Smaug the Impenetrable vs. The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl: Which MTG Commander Is Better?
- Gregory Thornberry
- Aug 17
- 3 min read
Updated: Aug 20
A giant Dragon sitting on a mountain of Treasure against an army of Squirrels sounds ridiculous, even by Commander standards.
But Smaug the Impenetrable from Magic: The Gathering | The Hobbit and The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl from Marvel Super Heroes are two genuinely powerful new Commander options with very different ways of winning.
Smaug wants to turn damage into Treasure and explosive combo turns. Squirrel Girl wants to build an army, multiply it, and overwhelm the table.
So which MTG Commander is better?
Smaug vs. Squirrel Girl: The Better MTG Commander
Score: The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl wins 6-4.
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How Smaug Wins
Smaug the Impenetrable is a seven-mana 8/7 Rakdos Dragon with flying, indestructible and haste. Whenever Smaug takes noncombat damage, you create that many Treasure tokens.
That last ability is what makes him dangerous.
Instead of protecting Smaug from damage, you can deliberately hurt him and turn that damage into mana. Cards like Pyrohemia and Pestilence can become engines, while Smaug's interaction with Chain Lightning gets much nastier.
Commander Spellbook documents a Smaug and Chain Lightning loop that can generate infinite Treasure, infinite colored mana and infinite artifact sacrifice triggers.
That is Smaug's biggest advantage in this battle. Part of the combo engine sits in the command zone.
Rakdos also gives Smaug excellent interaction, tutors, Treasure payoffs and ways to accelerate toward his expensive seven-mana casting cost.
If you want the more explosive combo Commander, Smaug wins.
How Squirrel Girl Wins
The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl takes almost the opposite approach.
She costs four mana and creates a 1/1 Squirrel whenever she enters or attacks. Her activated ability then creates X Squirrels, where X is the number of Squirrels you already control.
That gives her a functioning game plan without requiring another card.
Make one Squirrel. Turn your small board into a larger one. Multiply it again.
Eventually turn that army into lethal damage.
That simplicity is a major advantage.
Squirrel Girl costs three mana less than Smaug, provides value immediately, and is much easier to recast if opponents keep removing your Commander.
She also has plenty of combo potential. Commander Spellbook documents an Earthcraft loop that can generate infinite Squirrel tokens, ETB triggers and mana once the necessary board is established.
The difference is that Squirrel Girl does not need those combos to be good.
You can build her as casual Squirrel tribal, a token deck, or push her much harder with combo pieces and powerful token support.
If you want the Commander that works across the widest range of tables, Squirrel Girl wins.
Overall Winner: The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl
The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl wins our Commander Battle, 6-4.
Smaug has the scarier combo engine and benefits from Rakdos' deeper interaction. Once the Dragon reaches the battlefield, he can be extremely difficult to deal with.
But Squirrel Girl is the better choice for more Commander players. She costs less, builds her own board, recovers more easily after removal, and works whether you want a fun Squirrel deck or something considerably more dangerous.
Play Smaug if you want Treasure, burn and explosive Rakdos combos. Play Squirrel Girl if you want tokens, flexibility and a Commander that can start causing trouble much earlier.
Apparently an army of Squirrels really can take down Smaug.The matchup favors Squirrel Girl overall, while Smaug’s edge comes from a more compact combo engine and stronger high-power ceiling in exchange for a slower, costlier setup.
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