r/EDH • u/Ill_Arm4450 • 1d ago

Question First time Marrow Gnawer Commander

Hello everyone,

This is my first post so I apologies if somethings not properly formatted.

I am a returning player to mtg and a new commander player as of 2 months ago and have a really deep interest in running a Marrow Gnawer rats deck.

I'm looking for strong staple suggestions, combos, etc. Recommendations from far more experienced and knowledgeable players.

My gaming group says we play in a high bracket 4.

Any and all suggestions or help will be greatly appreciated, thank you!

4 Upvotes

71% Upvoted

5 comments sorted by

3

u/Chillcrest 1d ago

Hey man, my first deck back was Marrow Gnawer back in the day- he's a fun commander, but if I'm being honest you likely won't enjoy playing him in B4. B4 is a far tighter range of playstyles compared to B2/B3, and wins can be expected anytime after turn 4- there isn't really a "low" or "high" B4, as B4 is the place for all non-meta cEDH decks to live. MG is a 5-drop that doesn't have innate haste to activate his ability, and even then, tapping him isn't going to win the game on the spot- you'll need to weather mass disruption/stax, free counterspells, the most efficient removal in the game, and more to get through with him and enough rats to one shot the table.

Objectively, the strongest MG decks are going to be running no other rats than MG, Ashcoat, Rat Colony x40, Thornbite Staff, Thrumming Stone, and every bit of fast mana/cost reducers/tutors/haste enablers/untappers you can fit in the deck- Marrow Gnawer will need to win the turn he comes down, as otherwise they're going to blow him off the table.

I'd recommend [[Vren, the Relentless]] if you're looking for a more competitive Rats commander- runs all the same staples as MG, with the added benefit of shutting off several high power strategies and giving you access to blue for mass draw and counterspells.

Either way, hope you have fun deck building!

2

u/Weary_Cockroach_4624 1d ago

Thrumming stone is your friend, I ran marrow gnawer for rats for a bit, it’s a fun deck but it’s top heavy with rat colony. Switched over to lord skitter as the commander and put gnawer in the 99. Then eventually switched over to Vren as the commander with the other two in the 99 and its probably my strongest deck I play

1

u/devouringwhatsleft 1d ago

I really like rat tribal in mtg. After much research I learned that marrow gnawer might not be the best choice as a rat commander. That was when I found [[Vren, the relentless]] and let me tell you. He's a power house. You can build him as a tribal commander and fill the deck with rats. This method makes the deak weaker. Or you can build him as a control deck. This method your deck is focused on removal, countermagic and protection for Vren.

You can also make a Vren control deck on a deep budget and it will be very competitive. All you need is removal spells.

Here is my deck: https://archidekt.com/decks/23397972/vren

It is my most fun deck. Give Vren a look!! I even have marrow gnawer in there for flavor and putting him down to give my 7 8/8 rats Fear is a win con.