A new Magic set means new Commander precons to upgrade! This has become one of my favorite parts of new MTG sets, right up there with diving into new Limited formats. Ive been particularly excited for Bloomburrow thanks to reading Redwall when I was younger. I guess the marketing team found their target!
Deck Overview
The Squirreled Away Commander precon focuses on what might be Magic’s funniest archetype⁚ squirrels! It only takes fifteen of these to take down Emrakul, the Aeons Torn! But how can we make the most of this deck and its Golgari commander, Hazel of the Rootbloom?
Let’s crack open a cache and find out!
Deep Forest Hermit Illustration by Chris Seaman
EDH precons typically have two glaring weaknesses. The first contains weak or off-theme cards. These are often cards that seem like they were added to provide easy cuts for upgrades or cards that Wizards wanted to introduce to the Commander format, but they had no other place to put them.
The second issue is a lack of focus. Many precons have too many themes going on, none of which are properly supported.
In the case of Squirreled Away, it’s a token deck that’s also a sacrifice deck that also focuses on squirrels and producing Food, which is a lot. These ideas make sense. Bloomburrow creates mechanical ties between squirrels and Food, and sacrifice outlets are a fantastic way to squeeze value from a bundle of tokens. But the deck suffers from a lack of focus.
Additionally, I don’t think it makes good use of its commander. Hazel of the Rootbloom, one of the better Bloomburrow commanders, generates dizzying amounts of mana. Where are the cards to exploit it? What are you doing, ramping into Beledros Witherbloom? That’s just more ramp!
This lack of focus is the biggest flaw I want to address, with the nonexistent top-end being a secondary focus.
Upgrade Plan
The best way to focus a deck is by shaving away superfluous subthemes and bolstering the themes you want to add. For this deck, I’m going to focus on token creation and sacrifice. That’s where the deck’s strengths lie.
I’m ditching the food cards. They’re flavorful, but ultimately distracting.
And I’m cutting some of the squirrel synergies.
Hold your tomatoes! You might think that goes against what Hazel wants, but I disagree. I think the squirrel text is a red herring. Hazel of the Rootbloom wants to amass a board of tokens and tap for a ton of mana. Restricting those tokens to squirrels seems limiting. Does Hazel benefit from squirrels? Yes, so I’m keeping the cards that generate Squirrel tokens. I’m just ditching the cards that care about them, like Squirrel Sovereign and Honored Dreyleader.
I’m replacing these cards with better token production and sacrifice outlets, plus a handful of big spells for Hazel to ramp into. I’m putting an emphasis on adding planeswalkers since this deck looks like it benefits from a long, grindy game, and some planeswalkers work very well in the context of a token-sacrifice strategy.
None of the cards I’m adding cost more than 20, so this should be pretty budget-friendly.
Wight of the Reliquary
One of my favorite cards from Modern Horizons 3, Wight of the Reliquary is exactly what I want out of this deck⁚ a sacrifice outlet that makes mana. It’s much stronger than Gilded Goose, which easily produces 1 mana and nothing else until you pay more mana into it. Wouldn’t you rather just get a land?
Bitterblossom generates a ton of tokens when landed early. The steady token production keeps up a nice, sturdy board state. This is one of the pricier upgrades; Dreadhorde Invasion works in this slot as well, though Hazel can’t copy amass tokens.
Maskwood Nexus also produces tokens, but it’s way slower and costlier. It works with Hazel, but I doubt the synergy is strong enough to warrant the extra mana.
If you only make one swap out of this list, make it this one. Grist, the Hunger Tide might be the single strongest card you can add to this archetype. Not only does it produce tokens, but it also acts as a sacrifice outlet and interaction. Turning a Squirrel into Murder is perfect.
Academy Manufactor is a tempting reason to maintain the Food synergies and honestly made me consider strengthening that subtheme, but I don’t think one card warrants an entire archetype. If you keep the Food, you can keep this artifact creature.
Cache Grab isn’t a bad card advantage, but between the current swaps and cards like Skullclamp and Plumb the Forbidden already in the deck, you can do better than not bad.
Bitterblossom
One of my favorite cards from Modern Horizons 3, Wight of the Reliquary is exactly what I want out of this deck⁚ a sacrifice outlet that makes mana. It’s much stronger than Gilded Goose, which easily produces 1 mana and nothing else until you pay more mana into it. Wouldn’t you rather just get a land?
Bitterblossom generates a ton of tokens when landed early. The steady token production keeps up a nice, sturdy board state. This is one of the pricier upgrades; Dreadhorde Invasion works in this slot as well, though Hazel can’t copy amass tokens.
Maskwood Nexus also produces tokens, but it’s way slower and costlier. It works with Hazel, but I doubt the synergy is strong enough to warrant the extra mana.
If you only make one swap out of this list, make it this one. Grist, the Hunger Tide might be the single strongest card you can add to this archetype. Not only does it produce tokens, but it also acts as a sacrifice outlet and interaction. Turning a Squirrel into Murder is perfect.
Academy Manufactor is a tempting reason to maintain the Food synergies and honestly made me consider strengthening that subtheme, but I don’t think one card warrants an entire archetype. If you keep the Food, you can keep this artifact creature.
Cache Grab isn’t a bad card advantage, but between the current swaps and cards like Skullclamp and Plumb the Forbidden already in the deck, you can do better than not bad.
Grist, the Hunger Tide
One of the strongest cards for Bloomburrow Limited, Thornvault Forager might be the best new mana dork in this set. Tapping for 2 mana is fantastic.
And that creature tutor activated ability! I’m cutting a lot of the squirrels, but Chatterfang, Squirrel General might be the best card in the deck (and also the best-looking, if you opened the Imagine⁚ Courageous Critters version!). Getting a powerful card that also finds your best card is beautiful.
I’ve never liked Moldervine Reclamation. It can draw a lot of cards, but it’s too expensive and takes time to become impactful. Primal Vigor has seen a sharp price dip with its recent reprints, making it affordable. It’s still 5 mana and takes time to get rolling, but this green enchantment wins the game more convincingly.
Gourmands Talent actually looks quite powerful; I’m only cutting it because I’m ditching Food synergies.
I love sacrificing tokens and other permanents to Vraska, Golgari Queen. It has a lot of loyalty for a 4-mana walker, and that ultimate provides a powerful alternate win condition, especially in a deck that floods the board with tokens.
Another card lost without its Food synergies. Insatiable Frugivore looks really good; I often find that Food decks suffer from a lack of continuous Food generation. This black rat fills that hole nicely.
Tevesh Szat, Doom of Fools produces tons of tokens and draws some cards. There’s not much else to say. It supports every theme I’m interested in supporting in this deck, so it was one of the first cards I added.
Vraska, Golgari Queen
I just don’t think this deck wants to focus on squirrels enough to make Squirrel Sovereign a card worth running. Scute Swarm can take over a game all on its lonesome, especially alongside Skullclamp.
Even if I intended to keep the squirrel synergies around, Honored Dreyleader wouldn’t make the cut. It’s not bad, but making a single threat is underwhelming and easily blown out. I’d be far more interested if it buffed other squirrels.
Ruthless Knave is costly, but turning one token into two Treasure is powerful, especially since each activation lets Hazel add mana. You might even draw some cards off it!
Another Food card I’ve shown the door. Hazel’s Brewmaster could set up some sweet combos in a more food-focused deck; I can’t wait to see what it does with Ygra, Eater of All. It’s just not what this deck wants.
Pitiless Plunderer fits right in. I really appreciate how it maintains your token levels. It also creates infinite combos with Chatterfang, Squirrel General. If you don’t want that, I recommend Awakening Zone for a similar combination of token production and ramp.
Moonstone Eulogist doesn’t technically require the Food synergies, but it certainly becomes worse without them. This black creature has a home in some decks, but not this one.
This green sorcery’s absence from the precon is almost criminal. It does everything you want⁚ It interacts with your opponents, creates a bunch of tokens, and gives you an outlet for Hazel’s mana.
Tevesh Szat, Doom of Fools
I love sacrificing tokens and other permanents to Vraska, Golgari Queen. It has a lot of loyalty for a 4-mana walker, and that ultimate provides a powerful alternate win condition, especially in a deck that floods the board with tokens.
Another card lost without its Food synergies. Insatiable Frugivore looks really good—I often find that Food decks suffer from a lack of continuous Food generation. This black rat fills that hole nicely.
Tevesh Szat, Doom of Fools produces tons of tokens and draws some cards. There’s not much else to say. It supports every theme I’m interested in supporting in this deck, so it was one of the first cards I added.
I just don’t think this deck wants to focus on squirrels enough to make Squirrel Sovereign a card worth running. Scute Swarm can take over a game all on its lonesome, especially alongside Skullclamp.
Even if I intended to keep the squirrel synergies around, Honored Dreyleader wouldn’t make the cut. It’s not bad, but making a single threat is underwhelming and easily blown out. I’d be far more interested if it buffed other squirrels.
Ruthless Knave is costly, but turning one token into two Treasure is powerful, especially since each activation lets Hazel add mana. You might even draw some cards off it!
Scute Swarm
Another Food card I’ve shown the door. Hazels Brewmaster could set up some sweet combos in a more food-focused deck; I can’t wait to see what it does with Ygra, Eater of All. It’s just not what this deck wants.
Pitiless Plunderer fits right in. I really appreciate how it maintains your token levels. It also creates infinite combos with Chatterfang, Squirrel General. If you don’t want that, I recommend Awakening Zone for a similar combination of token production and ramp.
Moonstone Eulogist doesn’t technically require the Food synergies, but it certainly becomes worse without them. This black creature has a home in some decks, but not this one.
This green sorcery’s absence from the precon is almost criminal. It does everything you want⁚ It interacts with your opponents, creates a bunch of tokens, and gives you an outlet for Hazel’s mana.
Nested Shambler is okay. You effectively get to sacrifice it twice, and this deck can benefit from the token. But it depreciates in value over the course of the game, and its relatively low impact, even when curved perfectly.
Breach the Multiverse gives you a fantastic bit of top end. I’ve added a bunch of […]
