Magic: The Gathering is getting another big boost with the upcoming Modern Horizons 2 set, an expert-level set designed for sessions of booster draft Limited. As the name suggests, Modern Horizons 2‘s cards will enter the competitive Modern format right away, and a new tribe is coming along: the Squirrel tribe.
The Squirrel creature type has been in the game for years now. However, with only with one or two Squirrels joining the game per year, there have been far too few to make a viable tribal deck that could compete with Elf or Goblin decks. Now, Wizards of the Coast is adding fresh blood to many tribes, such as the addition of blue Giants in Kaldheim — and Squirrels are finally getting their turn.
Tribal Squirrel Powerhouses In Modern Horizons 2: Lords, Legends, Tokens & More
For the sake of both Modern Horizons 2 Limited play and Constructed formats, Modern Horizons 2 is printing and reprinting a serious collection of Squirrel creatures to amp up this tribe. These include artifacts that tie into the tribe in a meaningful way. Modern Horizons 2 is printing legendary Squirrels, “lords” that give +1/+1 to other Squirrels, token makers and huge beaters. This is a solid strategy for giving a modest tribe some legitimacy. Already, Wizards has done this for other weak tribes like Centaurs, Minotaurs and even Spiders. Getting lords and legends can push a tribe over the top, and Modern Horizons 2 delivers for Squirrels.
Chatterfang, Squirrel General is a legendary creature at mythic rare, a 3/3 with the obsolete but sometimes vicious Forestwalk ability. But Forestwalk is just a fun bonus; Chatterfang’s real power comes from tokens and black mana. This Squirrel Warrior can sacrifice other Squirrels to eliminate enemy creatures, and it can make plenty of 1/1 green Squirrel creature tokens anytime tokens would be created otherwise.
The token theme continues with Chitterspitter, a green artifact that can make Squirrels and sacrifice tokens to get accord counters to boost all friendly Squirrels. Squirrel Mob is a reprint from a pre-Modern set, an example of how Modern Horizons 2 is reprinting old cards to put them in the Modern format for the first time. Squirrel Mob is simple but powerful in the right deck, and Squirrel Sovereign is a straightforward “lord” effect at uncommon, an aggressive rarity for an effect like this.
Modern Horizons 2’s Squirrel Support Cards & Gameplay Strategies
The Squirrel tribe’s most powerful cards are all obvious must-haves for building a tribal Squirrel deck, but the common cards are fairly useful too. Chatterstorm can make a Squirrel token for cheap, and if enough spells were cast that turn, the player can make quite a few of those Squirrels and go wide with tokens. Drey Keeper isn’t a Squirrel itself, but it makes two of them, and it can pay {3}B to give all Squirrels +1/+0 and menace. This is a fine mana sink late in the game.
Bone Shards pays tribute to the card Bone Splinters from the Shards of Alara block, sacrificing a creature or discarding a card to destroy target creature or planeswalker for very little mana. Vermin Gorger, meanwhile, is a Vampire that can tap and sacrifice another creature to drain two life from opponents.
The pattern is clear: the Squirrel deck doesn’t just go wide with Squirrels to attack en masse. This tribe is green and black, and such decks are always ready to harvest their own creatures for incredible bonuses. Sacrificing a creature is easy when the Squirrel tribe goes wide with tokens, and Bone Shards is very cheap spell that can easily lead to Chatterstorm.
Giving up one Squirrel to destroy a problematic Planeswalker card is a great deal, and Vermin Gorger gives a Squirrel deck lifegain and the ability to drain the opponent’s life points to zero without ever having to attack. That is a vital plan B if the board stalls out, and that makes Vermin Gorger worth it, even if it doesn’t benefit from Squirrel tribal effects.
By now, it is safe to say that Modern Horizons 2‘s the Squirrel tribe will be a Golgari sacrifice archetype in Limited, while in Constructed formats, it will likely be a straightforward beatdown deck, like the Elf tribal deck in Modern. However, there is still the possibility of splashing black mana to use “aristocrats” effect. Modern has access to cards like Viscera Seer, for example, for even greater aristocrats fun. The Squirrel tribe has found its voice at last.
About The Author