RATS vs. SQUIRRELS | Vren v Hazel | Bloomburrow Gameplay | MTG EDH

Deck Strategies

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  Vren, the Relentless

  An aggressive rat tribal deck that leverages sacrifice mechanics and recursion to maintain board presence. It uses menace and fear to make creatures hard to block, combined with card draw and recursion to continuously apply pressure and close out the game with large, evasive rats.

• 

  Hazel of the Rootbloom

  A squirrel tribal deck focused on generating numerous tokens and food tokens to ramp mana. It uses anthem effects and doubling triggered abilities to grow the board exponentially, aiming to overwhelm opponents with a wide army of boosted squirrels.

Gameplay Insights

• 1

  Vren's use of recursion to bring back key creatures like Marrow and Ruthless Red allowed sustained aggression and board presence despite sacrifices.

• 2

  Hazel capitalized on doubling token generation with Roiling Throne and Hazel's own token copy ability, rapidly expanding her squirrel army.

• 3

  Fear granted by Marrow on Vren's creatures severely limited Hazel's ability to block effectively, turning the tide decisively in Vren's favor.

• 4

  The combination of menace and sacrifice triggers on Vren's side created a constant threat that forced Hazel into unfavorable blocks and ultimately lethal damage.

• 5

  Hazel's ramp and token production were strong but could not keep pace with Vren's boosted, evasive rats and life-losing attacks.

Notable Cards

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  Adaptive Automaton

Summary

The game started with both players establishing their mana bases and deploying early creatures to set up their respective tribal synergies. Vren, the Relentless, led a rat tribal deck that focused on aggressive combat and card recursion through sacrifices and reanimation effects. Hazel of the Rootbloom piloted a squirrel tribal deck that leveraged token generation, food tokens for ramp, and powerful anthem effects to grow her army rapidly. Early on, Vren established board control by sacrificing creatures and returning them to the battlefield, generating constant pressure with menace and life drain triggers. Hazel built up a strong board presence with numerous squirrel tokens boosted by Adaptive Automaton and Roiling Throne, which doubled triggered abilities, leading to explosive token creation. Despite Hazel's growth and potential for a wide board, Vren's rats gained a massive boost from Marrow and ruthless red creatures, making the rats large and evasive with fear, limiting Hazel's blockers. In a crucial combat phase, Vren's aggressive swings and resilient creatures overwhelmed Hazel's defenses, forcing her to take lethal damage. The game ended with Vren securing a decisive victory through superior board presence, evasion, and efficient token synergies.