Oathbreaker Squirrels

“Squirrel!”

The wise word of a Pixar dog. But also a nickname some friends greeted me with during high school. I fashioned the moniker proudly as it represented my favorite part of Magic: playing my Squirrel deck.

...Then I gave my deck to a local kid, left for college, and haven’t played a Squirrel deck since.

Until now.

Flashback to the Future

“Oh man. I have been ready for this moment since forever. Come on, friends! Let's go grief the universe!”
—Squirrel Girl, Marvel Rising: Part 3

"Back in my day," when I went by "Deranged_One" (Deranged Hermit shoutout!) online, kitchen table decks were different. Sixty-card decks and playing four copies of cards. (Okay, so decks then were also different from when Magic first began. Magic always be changin'.) 

Nowadays, Commander reigns in casual play with 100-card singleton. This makes filling out a deck with the already-meager number of Squirrel cards difficult. So the forest rodents have been hibernating in the shoe boxes since.
But two Squirrel-deck-impacting events happened this year: 

1) Modern Horizons printed Deep Forest Hermit

2) Oathbreaker surged in popularity

Another card added to the Squirrel pool and a breakout sixty-card casual format?

Wrangle the Squirrels! It's time for an Oathbreaker Squirrels deck tech.

Squirrel-Powered Scheme

"I'm sorry. You're just...it's hard to take a swearing squirrel seriously."
—Guy Gardner to B'dg, Green Lantern Corps: Edge of Oblivion: Part 1

Illustrated by Even Amundsen

Before diving deep into the nest, here's an Oathbreaker deck list to squirrel away

(Cards in the command zone, land, and multipurpose sections state what roles they play in parentheses for other sections they normally would fall under):

Command Zone (2)
Garruk Wildspeaker (Ramp Later, Squirrel Synergy)
Chatter of the Squirrel (Squirrel Strategy)

Land (24)
12 Snow-Covered Forest
Lotus Field (Ramp Later)
Myriad Landscape (Ramp Later)
Temple of the False God (Ramp Later)
Arch of Orazca (Card Draw)
Mosswort Bridge (Card Draw)
Blast Zone (Removal)
Mystifying Maze (Removal ...ish)
Pendelhaven (Squirrel Protection)
Swarmyard (Squirrel Protection)
Yavimaya Hollow (Squirrel Protection)

Deserted Temple (Squirrel Synergy)
Oran-Rief, the Vastwood (Squirrel Synergy)

Multipurpose (4)
Arbor Elf (Ramp Early, Squirrel Synergy)
Rime Tender (Ramp Early, Squirrel Synergy)
Vivien Reid (Card Draw, Removal, Squirrel Synergy)
Voyaging Satyr (Ramp Early, Squirrel Synergy)

Ramp Early (7)

Into the North
Nature's Lore
Rampant Growth
Sakura-Tribe Elder
Three Visits
Utopia Sprawl
Wild Growth

(Arbor Elf)
(Rime Tender)
(Voyaging Satyr)

Ramp Later (5)
Cultivate
Harrow
Kodama's Reach
Nissa's Pilgrimage
Skyshroud Claim

(Garruk Wildspeaker)
(Lotus Field)
(Myriad Landscape)
(Temple of the False God)

Card Draw (2)
Praetor's Counsel
Sylvan Library

(Arch of Orazca)
(Mosswort Bridge)
(Vivien Reid)

Tutors (5)
Chord of Calling
Finale of Devastation
Green Sun's Zenith
Sylvan Tutor
Worldly Tutor

Removal (3)
Creeping Corrosion
Song of the Dryads
Whirlwind

(Blast Zone)
(Mystifying Maze ...kinda)
(Vivien Reid)

Squirrel Protection (1)
Heroic Intervention

(Pendelhaven)
(Swarmyard)
(Yavimaya Hollow)

Squirrel Strategy (5)
Deep Forest Hermit
Deranged Hermit
Nut Collector
Squirrel Nest
Squirrel Wrangler

(Chatter of the Squirrel)

Squirrel Synergy (2)
Parallel Lives
Doubling Season

(Garruk Wildspeaker)
(Vivien Reid)
(Deserted Temple)
(Oran-Rief, the Vastwood)

Squirrelspeaker

“Squeaky, uh, squeak squeaker ...squeakin’.—Kronk, The Emperor’s New Groove

Choosing an oathbreaker and signature spell combination for Squirrels, I asked myself, “How do I want to win?” Generating infinite Squirrel tokens using Earthcraft and Squirrel Nest? That’s not my Squirrel-y style. I instead want to overrun my opponents with (a reasonable number of) Squirrel tokens swinging sideways.

Luckily, Garruk Wildspeaker’s ultimate is exactly the effect of Overrun. Additionally, his +1 loyalty ability synergizes with Squirrel Nest and helps cast key mana-intensive spells.

There’s a problem, though. Garruk’s +1 ability is so good that he quickly becomes targeted by other players. His first ability doesn’t provide a way to protect himself from attackers. The second one creates Beast tokens, but that runs counter to Squirrels and lowers loyalty. This is where the signature spell comes into play.

There are only two sorceries (and zero instants) in Magic that create Squirrel tokens. One of them is Chatter of the Squirrel and costs one mana. When you curve into a Garruk hitting the table, you can immediately untap two lands. Then you have enough to cast Chatter of the Squirrel, creating a blocker for Garruk! 

A Chatter of the Squirrel signature spell both plays defense for a Garruk oathbreaker and advances your Squirrel strategy.

Gameplays with Squirrels

“It’s me manifesto. All of us hermits have one.”
—Mr. Plays With Squirrels, Boy Meets World Season 7 Episode 16

When building a Squirrel deck, I had some decisions to make. To make sure my games end up within the Squirrel-y spirit, I followed these rules:

• No “technically a Squirrel” creatures. I'm looking at you, changelings. Modern Horizons' Birthing Boughs looks mighty tempting with its ability to repeatedly churn out tokens. But even though the game rules recognizes changelings as Squirrels, the bright-eyed, bushy-tailed spirit isn't there. The only non-Squirrel creatures to play in this deck are ones promoting the Squirrel strategy.

• No silver-bordered Squirrel cards. Look, I don't want anyone to have to make accommodations on behalf of my furry friends. I want to bring a totally-serious legal Oathbreaker deck to the table with those Narset Windfall decks. Chittering doom, while not in silver-bordered form, shall come for my opponents through sick deck builds and gameplay. With that said, I'm totally OK with playing against your silver-bordered decks. I mean, *gestures to Squirrel deck*

• No winning via means other than Squirrel attacks. As mentioned earlier, I don't want to combo out with Earthcraft and Squirrel Nest. But the same goes for any other cards that'd steer the gameplay away from the goal. Strong synergies are fine as long as I'm sending green tokens into the red zone. And by green tokens, I mean they can't be Saprolings. No matter how much of callback Thelonite Hermit is.

• No stealing the spotlight from Squirrels. There are cards that totally help the Squirrel strategy but cause a weird behavior to happen. Specifically, some cards that refer to creature type. For example, Heirloom Blade can help your Hermits and friends-of-Squirrels find each other. But the card would bring attention to "Elf" and "Druid" for its effect. I only want to keep saying, "Squirrels" over and over!

So this does mean one thing for Garruk Wildspeaker. While some oaths break, one line must never be crossed: never create a 3/3 green Beast creature token. Even if it's a matter of life or death (in an Oathbreaker game - not real life). Because betraying the Squirrel cause is the real loss.

Form of the Squirrel

“You see that sheen on the fur? The glint in their eyes? Top quality. These are the real deal.”

—Squirrel Dealer

Illustrated by Bram Sels

Here's a breakdown of categories of cards found in the Squirrel deck and what role they serve:

Ramp

The best cards for your Squirrel strategy are on the higher end of the mana curve. Due to this, the early turns are devoted to ramping up quickly.

Of the different ways to ramp, the most synergistic ones involve untapping, enchanting, or fetching lands. This means no mana rocks or mana dorks that simply add mana to your mana pool. Garruk and other untappers love targeting enchanted lands. Extra lands fetched from the deck are eventually re-used for a Squirrel Wrangler endgame.

Tutors

I’m normally against including tutors in my decks for the sake of experiencing gameplay variety. However, there are too few powerful Squirrel cards to fill out a deck with. If no tutors are used, the variance can result in a lackluster chittering presence. Employing tutors helps opponents experience the excitement of being trampled by forest rodents.

Card Draw

Because many of the nonlands are ramp spells or other supporting cards, card draw is less effective. Card draw is still good to have, but it’s best on multi-purpose and/or synergistic cards.

For example, Arch of Orazca fills out a land slot yet synergizes with Hermits. Sylvan Library was already powerful, but even better with shuffling from tutors and ramp.

Lastly, Praetor’s Counsel is the best kind of “card draw” for this deck. It’s a late-game card, which is when your key cards might be in the graveyard. Casting this will refresh your hand with virtual redundancies in your Squirrel strategy.

Removal and Squirrel Protection

Heroic Intervention helps keep your Squirrels alive while Swarmyard and Yavimaya Hollow pitch to do what they can as well. As for removal...

All these Squirrels yet none of them can block a single flier?

WHIRLWIND THE BOARD.

Opponents have all these artifacts, yet you don’t have any in your deck?

CORROSION THE BOARD.

Lastly, Vivien Reid and Song of the Dryads are great targeted removal for any problematic opposition.

Squirrel Cards and Synergizes-with-Squirrels Cards

Not all Squirrel cards are up to snuff. Each of Deep Forest Hermit and Deranged Hermit create a powerful board state. Conversely, Squirrel Mob is conditional upon two things to be great: gaining trample and already having lots of Squirrels. Even though there's already slim pickings for Squirrel cards, the tutors and deck-thinning ramp help create consistency.

For synergy, Parallel Lives and Doubling Season really beef up your Squirrel production. And as soon as Squirrel Nest enters the battlefield, Garruk and friends can untap that enchanted land.

Squirrel Strategy

One fateful night, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, they rose.

—Chittering Doom

Many decks need a game plan. Even Squirrels. It's how you'll ensure you'll have a board state that makes you cackle maniacally. The first few turns will be crucial for your endgame.

Here's how it should go:

Turn One and Turn Two

There's a high number of ramp cards in the deck that cost either one or two mana. It’s crucial to cast one of these during the first or second turn of the game. This is to support a turn-three Garruk.

Turn Three

Cast Garruk and untap two lands with his +1 ability. From here, if you need to protect Garruk, you can cast Chatter of the Squirrel. Bonus if the remaining untapped land is a Swarmyard or Pendelhaven to help dissuade attackers.

Turn Four and Beyond

By now, you’ll have access to six or more mana. Enough to cast a Hermit, Nut Collector, Parallel Lives, Doubling Season, Vivien Reid, etc. You can also start casting more-expensive ramp to build out your Squirrel Wrangler endgame.

Killer Plays

There’s a couple of powerful plays to look out for:
1) Turn Two Garruk

There's a slim chance you can cast a second-turn Garruk:


Turn one:

Play a Pendelhaven or Snow-Covered Forest
Cast an Arbor Elf.

Turn two: 

Play a second land, a Pendelhaven or Snow-Covered Forest
Cast a Wild Growth or Utopia Sprawl on an untapped Forest
With Arbor Elf and the enchanted Forest, add four mana to your mana pool.
Cast Garruk


From here, still on your second turn, you’re able to +1 Garruk to untap both lands. That’ll give you three more mana to cast a heavier ramp spell, Sylvan Library, etc. What a start!
2) Hermit of Devastation

Look out for when you might be able to reach twelve mana for casting Finale of Devastation. Even with an empty board, you’re able to turn the game around or end it. Once you cast Finale with X as 10, find a Hermit. You’ll end up with at least five creatures that are at least 11/11 tramplers with haste!

Acorn-y Punchline

"Until then, may you play your next squirrel with a grin on your face."
—Mark Rosewater, "Squirrel of My Dreams"

That's all I got for today. Thanks for reading! 

The games of Oathbreaker facilitating a return to playing a deck of Squirrels brought me nostalgic joy. Whether it's your first time or rejoining the furry friends, I hope the Squirrels also make your table smile.

Let me know if this article moves or inspires you to play with Squirrels: I'm @bradleyrose on Twitter! If you end up heading over to CardKingdom.com to buy some Squirrel cards, could you do me a favor? Leave a comment saying it was 'cause you read this article!

Until next time, may the defeat of your opponents be aptly described by Squirrel Wrangler’s flavor text.

Lighting the Torch Commander

Art by Volkan Baga

The last Elder Dragon Highlander deck I created had me twist my tongue to form aesthetically-pleasing sounds as I announced the name of each card I played during games. Now the "creatively-constrained Commander" torch is passing on and into the hands of my latest general: Tuktuk the Explorer.

The theme? Every card in the deck depicts a torch in its art (even the basic land).

Here's the decklist in text form then visual form. Below that, read about how this deck came to be.

Note: This deck is VERY weak in terms of power level. Don't play this if you like to win.

Commander (1)
Tuktuk the Explorer

Lands (40)
36 Mountain
Barbarian Ring
Hall of the Bandit Lord
Keldon Necropolis
Thespian's Stage

CMC 1 (7)
Blazing Torch
Goblin Balloon Brigade
Magus of the Scroll
Norin the Wary
Orcish Spy
Tunnel
War-Torch Goblin

CMC 2 (10)
Abbott of Keral Keep
Madcap Skills
Makeshift Munitions
Mogg Cannon
Reckless Reveler
Sanguinary Mage
Scent of Cinder
Subterranean Scout
Torch Fiend
Wall of Torches

CMC 3 (12)
Boggart Arsonists
Captive Flame
Deputized Protester
Enraged Revolutionary
Five-Alarm Fire
Ghitu Fire-Eater
Mark of Mutiny
Mudbutton Torchrunner
Orcish Cannoneers
Reiterate
Staff of the Flame Magus
Torch Song

CMC 4 (15)
Chandra, Torch of Defiance
Dance with Devils
Fated Conflagration
Goblin Grenadiers
Goblin Razerunners
Hotheaded Giant
Impetuous Devils
Jeska, Warrior Adept
Pillaging Horde
Reign of Chaos
Talon of Pain
Tapestry of the Ages
Tooth and Claw
Vigilante Justice
War Barge

CMC 5 (7)
Blood Rites
Burn at the Stake
Eldrazi Monument
Pyromancer's Goggles
Storm Fleet Arsonist
Vulshok Battlemaster
Witch Hunt

CMC 6 (4)
Devils' Playground
Flayer of the Hatebound
Incite Rebellion
Inescapable Brute

CMC 7 (2)
Ignition Team
Vicious Shadows

CMC X (2)
Blasphemous Act
Kaervek's Torch

Lighting the Way

My previous execution of EDH restrictions with Rhys the Redeemed relied upon names of cards. For my second stab at creating a heavy constraint, I wanted to look elsewhere. Something that was, ideally, the opposite of text. That's when I moved my gaze from the top of the card toward the centerpiece of it: the art.

But what ABOUT the art? What am I supposed to care about? I didn't trust myself to be able to accurately determine consistently amongst cards I looked at whether or not a piece of art followed an art aspect that many might miss until they see a Magic Man Sam video or a Vorthos Mike tweet. I decided to only focus on literal depictions in the illustrations. That way, there'd be no dispute.

The theme I ultimately arrived at was: "a torch in the art." But what IS a torch? (Funny, I had to determine a specific definition for this deck just like I had to determine what made the cut for alliteration cards for my alliteration Commander deck.) Here's what I defined:

A static pole-like object with a flame-like source of light at one end used for means of illumination or destruction.

Here's what that means:

• The source of light doesn't have to be natural fire but should be fire-like
• I'm ignoring that flashlights are called "torches" in real life in parts of the real world and that flashlights don't meet the above definition since the light that emanates isn't "flame-like"
• Depicted torches don't have to be possibly portable. I'm not talking about torches mounted on dungeon-crawler walls. I mean ones that you can't feasibly pick up and carry around. See The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time for an example of a stationary torch
• Torches sometimes are used to light your way but sometimes used to set fire to things. Both uses are embraced for this deck.
• Candles don't count
• Cauldrons of fire don't count
• The focus is on whether the depicted object FEELS like a torch more than other types of fiery and/or illuminating objects
• Humanoids are not torches
• "Torch" in the name or flavor text doesn't count

Torchling by rk post

I debated whether to count candles since a candle is a long, cylindrical object. I decided that the concept of a "candlelit dinner" was important enough of a feeling that a "torchlit dinner" couldn't fulfill (instead gives a different feeling) that the same should go for "candelight" versus "torchlight." Candles were out.

Cauldrons of fire. You see this at the Olympic games after the Olympic torch is used to light it. And in other places where a receptacle is HOLDING fire within it. This is no torch.

Let's talk "no humanoids." I'm looking mostly at Chandra, but also at Torchling. I decided that even though Chandra's silhouette, when she stands perfectly straight while enflamed could resemble a torch, using Chandra would kill the spirit of the torch deck. There's a LOT of artwork that uses Chandra. And, for at least the planeswalker cards, her presence in the artwork would be overpowering enough.

Like Mark Rosewater says about Magic design, "If the theme isn't at common, it isn't your theme." The reason that is the case is because folks see commons most often in a booster pack of any given set. Including Chandra means you'd see more of her rather than other kinds of art most commonly. The torch theme would take a hit.

...Sadly, as much as I want this power and despite the name "Torchling", that "alternate reality Morphling" is also out. The focus was more on it being a red Morphling than it being a living embodiment of torches (shout out to Wall of Torches for being that "living" embodiment).

Lastly, "torch" in the name is a no-no. Same goes for flavor text. The focus of this deck is torches in art. Not mentions of "torch" elsewhere. 

Trial by Fire

So, how did I go about building the deck? Oh, goodness. Lemme tell ya.

Before deciding on which torch commander to use, here were my possibilities: Tuktuk, Norin, Thraximundar, and Sedris. 

I decided Sedris' torches were more like burning effigies, which were their own feel, less of a torch. For Thrax compared with Tuktuk and Norin, I felt like there wasn't as strong of a torch connection for Thraximundar, even though I REALLY wanted to include blue due to Ixalan's Marauding Looter.

Marauding Looter by Jason A. Engle

Lastly, Norin was already its own novel gag as a commander and more popular on EDHRec. Tuktuk is the one that felt most like a champion of the torch (and the one that needs most a (torch)light shined upon 'im).

After deciding on this monored commander, the realization sunk in that I was super lucky to only have one color to deal with. Because the next task of finding cards with torches in the art is not an easy one. You can't filter card on Scryfall by "torch." So thus began, months ago, the arduous task of searching every single red identity card that exists in Magic - which includes artifact cards.

Luckily, Scryfall has a "save" feature that lets you save up to 100 cards, which I found was plenty considering just how few choices there are available in the "torch in the art" card pool. A life-saving resource as I spent many commutes on the train to and from work doing the manual work of scrolling through search results on my phone and scrutinizing card art for tiny little depictions of torches. 

As an aside, by happenstance, Cube April happened to mention the topic of filtering Scryfall results by depictions of things in the art while I had this blog post in its draft state (It's what spurred me to expedite finishing this post!).

So, after weeks of searching through every single red and artifact card that existed in Magic, saving cards I found using Scryfall's save feature, what was the next task? Doing it again.

You know that phenomenon that happens when you're reading a novel or otherwise a passage of text, and you catch your mind was elsewhere, resulting you in not actually absorbing the information you were reading and thus requiring you to re-read the text? I figured the same thing might have happened while I was scrolling through art after art. ...and the result of the second pass of red cards and artifact cards? I ended up finding MANY cards I missed during my first pass. Whew.

Throughout my two passes, I came upon some cards that, even with a definition above, I still couldn't determine if was an eligible torch card. Sometimes, I took to Twitter and asked. And in some of those cases, if the artist was accessible on Twitter, I just asked the creator of the art directly!

Like when trying to determine whether some specks of red above an archway in the background was a candle or a torch (remember: candles don't qualify) for the art of Blasphemous Act, and I really hoped to have Blasphemous Act count in my torch card pool for having access to a mass creature board wipe. So, I asked the artist of the card, Daarken:

After the two passes, and scrutinizing and asking questions, I worked on a list from my available card pool. Very little synergy to work with, I did manage to find a few cute little interactions. Even by now, I'm sure maybe there are some cards I cut that I didn't think counted that perhaps should be counted and, conversely, some cards I included that maybe shouldn't have.

Anyway, below are some of the highlights of moments I had during my torch commander journey. Thanks for reading, and you can catch me and this deck in action in games of Commander at Grand Prix Portland. :) See you there.

Illuminations

• "Chandra, Torch of Defiance", despite my two rules above against humanoids and word mentions, still was eligible. That's because the San Diego Comic-Con 2017 promotional art for Torch of Defiance depicts a person holding up a REAL torch to the wall art of Chandra.
• The Card Kingdom website listed Orcish Spy's set versions but not its art versions. I only needed the Fallen Empires version with specifically art #61c, and not the #61a that the site only displayed from Fallen Empires. I put in an order and mentioned in the notes of the order to grab that specific art I needed. They were able to fulfill the request. :)
• Norin and Vigilante Justice is a funny combo
• Ixalan was fantastic timing for providing torch cards since pirates like to hold torches
• Angry mobs of townsfolk like in Innistrad like to hold torches
• Devils REALLY like torches
• War Barge on opponents' creatures then sacrificing War Barge to Makeshift Munitions = LOL
• I'm PRETTY sure that orange glow at the end of protrusion of the silhouette of one of the three humanoids depicted in the art for the Basic Mountain I included in my deck means there's a torch depicted in the art. If not, no big deal: basic lands already have exception rulings in Commander.
• Subterranean Scout + Goblin Grenadiers is the kind of creature removal this deck is about
• Tunnel is my favorite card I hope I can cast one day in a Commander game