
With the previous Spiderman set and the upcoming Marvel set, Magic the Gathering and Marvel now are one. For better or for worse, those universes are married, meaning that all characters in each of those universes may interact with one another.

This does beg the question, in the Magic the Marveling Universe, who is the strongest character? Is it <BlogCardLink cardId="MTG-M19-218" title="Nicol Bolas" />? Or is it perhaps <BlogCardLink cardId="MTG-HOC-36" title="Sauron" />? Could it be <BlogCardLink cardId="MTG-AFR-112" title="Lolth" />? Or is <BlogCardLink cardId="MTG-PSPL-9" title="Super Shredder" /> just a bit stronger? Who would win in combat, <BlogCardLink cardId="MTG-MSH-233" title="Thanos" /> or a <BlogCardLink cardId="MTG-SOS-155" title="Noxious Newt" /> that just equipped a flashed-in <BlogCardLink cardId="MTG-ACR-216" title="Hidden Footblade" />?

Perhaps these questions will all be answered in the countless future magic games played utilizing these characters as pawns in metaphorical duels to the death. I tell you, all of us were deceived, for another OP card was made. In the land of WotC, in the fires of Hasbro, was forged a secret master card to conquer all others. Into this one card, the devs poured all their cruelty, malice, and will to dominate all casual commander matchups. One Squirrel to rule them all. One Squirrel to find them. One Squirrel to beat them all and in the game stores bind them.

<BlogCard cardId="MTG-MSH-193" size="lg" />

## The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl

<BlogCardLink cardId="MTG-MSH-193" title="The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl" /> is a positively insane commander. Doubling the amount of squirrels you control at instant speed alone is incredibly strong. If that was the sole ability she had, Squirrel Girl would be a solid commander, but on top of all that she also makes squirrels when she enters or attacks.

If you put zero squirrel cards in the main deck, Squirrel Girl would still be able to function independently. In many of my play-tests, it often seemed better to cast or activate Squirrel Girl rather than cast any spells from hand. The main two goals of a Squirrel Girl deck are 1) getting ridiculous amounts of mana to create squirrels and 2) making those squirrels big enough to defeat your opponents.

## Ramping Into Squirrels

For the first goal, any cards that let you tap creatures for mana like <BlogCardLink cardId="MTG-PDSK-176p" title="Enduring Vitality" />, <BlogCardLink cardId="MTG-INR-408" title="Cryptolith Rite" />, <BlogCardLink cardId="MTG-LTR-160" title="Elven Chorus" />, etc. will balloon the amount of mana at your disposal with each activation of Squirrel Girl.

<BlogCards cardIds="MTG-PDSK-176p,MTG-INR-408,MTG-LTR-160" />

At a base level, any one or two mana ramp spell can really help speed up getting to initially cast Squirrel Girl. This includes common green ramp spells like <BlogCardLink cardId="MTG-10E-274" title="Llanowar Elves" />, <BlogCardLink cardId="MTG-PLST-DIS-99" title="Utopia Sprawl" />, <BlogCardLink cardId="MTG-DSC-193" title="Rampant Growth" />, and so on.

As for mid to later game ramp, higher CMC cards like <BlogCardLink cardId="MTG-WAR-169" title="Nissa, Who Shakes the World" />, <BlogCardLink cardId="MTG-WOE-284" title="Virtue of Strength" />, and <BlogCardLink cardId="MTG-CM2-178" title="Caged Sun" /> are fantastic for generating the amount of mana we're trying to produce with Squirrel Girl.

<BlogCards cardIds="MTG-WAR-169,MTG-WOE-284,MTG-CM2-178" />

## Making Squirrels Massive

For the second goal, there are many different great ways to make the squirrels massive. From a simple <BlogCardLink cardId="MTG-M12-186" title="Overrun" /> to the much funnier <BlogCardLink cardId="MTG-FDN-109" title="Preposterous Proportions" />, green has a plethora of great options for turning each squirrel into a gigantic monster.

<BlogCards cardIds="MTG-M12-186,MTG-FDN-109" />

Some creatures like <BlogCardLink cardId="MTG-BLB-202" title="Valley Mightcaller" /> and <BlogCardLink cardId="MTG-BLB-178" title="Honored Dreyleader" /> individually become massive, but I mostly prefer cards that buff the whole board. <BlogCardLink cardId="MTG-DFT-388" title="March of the World Ooze" /> might be my personal favorite but <BlogCardLink cardId="MTG-FDN-127" title="Banner of Kinship" /> is likely the most powerful game-ending card in this deck.

<BlogCards cardIds="MTG-BLB-202,MTG-BLB-178,MTG-DFT-388,MTG-FDN-127" />

Because so much of the value engine of the deck comes from the commander, you have a lot of open slots for Overrun and Anthem effects.

## Piloting the Deck

The first couple turns will hopefully ramp you a little so that you can cast Squirrel Girl by turn three. Hopefully by turn four you'll be able to safely attack with Squirrel Girl to create another squirrel.

On turn four you should in most cases hold up enough mana to protect your commander and/or activate her on an opponent's end step. On turn five it's nice to cast a low CMC spell and be able to activate Squirrel Girl again.

In any of the following turns you should either be doubling squirrels, drawing lots of cards, or knocking out players with some sort of Overrun effect.

## Final Thoughts

<BlogCardLink cardId="MTG-MSH-193" title="The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl" /> is a strong new commander with great potential in casual brackets. This deck is very weak to board wipes so spending a bit more money on <BlogCardLink cardId="MTG-AER-109" title="Heroic Intervention" /> or <BlogCardLink cardId="MTG-C15-253" title="Eldrazi Monument" /> could make the deck less likely to get crushed by a single board wipe.

<BlogCards cardIds="MTG-AER-109,MTG-C15-253" />

Any deck that permanently gives creatures -1/-1 also is the bane of this sort of deck. If you're facing off against a Squirrel Girl deck, those are the best ways to combat it, besides just shooting Squirrel Girl on sight.

Is The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl the new strongest Magic card? Probably not. But she is the strongest Squirrel Human Hero we've seen so far…and that's more than can be said of Nicol Bolas.

## The Full Deck List

Want to try this deck yourself? [The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl](https://manytcg.com/decks/cmq02sams0001jv04zkat93fo)

<BlogDeckList deckListIndex="0" />
<br/>
Let us know who your favorite Squirrel Human Hero is in the comments below!


The Strongest Character in the Marvel-Magic Universe!


# The Hidden Gem of Strixhaven: Building Aziza, Mage Tower Captain

Secrets of Strixhaven is positively brimming with fantastic new commanders and thrilling new cards to put in the ninety-nine. From the upcoming cycle of elder dragons to the five Strixhaven commander precons there are so many great legendaries to build entire decks around. Amidst this plethora of flashy and explosive cards, I want to highlight a commander that has potentially flown under the radar.

<BlogCard cardId="MTG-SOS-174" size="lg" />

<br>

<BlogCardLink cardId="MTG-SOS-174" title="Aziza, Mage Tower Captain" /> is a two mana, boros commander that lets you copy instant and sorcery spells if you tap three untapped creatures as you cast them. It's important to note that Aziza's ability does not care about summoning sickness. What's even better is this isn't limited to once per turn, so there is a possibility to chain spells, especially if the spells you copy create tokens.

## So What's the Game-plan?

After play-testing Aziza, it became somewhat apparent that a two cmc commander can actually seem like a removal magnet. If it's the first spell you cast, that can sometimes draw the ire or fear of the table. I personally would prefer to first get some tokens or ramp on the board before Aziza, if possible. Once you have some ramp and/or creatures on board, then cast Aziza. Optimally, by turn 4 you should be able to copy your first spell. After that, I would try to protect from board wipes all while building up tokens and accruing value. Sometimes that value is expressed through treasures to setup some of the many pay X token spells and sometimes that value is simply an overwhelming board state.

As far as win conditions go, <BlogCardLink cardId="MTG-FDN-717" title="Impact Tremors" /> and cards like it are great ways to damage the whole table. Cards like <BlogCardLink cardId="MTG-INR-337" title="Cathars' Crusade" /> and <BlogCardLink cardId="MTG-PDSK-4p" title="Porcelain Gallery" /> that benefit from many creatures are fantastic additions to close out the game by making all of your tokens massive. <BlogCardLink cardId="MTG-DSK-208" title="Arabella, Abandoned Doll" /> is also quite the killer in this deck as it can deal a significant amount of damage and lifegain.

<BlogCards cardIds="MTG-FDN-717,MTG-MKM-242,MTG-INR-337,MTG-PDSK-4p,MTG-DSK-208" />

## What About Removal?

When assembling the removal for this deck, I was surprised by how many board wipes synergize well with this strategy. <BlogCardLink cardId="MTG-PLST-CLB-691" title="Dusk // Dawn" />, <BlogCardLink cardId="MTG-PIP-156" title="Austere Command" />, and <BlogCardLink cardId="MTG-C19-65" title="Hour of Reckoning" /> all have the ability to be mostly, if not completely, one sided. Further, the other instants and sorceries that act as spot removal can be twice as good as usual with all of the copying that Aziza sets out to do.

<BlogCards cardIds="MTG-PLST-CLB-691,MTG-PIP-156,MTG-C19-65" />

## Full Deck List

_If you are curious on my take on a full Aziza deck check it out below_

<BlogDeckList deckListIndex="0" />

## Final Thoughts

At the end of the day, Aziza can function as a token doubler as well as a powerful spell-slinger commander. So many instant and sorcery spells go from being good to being outstanding if you're able to copy them. Because of this, there are so many different options for spells to put in this deck. I tried to build an all around solid build with this commander but one could focus on the spell-slinger side a bit more than the token side. If there are any cards you think I should have considered, please keep the conversation going in the comments below.


Browse Blog Posts

The Strongest Character in the Marvel-Magic Universe!

The Hidden Gem of Strixhaven: Building Aziza, Mage Tower Captain