Colony of the Rat King

Colony of the Rat King is a mono-black Rat tribal aristocrats/reanimator Commander deck. It wants to flood the board with Rat Colony, Pack Rat, Marrow-Gnawer, Piper of the Swarm, and Karumonix, then turn that swarm into value through sacrifice and death triggers.

Key synergies revolve around Blood Artist, Zulaport Cutthroat, Bastion of Remembrance, and Ayara, First of Locthwain, which drain opponents as your rats die. Sac outlets like Carrion Feeder, Viscera Seer, and Warren Soultrader let you cash in creatures for value, while Skullclamp, Phyrexian Arena, Plumb the Forbidden, and similar draw spells keep cards flowing. The deck can rebuild or swing explosively with graveyard recursion like Living Death, Patriarch’s Bidding, Victimize, Buried Alive, and Unmarked Grave.

It usually wins by overwhelming the table with a pumped rat army, often enhanced by Marrow-Gnawer or anthem effects,