Cleanup Crew MTG Card
| Mana cost | |
| Converted mana cost | 6 |
| Rarity | Uncommon |
| Type | Creature — Human Citizen |
| Released | 2022-04-29 |
| Set symbol | |
| Set name | Streets of New Capenna |
| Set code | SNC |
| Power | 6 |
| Toughness | 6 |
| Number | 141 |
| Frame | 2015 |
| Layout | Normal |
| Border | Black |
| Illustred by | Josu Hernaiz |
Text of card
When Cleanup Crew enters the battlefield, choose one — • Destroy target artifact. • Destroy target enchantment. • Exile target card from a graveyard. • You gain 4 life.
Cards like Cleanup Crew
Cleanup Crew holds its unique place in the pantheon of creature cards in Magic: The Gathering. Its nearest relatives include other creatures with abilities that capitalize on controlling your opponent’s permanents. Take Man-o’-War, a classic card that bounces a creature back to its owner’s hand upon entering the battlefield. While Man-o’-War disrupts by returning creatures, Cleanup Crew takes it a step further by allowing you to choose nonland permanents and requiring an artifact to enhance this ability.
Cards like Leonin Relic-Warder also resonate with Cleanup Crew’s theme by exiling an artifact or enchantment until it leaves the battlefield. However, Leonin Relic-Warder restricts the selection to fewer permanent types, whereas Cleanup Crew has a broader range of targets. Keiga, the Tide Star adds to the mix with a different flavor, offering to gain control of a creature when it dies. While Keiga’s effect is a potent theft ability, Cleanup Crew provides ongoing utility with potential for repeated activations.
Assessing them together, Cleanup Crew’s versatile removal and artifact synergy secure its standing as a valuable utility creature for players who favor interactive and control-oriented strategies within their MTG decks.
Card Pros
Card Advantage: Cleanup Crew provides a dynamic edge in games through its ability to potentially draw multiple cards when it enters the battlefield. This not only restocks your hand but also keeps you ahead in the race for resources and options.
Resource Acceleration: Aside from bolstering your hand, Cleanup Crew’s ability to ramp up the resources you control is also noteworthy. By potentially removing nonland permanents, it can indirectly accelerate your resources by setting back your opponents, ensuring that the scales tip in your favor.
Instant Speed: The versatility of Cleanup Crew comes from its flash capability, allowing you to play it at instant speed. This enables strategic plays such as disrupting enemy turns, optimizing your mana usage, and delivering surprise defenses or offenses to shift the game state unexpectedly.
Card Cons
Discard Requirement: Cleanup Crew comes with an additional cost to discard a card, which could be a significant drawback during times when your hand is already depleted. This cost can hinder your strategic options and tempo, especially when you’re struggling to maintain card advantage.
Specific Mana Cost: With its specific mana cost that demands both white and black mana, Cleanup Crew cannot be seamlessly incorporated into all deck types. Players running mono-colored decks or those not invested in a black and white mana base may find this card hard to cast, reducing its overall versatility.
Comparatively High Mana Cost: The mana investment to get Cleanup Crew into play is non-negligible. Sitting at four mana with one of each color, it competes with other impactful four-drops in the same colors. In a game where efficiency is key, there are alternatives that might provide quicker or more substantial board presence or control elements.
Reasons to Include in Your Collection
Versatility: Cleanup Crew offers a unique blend of defensive utility and life gain, making it a solid addition to various deck types. Its ability to thwart aggressive strategies while stabilizing your board position is valuable across multiple formats.
Combo Potential: With its capability to exploit damage-dealing effects and gain life, Cleanup Crew works well to fuel combos in decks that thrive on consistent life changes or require an array of creature types.
Meta-Relevance: In an environment where small creatures and damage-based removal are prevalent, Cleanup Crew’s resistance to common damage spells and utility as a roadblock can be a game-changer, potentially swaying matchups in your favor.
How to beat Cleanup Crew
Cleanup Crew can be a unique obstacle in Magic: The Gathering, offering both a sizable creature to contend with and a method to manage artifacts and enchantments. Despite its bulk and utility, players can deploy several strategies to outmaneuver this card. Removing Cleanup Crew before it can utilize its abilities is crucial. Utilizing instant-speed removal spells such as Path to Exile or Heartless Act ensures that Cleanup Crew never gets a chance to flex its muscles.
Another efficient tactic is to starve Cleanup Crew of targets. By minimizing the number of artifacts and enchantments that it could interact with, you reduce its impact on the game. This approach prioritizes the strategic deployment of your non-creature spells, ensuring that Cleanup Crew’s potential for advantage is mitigated. Additionally, employing exile effects, like those found in cards like Swords to Plowshares or Anguished Unmaking, ensures that it doesn’t just go to the graveyard but is removed from the game entirely.
Ultimately, by anticipating these card interactions and optimizing removal timing, players can neutralize Cleanup Crew’s abilities and retain control of the battlefield, weaving through the challenges it presents with strategic precision.
Where to buy
If you're looking to purchase Cleanup Crew MTG card by a specific set like Streets of New Capenna, 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 Cleanup Crew and other MTG cards:
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- eBay
- Card Kingdom
- Card Market
- Star City Games
- CoolStuffInc
- MTG Mint Card
- Hareruya
- Troll and Toad
- ABU Games
- Card Hoarder Magic Online
- MTGO Traders Magic Online
See MTG Products
Legalities
Magic the Gathering formats where Cleanup Crew has restrictions
| Format | Legality |
|---|---|
| Standard | Legal |
| Historicbrawl | Legal |
| Historic | Legal |
| Legacy | Legal |
| Paupercommander | Restricted |
| Oathbreaker | Legal |
| Gladiator | Legal |
| Pioneer | Legal |
| Commander | Legal |
| Modern | Legal |
| Future | Legal |
| Vintage | Legal |
| Duel | Legal |
| Explorer | Legal |
| Brawl | Legal |
| Timeless | Legal |