Quick Links
Bloomburrowmight seem likeMagic: The Gathering’s cutest and cuddliest expansion ever, but just like squirrels, it’s hiding a dark secret. In addition to nuts and berries, squirrels are known to eat small mammals, frogs, nesting birds, and even bones. Bloomburrow’s squirrel-themed Commander deck, Squirreled Away, is known to do much the same.
The Squirrels of Bloomburrow are both guardians of the forest and the necromantic speakers of the dead, raising armies of creepy crawlies to overrun their enemies with tiny claws and venom. Squirreled Away gives players a peek into the dark double lives of these furry rodents.
Hazel of the Rootbloom
Sword of the Squeak
Woodland Cemetery
Squirreled Away Commander Deck Themes
Despite having ‘squirrel’ in the name, Squirreled Away isn’t entirely a Squirrel-typal deck. There are Wolves, Raccoons, Bats, Insects, Spiders, Pests, Rats, and even a few humans to be found. More than just Squirrels,Squirreled Away is all about producing lots and lots of creature tokens. Squirrels are preferred, but any token will do.
Once Squirreled Away has produced its token army, it has a few options. First, it can justoverrun opponents with sheer numbers, oruse cards like End-Raze ForerunnersorInsatiable Frugivoreto either trample or bypass defenses. Or you could startsacrificing those tokens to Woe StriderorSkullclampto startdealing damage to opponents directlywith the help ofZulaport CutthroatorPoison-Tip Archer.
Besides the usual 1/1 (or 2/2 or 3/3) tokens,TreasureandFood tokensalso join in on the fun.Prosperous InnkeeperandTireless Provisionerproduce tokens,Academy Manufactormultiplies them, and thenHazel’s Brewmastergives those Food tokens strange and mysterious powers (beyond merely gaining life, of course).
Squirreled Away’s tokens are a resource to be spent, and as is often the case with green/black decks, spending means sacrificing.
If you find a modest token army isn’t enough,Moldervine Reclamation,Plumb the Forbidden, andRavenous Squirrelcan all eat tokens to draw cards and hopefully find the giant bomb you need to break the game wide open.
Hazel of the Rootbloom is the ideal commanderfor a deck that wants to use and abuse tokens. She makes a token every turn (two if you’ve got a Squirrel token), and she can tap those tokens to generate a ton of mana. She’s the card to power Squirreled Away’s token shenanigans.
In close second isThe Odd Acorn Gang, ahighly efficientcreature that turns your Squirrels into card-drawing trampling monsters. But Squirreled Away doesn’t have quite enough actual Squirrels to justify putting The Odd Acorn Gang in charge (we’ll discuss that more in the upgrade’s section).
Chitterfang, Squirrel General is also a potential commander, but he doesn’t generate tokens on his own to power the deck.Beledros Witherbloomdoes produce Pest tokens, but seven mana is a high price to pay for a commander.
We’re sticking with Hazel as Squirreled Away’s commander, but after making some upgrades, you could try running The Odd Acorn Gang or Chitterfang instead.
Squirreled Away Commander Deck Analysis
Black and green are always a solid color combination for any Commander deck.Black providesyou with creature and planeswalkerremoval, whilegreen hits artifacts and enchantments.Maelstrom PulseandPutrefyare some of the best removal spells in Magic, while the newCasualties of Warjust feels unfair whenever you cast it.
With so much removal, you can drop the three-boardweeper rule down to two withSwarmyard MassacreandDecree of Pain. The latter card can also be added to Squirreled Away’s robust suite of card draw spells, includingShamanic Revelation,Plumb the Forbidden,Deadly Dispute, andMoldervine Reclamation.
Most of the enchantmentsfound in Squirreled Away are unsurprisingly token producers, while the artifacts are split between producing mana or empowering those tokens.Maskwood Nexusdeserves particular mention as it willturn all your tokens into Squirrels, great for improving this deck’s synergy.
But Maskwood Nexus also reveals Squirreld Away’s primary flaw. Hazel, The Odd Acorn Gang, Chatterfang—they don’t want Pest, Insect, or Raccoon tokens;they want more Squirrels!The more Squirrels you have, the better Squirreled Away will be.
Our recommended upgrades will all try tostreamline the Squirrel themewhile adding a few more capabilitiesthat the deck currently lacks.
Windgrace’s Judgment
Four Basic Lands (two Forests and two Swamps)
A lot of these are perfectly fine cards whose only flaw is they’re not Squirrels.Wolfwillow Havenmakes Wolves,Woe Stridermakes a Goat (for some reason), andBastion of Remembrancemakes Humans, the worst creature type of all. These and a few more are out to make way for more Squirrels.
Saw in Halfis out because both green and black have way better removal spells available.Plaguecrafteralso leaves as its ineffective at removing problem cards and there are better sacrifice outlets available.Windgrace’s Judgmentis okay, but Squirreld Away has plenty of removal already.
Thosefour basic landswe’re tossing are going to bereplaced by three spell/land hybridsthat will make the deck’s manabase far more flexible, and one land that will provide a hint of graveyard recursion (something we’ll add even more in the upgrades section next).
Squirreled Away Commander Deck Budget Upgrades
As previously mentioned, ourunderperformers are going to be upgraded with Squirrels. We’re also going to give the deck a little bitmore reanimation, a fewmore Foodsources, somegood sacrifice outlets,more removal,card draw, andmenace, as well as the aforementioned lands which add some versatility in spells.
Reason
Bala Ged Recovery
The first of our dual spell/lands is Bala Ged Recovery, which allows us to return a card from the graveyard to hand. Being able to retrieve expended cards is a staple of green/black, and if you don’t need to, you can always just play it as a land for more mana.
Beast Within
Way better than Sawed in Half, Beast Within hits all permanents (not just creatures) and leaves you with a single 3/3 to deal with instead of two of them (or possibly even larger).
Bonecache Overseer
A tiny source of card draw, provided you’re able to Forage or sacrifice a Food token. We’ll be adding more Food sources, so the latter option is likely the best one for activiating this card’s ability.
Camellia, the Seedmiser
Camelia is a great addition. With more Food tokens produced by other cards on this list, we can sacrifice them to turn them into 1/1 Squirrels. And those same Food tokens can also be used to empower every Squirrel on the board.
Cloakwood Hermit
You’ll probably want to sacrifice tokens most of the time, but when Cloakwood Hermit arrives, sacrificing an actual card will sometimes provide a net-surplus of Squirrels.
Curious Forager
More recursion! This time it comes with thecondition of foraging(which means exiling three cards from the garveyard or sacrificing a Food token), but that’s a small price to pay to retrieve your Skullclamp.
Deadbridge Chant
Deadbridge Chant provides repeated (if random) recurison of creatures from your graveyard. On top of that, it gets the foraging engine running by milling ten cards. An excellent enchantment that keeps up the pressure well into the late game.
Fell the Profane
Another dual spell/land, Fell the Profane provides with a slow Swamp or a removal spell that hits creatures or Planeswalkers. As with Bala Ged Recovery, play this for the spell if needed, or flip the card and play it as a land if you need more mana.
Gluttonous Troll
Make a ton of food and then have an easy sacrifice outlet whenever you need it. An excellent addition to any Food-hungry deck.
Grist, the Hunger Tide
No, Insects aren’t Squirrels, but it’s a token generator, a sacrifice outlet, and removal all wrapped into one. You could even win the game with Grist if you’ve got a bunch of creature cards in your graveyard (which you probably will eventually).
Mudflat Village
It’s a land that can also resurrect a Squirrel if necessary. It’d be great to combine this with Crucible of Worlds, but then this wouldn’t be a budget-oriented upgrade package.
Nut Collector
Make a 1/1 Squirrel every turn and make all those Squirrels bigger while you’re at it. Doesn’t need much more explanation than that.
Osteomancer Adept
Osteomancer Adept is yet more recursion in a deck that could really use it. For the low price of sacrificing a Food, you can recast any creature in your Graveyard. A fantastic card that’s incredibly just two mana to cast.
Peregrin Took
Squirreled Away loves to produce tokens, and Peregrin Took loves to produce Food which can then be used to empower things like Osteomancer Adept or Camellia. Peregrin gets honorary Squirrel status for this deck.
Revitalizing Repast
A neat combat trick that also doubles as a mana-fixing land. As with the others on this list, don’t be afraid to cast it as a spell or a land whenever the situation calls for it.
Thornvault Forager
Mana rampanda Squirrel tutor? Thornvault Forager is a must-add to any Squirrel-themed deck.
Vanquisher’s Banner
Now that the deck has more Squirrels, Vanquisher’s Banner makes a lot more sense to add to Squirreled away. More cards to draw and Squirrels get more powerful. ‘Nuff said.
Vinereap Mentor
It’s a Squirrel and it makes a lot of Food. It’s not flashy, but Vinereap Mentor is an excellent second-turn play or a great creature to immediately sacrifice to a certain hungry Troll in the late game.
