Scavenger Grounds MTG Card


Card setsReleased in 11 setsSee all
RarityRare
TypeLand — Desert

Key Takeaways

  1. Offers card advantage by exiling all graveyards, countering opponents’ graveyard-based strategies in MTG.
  2. Instant speed activation provides significant flexibility and disrupts opponents at critical moments.
  3. Versatile inclusion in any deck for its powerful land-based ability to disrupt varied graveyard tactics.

Text of card

: Add to your mana pool. , , Sacrifice a Desert: Exile all cards from all graveyards.

When the last scrap of flesh is scoured away, the Curse of Wandering ends. Then the dead may sleep.


Card Pros

Card Advantage: Scavenger Grounds acts as a crucial enabler of card advantage in formats where graveyard strategies proliferate. By exiling all graveyards, it can negate the recurring benefits that opponents gain from graveyard-based mechanics, effectively setting them back and potentially disrupting their long-term game plans.

Resource Acceleration: Although not directly providing acceleration, Scavenger Grounds fits seamlessly into any deck that can utilize colorless lands. It does not require color investment, which means it can be used while still developing your board with other mana sources. In decks that use land recursion or land synergies, it can become part of a strategy that indirectly accelerates resources.

Instant Speed: The ability to exile all graveyards at instant speed cannot be overstated. The flexibility this offers is significant as it allows players to wait until the most opportune moment to interrupt opponents’ plans. Whether they’re about to reanimate a powerful creature or access an arsenal of spells with flashback, Scavenger Grounds stands ready to respond immediately and tip the scales in your favor.


Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Scavenger Grounds necessitates the sacrifice of a land, which could set you back in terms of board development, especially if you’re relying on land synergies or looking to cast high-cost spells.

Specific Mana Cost: Activation requires not only one colorless mana but also its own sacrifice, making it a situational play that sometimes cannot be rapidly deployed in mana-critical situations.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: While not expensive on its own, when you factor in the necessity to also forfeit the land card itself, the cost to exile all graveyards can be consequential, potentially hindering your momentum and pacing in comparison to lower-cost graveyard management options.


Reasons to Include in Your Collection

Versatility: Scavenger Grounds offers a powerful land-based ability that fits into any deck, capable of disrupting graveyard strategies, an asset in a variety of MTG formats.

Combo Potential: This card is effective in combinations with land synergies or effects that benefit from lands entering or leaving the battlefield.

Meta-Relevance: Given the prevalence of graveyard-dependent decks, Scavenger Grounds serves as a crucial counter in today’s game, maintaining relevance in a range of meta environments.


How to beat

Scavenger Grounds is a nonbasic land that provides a unique utility in Magic: The Gathering by excelling at graveyard disruption. With a battlefield saturated with decks that leverage the graveyard, such as those using reanimation strategies or delving mechanics, Scavenger Grounds can be a powerful counter. It can exile all cards from all graveyards with a simple sacrifice and mana investment. Yet, despite its strength, there are efficient ways to nullify its impact.

One method is to employ instant-speed land destruction, casting it in response to the activation of Scavenger Grounds’ ability, effectively rendering the ability useless and removing the land from play. Cards like Ghost Quarter or Field of Ruin can perform this role adeptly. Additionally, countering land-based abilities with cards like Squelch or Trickbind can also be an effective strategy to maintain your graveyard against Scavenger Grounds’ disruptive capabilities.

In essence, while Scavenger Grounds stands as a bulwark against graveyard-dependent decks, understanding its weaknesses and having the right answers in your deck can help you navigate around its power. By staying one step ahead with either timely land destruction or ability countermeasures, players can diminish the impact of Scavenger Grounds in Magic: The Gathering matches.


Cards like Scavenger Grounds

Scavenger Grounds has become an integral piece in Magic The Gathering strategies that focus on graveyard disruption. This land card finds parallels with Bojuka Bog, which is another land with a knack for graveyard sweeping. Unlike Scavenger Grounds, Bojuka Bog does not require mana to activate its ability, but it hits the graveyard only once — upon entering the battlefield. Scavenger Grounds, while demanding both activation and sacrifice, offers the convenience of timing and does not rely on landfall.

Then there’s Tormod’s Crypt, not a land but similar in effect, providing a single-use exile of a player’s graveyard at no cost. The advantage here is the lack of mana investment compared to Scavenger Grounds, but at the expense of consuming a slot for non-land cards in a deck. Relic of Progenitus is another such artifact providing graveyard hate, with the possibility to chip away at graveyards gradually or nuke an entire graveyard at once, albeit with a mana requirement for the latter.

Choosing between these cards largely hinges on deck construction and meta. Scavenger Grounds proves versatile in land slots, blending well with utility while standing as a reliable graveyard disruptor accessible any time you have the mana and the need.

Bojuka Bog - MTG Card versions
Tormod's Crypt - MTG Card versions
Relic of Progenitus - MTG Card versions
Bojuka Bog - Worldwake (WWK)
Tormod's Crypt - The Dark (DRK)
Relic of Progenitus - Shards of Alara (ALA)

Cards similar to Scavenger Grounds by color, type and mana cost

Mishra's Factory - MTG Card versions
Griffin Canyon - MTG Card versions
Ice Floe - MTG Card versions
Ghost Town - MTG Card versions
City of Brass - MTG Card versions
Bloodstained Mire - MTG Card versions
Zoetic Cavern - MTG Card versions
Grixis Panorama - MTG Card versions
Rupture Spire - MTG Card versions
Terramorphic Expanse - MTG Card versions
Tectonic Edge - MTG Card versions
Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx - MTG Card versions
Buried Ruin - MTG Card versions
Wasteland - MTG Card versions
Eldrazi Temple - MTG Card versions
Maze of Ith - MTG Card versions
Homeward Path - MTG Card versions
Arid Mesa - MTG Card versions
Field of Ruin - MTG Card versions
Arcane Lighthouse - MTG Card versions
Mishra's Factory - Dominaria Remastered (DMR)
Griffin Canyon - Visions (VIS)
Ice Floe - Fifth Edition (5ED)
Ghost Town - Tempest (TMP)
City of Brass - World Championship Decks 2002 (WC02)
Bloodstained Mire - World Championship Decks 2003 (WC03)
Zoetic Cavern - Future Sight (FUT)
Grixis Panorama - Commander 2013 (C13)
Rupture Spire - Magic Online Theme Decks (TD0)
Terramorphic Expanse - Commander 2018 (C18)
Tectonic Edge - Zendikar Expeditions (EXP)
Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx - Theros (THS)
Buried Ruin - Commander 2014 (C14)
Wasteland - Zendikar Rising Expeditions (ZNE)
Eldrazi Temple - Duel Decks: Zendikar vs. Eldrazi (DDP)
Maze of Ith - Eternal Masters (EMA)
Homeward Path - Judge Gift Cards 2017 (J17)
Arid Mesa - Modern Masters 2017 (MM3)
Field of Ruin - Innistrad: Midnight Hunt (MID)
Arcane Lighthouse - Commander Anthology Volume II (CM2)

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Scavenger Grounds MTG card by a specific set like Hour of Devastation and Hour of Devastation Promos, there are several reliable options to consider. One of the primary sources is your local game store, where you can often find booster packs, individual cards, and preconstructed decks from current and some past sets. They often offer the added benefit of a community where you can trade with other players.

For a broader inventory, particularly of older sets, online marketplaces like TCGPlayer, Card Kingdom and Card Market offer extensive selections and allow you to search for cards from specific sets. Larger e-commerce platforms like eBay and Amazon also have listings from various sellers, which can be a good place to look for sealed product and rare finds.

Additionally, Magic’s official site often has a store locator and retailer lists for finding Wizards of the Coast licensed products. Remember to check for authenticity and the condition of the cards when purchasing, especially from individual sellers on larger marketplaces.

Below is a list of some store websites where you can buy the Scavenger Grounds and other MTG cards:

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Printings

The Scavenger Grounds Magic the Gathering card was released in 8 different sets between 2017-07-14 and 2024-03-08. Illustrated by 2 different artists.

#ReleaseNameCodeSymbolNumberFrameLayoutBorderArtist
12017-07-14Hour of DevastationHOU 1822015normalblackSteven Belledin
22017-07-15Hour of Devastation PromosPHOU 182s2015normalblackSteven Belledin
32020-04-17Commander 2020C20 3062015normalblackSteven Belledin
42020-08-13Amonkhet RemasteredAKR 3282015normalblackSteven Belledin
52021-04-23Commander 2021C21 3142015normalblackSteven Belledin
62023-08-04Commander MastersCMM 10272015normalblackSteven Belledin
72024-02-09Murders at Karlov Manor CommanderMKC 2872015normalblackSteven Belledin
82024-03-08FalloutPIP 10342015normalblackJonas De Ro
92024-03-08FalloutPIP 5062015normalblackJonas De Ro
102024-03-08FalloutPIP 8152015normalblackJonas De Ro
112024-03-08FalloutPIP 2872015normalblackJonas De Ro

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Scavenger Grounds has restrictions

FormatLegality
HistoricbrawlLegal
HistoricLegal
LegacyLegal
OathbreakerLegal
GladiatorLegal
PioneerLegal
CommanderLegal
ModernLegal
VintageLegal
DuelLegal
ExplorerLegal
PennyLegal
TimelessLegal

Rules and information

The reference guide for Magic: The Gathering Scavenger Grounds card rulings provides official rulings, any errata issued, as well as a record of all the functional modifications that have occurred.

DateText
2017-04-18 Desert is a land subtype with no special meaning. It doesn’t grant the land an intrinsic mana ability. Other cards may care about which lands are Deserts.
2017-07-14 If a Desert has an ability with a cost of “Sacrifice a Desert,” you can sacrifice that Desert to pay the cost for its own ability.
2017-07-14 The sacrificed Desert will be in your graveyard to be exiled by the last ability of Scavenger Grounds.

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