Scrapheap Scrounger MTG Card


Card setsReleased in 3 setsSee all
Mana cost
Converted mana cost2
RarityRare
TypeArtifact Creature — Construct
Power 3
Toughness 2

Key Takeaways

  1. Graveyard as a resource ensures consistent board presence, mitigating the need for drawing additional creatures.
  2. Colorless nature accelerates diverse deck strategies, maximizing the use of the graveyard for recursion.
  3. Strategically returning from the graveyard outside of sorcery speed, the Scrounger outmaneuvers typical removal.

Text of card

Scrapheap Scrounger can't block. , Exile another creature card from your graveyard: Return Scrapheap Scrounger from your graveyard to the battlefield.

Some machines refuse to accept their own obsolescence.


Card Pros

Card Advantage: Scrapheap Scrounger offers a consistent way to return from the graveyard to the battlefield, bypassing the need to draw additional creature cards. This resilience to removal spells ensures a persistent threat on board, effectively keeping your hand full by using your graveyard as a resource.

Resource Acceleration: As a colorless creature, Scrapheap Scrounger compliments any deck. It’s also a perfect fit for strategies that benefit from self-milling or discarding, effectively accelerating your game plan by utilizing scrap creatures as fuel for its recursion ability.

Instant Speed: While Scrapheap Scrounger doesn’t operate at instant speed itself, its ability to come back during either player’s end step makes it capable of weaving around sorcery-speed graveyard hate. This allows players to time their plays, forcing opponents to hesitate with removal if Scrounger is looming in the graveyard.


Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Scrapheap Scrounger’s activation from the graveyard demands that you discard another creature card, which might deplete your already limited hand.

Specific Mana Cost: Despite its colorless casting cost, Scrapheap Scrounger’s ability necessitates black mana, thus not seamlessly integrating into non-black or multi-colored mana bases.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: While two mana for a 3/2 is efficient, constantly reviving Scrapheap Scrounger from the graveyard can be mana-intensive over the course of a game when those resources could be allocated elsewhere.


Reasons to Include Scrapheap Scrounger in Your Collection

Versatility: Scrapheap Scrounger is highly adaptable and can seamlessly integrate into various deck architectures, especially those centered around aggressive strategies or artifact synergies.

Combo Potential: This card shines in its ability to recur from the graveyard, slotting into combos that capitalize on self-sacrifice or resurrection mechanics, thereby bolstering your board presence and resilience.

Meta-Relevance: Given its staying power and recurring nature, Scrapheap Scrounger continues to be a formidable contender in matchups, retaining its significance in ever-shifting meta environments where aggro decks are prevalent.


How to beat

Scrapheap Scrounger is a resilient creature card that often finds its way back from the graveyard to the battlefield, proving to be a persistent nuisance in Magic: The Gathering. To effectively combat Scrapheap Scrounger, it’s essential to go beyond simply destroying or exiling it in battle. Instead, the key is to target the player’s graveyard, using cards that can exile it directly from that zone, thus preventing its return to play.

Cards such as Rest in Peace are excellent counters, eliminating the graveyard as a resource altogether. Alternatively, instant speed removal like Tormod’s Crypt can be used in response to the Scrounger’s ability, ensuring that it’s exiled before it can be returned. It’s also important to maintain graveyard disruption throughout the game, which cripples not only Scrapheap Scrounger but any strategy reliant on graveyard mechanics. Through strategic graveyard control and well-timed removal, Scrapheap Scrounger can be rendered ineffective, leaving the opponent’s game plan in disarray.


Cards like Scrapheap Scrounger

Scrapheap Scrounger has carved a niche for itself in MTG as an aggressive artifact creature renowned for its resilience. When pitting it against other two-cost creatures like Bloodsoaked Champion, the Scrounger’s ability to return from the graveyard shines. While Bloodsoaked Champion also makes a comeback from the graveyard, the Scrounger has the added flexibility of returning at instant speed, crucial for surprising opponents in the heat of battle.

In comparison to Relentless Dead, another zombie with a similar revival theme, Scrapheap Scrounger stands out due to its colorless nature, giving it a home in a variety of decks. Relentless Dead requires black mana, which slightly restricts its adaptability. Additionally, Eternal Scourge springs to mind as it can be cast from exile, yet it lacks the direct, battlefield impact of our Scrounger.

Evaluating the Scrounger within its cohort, its ability to dodge common graveyard hate and replenish the battlefield gives it a competitive edge, making it a persistent threat in MTG’s aggressive strategies.

Bloodsoaked Champion - MTG Card versions
Relentless Dead - MTG Card versions
Eternal Scourge - MTG Card versions
Bloodsoaked Champion - Khans of Tarkir Promos (PKTK)
Relentless Dead - Shadows over Innistrad (SOI)
Eternal Scourge - Eldritch Moon Promos (PEMN)

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Gisa's Favorite Shovel - Secret Lair Drop (SLD)
Lucille - Secret Lair Drop (SLD)
Netherborn Altar - The List (PLST)
Malefic Scythe - Core Set 2021 (M21)

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Scrapheap Scrounger MTG card by a specific set like Kaladesh and Kaladesh 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 Scrapheap Scrounger and other MTG cards:

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Printings

The Scrapheap Scrounger Magic the Gathering card was released in 3 different sets between 2016-09-30 and 2020-11-12. Illustrated by Jason A. Engle.

#ReleaseNameCodeSymbolNumberFrameLayoutBorderArtist
12016-09-30KaladeshKLD 2312015normalblackJason A. Engle
22016-09-30Kaladesh PromosPKLD 231s2015normalblackJason A. Engle
32020-11-12Kaladesh RemasteredKLR 2682015normalblackJason A. Engle

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Scrapheap Scrounger has restrictions

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

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