At MagicFest in Philadelphia, Wizards of the Coast (WotC) gave us a first-look tease at the upcoming set, March of the Machine, including a handful of team-up legendary creatures from across the Multiverse that were quite eye-popping! On Friday, I explored the exciting team of Thalia and The Gitrog Monster from Innistrad, and today I want to take a look at the Dominaria “cute legendaries” duo Slimefoot and Squee!
Unlike Thalia and The Gitrog Monster, Slimefoot and Squee deviates a bit from their individual incarnations. Slimefoot, the Stowaway brings a “Saprolings matter” theme to the card, but that’s where the similarities end. The O.G. Slimefoot pretty much wants a dedicated Saproling deck to maximize its power, while Slimefoot and Squee is fine with just having Saprolings be a strong sub-theme.
Slimefoot and Squee resemble the previous versions of Squee by being able to come back from the graveyard, but it functions more like a reanimation spell from the graveyard, which is quite different from Squee. But the changes end up being a really cool card to build a Commander deck around and I look forward to getting a copy for my collection.
The Slimefoot and Squee Strategy
Basically, you want to cast Slimefoot and Squee and get a Saproling; perhaps attack once or twice to accumulate a couple more Saprolings and meanwhile get a huge creature into your graveyard somehow; and then get Slimefoot and Squee into your graveyard with a Saproling still on the battlefield and enough mana to activate Slimefoot and Squee to bring it back to the battlefield along with a Saproling and some huge creature. There are enough hoops to jump through to give opponents plenty of opportunity to interact, which makes this a fair deck, but those same hoops make for a really cool “quest” you want to go through to do “the thing” at the end.
What sort of cards might we want in a Slimefoot and Squee deck? Let’s dive in!
Priming the Graveyard from the Library
The first order of business is to prime the graveyard with some juicy reanimation target to pair with Slimefoot and Squee and bring back together to the battlefield. Since Slimefoot brings black to the color identity, we get plenty of great choices here. I’d consider Entomb and Buried Alive the first two slots for this, but I also really like Final Parting and Jarad’s Orders, since both replace themselves with a card in your hand. Goblin Engineer is an interesting choice if you end up playing a deck with lots of artifact creatures.
Priming the Graveyard from the Hand
There are also ways to put creatures in the graveyard from your hand, and the first cards I thought of were creatures with cycling. Void Beckoner and Titanoth Rex from Ikoria: Lair of Behemoths spring to mind (especially the Godzilla skin versions), but I also really like Ruin Grinder and Krosan Tusker for value. There are also red spells like Faithless Looting, Fable of the Mirror-Breaker, and Big Score that make excellent ways to get a big creature you’ve drawn into the graveyard. There’s also Fauna Shaman, which was recently reprinted and is much more affordable than it used to be.
Getting Slimefoot and Squee in the Graveyard
Okay, so how do we get Slimefoot and Squee into the graveyard so we can use it to reanimate? Luckily for us, the Jund color combination has no shortage of ways to sacrifice creatures! I particularly like something like Phyrexian Tower, Phyrexian Altar, or Skirk Prospector that can sacrifice Slimefoot and Squee to provide some amount of mana you can then use to activate Slimefoot and Squee from the graveyard. Tevesh Szat, Doom of Fools is a cool choice since you actually want your commander to die, so why not get two cards for your trouble?
Magus of the Order is sweet tech if you’re playing a huge green creature you want to put onto the battlefield. Heck, you can rock it old school and get Verdant Force onto the battlefield, churning out a Saproling token each upkeep.
Reanimation Targets
There are all sorts of great reanimation targets in Jund, but I’ve curated a solid lineup here for consideration. Probably the most busted thing you could do is reanimate Razaketh, the Foulblooded; you even get two additional bodies with Slimefoot and Squee that you can sacrifice to Razaketh to tutor up the perfect two cards into your hand. Ancient Brass Dragon provides a reanimation effect itself if you can do combat damage with it. I also really like Regal Force, which will draw you a minimum of three cards counting itself, Slimefoot and Squee, and the green Saproling token.
If your local playgroup is lousy with Dragon tribal decks, slide a Karrthus, Tyrant of Jund into your 99 for the big blowout move; just make sure you reanimate it pre-combat so you can swoop in and attack!
Dies Triggers
Since we want Slimefoot and Squee to die, and then we want a Saproling to die when we bring Slimefoot and Squee back from the graveyard, I thought we might want to pepper in some cards that care about creatures dying. Syr Konrad, the Grim really does a lot of work here; in addition to the dying, we’re also bringing creatures back from the graveyard, so there will be life drained from your opponents constantly! Plus, if they kill Syr Konrad, you can just bring him back with Slimefoot and Squee. I also like Reincarnation as a way to double up on the reanimation if you’ve got two juicy targets and enough mana.
Making More Saprolings
One way your opponents can stymie your plans is for them to destroy any Saprolings on the battlefield. That way, if Slimefoot and Squee ends up in the graveyard, you can’t activate its ability. I have a horrible vision of some sicko casting Engineered Plague and gleefully naming Saproling! Barring something unfortunate like that, I’d likely find room in the 99 for some number of other ways to create Saprolings. Golgari Germination seems like a fine choice, and I also like Tendershoot Dryad. Mycoloth is a cool choice; when it enters the battlefield, you can devour Slimefoot and Squee to add two +1/+1 counters to it, and during your upkeep you get two more Saprolings.
If you want style points, play Sporogenesis and have every opponent pick up and read this weirdo card. During your upkeep, you can put a fungus counter on, say, Slimefoot and Squee, and then when it dies, you’ll get another Saproling token. The enchantment is so clunky and slow, odds are pretty good no one will want to target it with a precious enchantment removal spell!
Saprolings Matter
Another way to ensure you always have a Saproling available to sacrifice to Slimefoot and Squee in the graveyard is to make all of your creatures into Saprolings! Conspiracy is the old-school way to do it, but Maskwood Nexus is even better, since you can activate it to make Shapeshifter tokens with changeling. If an opponent has rudely swept the battlefield clean of all nonland permanents, you can activate Mutavault or even Faceless Haven to suddenly have a Saproling available.
Another angle is to fill out the deck with Thallids and other creatures that make Saprolings, like Utopia Mycon, Elvish Farmer, and Nemata, Primeval Warden.
Tokens Matter
If we want to lean hard into making lots of Saproling tokens, we can tap into effects like Doubling Season to push it further. Chatterfang, Squirrel General likes when we make tokens, so it might be something to consider. And any deck that makes token creatures should consider Cryptolith Rite and even Jaheira, Friend of the Forest to squeeze extra mana out of them.
Enters-the-Battlefield Triggers
Whenever Slimefoot and Squee enters the battlefield, there are two creatures that appear, so we might consider running some cards that care about that. Champion of Lambholt will get at least two +1/+1 counters, and an extra one if Slimefoot and Squee brings a creature back from the graveyard. Cards like Purphoros, God of the Forge damage all opponents and will add up over the course of the game. We can push things further by running cards like Conjurer’s Closet that can exile Slimefoot and Squee and bring it right back.
Attack Phases
Slimefoot and Squee’s main power is definitely reanimating, but earlier in the game or after a battlefield sweeper, it can rumble into the red zone to attack, getting an extra Saproling counter each time. Red has a lot of ways to gain extra attack steps, and if we pick creatures like Port Razer, we can use Slimefoot and Squee to bring them back from the graveyard when they die. Creatures that make mana when they attack, like Grand Warlord Radha, are pretty cool too; you can sacrifice Slimefoot and Squee postcombat and use that extra mana for its reanimation effect to bring back a huge monster.
One last card that definitely wins style points would be Breath of Fury! Assuming you have a way to give all your creatures haste – say, Anger in your graveyard – you could enchant an expendable creature with Breath of Fury and attack someone who’s open. Slimefoot and Squee makes a Saproling on the attack, sacrifice the creature enchanted with Breath of Fury and attach it to the Saproling, and attack again and again. It might not win the game, but it will be a heckuva fun story!
What are you planning on doing with Slimefoot and Squee once March of the Machine is available? What other mash-up, team-up legendary cards are you hoping to see?
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