Bartz and BokoBartz and Boko | Art by Ryuichi Sakuma

Welcome to Too-Specific Top 10, where if there isn’t a category to rank our pet card at the top of, we’ll just make one up! (Did you know that Metallic MimicMetallic Mimic is the only colorless "Bird" that will give out +1/+1 counters to your other Birds?)

There are tons of super-powerful commanders coming out of Final Fantasy, but let's forget about them. Who wants to play Mono-Bird stompy?

The well is not as deep as you might think for Birds in green, however. Total, there are 42 Birds available, and that's counting Changelings. The bigger problem is really something inherent with Birds, though:

Top 10 Green "Birds"

1. Birds of ParadiseBirds of Paradise
2. RealmwalkerRealmwalker
3. Gilded GooseGilded Goose
4. Jhoira's FamiliarJhoira's Familiar
5. Bloodline PretenderBloodline Pretender
6. Masked VandalMasked Vandal
7. Universal AutomatonUniversal Automaton
8. Chameleon ColossusChameleon Colossus
9. Three Tree MascotThree Tree Mascot
10. Barkform HarvesterBarkform Harvester

Failing a Bloodline PretenderBloodline Pretender that's likely to make itself huge in a dedicated Bird deck, there is only one other "Bird" that has more than two power in our list of best Birds: Chameleon ColossusChameleon Colossus. In other words, we're going to be looking for a lot of Coat of ArmsCoat of Arms effects if we want this thing to work. Let's not despair yet, however. Surely we can find some Birds that can fight on their own, right?

Criteria: Birds, either actual or technical, with more than two power. As is tradition, all results are ordered by EDHREC score.

Top 10 Big Green Birds

10. Hunting MoaHunting Moa

(231 Inclusions, 0.01% of 2,797,790 Decks)

There are three things that make up Hunting MoaHunting Moa, and two of them are exactly what we're looking for. The first is that it's a 3/2 for three, efficiently costed to come down and swing in. The second is that it hands out +1/+1 counters, making our other Birds bigger. The third is the catch that makes the whole thing fall apart: it has echo.

Now, to be clear, I played Hunting MoaHunting Moa in Limited back in the day, so I do appreciate the design of it. The idea is to have a 3/2 come down and hand out a counter, then if you don't want to pay the echo, it shuffles off before it gets to attack and hands out another +1/+1 counter. The issue with that is, outside of Limited, you never want to pay the echo, and three mana to hand out two +1/+1 counters is abysmal.

Still, do we play this in Bartz and BokoBartz and Boko? I think the answer might honestly be yes. The card does a lot of things that we want, and I cannot express to you how hard-up for big Birds we are in green. There's only one Bird on the list after this, and it's DarbaDarba, a terrible 5/4 for four that has you pay two green every upkeep. And we're considering it, too.

9. Gladewalker RitualistGladewalker Ritualist

(1,414 Inclusions, 0.05% of 2,797,790 Decks)

Gladewalker RitualistGladewalker Ritualist does give me an idea, however: it's a three-mana "Bird" for three, but it really doesn't usually do anything else in Commander, where we can only play one copy of it. Unless, of course, we copy it. That's much more a blue thing normally, but let's take a look at the options, shall we?

Top 10 Green Creature Copy Token Effects

1. 1. Helm of the HostHelm of the Host
   2. Blade of SelvesBlade of Selves
   3. Lithoform EngineLithoform Engine
   4. Mimic VatMimic Vat
   5. Rootcast ApprenticeshipRootcast Apprenticeship
   6. Dino DNADino DNA
   7. Prototype PortalPrototype Portal
   8. Soul FoundrySoul Foundry

1. Minion ReflectorMinion Reflector
2. Dual NatureDual Nature

Of the options available in mono-green, most don't make extra copies of a creature, they either just become a copy themselves or exile a creature card from a graveyard to make a copy of it. Neither of those will readily trigger Gladewalker RitualistGladewalker Ritualist, but since we're going to be playing it anyhow? Maybe we should snag the two halfway decent options that would: Mimic VatMimic Vat and Dual NatureDual Nature. It's not all about this cantrip "Bird", however. These options will also just help us out with our "I don't have enough Birds" problem in general.

8. Littjara Glade-WardenLittjara Glade-Warden

(2,372 Inclusions, 0.08% of 2,797,790 Decks)

I'm not as excited about four mana for a 3/3 as I was about three mana for a 3/3, but Littjara Glade-WardenLittjara Glade-Warden's +1/+1 counter ability sort of makes up for it. Overall, though, this is a terrible option, and will be one of the first on the chopping block if we can manage it.

7. Game-Trail ChangelingGame-Trail Changeling

(3,335 Inclusions, 0.12% of 2,797,790 Decks)

I'd love to say the same of Game-Trail ChangelingGame-Trail Changeling, except I think that the trample will actually be pretty huge. Even with us sending out Birds to fight the world on the regular, there are still going to be blockers out there, and with most of our "Birds" not flying in green, a large trample guy that can come down and swing in is going to be useful, even if the efficiency lies at the complete rock bottom of the chart.

6. Changeling TitanChangeling Titan

(3,812 Inclusions, 0.14% of 2,797,790 Decks)

Okay, now this gives me an idea. With Bartz and BokoBartz and Boko having a reduced cost thanks to our Birds, it's likely that it would be few and far between that we would get to do damage with this 7/7 very often, as we'll already have cast our commander. Except, we can abuse our commander's enters ability repeatedly with effects like Changeling TitanChangeling Titan, which would be worth it. But here's a more radical idea: what if we had two commanders with enters abilities we could abuse?

Sazh KatzroySazh Katzroy is just a guy trying to keep his kid and his kid's pet Bird safe. When he's not doing that, however, he's handing out +1/+1 counters galore, solving our "all the Birds are small" problem, and he also searches up a Bird from the deck. That's meant to be Sazh's ChocoboSazh's Chocobo, as far as the flavor is concerned, and we will be playing that little delight, but what if we instead searched up Bartz and BokoBartz and Boko as our "secret" commander in the 99? Let's keep it as food for thought, and see if it seems like a better idea as we go up the list.

5. Webweaver ChangelingWebweaver Changeling

(3,932 Inclusions, 0.14% of 2,797,790 Decks)

Hey, look, another enters ability to abuse!

Okay, okay, Webweaver ChangelingWebweaver Changeling is terrible and we don't care about gaining life. Still, could we take a look at our options for abusing enters abilities in mono-green?

So, first off, there's a "Bird" we're going to end up playing anyhow in Roaming ThroneRoaming Throne, and it more or less solidifies the Sazh KatzroySazh Katzroy plan. The reason? Both Sazh and Bartz (and Boko) have enters abilities that Roaming Throne can copy, but the Throne will also copy Sazh's attack trigger, letting him hand out a minimum of four +1/+1 counters a turn, likely more. As for the rest of the options? Cauldron of SoulsCauldron of Souls will keep our Birds alive through combat and will have us routinely threatening to bring our commanders back again and again for more ETBs. Not being an Aristocrats deck means that sacrificing creatures will be difficult, however, so let's also just lean into some blink strategies with Conjurer's ClosetConjurer's Closet, Mirror of Life TrappingMirror of Life Trapping, Golden ArgosyGolden Argosy, and Voyager StaffVoyager Staff, shall we?

4. Casal, Lurkwood PathfinderCasal, Lurkwood Pathfinder

(Helms 862 Decks, Rank #1,279; 5,185 Inclusions, 0% of 2,704,279 Decks)

Well, we wanted a large Bird, and we got one. Sort of. Casal, Lurkwood PathfinderCasal, Lurkwood Pathfinder starts off as a Tiefling Druid, then can flip on attack, making the full casting cost for her 6/6 Bird form actually be six mana. Colossal DreadmawColossal Dreadmaw she is not, however, having not only trample but also vigilance and a boost to other legendary creatures. What does all that mean for our Bartz and BokoBartz and Boko secret commander shenanigans? It means that we have, on average, two legendary creatures who will get +2/+2 and trample when we flip over Casal, not to mention a 6/6 we can use for Bartz and Boko's enters/bite ability. Put it all together, and this is most likely our go-to finisher. Just too bad we can't search up our Tiefling Druid friend here with Sazh.

3. OwlbearOwlbear

(9,418 Inclusions, 0.34% of 2,797,790 Decks)

While nothing about OwlbearOwlbear blows me away, I would like to once again stress that we are short on big Birds, and unlike Webweaver ChangelingWebweaver Changeling and Game-Trail ChangelingGame-Trail Changeling, this one has an enters ability in a deck where we're already trying to abuse enters abilities. Drawing a card for five mana isn't a great rate, but strap on a trampling body and four damage from Bartz and BokoBartz and Boko's own enters ability, and this starts to look at least a little bit less like a draft common.

2. Owlbear CubOwlbear Cub

(14,168 Inclusions, 0.51% of 2,797,790 Decks)

No such hemming and hawing with Owlbear CubOwlbear Cub, however! As a three-mana 3/3, we're already in before we even start reading text. The text is pretty good for our purposes, however, at least in the late game. If you can swing Owlbear CubOwlbear Cub at a player with eight or more lands, then you get to look at the top eight, find a creature among them, and then put it straight into combat alongside the cub. With how aggro this deck is going to end up being, that is a great haymaker to have in your back pocket. And did I mention that we're fine with this as just a vanilla 3/3?

1. Chameleon ColossusChameleon Colossus

(19,745 Inclusions, 0.71% of 2,797,790 Decks)

After all of our five-mana 4/4s, it's nice to revisit the four-mana 4/4 from our original list. Even better, it makes itself bigger! Even better, it randomly has protection from black! Chameleon ColossusChameleon Colossus will be one of the best "Birds" in our deck to find, and might even rise to the status where we end up searching it up after Bartz and BokoBartz and Boko, although I know from experience that most games we're going to go straight for Traveling ChocoboTraveling Chocobo instead. Regardless, we'll always be happy to see this pending monstrosity, at least until we forget not to look too closely at the art.

Honorable Mentions

With only 11 Birds to choose from, there isn't more of a list to go over. There are, however, some other "Birds" that we missed.

We mentioned Roaming ThroneRoaming Throne along the way, but it's worth mentioning again, especially because its use in the deck isn't straightforward. On reflex, you'll probably want to choose "Bird" for our mobile seating apparatus, as that's what we're doing here, after all, and it's a good choice: choosing it as a Bird will give you another 4/4 that then also doubles Bartz and BokoBartz and Boko's trigger, meaning you'll get to deal eight damage to creatures on the other side of the board at minimum. What it won't do, however, is double Sazh KatzroySazh Katzroy's triggers, either the enters ability that lets you search for Bartz and Boko (and now another Bird or basic), or the attack trigger that now puts at least six +1/+1 counters on something. To do that, you'll need to instead select Human, allowing for a doubling of Bartz and Boko's trigger and all of Sazh's nonsense.

Simpler, yet still effective, however, are the other two "choose a creature" creatures we missed in our list, not only because they aren't technically Birds while in the deck, but also because they both only have two power. Both will pump your other Birds, however, which makes them more than worth the inclusion.

"Inclusion in what?", you may ask. Well, I'm glad you did:

I set out in making this deck for Exhibition (Bracket 1), and I think I failed. In general, the deck is very good at putting down a mana dork down early and getting to Sazh on turn three. This searches up Bartz and Boko, which then has you often removing blockers from the Birds you played on turns one and two, all as you swing in with Sazh and make him or an evasive Bird huge. Dorks that care about +1/+1 counters, like Gyre SageGyre Sage and Incubation DruidIncubation Druid, also make sure that you're drowning in mana, so that if you find a card draw engine you're basically just dumping out hordes of Birds. It then also feels very resilient, as you have both recursion and blink making recovery from a board wipe fairly trivial. In other words, this nonsense Kindred Aggro pile is solidly bracket two, keeping up with modern precons and even surpassing them with ease.

Nuts and Bolts

There always seems to be a bit of interest in how these lists are made (this seems like a good time to stress once again that they are based on EDHREC score, NOT my personal opinion…), and people are often surprised that I’m not using any special data or .json from EDHREC, but rather just muddling my way through with some Scryfall knowledge! For your enjoyment/research, here is this week’s Scryfall search.

What Do You Think?

And finally, what do you think of Bartz and BokoBartz and Boko? Do you think I was right to brew them as a secret commander with Sazh KatzroySazh Katzroy, or should I have let them stand on their own two (four?) feet?

Let us know in the comments, and we'll see you at the table on top of another table.