Bloomburrow is a set all about creature types. In fact, it may be the most creature type-focused set in Magic’s history. Ten adorable animal factions get stacks of synergy pieces here, making decks built around them a real possibility. Most of these are effectively newcomers, like Raccoons, Otters, and Rabbits. Others, however, have been around in Magic for a while, and have established cards to fall back on. Squirrels are one such type. Thanks to all the new Squirrel support cards in the set, the MTG finance world is adjusting in kind, and we’re seeing some significant price spikes on those aforementioned established cards. Specifically Nut Collector and Scurry Oak, which have jumped up by 190% and 100%, respectively.
Nut Collector
- Mana Value: 5G
- Rarity: Mythic Rare
- Stats: 1/1
- Card Text: At the beginning of your upkeep, you may create a 1/1 green Squirrel creature token. Threshold — All Squirrels get +2/+2 as long as seven or more cards are in your graveyard.
The first of these is Nut Collector. This is actually a fairly old card that first saw print way back in Odyssey. Reprints in The List and Dominaria Remastered have kept it in the player consciousness, however, and now is its time to shine. The card is very simple: it makes a Squirrel each turn and serves as a lord for Squirrels once you hit Threshold.
Bloomburrow’s new Squirrel Commanders, Camellia, the Seedmiser and Hazel of the Rotbloom, both work best at the head of go-wide Squirrel decks. If you’re playing such a deck, Nut Collector is a no-brainer inclusion. It both helps you go wide by creating tokens and rewards you for doing so by buffing their stats.
Because of this obvious synergy, and the rising popularity of Squirrel decks in Commander, Nut Collector has shot up in price. Just a week ago it was selling for around $1.30, whereas now it’s going for closer to $3.50. That’s a jump of around 190%. This applies to both the standard Dominaria Remastered printing and the original Odyssey one. Interestingly, the alternate-art versions from Dominaria Remastered, the borderless art and retro frame variants, remain around $1. If you don’t mind those styles, you can snag a bargain on this one.
Scurry Oak
- Mana Value: 2G
- Rarity: Uncommon
- Stats: 1/2
- Card Text: Evolve (Whenever a creature you control enters, if that creature has greater power or toughness than this creature, put a +1/+1 counter on this creature.) Whenever one or more +1/+1 counters are put on Scurry Oak, you may create a 1/1 green Squirrel creature token.
Nut Collector isn’t the only Squirrel support card making waves in the MTG finance world this week. Scurry Oak, an uncommon from Modern Horizons 2, is also on the rise. From around $1.50 last week to just over $3 now, the card has doubled in price. Not a huge financial jump, but still very impressive for an uncommon.
The rise of Squirrel decks is undoubtedly a factor in this. As is the fact that Scurry Oak has only had a single printing so far. If you want this card, you need the Modern Horizons 2 version. Thankfully, Modern Horizons 2 was certainly a widely opened set, but even with a ton of copies out there, the demand is now starting to catch up with this tricky Treefolk.
Beyond its obvious applications in Squirrel Commander decks, Scurry Oak is actually something of a multi-format combo engine. Whether it’s Rosie Cotton of South Lane or Ivy Lane Denizen, there’s no shortage of ways to create infinite Squirrel tokens with this card. Just throw in a sacrifice outlet and some kind of Aristocrats payoff and you can win the game on the spot.
Interactions like this have been well-known for a while, but the additional demand from Squirrel decks is now compounding on top. That said, the ceiling on Scurry Oak is likely somewhere around $5. An uncommon is an uncommon, at the end of the day.
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