Precon Upgrade Guide: Hazel of the Rootbloom — What to Cut, What to Add, by Role

The preconstructed Commander deck built around Hazel of the Rootbloom gives new players a working shell — Legendary Creature — Squirrel Druid, colour identity black, green — whose exact text is:

{T}, Pay 2 life, Tap X untapped tokens you control: Add X mana in any combination of colors.
At the beginning of your end step, create a token that's a copy of target token you control. If that token is a Squirrel, instead create two tokens that are copies of it.

Upgrading a precon is not about replacing it. It is about finding the roles the shell performs weakly — ramp, card draw, interaction, and closing power — and swapping the weakest cards in each role for stronger ones that serve the same job. This guide works by role, which is the honest way to upgrade any prebuilt deck without inventing a decklist you have not verified.

What to cut, by role

Cut cards that duplicate a role you already perform better, cards whose mana cost belongs to a later turn than the role needs, and cards that only function when the game is already going well. Work one role at a time, keep a written list of every swap, and play games between rounds of changes — a precon upgraded on evidence stays coherent, while one rebuilt in a single evening often loses the charm that made it fun.

What to add, by role

Real upgrade candidates that serve this commander's plan include: Parallel Lives (mana cost {3}{G}; Enchantment; rarity: rare; most recent printing listed by Scryfall: Innistrad): If an effect would create one or more tokens under your control, it creates twice that many of those tokens instead. Cryptolith Rite (mana cost {1}{G}; Enchantment; rarity: rare; most recent printing listed by Scryfall: Innistrad Remastered): Creatures you control have "{T}: Add one mana of any color." Second Harvest (mana cost {2}{G}{G}; Instant; rarity: rare; most recent printing listed by Scryfall: Innistrad Remastered): For each token you control, create a token that's a copy of that permanent.

Build and check your list with the MTGBrew AI deck builder, and browse every card mentioned here in the MTGBrew card database on MTGBrew.

If this topic is on your bench, keep going with Kraum, Ludevic's Opus Commander Spotlight: What This Legend Brings to the Command Zone — it covers the neighbouring decisions from a different angle, and the two pieces together give you a fuller picture than either one alone.

Keep reading

Keep reading: Kraum, Ludevic's Opus Commander Spotlight: What This Legend Brings to the Command Zone and Cyclonic Rift in Commander: The Overload Board Reset.

A sane upgrade order

Mind the curve before you mind the highlights. Count how many plays the deck has on each of the first four turns, and be honest about hands that do nothing until turn five. One cheaper role-player often improves a deck more than one expensive splash, because games are decided by who starts playing first as often as by who plays biggest.

Start with the mana base and the draw package, then interaction, then finishers. That order feels unglamorous and wins the most games, because a deck that always makes its land drops and always has cards in hand gets to show you what its exciting cards can actually do.