Varolz, the Scar-Striped MTG Card

Varolz, the Scar-Striped - Dragon's Maze

Mana cost
Converted mana cost	3
Rarity	Rare
Type	Legendary Creature — Troll Warrior
Released	2013-05-03
Set symbol
Set name	Dragon's Maze
Set code	DGM
Power	2
Toughness	2
Number	112
Frame	2003
Layout	Normal
Border	Black
Illustred by	Adam Paquette

Key Takeaways

Varolz transforms graveyard creatures into valuable resources, providing consistent card advantage.
Instant speed scavenging with Varolz allows for tactical flexibility and surprise combat tricks.
Resource acceleration is key as Varolz can quickly escalate creature power on the battlefield.

Text of card

Each creature card in your graveyard has scavenge. The scavenge cost is equal to its mana cost. (Exile a creature card from your graveyard and pay its mana cost: Put a number of +1/+1 counters equal to that card's power on target creature. Scavenge only as a sorcery.) Sacrifice another creature: Regenerate Varolz, the Scar-Striped.

Card Pros

Card Advantage: Varolz, the Scar-Striped offers a consistent method to utilize creatures in your graveyard, effectively transforming them into resources. By scavenging creatures from the graveyard, Varolz enables you to extract value from cards that would otherwise not contribute to your game state, providing an edge in maintaining card advantage.

Resource Acceleration: Scavenging with Varolz can rapidly increase the power of your creatures on the battlefield. This growth not only strengthens your board presence but can also accelerate your path to victory by enhancing your creatures’ size, thus enabling you to apply pressure and close out games more swiftly.

Instant Speed: The ability to activate Varolz’s scavenging ability at instant speed offers strategic flexibility. You can wait until the most opportune moment within your turn or even during your opponent’s turn to bolster your creatures, react to threats, or make surprise blocks with a newly beefed-up creature, maximizing the impact of your actions and keeping opponents guessing.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Varolz, the Scar-Striped necessitates sacrificing another creature to exploit its scavenge ability. This can be detrimental when your board presence is sparse and sacrificing creatures could leave you vulnerable to your opponent’s strategies.

Specific Mana Cost: The casting cost of Varolz demands both black and green mana which may not seamlessly fit into all decks, limiting its compatibility to primarily Golgari or multicolored decks that can accommodate such mana requirements.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: With a combined casting cost of three mana, including one black and one green, Varolz may compete with other three-drop creatures that provide immediate impact without the need for additional resources or setup.

Reasons to Include Varolz, the Scar-Striped in Your Collection

Versatility: Varolz, the Scar-Striped can seamlessly adapt to various deck builds, thriving in strategies that leverage the graveyard. His ability to scavenge from the graveyard gives each creature card in your graveyard utilitarian potential, ensuring they’re never wasted resources.

Combo Potential: With Varolz, synergies become boundless. Imagine turning any creature in your graveyard into permanent +1/+1 counters on the battlefield. This potent ability not only strengthens your creatures but also intricately plays into strategies focusing on “+1/+1 counter” themes or “sacrifice” mechanics.

Meta-Relevance: In a game where the metagame is ever-shifting, Varolz offers resilience against exile effects and board wipes. This adaptability can give any deck a competitive edge, particularly in environments where graveyard interplay is prominent and creature-based strategies are prevalent.

How to beat Varolz, the Scar-Striped

Varolz, the Scar-Striped is a unique creature card that melds both the graveyard and the battlefield with its ability to scavenge, allowing players to strengthen their creatures on the board. To effectively counter Varolz, it’s crucial to limit its scavenging opportunities. One strategy involves maintaining graveyard control with cards like Rest in Peace or Scavenging Ooze. These prevent Varolz from utilizing the graveyard as a resource, diminishing his effectiveness significantly.

Removal spells are also highly effective against Varolz. Since he has the capability to regenerate, it’s wise to use exile effects offered by cards like Path to Exile or Direct Current. These bypass his regeneration and directly remove him from the game. Additionally, counterspells such as Dovin’s Veto can thwart him before his effect becomes a threat, nipping the problem in the bud.

Ultimately, beating Varolz entails a proactive strategy, keeping pressure on the opponent and sabotaging their graveyard synergy. This not only cripples Varolz’s potential but also stifles many strategies that rely on the graveyard, giving you a substantial edge in the game.

Cards like Varolz, the Scar-Striped

Varolz, the Scar-Striped offers MTG enthusiasts a unique blend of abilities that set it apart in the realm of creature cards. It bears resemblance to other Golgari-themed cards, such as Jarad, Golgari Lich Lord, with both cards excelling in capitalizing on creatures in the graveyard. Yet, Varolz has the distinctive edge of exiling a creature card from the graveyard to put a number of +1/+1 counters equal to the exiled card’s power on a target creature. This powerful mechanic offers a significant boost in creature strength without the mana cost associated with Jarad’s ability to sacrifice a creature for a similar effect.

Furthermore, cards like Reyhan, Last of the Abzan also interact with +1/+1 counters. However, Varolz’s synergy with creatures in the graveyard and its built-in regeneration ability allow for a more resilient board presence. Death’s Presence can be seen as having a parallel effect, creating +1/+1 counters as creatures die, but Varolz’s direct approach can be more immediately impactful in a game.

In essence, Varolz, the Scar-Striped stands out with its graveyard-utilization and resilience, providing players with a compelling option for decks focused on counters and recurrent creature play strategies in MTG.

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Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Varolz, the Scar-Striped MTG card by a specific set like Dragon's Maze, 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 Varolz, the Scar-Striped and other MTG cards:

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Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Varolz, the Scar-Striped has restrictions

Format	Legality
Commander	Legal
Legacy	Legal
Modern	Legal
Oathbreaker	Legal
Vintage	Legal
Duel	Legal
Pioneer	Legal
Penny	Legal

Rules and information

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

Date	Text
2013-04-15	Abilities that reduce the cost to cast a creature spell or alternative costs you can pay rather than a card’s mana cost don’t apply to activating a card’s scavenge ability.
2013-04-15	Exiling the creature card with scavenge is part of the cost of activating the scavenge ability. Once the ability is activated and the cost is paid, it’s too late to stop the ability from being activated by trying to remove the creature card from the graveyard.
2013-04-15	If a creature card has multiple instances of scavenge, you can activate either ability (but not both, as the card will be exiled when you activate one of them). Varolz’s ability doesn’t affect the scavenge cost of a creature’s other scavenge ability.
2013-04-15	If the creature card you scavenge has in its mana cost, X is 0.
2013-04-15	The number of counters that a card’s scavenge ability puts on a creature is based on the card’s power as it last existed in the graveyard.
2013-04-15	While Varolz, the Scar-Striped is on the battlefield, the scavenge cost of a creature card in your graveyard is equal to its mana cost, including any colored mana requirements.