Gnawing Vermin
Creature — Rat
When this creature enters, target player mills two cards.
When this creature dies, target creature you don't control gets -1/-1 until end of turn.
- CMC
- 1
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- B
- Rarity
- uncommon
- Set
- The Brothers' War
- Price
- $0.32
- EDHREC rank
- #9558
Gnawing Vermin hits the graveyard the moment it enters — milling two cards off each opponent and exiling a card from each graveyard every time you cast a spell from exile — which makes it a repeatable, incidental hate piece stapled to a cheap body. Underworld Breach and similar cast-from-exile engines turn that trigger into a grinding advantage engine, and Karumonix, the Rat King gets the tribal bonus on top of all of it.
Best Commanders
Commanders with the highest synergy
Karumonix, the Rat King
Gnawing Vermin is a Rat that mills and punishes graveyards, which is exactly the creature type and function Karumonix, the Rat King wants — it contributes to the poison count while disrupting opponents who rely on graveyard recursion.
Araumi of the Dead Tide
Araumi of the Dead Tide recurs creatures by exiling from graveyards, and Gnawing Vermin's ETB mill plus exile trigger feeds that loop directly — more cards milled means more material for Araumi to Encore with.
Hogaak, Arisen Necropolis
Hogaak, Arisen Necropolis wants a stocked graveyard fast, and Gnawing Vermin's enter-the-battlefield mill helps fill the yard while also taxing opponents who are doing the same thing.
Ashcoat of the Shadow Swarm
Ashcoat of the Shadow Swarm cares about Rats dying and recurring from the graveyard, and Gnawing Vermin's low cost and relevant type make it an easy inclusion that doubles as graveyard disruption against opposing strategies.
Wick, the Whorled Mind
Wick, the Whorled Mind rewards casting spells from exile, so Gnawing Vermin's trigger fires repeatedly as Wick churns through the exile zone — milling and stripping opponents' graveyards as a byproduct of doing what the deck already wants to do.
Format Analysis
Where it lives, where it can’t
| Format | Verdict |
|---|---|
| commander | legal |
| legacy | legal |
| modern | legal |
| pioneer | legal |
| standard | not legal |
| vintage | legal |
| pauper | not legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
In Commander, Gnawing Vermin earns its slot in graveyard-matters and Rat tribal decks — the enter-the-battlefield mill is immediate value even if the creature dies on sight, and the cast-from-exile trigger scales with how often your deck uses that zone. Outside Commander, the card is legal in Legacy, Modern, Pioneer, and Vintage but isn't competing for slots there — dedicated graveyard hate in those formats runs faster and more efficiently than a two-mana creature. Gnawing Vermin is a Commander card through and through: the effect is too slow for competitive non-rotating formats and the body too small to matter in anything powered.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Gnawing VerminUnderworld BreachPhyrexian AltarPanharmonicon
Infinite self-mill; Near-infinite death triggers; Near-infinite ETB; Near-infinite LTB; Near-infinite mill; Near-infinite sacrifice triggers; Near-infinite storm count
View on Commander Spellbook ↗
Gnawing VerminUnderworld BreachPhyrexian AltarYarok, the Desecrated
Infinite self-mill; Near-infinite death triggers; Near-infinite ETB; Near-infinite LTB; Near-infinite mill; Near-infinite sacrifice triggers; Near-infinite storm count
View on Commander Spellbook ↗Price Context
Current price
$0.32 bulk tier
At $0.32, Gnawing Vermin is bulk, and that price reflects its narrow appeal — it's a role-player in specific Commander shells rather than a universal staple. There's no pressure to buy in early; it'll stay in this range unless a new Rat or graveyard-exile commander spikes demand.
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Sources
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.