Commander Deck Guide: Totentanz, Swarm Piper

After the return of Wilds of Eldraine, a well-beloved and powerful tribe also returned: the Rat tribe. Now, it has more variety, more ways of creating Rat tokens, and, as a result, even more powerful Rats can put pressure on the board.

Today, we'll discuss a deck that focuses on creating and boosting Rats more and more. Due to the many sources of sacrifice that Red and Black have, we can create a big advantage over our opponents through our numbers.

Totentanz, which in German means Macabre Dance, has an interesting ability, as we can see above. Due to how easy it is for him to create creatures, a path we can follow with this deck is building an archetype with sacrifice tools and Rats. There are several creative ways of using his main ability.

The list we'll use for this article is the following:

Decklist

We create a Rat that can't block for each one of our non-creature tokens that dies, but we won't use our Rats to block anyway. For two mana, we can also give them Deathtouch when they attack, so it is very likely that almost all of them will connect their attacks.

The one responsible for Totentanz' pipe is Lord SKitter Sewer King, which creates significant value on board because it can exile graveyards and create even more Rats. It can certainly become an issue if no one removes it from the board. Depending on which Rats are on the board, they can get even stronger due to your token creation. Lord Skitter's Blessing is a relatively useful enchantment that draws you more cards.

One of the most interesting spells in this list is Rat Out, which, besides destroying small creatures, can create value with one Rat on the board. Tangled Colony is a great card that can create an absurd amount of value considering you'll be playing a Rakdos deck, and it is possible to target it with a red spell, dealing a massive amount of damage, to create countless Rats that will be quite problematic.

Lord Skitter's Butcher is a Rat that has several effects, and is quite useful in several scenarios. Warehouse Tabby isn't a Rat, but can create Rats, which is what we need. One strong card in this set is Gnawing Crescendo (it is astounding to me that this card is a common card) because you can grow your Rats, and, if a non-token dies, you'll create a Rat. It is a significantly useful Instant, and, if used well, can create a huge issue. Song of Totentanz is a spell that scales according to the amount of mana you have. A number of Rats that exceeds your expectations will never be a problem for this deck.

Nowadays, cards like our commander's greatest friend, Piper of the Swarm, are much easier and more satisfying to use. Sacrificing three Rats that will multiply more and more to get one of your opponent's creatures becomes way more fun, besides the simple fact it also creates Rats. But one of its strong effects is the static effect that gives Rats Menace, and you'll certainly create more Rats than the defending player.

Of course, we couldn't forget the king of Rats, Karumonix, The Rat King, which boosts your Rats even more by giving them Toxic, and searches for the Rats on the top five cards in your deck. Pack Rat is another card that benefits from an abundance of resources. With extra mana and cards in hand, you can easily boost several of your Rats on the board, which is indeed a bomb for Control decks.

Ogre Slumlord already has a static ability that gives your Rats Deathtouch, and non-token creatures that die will create Rats too, an effect that is practically identical to our commander's effects. It is one of the few creatures that costs more than 3 mana in this deck, but it has an extremely destructive power, which makes it an excellent option to complement this deck even more.

Ratcatcher is another card that can easily go in a typal Rat deck because it allows you to look for any Rat in your deck and place it in your hand at the beginning of your upkeep every turn, and like so you can always choose the right piece to destroy some threat on the board. Considering you have every Rat you can possibly want, you can pick absolutely anything you might need, and tutoring a card once per turn is incredibly strong.

Speaking of miscellaneous Rats, we can go to Kamigawa, which is full of Ninja Rats in the style of the Splinter Master, from the Teenage Ninja Mutant Turtles. Ink-Eyes, Servant of Oni is a great target for Ratcatcher because it can Reanimate a creature.

A good path for Rat decks is also forcing your opponents to discard cards. Nezumi Bone-Reader is a great example of this if you have Black mana available and creatures on the board (which you'll probably have). It is an extreme discard tool, leaving any opponent empty-handed. There is nothing more satisfying than seeing your opponent depend on their topdeck to continue playing.

Gnat Miser was included more as a whim, and because it costs one mana and expands your hand's card limit. Crypt Rats is efficient if you need to destroy everything on the board, which won't leave you that far behind in the game because you can trigger several abilities and create a gigantic Rat army to finish the game if things start going wrong for you board-wise.

Throat Slitter is great because of its Ninjutsu ability, as you'll surely have at least one creature that isn't blocked when you attack. You won't be out of cards to discard: Nezumi Informant, Drainpipe Vermin, and others like them get an even bigger advantage over your opponents if you use them to discard cards. Okiba-Gang Shinobi can, efficiently, discard someone's cards, discarding two if you connect its attack somehow.

We can't forget one of the greatest Rat commanders, Marrow-Gnawer, because its ability to create Rats is extraordinary. It is completely irrelevant that you have to sacrifice a creature for each Rat created this way. Its ability to give your glorious rodents Fear is astounding, and makes them almost impossible to block.

Speaking of Rat-creating effects, many of them take advantage of your big-toothed friends. Marrow-Gnawer is a type of creature that could be the main focus of another deck, but that is another article entirely.

One of this deck's main cards, Rat Colony, has an extremely low cost for the power it offers you, and grows massively and rapidly. If it isn't blocked, it is possible to deal a huge amount of damage, and two or three of this card attacking someone's HP directly can bring one of our friends (or foes) to their death. One of its advantages, just like our other Relentless Rats, is that you can add any number of this card to this deck, if you think you're missing some Rat damage, and it is always an incredibly useful option.

Artifacts and Enchantments

We can use several tools that influence cards with the same type or that take advantage of an excessive number of creatures in play. Vanquisher's Banner is a great example of this: for each Rat you create, it will draw you a card, and like so you'll never run out of gas, besides growing your creatures as well. Bontu's Monument reduces the cost of your black spells and also chips away at your opponent's HP. It may seem irrelevant, but it is more than it looks like, considering most Rats cost two mana.

Ashnod's Altar is another card that is in this deck because, as we create countless creatures, we can't skimp on mana. Skullclamp is one of the most broken equipment cards in the game. If you have tokens with 1 resistance, you'll have guaranteed card draw for several turns, which creates an absurd amount of value as the match progresses.

Grave Pact is one of the strongest enchantments in the game. If you have a cheap sacrifice engine, and something that creates a relevant number of tokens, it is practically impossible for your opponent's creatures to remain in the game.

A great example that showcases that you can easily kill everyone on the board and clear all creatures is by using this card with Goblin Bombardment. This deals damage to several players, and, of course, it is a bit harder to achieve, but it is an incredibly strong strategy. Impact Tremors is another example of the several cards that have already been mentioned that deal 1 damage whenever a creature enters the board. Considering this deck's goal is to create several creatures, it isn't challenging to elaborate an efficient strategy with these cards.

Tribute to Horobi is another Kamigawa card that is strong in a table with more players than usual. If your opponents don't kill the Rats you hand them, you can keep up to six Rats meant for when you finish this saga, which will give your small rodents more attack power and other roles too.

Stoneforge Masterwork, if equipped on a Rat you know no one will block, will deal an absurd amount of damage. A deck with Red and Black tends to be extremely aggressive, and, if you use the right cards, you can win through the number of problems you'll create for your enemies.

Considering you'll have several creatures that will die, being able to revive one isn't a tough job, which makes Vat of Rebirth, an artifact that was released recently, an excellent option. Door of Destinies is another card that can't stay on the board for too long because the game won't last many turns if it does.

Eldrazi Monument isn't difficult to keep on the board, considering the massive number of Rats you'll create, but it can prevent your Rats from dying if you want to create more. In any way, it is better to keep your original Rats alive.

There are other creatures that are quite useful but aren't Rats. Ogre Chitterlord is a dangerous card because it comes in and attacks creating Rats. At the beginning of the combat, if you have more than five Rats in play, they get a considerable buff. Its cost might seem high, but it is a powerful creature to keep on the board.

Ashcoat of the Shadow Swarm is another example of an excellent Lord. Any time you attack or block, it will grow your Rats according to how many of them you control. It can also mill four cards and return two Rats to your hand, which makes it a great option if you want to make it a commander.

Twisted Sewer-Witch is another great weapon to grow your number of Rats, and, with the tokens' effects, you can make them even stronger, and increase your creatures even more.

Fast and aggressive strategies in Commander can be a huge problem because, considering the game supposedly takes longer and is played with more health points, sometimes small Rats won't make a difference. This deck's strategy is to be aggressive, threatening your opponents by placing as many Rats possible, as fast as possible, on your board.

The colors of this deck help. As we've seen, there are several spells that grow all our creatures, and each little rat will be a creature with 3 or higher power, depending on how your complimentary artifacts and enchantments are working on the board.

A global removal might end your board, but, if your creatures die, you'll create several other Rats, creating a cycle that will be extremely tiresome to break. Black gives you the freedom to look for very interesting Reanimation tools if you have a specific Rat you want to bring back.

If you can create several Rats, this deck's red portion will provide you with access to damage. Some enchantments give an effect to your creatures that have two or less power to make them deal 1 damage to the target player.

Players are in luck with this one because most Rats are extremely accessible. Rat Colony is one of them. If you can stack a certain number (at least 20) of them in this card, you'll have an efficient build. Many Rats are cheap, and very few are beyond a regular player's budget. Some are, indeed, necessary, but playing without them wouldn't be a mortal sin because it will be only one card among the other 99.

If some cards are too expensive, always opt to keep the colonies because they are cheap, and, if this deck has a lot of them, they can be quite destructive.

Considering you create several Rats, you can always opt to include sacrifice tools. There are many effects that force you to sacrifice a creature and allow you to destroy another, or draw you cards. Black is full of cheap options.

Cards like Blood Artist are examples of how the death of your creatures can create even more problems on the board. As this deck is aggressive, any way you can deal damage to your opponents is a way of finishing matches faster. And, because this deck doesn't have heavy creatures or spells that benefit from long games, the faster you can wreak havoc the better.

If they slay your Rats with a global removal, Goblin Bombardment is something that can put you back into the game.

We still have space to add several cards with different goals, and still keep the Rat essence of this deck. Rats might not be as strong of a tribe as Elves, as numerous as Goblins, or as problematic as Fractius, but, among all tribes, they are my favorite.

With a good number of Rats, you can already set up a very fun table. Black has access to several fun things that you can add to this deck, such as, for instance, tools to draw cards sacrificing creatures or even destroy your opponents' creatures by sacrificing yours. This will make this deck more efficient and still keep its Rat essence. It is possible to think of a version of this archetype that can compete in tournaments, or one that just brings you fun because your Rats will be destroying Dragon decks, legendary Wizard decks, or Demon decks.

Many Rats have diverse effects. Kamigawa has its Ninja Rats, Phyrexia has its Toxic Rat, Eldraine has its smaller Rats that can't block, but grow easily. Additionally, there are several support cards for Rats that grant them Menace, Deathtouch and Fear, so you won't be out of options to build a Rat deck that is entirely your own.

See you next time!