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Rat Colony

Creature — Rat

This creature gets +1/+0 for each other Rat you control.
A deck can have any number of cards named Rat Colony.

CMC
2
Mana cost
{1}{B}
Color identity
B
Rarity
common
Set
The List
Price
$9.61
EDHREC rank
#4457
Buy on TCGplayer
Rat Colony card art
Rat Colony hits the table as a two-mana 1/1 that scales to a 2/1, 3/1, 4/1, and beyond for every copy already in play — the more you run, the bigger each one gets without any additional investment. In dedicated rat builds helmed by Rat King, Verminister or fueled by Syr Konrad, the Grim's death triggers, the card pulls more weight than its price tag suggests.

Best Commanders

Commanders with the highest synergy

01
Rat King, Verminister

Rat King, Verminister

78.0% of decks · synergy 0.72

Rat King, Verminister's ability to put Rat Colony cards directly onto the battlefield from anywhere turns the Colony's redundancy clause into an accelerating board presence — each new rat makes every previous one bigger, and Rat King keeps supplying them.

02
Marrow-Gnawer

Marrow-Gnawer

74.9% of decks · synergy 0.69

Marrow-Gnawer gives all rats Fear and, more importantly, taps to sacrifice a rat and produce a swarm of 1/1 tokens — Rat Colony feeds that sacrifice cost while the tokens it generates keep the power-boost count climbing.

03
Ashcoat of the Shadow Swarm

Ashcoat of the Shadow Swarm

70.0% of decks · synergy 0.64

Ashcoat of the Shadow Swarm rewards running the maximum number of rat creatures, and Rat Colony is the card that most directly rewards stacking copies — Ashcoat's recursion engine means killed Colonies come back and immediately buff everything still on the field.

04
Karumonix, the Rat King

Karumonix, the Rat King

55.8% of decks · synergy 0.50

Karumonix, the Rat King spreads poison counters through rat creatures entering the battlefield, and Rat Colony is cheap enough to chain multiple copies per turn, stacking poison triggers quickly.

05
Totentanz, Swarm Piper

Totentanz, Swarm Piper

37.6% of decks · synergy 0.37

Totentanz, Swarm Piper converts noncombat damage into rat tokens, and a wide board of Rat Colony creatures dealing unblocked chip damage generates a steady token stream that in turn pumps each Colony's power further.

Format Analysis

Where it lives, where it can’t

FormatVerdict
commander legal
legacy legal
modern legal
pioneer legal
standard not legal
vintage legal
pauper legal
oathbreaker legal

Commander is where Rat Colony actually earns its slot — the 99-card singleton rule doesn't apply to it, so a dedicated rat deck can legally run up to 30+ copies, turning the power-boost clause from a flavor text footnote into a genuine win condition. Outside Commander, Rat Colony is legal in Legacy, Modern, Pioneer, Pauper, Vintage, and Oathbreaker, but sees virtually no competitive play in any of them; the payoff requires critical mass that 60-card formats can assemble but rarely want to, given stronger tribal and creature options available. Pauper is the one non-Commander format worth a glance — the card is common, budget all-in rat lists exist, and the ceiling is real if you hit six or seven copies — but the strategy remains a glass cannon. Standard is the one format where Rat Colony isn't legal.

Key Combos

Combo lines featuring this card

Budget Alternatives

Cheaper options that do most of the same work

Rat Colony is its own best replacement in multiples — the card is designed to be stacked, and no single substitute replicates the self-referential power boost. If the goal is cheap, expendable black creatures that reward going wide in rat builds, Rat Colony at bulk pricing is already the budget option; cutting copies in favor of generic 1/1 rats just weakens the engine rather than preserving it.

Price Context

Current price

$9.61 mid tier

At $9.61, Rat Colony sits in mid-tier pricing that reflects demand from dedicated rat Commander decks rather than cross-format staple status. The price is defensible if you're building the archetype — you'll want a playset or more — but it's worth checking for cheaper printings before buying, as the card has appeared in multiple products and individual copy prices vary.

Explore

Sources

Mentioned

← All cards

Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.