Essence of the Squirrel

Casual Femme_Fatale

SCORE: 79 | 75 COMMENTS | 11221 VIEWS | IN 23 FOLDERS


Femme_Fatale says... #1

Gee, thanks Infral~! Though I just realized that you haven't actually upvoted this deck yet. May I ask you for one?

December 9, 2013 1:01 a.m.

Infral says... #2

Of course!! To be honest, I have no idea why I havn't done it before, I think I might have thought I did without actually doing it, silly lil me. o:

December 9, 2013 1:23 a.m.

DimirZer00 says... #3

Druid's Call could work for you in this deck. and Do you think the girl in the video would've been more prepare? If the Squirrel had a Monstrous Growth (Squirrel pic) or Might of Oaks (Urza's Legacy pic) ?

December 11, 2013 12:55 a.m.

nbarry223 says... #4

This might be a little out there, but you can cut:

4x Shinen of Life's Roar

4x Marshaling the Troops

and add some combination of:

Argothian Enchantress

Harmonize

Voyaging Satyr

Utopia Sprawl / Wild Growth

to make the deck more consistent (possibly, I haven't playtested it at all, just a theory).

December 11, 2013 1:20 a.m.

mattrva77 says... #5

December 11, 2013 2:14 a.m.

DimirZer00 says... #6

am with mattrva77 Squirrel Mob is a must. after all, who doesn't want to deal with a 26/26 Squirrel

Squirrel Wrangler is a give or take. I've personally found him awesome at times and at times found he get it the way as well.

I run with a Yavimaya Enchantress & Ancestral Mask in my Squirrel deck. Cause like your its enchantment heavy. I also enjoy having Primal Rage , Gaea's Anthem & Kaysa on the battlefield. Because its funny telling people their dealing 5/6 Squirrel token with Trample.

I also like having Krosan Beast in the deck. Only because he a Squirrel card that get over looked alot.

And you really should switch out some land for Swarmyard

December 11, 2013 1:14 p.m.

Femme_Fatale says... #7

@ DimirZer00, mattrva77, nbarry223.

Any and all creatures that aren't mana rampers would not do well in this deck for a variety of reasons. One, my infinite combo renders all other creatures useless, and two, I would rather be playing one drops with Essence of the Wild on the field. Now because of both of those reasons, cards that have various effects with squirrels, or cards that buff aren't necessary, as I either don't have any squirrels and have too many Essence of the Wild s to need a buff, or I have way too many squirrels to make something that synergizes with them worth it.

So that leaves Druid's Call , Voyaging Satyr , Utopia Sprawl , Wild Growth , Harmonize .

Druid's Call doesn't work to well because my creatures won't be getting dealt damage all to often. Essence of the Wild is the only one, but once I've swung with him, I've won, so I don't need to worry about blockers or anything of the sort. As for removal, it is highly unlikely that Essence of the Wild will get burned to death. Most of the removal I'll be seeing will be Path to Exile , Maelstrom Pulse and Echoing Truth , making Druid's Call quite worthless. And if I am facing a burn deck, game 2 means they'll keep two Lightning Bolt s in hand and bolt my Essence of the Wild to a crisp before I can do anything with it.

Voyaging Satyr costs one too much in my opinion. Now with the recent update I found a really nice set of cards, Quirion Ranger and Nature's Chosen , both of which ramps the ramp of this deck to a really high degree. Note: May replace Quirion Ranger with Emerald Charm .

Harmonize costs too much. Since I have an unlimited card pool, I get to use Sylvan Library . Occurs much faster, and occurs much more frequently. The downside is the loss of life, which is where Marshaling the Troops comes in, allowing me a massive life-gain, usually around 24 or so.

Utopia Sprawl and Wild Growth aren't really necessary as I have my untap abilities from enchantments and creatures to be able to proc my land enchantments.

December 11, 2013 7:36 p.m.

megawurmple says... #8

+1 for squirrels! The video in your description is hilarious.

I have a squirrel deck too, although it's probably not as good as yours. Check it out here.

December 18, 2013 5:27 p.m.

Femme_Fatale says... #9

Thanks for the +1 TitansFTW~

December 18, 2013 7:47 p.m.

VooDoo187 says... #10

seen this deck a million times nothing new

December 22, 2013 11:37 p.m.

Manzuri says... #11

Thought about running Beastmaster Ascension ?

December 22, 2013 11:40 p.m.

Femme_Fatale says... #12

Really, VooDoo187? You've seen millions of people use Essence of the Wild in a token build, a token build that can survive if Essence of the Wild doesn't come out? You've seen a deck that has their draw and mana base to a point where the deck's consistency is apparent upon just a few play-tests? Earthcraft + Squirrel Nest may be the most well-known vintage combo, but don't go judging a deck just because you've seen one small portion to that deck.

Beastmaster Ascension is just a win-more card. Why do I need something like this when I have an infinite combo, and creatures that are already really powerful?

December 22, 2013 11:58 p.m.

Manzuri says... #13

The same reason you run Essence of the Wild because you're not always guaranteed to get your combo off right away and you might need to pump up the creatures you have on the field. Plus you can cast Beastmaster Ascension for half the mana.

December 23, 2013 12:43 a.m.

EricTheCleric says... #14

I'm sure Mark Rosewater would love this.

December 23, 2013 3 p.m.

Femme_Fatale says... #15

If I wanted to use Beastmaster Ascension Manzuri, I would have to change this deck entirely. It would have to become Morglen colours, and all of my current creatures, mana rampers. instants and sorceries would have to be changed. My card draw function would also have to be swapped.

Sylvan Library would get replaced with Dark Confidant . All of my instants and sorceries would get replaced with Enlightened Tutor , Lingering Souls , Spectral Procession and Raise the Alarm . I would probably be running Concordant Crossroads and maybe Frontline Medic as well.

So as you can see, my entire deck would be getting changed if I wanted to run Beastmaster Ascension , because my current build does not grant me enough creatures to be able to use it effectively and fast enough. And there is no point in trying to put both the enchantment and Essence of the Wild in this deck as that would just be taking up a slot I could be using for something else.

December 23, 2013 9:45 p.m.

smash10101 says... #16

I don't really see how Nature's Chosen helps you here. I guess it could get you one extra use out of Earthcraft , but that's assuming you don't already have your infinite combo going.

December 26, 2013 9:41 p.m.

nbarry223 says... #17

it also helps to ramp if arbor elf and an enchanted land etc. it has a few utility uses.

December 26, 2013 10:07 p.m.

smash10101 says... #18

just seems like it'd be better to have something else. All it really does is untap Arbor Elf , but if it's for the ramp, there are better options, and if there is a Squirrel Nest , it's be better to have a 4th Earthcraft

December 26, 2013 10:20 p.m.

Dorotheus says... #19

:oooooI could see tron lands (Urza's Mine , Urza's Tower , Urza's Power Plant )fitting into this especially with Earthcraft .

December 26, 2013 10:28 p.m.

smash10101 says... #20

Dorotheus: Earthcraft only works with basic lands, and the tron lands wouldn't really do much for this deck.

December 26, 2013 10:34 p.m.

nbarry223 says... #21

well, at worse it turns a token into Fyndhorn Elves so I don't see how it's that bad of an include... There could be some better choices possibly, but it's a low count for a reason.

December 26, 2013 10:35 p.m.

Dorotheus says... #22

Well brain... you win again.
I retract my reason, but still think that Tron lands would work well to get Essence dude out, maybe with Expedition Map .

December 26, 2013 10:40 p.m.

nbarry223 says... #23

way too many slots for a VERY minimal advantage that takes at least 3 turns to set up...

Tron decks are 100% different from this.

December 26, 2013 10:52 p.m.

Femme_Fatale says... #24

I got rid of Nature's Chosen smash10101, it became too situational for my tastes. I tried to use the candelabras as well, but they are like Nature's Chosen , too situational.

nbarry223 is right about the tron lands Dorotheus. Tron lands are meant for colourless powerhouses like Karn and the Eldrazi. You also have to consider my lack of colourless mana in this deck. Essence of the Wild only has 3 colourless to it, so having all 3 tron lands out doesn't do anything for it. About a third of my deck costs only one G, so having lands that don't produce colour will hinder my game play tremendously.

December 31, 2013 3:57 p.m.

nbarry223 says... #25

I prefer Sundering Titan and Wurmcoil Engine in a tron deck (with Treasure Mage to tutor whatever you need) tbh. But that's totally off topic.

Just curious if you ever playtested a Deserted Temple or Dryad Arbor as 2 of or something. They could both possibly find a home in here. Also, instead of Primal Rage would Druid's Call be a better way to deal with blockers? Every time they block an essence a bunch more pop up.

December 31, 2013 4:17 p.m.

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