In my effort to build more decks that were well received in various playgroups, I settled on the fun, silly tribe of squirrels. I know the tribe had a brief run in competitive play years ago, but the tribe hasn't been supported outside of silver border in over a decade. I figured no matter how hard I beat someone down, you could never be mad about losing to squirrels. So I went to work building the ultimate squirrel EDH deck that included every card that had the squirrel sub-type or had a squirrel in the art (black border only). I was pretty happy with the outcome.
Meet the Squirrels!
Since the little rodents are the focus of the deck, we will start with them. The squirrels fall into three categories; creatures, tokens, and artful. Krosan Beast and Squirrel Mob make up the best squirrel creatures, although card:Chameleon Colosus is also a squirrel. Acorn Harvest and Chatter of the Squirrel put some tokens into play, and Deranged Hermit and Nut Collector are some non-squirrels that bring even more tokens to the party. Riptide Replicator can make some bigger and off-color squirrels in case I run into a pro-green creatures. Gaea's Herald, Monstrous Growth, and Might of Oaks are all included because they have squirrels in the art. And rounding out the theme is the land Swarmyard that gives me some regeneration.
Token Synergy
Since the majority of my creatures are tokens, I included the usual package of Doubling Season, Parallel Lives, Second Harvest, and Parallel Evolution.
Pump the Squirrels
Squirrels are great, but mostly small. So to compensate for our size disadvantage we have a number of anthem like effects. My commander Kaysa was picked to headline this category, also because she won't generate table hate like another legend in the deck (more on that in the next section). Other pumpers includeAdaptive Automaton, Metallic Mimic, Caged Sun, Obelisk of Urd, and Eldrazi Monument (which give me flying squirrels!).
Big Finish
Once the army is out and they are beefed up, we need to insure the win. Kamahl, Fist of Krosa leads the way. Honestly, Kamahl would be the commander of this deck if I was trying to be more aggressive. His ability from the command zone will steal wins. Some other finishers include the adorable Pathbreaker Ibex, the on theme Overrun and Squirrel Wrangler, the ever popular Beastmaster Ascension, and the slightly mean card:Triumph of the Horde.
Card Draw
There's the typical Harmonize and Sylvan Library and Lifecrafter's Bestiary, along with the token based card draw with Skullclamp, Shamanic Revelation, and Collective Unconscious. I also included Wall of Blossoms and Carven Caryatid since they replace themselves and provide a body. I am testing out the newish Endless Atlas. Rounding out the draw is Smuggler's Copter to provide more flying squirrels!
Removal
Mono-green might not have a lot of removal, but I made the most of it. We can handle artifacts and enchantments without issues, given that we have card:Nullmage Shepard, Gleeful Sabotage, and Krosan Grip. Acidic Slime, Beast Within, and card:Song of the Dryad give me some game against creatures or other threats.
Hate Cards
Attempting to shore up some of mono-green's other weaknesses I included Silklash Spider and Gravity Well to deal with fliers. Heroic Intervention lends support against mass removal and Steely Resolve gives my squirrels some protection from spot removal. I included a small desert package in order to include Scavenger Grounds to deal with graveyards. And the last card in this category is the infamous card:Hall of Gemstones that hoses multi-color decks.
Ramp
I am playing mono-green, so the ramp package is pretty standard. But a couple of highlights are Cryptolith Rite and Earthcraft turning all my creatures into ramp.
Fun Combos
There are a couple of fun little combos that I wanted to call out and I will add more as I play the deck and find more. card:Acorn Catapault was originally left of the cutting block, but I later included it when I realized I can hit my own creatures or myself and generate squirrels. It works great when I target a creature enchanted with Druid's Call.
Then there is the infamous combo of Earthcraft and Squirrel Nest. Everyone knows this generates infinite squirrels. I will only utilize this if the group I am playing with is spiky.
