{"ops":[{"insert":"Squirrels love tokens and counters. So "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Xavier Sal, Infested Captain"}},{"insert":"s ability to remove counters to populate is a good option for a squirrel commander. And he also strengthens the squirrel army by proliferating if needed.\n"},{"insert":{"card-link":"Hazel of the Rootbloom"}},{"insert":" was the precon commander for squirrels and played into a simular theme and cards like "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Chitterspitter"}},{"insert":" which creates token and use counters. But Xavier adds some additonal benefits for a similar strategy, especially when the Squirrels consume him and take his place.\n\nTo let squirrels profit from "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Xavier Sal, Infested Captain"}},{"insert":"s proliferate ability this deck has cards like "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Banner of Kinship"}},{"insert":", "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Door of Destinies"}},{"insert":", "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Chitterspitter"}},{"insert":" and other cards with counters to buff the squirrel army. One can even use"},{"insert":{"card-link":"Bloodroot Apothecary"}},{"insert":" for a rather sudden poison win, especially after creating some copy tokens.\n\nThe Squirrels Masterplan:\nOne of the best ways for the Squirrels to profit from Xavier's abilities is to put him in "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Agatha's Soul Cauldron"}},{"insert":" or use "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Hazel's Brewmaster"}},{"insert":" to give his abilities to every Food. Or rather use his leftovers after feeding him to "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Ygra, Eater of All"}},{"insert":" or "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Ravenous Squirrel"}},{"insert":". The best way to sacrifice Xavier however is "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Diabolic Intent"}},{"insert":" since it also tutors the Brewmaster or the Soul Cauldron.\nThe best winning strategy is to give every Food token Xavier's abilities:\nA) Food's don't have summoning sickness, so each new Food token can directly activate the abilities. This is especially strong when each populate trigger creates not only a creature but also a food thanks to "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Tippy-Toe, Terrific Partner"}},{"insert":" or"},{"insert":{"card-link":"Peregrin Took"}},{"insert":". Creating a chain that give unknown riches to squirrel kind near infinite food! Altough Xavier would've prefered bountiful treasures.\nB) Ygra will help to still give the abilities to the Squirrels. \nIf the Brewmaster or the Soulcauldron get destroyed while exiling Xavier, "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Riftsweeper"}},{"insert":" can put him commander back in the command zone. Altough it is unlikely the opponents survive (near) infinite food tokens that have Xavier's abilities. And if this strategy isn't drawn or gets ruined the deck can still overwhelm with some squirrel shenanigans.\n\nBy adding blue to squirrels you can use cards like "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Double Major"}},{"insert":", "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Irenicus's Vile Duplication"}},{"insert":", "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Impostor Syndrome"}},{"insert":", "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Quantum Misalignment"}},{"insert":" or "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Multiversal Recruitment"}},{"insert":" to get copies of "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Xavier Sal, Infested Captain"}},{"insert":", "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Hazel of the Rootbloom"}},{"insert":" , "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Chatterfang, Squirrel General"}},{"insert":", "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Camellia, the Seedmiser"}},{"insert":" or "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Tippy-Toe, Terrific Partner"}},{"insert":" to get even more squirrel or food tokens. But you get also "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Specimen Collector"}},{"insert":" who creates a squirel token while also adding a nice trigger that creates a copy of a token when it dies.\n\nUsing the classic"},{"insert":{"card-link":"Intruder Alarm"}},{"insert":" strategy you can populate as long you have counters left. Even "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Faces of the Past"}},{"insert":"work, as long as Xavier was put into the "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Agatha's Soul Cauldron"}},{"insert":". And thanks to "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Camellia, the Seedmiser"}},{"insert":" or "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Metallic Mimic"}},{"insert":" one rarely runs out of counters as long as one has food and plays squirrel typal with Xavier. And with the untap triggers one can also reuse "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Osteomancer Adept"}},{"insert":" (who gladly provides Xavier with a new counter to remove) multipe times. Or use the Intruder Alarm Triggers to tutor up more and more squirrels using "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Thornvault Forager"}},{"insert":", untap creature tokens to add more mana with "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Hazel of the Rootbloom"}},{"insert":" or draw a lot of cards with "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Bonecache Overseer"}},{"insert":".\n\nXavier can even remove the annoying finality counters from "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Osteomancer Adept"}},{"insert":" or remove lore counters from "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Binding the Old Gods"}},{"insert":" to get a chapter again and get more squirrels. Even some of the lands add counters to the squirrels like "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Oran-Rief, the Vastwood"}},{"insert":" or "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Oakhollow Village"}},{"insert":". \n"}]}