Squirreled Away precon.
Ramp into Hazel and build tokens that can either produce mana or be copied.
At the table
Pod notes →- Keep
- Three lands with green and black, ramp or a cheap token source, and a card or token engine; Hazel begins in the command zone.
- Develop
- Build usable tokens, ramp with Hazel, and choose a valuable token to copy at your own end step.
- Finish
- Combine a wide Squirrel attack with drain payoffs; budget token sacrifices and recovery resources.
- Watch out
- Second Harvest is not wipe protection. Hazel is your end step only, and anthems can stop Skullclamp from killing a 1/1.
Guide reviewed List e261e41a
Rules and list review, not a playtest record. Turn windows and matchup advice are estimates. The list reference covers card quantities and the command zone; card changes require another guide and pod-note review.
Rules basis: Magic Comprehensive Rules, August 19, 2026. Bracket basis: Wizards’ October 2025 update and February 2026 follow-up.
Ramp into Hazel and build tokens that can either produce mana or be copied.
Opening hands
Seven cards from this build. Commanders start in the command zone. In multiplayer Commander, the first mulligan is free. For later mulligans, draw seven again; once you keep, put one card on the bottom for each mulligan beyond the free one.
KeepShow the seven
- Command Tower
- Forest
- Swamp
- Arcane Signet
- Gilded Goose
- Skullclamp
- Putrefy
Assumes Hazel of the Rootbloom is the chosen commander in the command zone and a four-player Core pod. Three lands plus Arcane Signet develop and fix mana, while Gilded Goose and Skullclamp give this hand a concrete plan. Check the timing of colored costs before choosing the first land.
BorderlineShow the seven
- Command Tower
- Forest
- Gilded Goose
- Skullclamp
- Putrefy
- End-Raze Forerunners
- Decree of Pain
Two lands make the expensive end of this hand dependent on further mana development. Gilded Goose is a reason to consider it on a later mulligan, but at seven cards with the multiplayer free mulligan available I would usually seek a more dependable third land or accelerator. Do not count a future draw as guaranteed.
MulliganShow the seven
- Command Tower
- End-Raze Forerunners
- Decree of Pain
- Beledros Witherbloom
- Garruk, Cursed Huntsman
- Casualties of War
- Deep Forest Hermit
One land and an expensive hand cannot reliably develop the stock plan. Keeping several attractive payoffs does not compensate for missing land drops; use the multiplayer free mulligan when available, then follow the London mulligan procedure if drawing again.
How it plays.
Core game plan
Ramp into Hazel and build tokens that can either produce mana or be copied. Hazel's copy trigger is at the beginning of your end step, not every player's end step. Choose a token you control and receive the additional copy when it is a Squirrel as the ability specifies. Chatterfang adds Squirrels alongside your token creation, while Academy Manufactor expands Food, Clue and Treasure production. Hold a token producer or card engine in reserve so a wipe does not remove every route back into the game.
Key cards
- Hazel of the Rootbloom. Uses your untapped tokens for mana and copies a targeted token at the beginning of your end step; the additional-copy condition rewards a Squirrel. This does not trigger on opponents' end steps.
- 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. Equip for {1}. An unbuffed 1/1 becomes 2/0, dies, and draws two mandatory cards. A toughness boost can prevent that death; the dead creature cannot also pay another sacrifice cost.
- Academy Manufactor. Replaces each Food, Clue or Treasure creation with one of each. With Chatterfang, choose replacement ordering carefully: applying Manufactor first lets Chatterfang add a Squirrel for each resulting token. These are replacement effects, not triggers.
- 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. At your upkeep, may sacrifice a token for an acorn counter. Your Squirrels get +1/+1 per acorn counter; {G} and tap creates a Squirrel. The upkeep is yours only.
- Second Harvest. Copies tokens you currently control. Copies made before a creature wipe are also subject to that wipe; use it for expansion or death-trigger value, not generic protection.
- Beastmaster Ascension. Each attacking creature adds a quest counter. With seven or more counters, your creatures get +5/+5; seven creatures attacking once can reach the threshold in that combat.
Combos and synergies
- Chatterfang plus Academy Manufactor increases token output; Hazel then copies a chosen token at your end step. Second Harvest copies tokens you currently control. Casting it before a creature wipe does not save those creature tokens: the copies are also destroyed unless a separate effect protects them. It can increase death-trigger value with a payoff already present; after a wipe it needs surviving tokens to copy. Skullclamp kills an unbuffed 1/1 Squirrel, but an anthem can raise toughness enough that it no longer dies immediately.
Mulligan
- Three lands with green and black, ramp or a cheap token source, and a card or token engine; Hazel begins in the command zone.
- A balanced hand that develops an engine while retaining an answer to a meaningful opposing threat. Check tapped-land timing and required colors, not just total land count.
- Zero or one land without a dependable route to develop mana.
- Expensive payoffs without early ramp, or several synergy payoffs with no way to supply their required bodies, spells or resources.
- A hand relying on drawing the chosen commander: the commander starts in the command zone, not the opening seven.
Lines and sequencing
- Use early tokens to develop mana while retaining enough bodies to defend Hazel.
- Announce Hazel only at the beginning of your own end step, and choose the token target then.
- Preserve a token type worth copying; a Treasure, Food or Clue has a different role from another combat body.
- Use Second Harvest for expansion or counted death-trigger value, not as generic protection from a sweeper.
- Check a Squirrel's actual toughness before equipping Skullclamp and count the mandatory two-card draw.
- After removal, rebuild from a held token source before committing another payoff with no fodder.
Pilot difficulty
Intermediate. The main plan is readable, but sequencing, trigger timing and resource accounting matter. Use the pilot reference and worked interaction before taking a long turn.