Squirreled Away precon.
The stock Bloomburrow Commander precon led by Hazel of the Rootbloom, with The Odd Acorn Gang as the alternate commander. Flood the board with Squirrel and Food tokens, copy the best ones with Hazel every end step, and feed the spares to Skullclamp, Deadly Dispute, and the drain payoffs until the table is out of life.
Squirreled Away is a Golgari token deck that counts its wealth in Squirrels and Food.
Full archetype
Hazel of the Rootbloom copies your best token each end step, twice over if it is a Squirrel, and taps the token pile for mana, while Chatterfang, Chitterspitter, and Squirrel Nest keep the bodies flowing. Everything spare gets sacrificed to Skullclamp, Deadly Dispute, and the drain payoffs until the table runs out of life or answers.
How it plays.
Core game plan
Ramp early with Sol Ring, the Signets, Talisman of Resilience, Gilded Goose, and Wolfwillow Haven so Hazel or Chatterfang lands ahead of schedule. Get a token engine online next: Squirrel Nest, Chitterspitter, Tireless Provisioner, and Deep Forest Hermit all produce steady bodies, and Chatterfang multiplies every one of them with bonus Squirrels. Hazel then takes over: each end step she copies your best token, two copies if it is a Squirrel, and her mana ability turns idle tokens into a burst of colored mana for cards like Shamanic Revelation or a kicked Tear Asunder. Convert spare bodies into cards with Skullclamp, Deadly Dispute, Plumb the Forbidden, Morbid Opportunist, and Idol of Oblivion, while Zulaport Cutthroat, Bastion of Remembrance, Poison-Tip Archer, and Nadier's Nightblade drain the table for every death. Swarmyard Massacre and Decree of Pain reset boards you do not like, with Massacre usually one-sided in your favor. Close by going wide and tall at once: Beastmaster Ascension, Squirrel Sovereign, Deep Forest Hermit, and Chitterspitter pump the swarm, The Odd Acorn Gang and Toski refill your hand whenever Squirrels connect, and End-Raze Forerunners ends the game the turn you are widest.
Key cards
- Hazel of the Rootbloom. The engine and the mana. Each end step she copies a target token you control, two copies if it is a Squirrel, and she can tap herself, 2 life, and X untapped tokens to add X mana in any colors. Every other card either makes tokens for her or cashes them in.
- Chatterfang, Squirrel General. Turns every token event into extra Squirrels: whenever one or more tokens would be created under your control, that many 1/1 Squirrels come along too. Food, Treasures, Wolves, everything arrives with an escort, and his {B} sacrifice ability doubles as removal.
- Skullclamp. One mana, equip {1}: a 1/1 token dies and draws you two cards. With an endless supply of Squirrels this is the deck's best card engine and the first thing to deploy every game.
- Academy Manufactor. Every Food, Clue, or Treasure you would make becomes one of each. Gilded Goose, Tireless Provisioner, Hazel's Brewmaster, and Deadly Dispute all triple up, and with Chatterfang out each of those triggers brings three Squirrels as well.
- The Odd Acorn Gang. The alternate commander, also strong in the 99. Menace, trample, and reach on a 5/5, it gives every Squirrel a sorcery-speed tap for +2/+2 and trample, and draws a card whenever your Squirrels deal combat damage to a player.
- Chitterspitter. The acorn anthem. Sacrifice a token each upkeep to add an acorn counter, all your Squirrels get +1/+1 per acorn, and {G} plus a tap makes a fresh Squirrel, so it grows the team while feeding itself.
- Second Harvest. For each token you control, create a copy, at instant speed. After a Hazel end step or a Chatterstorm turn this doubles a whole army for four mana, and it can rebuild in response to a sweeper.
- Beastmaster Ascension. The finisher. After your creatures have attacked seven times, everything you control gets +5/+5, and a board of 1/1 Squirrels becomes lethal 6/6s, usually the same turn it turns on.
Combos and synergies
- No infinite combos in the stock list: Squirreled Away is a Bracket 2 precon with no two-card infinite loops as built. The power is layered token synergy, not an assembled kill.
- Chatterfang plus Academy Manufactor: Any single Food, Clue, or Treasure trigger becomes one of each through Manufactor, and Chatterfang adds a 1/1 Squirrel per token, so one Gilded Goose activation nets six permanents. Hazel then copies the best of them each end step.
- Skullclamp plus the token engines: Squirrel Nest, Chitterspitter, and Hazel produce a body every turn, and Skullclamp turns each one into two cards for {1}. Zulaport Cutthroat, Bastion of Remembrance, and Poison-Tip Archer drain the table for every clamped Squirrel along the way.
Mulligan
- Two to three lands plus cheap ramp (Sol Ring, a Signet, Gilded Goose, or Wolfwillow Haven) so Hazel or Chatterfang lands on curve.
- A hand with an early token engine (Squirrel Nest, Chitterspitter, Tireless Provisioner) and a payoff like Skullclamp or Ravenous Squirrel.
- Skullclamp plus any repeatable token producer, which out-draws almost any other precon start.
- Both colors of mana with a real curve of plays for turns two through four.
- One-or-zero land hands, or hands that are all five-plus mana spells.
- All-payoff hands (drainers and lords) with no token producer to feed them.
- Hands missing a color with no fixer like Command Tower, Evolving Wilds, or a Signet to patch it.
Lines and sequencing
- Lead with ramp: a turn-one Sol Ring or turn-two Signet or Gilded Goose sets up a turn-three Hazel or an early Chatterfang plus protection mana.
- Deploy a token engine before the payoffs; a bare Zulaport Cutthroat does nothing until bodies are actually dying.
- Cast Hazel when you will have a token to copy that same end step, and remember a Squirrel target gives two copies while Food or Treasure gives one.
- Spend Hazel's mana ability on tokens that were going to sit still anyway, and budget the 2 life per activation in drain races.
- Hold Second Harvest for the turn after a big token burst, or fire it in response to a sweeper so you rebuild before anyone untaps.
- Close with Beastmaster Ascension or End-Raze Forerunners once you are wide, or just grind the table down with Zulaport Cutthroat, Bastion of Remembrance, and Poison-Tip Archer drains.
Pilot difficulty
Beginner. The core loop of make tokens, clamp tokens, drain the table is forgiving and nearly every card replaces itself; the skill growth is in sequencing sacrifice triggers and knowing when to cash the board in before a sweeper hits.