for a lack of accessibility, even with the Imagine: Courageous Critters reprint in Bloomburrow. Activating that rat-doubling ability requires a sacrifice, unlike Krenko, which works well for a mono-black death strategy and pairs nicely with the rats that are good sac fodder or sac and death payoffs.

#1. Karumonix, the Rat King

In terms of raw power, you’ll want Marrow-Gnawer at the front of your rat deck. But if you’re like me and you’d rather have a commander you can pick up for the price of a booster pack or less, Karumonix, the Rat King is the way to go. Giving toxic to all your rats makes them that much more important yet unappealing to block, especially when some like Typhoid Rats have deathtouch to start. Plus some rats already have toxic, so you’re just making them that much more vicious.

Its ETB can also be considered a deterrent, since removing Karumonix just means that the next time you get it to stick, you get to filter another section of your deck for some rats to keep in your hand.

Best Rat Payoffs

Some of these commanders can be rat payoffs themselves, so I won’t go over them again here.

Rat Colony breaks the limits on how many cards you can have with the same name and is a massive payoff in that sense. Go wide enough with your rats, and a hasted, unblockable Rat Colony is a win condition.

Piper of the Swarm acts as a rat-centric typal lord, token generator, and sacrifice outlet, while the slum-ruling Ogre works as a death payoff that replaces your nontokens with tokens. Species Specialist is another typal death payoff, although one that’s more flexible. Ratcatcher is also an important payoff for getting the best rats out of your deck quickly.

Rats benefit from all the typal benefits that let you choose a creature type. If your rat commander is a rat itself, you can take advantage of Path of Ancestry. If your rat commander cares about connecting for damage, a Rogue's Passage can also be just the trick. Since many rats are also black, you can use black-specific anthem effects to pump up your creatures, too.

Commanding Conclusion

Totentanz, Swarm Piper | Illustration by Matt Stewart

This bizarre obsession with rats; it is not good for you. You are becoming what we French call “le fruitcake!”

-Le Frog, Flushed Away (Dreamworks, 2006)

I see potential for rats in virtually any MTG set. They’re ubiquitous in cities, but they also work in any fantasy setting you’d like. So… when are we batching rodents, Wizards? Bloomburrow’s got mice, Wilds of Eldraine had rats… I’m just sayin’.

Which rat commander do you run, and which other non-rats would you run at the head of your rat deck? Do you want rats to stay focused in black, or do you want more rats sprinkled across the color pie? Let me know in the comments below or over on the Draftsim Discord.

Until next time, keep those incisors sharp!