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Let's just get this out there right away: I am not a squirrel guy.
However, I don't have a squirrel deck. In my play group, John is the squirrel guy. He has a Deranged Hermit deck that does all sorts of fun squirrel shenanigans. The deck even includes a Gaea's Cradle. There is no doubt; John loves squirrels.
What I love is Squirrellink. The idea of a creature that spawns more of the same creature just by doing damage sounds fun. If the creature was the Lord of Lynx and had Lynxlink, I would be just as interested. The Prince of Puppers with Houndlink would be good. The Baron of Bovine with Cowlick would be... well okay, that would be way better! Although you get my meaning, the fact it is squirrels is just fine. Squirrellink also makes the lack of vigilance irrelevant. If you tap the Earl and do four damage, you'll have four untapped Squirrels there to protect you!
Obviously the creature I'm talking about is Earl of Squirrel. This Unstable card could easily jump to black-border land. I don't think it is too outrageous an idea. Swing with the Earl and get four squirrels. Other creatures do things that are far more terrifying than that!
While the idea of Squirrellink led me to the Earl of Squirrel, the second ability hooked me completely. All of your creature tokens are Squirrels in addition to their other creature types. This means that you can simply add the Earl of Squirrel to virtually any token deck! Or more interestingly for me, you can put a bunch of different token producers and the Earl of Squirrel will bring them all together! While many decks are limited by the type of tokens that are produced, an Earl of Squirrel deck has no such issues! Mycoloth would make Saproling Squirrels. Secure the Wastes provides White Warrior Squirrels at instant speed! Sylvan Offering makes Treefolk Squirrels and Elf Warrior Squirrels for you and a friend!
Given that, I thought I would look at putting together a deck that abuses both the Squirrellink and adding Squirrel to all the tokens' creature type. First off, let's make some Squirrel tokens!
Up the Damage
None of this even considers regular combat trick spells. Might of Oaks (especially the one with the squirrel in the picture!) gives +7+7, which just means seven more Squirrels.
It should also be remembered that the Earl of Squirrel doesn't have to attack. If someone attacks you, the Earl can block and also do the damage needed to make Squirrels, so don't think you have to swing blindly into blocks that will kill the Earl. It may be worth it to do so, but adding a ton of token creatures can be all the deterrent you need to discourage opponents from coming your way.
Upping the Earls
Helm of the Host takes a little longer but may work even better. You only get one copy of the Earl at the start of your combat, but if the battlefield is already at a point where your Earl won't survive, you can just send the copy on kamikaze missions. You will get four Squirrels every turn, and that is a worst case scenario. Opponents will be forced to deal with your ever-growing number of Earls since they pump each other and produce more tokens!
A Token Defense
The other option is to just up the token count. Earl of Squirrel essentially pumps every token type, so go to town! I've already mentioned a few options but I thought I would throw in a few that I don't see as much. Aura Mutation is instant speed enchantment removal that gives you some Saproling Squirrels as a bonus. Druid's Call seems like fun as it is the inverse of Squirrellink in that you get the Squirrels for the damage the creatures takes. Finale of Glory is a new one that gives you a serious bonus if you spend twelve mana. With this being a Green deck, hitting the ramp to do that doesn't seem impossible.
And none of this is meant to suggest the usuals aren't good enough. Doubling Season, Parallel Lives, and the like are all worthy additions.
Fat Squirrels
However, when it comes right down to it, Cathars' Crusade is still king for this deck! When the four Squirrels enter the battlefield, they all see each other and give each other +1/+1 counters. This means they all come in as 5/5 creatures. And that is assuming no other shenanigans were had! Remember that Fireshrieker that paled in comparison to the Blade of Selves? When the Earl does four damage with first strike it makes the four creatures, but with the Crusade, it would get +4/+4 on regular combat. That will give you eight more Squirrels and eight more +1/+1 counters on every other creature you control on the battlefield. This is a truly nutty squirrel play.
After all of this, I finally opted for this build:
Squirrellink| Casual | Bruce Richard
- Creatures (6)
- 2 Selfless Spirit
- 4 Earl of Squirrel
- Planeswalkers (1)
- 1 Huatli, Radiant Champion
- Instants (4)
- 2 Aura Mutation
- 2 Seed Spark
- Sorceries (5)
- 1 Martial Coup
- 4 Kodama's Reach
- Enchantments (15)
- 1 Parallel Lives
- 2 Alpha Status
- 2 Divine Visitation
- 2 Doubling Season
- 2 Growing Rites of Itlimoc
- 3 Cathars' Crusade
- 3 Smothering Tithe
- Artifacts (5)
- 1 Helm of the Host
- 2 Blade of Selves
- 2 Fireshrieker
- Lands (24)
- 7 Forest
- 7 Plains
- 2 Temple of Plenty
- 4 Bountiful Promenade
- 4 Canopy Vista
While I've already talked about most of the cards in the deck, I never mentioned Huatli, Radiant Champion. Huatli is everything you want in this deck! Her +1 ability should push her well into the range that allows you to play her ultimate on the next turn. Her -1 takes an Earl of Squirrel from a pedestrian 4/4 Squirrel into a 9/9, assuming you have four Squirrels on the battlefield in addition to the Earl, and that is only asking for a single attack. Her -8 ability gives you so much card draw you may end up drawing your entire deck. If four Squirrels enter the battlefield, you may draw four cards. If eight enter the battlefield, you may draw eight. Given the scenarios we've already mentioned, drawing a full grip of cards should be common with Huatli's emblem out.
This particular build doesn't include any of the mass token producers. While the big spells that make a ton of token creatures are fun, I was far more enamored with the idea of abusing Squirrellink by making the Earl of Squirrel bigger and bigger. Once I realized that I wanted to do that consistently, it was easy to drop the other spells by the wayside. This isn't saying that Cryptolith Rite after a Sylvan Offering into a ridiculous Secure the Wastes doesn't sound like a ton of fun! This is saying that Earl of Squirrel allows for all kinds of deck options and ideas! I encourage everyone to jump on board and build something amazing!
Bruce
