Happy 2020, everyone! The Lunar New Year has passed, the Secret Lair has dropped, and it’s based on the year of the Rat. This can only mean one thing..deck tech! This is a really difficult decklist that takes a lot of balancing between lands and Rat creatures. Take a look and let me know what you think.
Athreos Rats
Synergies
Thrumming Stone + Relentless Rats: Ripple 4 to hit another Relentless Rat, incredible value.
Combos
Relentless Rats x Relentless Rats: These cards work so well together giving them +1/+1 for each other Relentless Rat on board. Be careful though, if you fight another Relentless Rat deck, then the rats on their board get the +1/+1 as well.
Rats
Relentless Rats: Sixty-Six Relentless Rats.
Summary
So this deck is pretty skill-intensive, knowing what opening hands to keep. Is the two land hand alright? How about the one land and Sol Ring hand? Will you get that other mana or would you prefer the risk of flooding. The addition of Sol Ring is pretty crazy, I know, but it can allow you to play a Relentless Rats on turn two. Alright, maybe I should do an actual decklist for Athreos now.
Athreos, God of Passage
Commander (1)
Lands (36)
Arid Mesa
Barren Moor
Bloodstained Mire
Bojuka Bog
Cabal Coffers
Cavern of Souls
Command Tower
Deserted Temple
Fetid Heath
Field of the Dead
Flooded Strand
Godless Shrine
Isolated Chapel
Marsh Flats
Myriad Landscape
Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
Phyrexian Tower
Plains x2
Polluted Delta
Polluted Mire
Scrubland
Snow-Covered Plains x2
Snow-Covered Swamp x2
Swamp x5
Swarmyard
Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
Verdant Catacombs
Volrath’s Stronghold
Windswept Heath
Planeswalkers (1)
Artifacts (15)
Blade of Selves
Bontu’s Monument
Coat of Arms
Door of Destinies
Heirloom Blade
Herald’s Horn
Icon of Ancestry
Jet Medallion
Skullclamp
Sol Ring
Soul Foundry
The Immortal Sun
Thrumming Stone
Vanquisher’s Banner
Whip of Erebos
Enchantments (1)
Sorceries (5)
Damnation
Dark Petition
Demonic Tutor
Immortal Servitude
Secret Salvage
//Creatures (41)
Graveshifter
Marrow-Gnawer
Ogre Slumlord
Pack Rat
Piper of the Swarm
Ratcatcher
Relentless Rats x35
Rats, Rats, Rats
Athreos was selected as a value engine to recur Rats rather than the traditional Mono-Black variants. While cramming in Mono-Black staples there are a number of tribal staples and Rat tribal support cards as well. The discount and bonuses are meant to support the swarm of powerful Relentless Rats and recover after the expected board wipe.
Actual Summary
The more time goes by, the more tribal support cards come out. The reprint of the Relentless Rats gave players easier access to building the deck. They also made the lower costed version, Rat Colony, which trades off its toughness. There’s no substitute for the power and toughness in combat though. There are a lot of Commanders and support cards that could be used instead, but the point is if you haven’t seen how deadly a swarm of Relentless Rats is, I recommend you try it sometime. Happy year of the Rat.
