Skip the $20+ cards (Thrumming Stone, Coat of Arms, Cover of Darkness) and the deck still hums: Commander: Karumonix, the Rat King (~$1) Engines: Pack Rat (~$3.30), Piper of the Swarm (~$3), Ogre Slumlord (~$0.45), a couple of Relentless Rats / Rat Colony (~$56 each cap the copies to stay on budget) Payoffs/utility: Crypt Rats (~$0.50), Nezumi Bone-Reader (~$0.40), Bontu the Glorified (~$3) as a sac outlet, Throne of the God-Pharaoh only if budget allows The rest: cheap black removal, Swamps, and a Sol Ring The whole list comes in well under $50, and it scales up gracefully add Marrow-Gnawer and Thrumming Stone later and the same shell jumps several power levels
Originally, the reprint policy made an exception for premium versions of cards, which Wizards took advantage of by printing Phyrexian Negator in Duel Deck: Phyrexia vs
I found affinity for Birds especially endearing
Ulrich of the Krallenhorde was never the most interesting Werewolf Commander, as his synergy with the rest of the deck was basically non-existent
When you do this, you also draw a card