Hazel of the RootbloomHazel of the Rootbloom | Art by Anna Pavleeva

If you're a fan of fuzzy woodland creatures, you'll love this week's edition of Fire and Ice, the data-driven series where I go over cards that are becoming more or less popular for different Commander decks and talk about why they may be gaining or losing popularity. I'm Julia, EDHREC's Duchess of Data, and I'm super excited to jump into today's article!

EDHREC, of course, has a ton of data. We'll draw conclusions from that data about how certain commanders' decks have changed over time, give insight into how the format's players are thinking about new cards, and hopefully provide some tech for your favorite commander's list. To learn more about the math behind this series, check out this page! We've made a few changes to our methodology recently, and you can read all about them there.

Today we'll be focusing our data analysis on Hazel of the RootbloomHazel of the Rootbloom, one of the coolest precon commanders in recent memory. She encourages us to flood the board with tokens, focusing specifically on Squirrel tokens.

Hazel of the RootbloomHazel of the Rootbloom

What's Hot and What's Not for Hazel of the Rootbloom?

For , we get a 3/5 Squirrel Druid. Hazel also lets us pay two life, her, and tap any number of untapped tokens we control to add one mana for each token we tap this way. Additionally, Hazel lets us create a copy of a token we control on our end step (plus an additional copy if we target a Squirrel with this ability).

Hazel is super strong, providing us with tons of mana on each of our turns. It's difficult to make use of her ability more than once per turn, as we'd need to untap all of our tokens to use them for mana multiple times. One activation of Hazel should be enough to let us cast some super powerful spells, though.

Among her most popular cards are Chatterfang, Squirrel GeneralChatterfang, Squirrel General (98% of decks), Second HarvestSecond Harvest (88% of decks), and Camellia, the SeedmiserCamellia, the Seedmiser (71% of decks). Many Hazel decks are upgraded precons, which explains the near-ubiquity of some cards. The Squirreled Away deck that she led happened to be very well constructed, too.

What's Fiery for Hazel Decks?

Ninja PizzaNinja Pizza - Fire Score of 13.89

While we don't care too much about FoodFood tokens, there are a few pieces that synergize well with them in our 99 (Thornvault ForagerThornvault Forager, Gilded GooseGilded Goose, and Honored DreyleaderHonored Dreyleader).

That aside, Ninja Pizza lets us create a token every single turn, including the turn it hits the board. Plus, those tokens are mana rocks even if Hazel gets removed.

I'm reminded of Awakening ZoneAwakening Zone, but this enchantment is certainly stronger.

Springleaf ParadeSpringleaf Parade - Fire Score of 6.54

It seems like this enchantment is popping up everywhere these days. It has a home in most every token deck, as a creature token producer and mana accelerant. Because we create so much mana with our commander, we can pump a huge value into this spell's cost to flood the board with tokens. Then, because the Shapeshifter tokens it creates are also Squirrels, we get to make two copies of them on our end step.

Much like Ninja Pizza, this enchantment also provides us with access to extra mana if Hazel isn't available for any reason.

Mirrormind CrownMirrormind Crown - Fire Score of 3.87

This Equipment may cost a full to get online, but it can allow us to do some pretty ridiculous things. Imagine moving to our end step, and creating two token copies of Deep Forest HermitDeep Forest Hermit, Mirkwood BatsMirkwood Bats, or even Valley RotcallerValley Rotcaller.

This is extremely exciting for all token commanders, Hazel included. I'm most excited to see how it performs in Aristocrats builds of Hazel, where multiple copies of Blood ArtistBlood Artist can quickly end a game.

Chronicle of VictoryChronicle of Victory - Fire Score of 2.40

Lorwyn Eclipsed had a lot of great cards for typal decks, and Chronicle of Victory has popped up as a great top-end threat for us. It provides a neat anthem to (almost) all of our creatures and creature tokens, while also providing us with the card advantage we'll need to keep pushing through the late game.

I'm sure this will become a staple of creature type-focused decks throughout Commander, given its universal usefulness.

Mutable ExplorerMutable Explorer - Fire Score of 2.11

MutavaultMutavault is a great land for decks that care about specific creature types. It allows us to produce mana while being a relevant body at any moment that we need it to be.

With this Shapeshifter we can create a token version of Mutavault, activate it to turn it into a creature, and make two token copies of that creature land on our end step. That's a crazy amount of ramp for just , and we can keep making copies of our Mutavault tokens on future turns if we so choose.

This creature is also a Squirrel itself, which is a nice bonus.

Bloodline BiddingBloodline Bidding - Fire Score of 1.79

We'll usually have more than enough creatures on board to cast this spell for an extremely reduced cost. That means we'll be able to bring back all of our Squirrels for pennies on the dollar!

While we're not super focused on sacrificing nontoken creatures or milling ourselves, this sorcery is still an extremely potent reanimation spell. It's better than almost any other recursion we could run, due to the sheer number of creatures we get to bring back to the fray.

What's Icy for Hazel Decks?

Nut CollectorNut Collector - Ice Score of -2.71

This card does two great things for us: create lots of Squirrel tokens, and buff our Squirrels into potent combat threats. Unfortunately, it costs to cast. You'd have to be nuts to pay that much mana for this creature, which also just so happens to be a 1/1.

Verdant CommandVerdant Command - Ice Score of -2.19

This spell does create two 1/1 Squirrel tokens for just , but the other effects that we get to choose from are extremely niche. Planeswalkers aren't that common in Commander, exiling just one card from a graveyard likely won't stop any reanimation-centric game plans, and three life is practically nothing in our format.

This spell just doesn't do enough.

Squirrel SovereignSquirrel Sovereign - Ice Score of -1.56

This is a neat anthem, letting us swing in for victory with a wide board of fuzzy little guys. But we've got more efficient win conditions in our 99. From Valley RotcallerValley Rotcaller to Mirkwood BatsMirkwood Bats to Beastmaster AscensionBeastmaster Ascension, there's better ways for us to win the game.

Squirrel MobSquirrel Mob - Ice Score of -1.50

This three-drop doesn't have any relevant combat abilities. While it might become extremely large, especially for a creature that costs just , we have very few ways to turn that power and toughness into combat damage or on-board advantage.

The Odd Acorn GangThe Odd Acorn Gang can give this creature trample, but that just means that Squirrel Mob is better off in a deck led by The Odd Acorn Gang instead.

What's in a Hazel of the Rootbloom Deck?

Here's a Hazel deck with all of her hot cards (and none of her cold cards):

Conclusion

That's it for Hazel! She's a super interesting card, but somehow not the most powerful Bloomburrow precon commander. While all four leaders are all strong, Ms. BumbleflowerMs. Bumbleflower sits a notch above Bello, Bard of the BramblesBello, Bard of the Brambles, Zinnia, Valley's VoiceZinnia, Valley's Voice, and Hazel.

Which of these commanders is your favorite? Let me know in the comments below, and I'll be back soon with more Fire and Ice!