Rattleblaze Scarecrow MTG Card

Enhances deck resilience and strategic complexity through its recurring board presence ability. Accelerates gameplay by lowering mana costs for Scarecrow spells, allowing fast and effective deployment. Its presence forces opponents into cautious play, giving a strategic edge to its controller.

Mana cost
Converted mana cost	6
Rarity	Common
Type	Artifact Creature — Scarecrow
Released	2008-05-02
Set symbol
Set name	Shadowmoor
Set code	SHM
Power	5
Toughness	3
Number	259
Frame	2003
Layout	Normal
Border	Black
Illustred by	Trevor Hairsine

Text of card

Rattleblaze Scarecrow has persist as long as you control a black creature. (When this creature is put into a graveyard from play, if it had no -1/-1 counters on it, return it to play under its owner's control with a -1/-1 counter on it.) Rattleblaze Scarecrow has haste as long as you control a red creature.

Cards like Rattleblaze Scarecrow

Rattleblaze Scarecrow stands out in Magic: The Gathering as a unique creature with the persist characteristic. It holds a similarity to other scarecrow creatures such as Scarecrone, which also interacts with the graveyard. Scarecrone allows you to draw a card when a scarecrow is sacrificed, reinforcing the deck’s resilience. Unlike Scarecrone, Rattleblaze Scarecrow doesn’t offer card draw, but it comes with a combat advantage, granting +1/+0 to red creatures whenever a player controls a red creature.

Another relevant comparison is with the Wingrattle Scarecrow which, despite being more affordable with two mana, doesn’t possess the persist quality but benefits from having flying when you control a blue creature. This introduces a strategic dimension to player decisions based on deck composition and the current battlefield state. Then there’s the Scrapbasket, a scarecrow that can become all colors until end of turn, potentially giving Rattleblaze Scarecrow the attack boost every turn.

Assessing these options illustrates that Rattleblaze Scarecrow offers a strategic advantage for red centered decks that can use the additional attack power. In essence, this card contributes to a sturdy battlefield presence and a persistent threat that opponents must address, marking it as a notably solid choice among its scarecrow peers.

Wingrattle Scarecrow - MTG Card versions

Cards similar to Rattleblaze Scarecrow by color, type and mana cost

Card Pros

Card Advantage: Rattleblaze Scarecrow provides an additional asset to your board, bolstering your defensive lines. When synergized with other Scarecrow creatures or with a commander like Reaper King, it can become a recurring threat by returning from your graveyard to the battlefield, thus enhancing your long-term card advantage.

Resource Acceleration: Although Rattleblaze Scarecrow does not generate mana or tokens, its potential to reduce costs for Scarecrow spells can significantly accelerate your gameplay. By lowering the mana required for creature spells, you gain the ability to deploy threats faster and potentially cast multiple spells in a single turn, ahead of your opposition.

Instant Speed: While Rattleblaze Scarecrow itself isn’t an instant, it supports instant speed strategies by diversifying your board state and encouraging your opponent to second-guess their actions. Knowing there are synergistic pieces that could appear instantaneously due to other spells or abilities, opponents must play more cautiously, granting you a strategic edge.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Rattleblaze Scarecrow demands that you sacrifice another creature to unleash its potential. This can often be a steep cost in game situations where you’re trying to maintain board presence.

Specific Mana Cost: With its colorless and red mana requirements, the card may not seamlessly fit into every deck, particularly those that operate on a tight mana curve or that are based in colors other than red.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: Costing six mana to play, Rattleblaze Scarecrow can be on the higher end of the curve, which means it might arrive too late in games where speed and early board presence are crucial.

Reasons to Include Rattleblaze Scarecrow in Your Collection

Versatility: Rattleblaze Scarecrow displays flexibility as it serves a dual role in both aggressive and defensive positions within various builds. Its ability to gain first strike makes it formidable in combat, while its persist quality can provide enduring presence on the battlefield.

Combo Potential: With its persist feature, this scarecrow can synergize with cards that manipulate +1/+1 counters, enabling it to return after death repeatedly. This trait allows for intriguing interactions in decks that revolve around undying creatures or sacrifice mechanics.

Meta-Relevance: In a game where board presence and resilience can tilt the scales, Rattleblaze Scarecrow may offer significant advantages. Its robustness against removal and capability to turn the tide of combat can prove useful, especially if the environment leans towards creature-heavy matchups.

How to beat Rattleblaze Scarecrow

Rattleblaze Scarecrow presents a unique challenge on the battlefield, offering both persistence and power boosts when paired with the right cards. Dealing with this artifact creature effectively requires strategic removal or disruption tactics. One straightforward approach is targeting it with unconditional removal spells like Murder or Path to Exile, swiftly clearing the path for your strategy to unfold. Additionally, exile effects, such as those from cards like Oblivion Ring, bypass the regeneration ability that this scarecrow may gain alongside a black creature.

Another angle to consider is minimizing the scarecrow’s impact through combat tricks and abilities that prevent it from either attacking or blocking. Ensnaring effects like Pacifism limit its effectiveness, regardless of the power bonuses it might accumulate. Controlling the board with cards that alter combat dynamics, such as those that tap opponents’ creatures or manipulate counters, can also nullify the Rattleblaze Scarecrow’s potential threats, ensuring it remains an inconsequential presence on the table.

In essence, overcoming the Rattleblaze Scarecrow in your Magic: The Gathering matchups boils down to preparedness and choosing the right moment to utilize your removal resources or control strategies to keep its influence in check.

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Rattleblaze Scarecrow MTG card by a specific set like Shadowmoor, 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 Rattleblaze Scarecrow and other MTG cards:

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Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Rattleblaze Scarecrow has restrictions

Format	Legality
Commander	Legal
Legacy	Legal
Paupercommander	Legal
Modern	Legal
Oathbreaker	Legal
Pauper	Legal
Vintage	Legal
Duel	Legal
Predh	Legal
Penny	Legal

Rules and information

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

Date	Text
2013-06-07	If a creature with persist stops being a creature, persist will still work.
2013-06-07	If a creature with persist that has +1/+1 counters on it receives enough -1/-1 counters to cause it to be destroyed by lethal damage or put into its owner’s graveyard for having 0 or less toughness, persist won’t trigger and the card won’t return to the battlefield. That’s because persist checks the creature’s existence just before it leaves the battlefield, and it still has all those counters on it at that point.
2013-06-07	If a permanent has multiple instances of persist, they’ll each trigger separately, but the redundant instances will have no effect. If one instance returns the card to the battlefield, the next to resolve will do nothing.
2013-06-07	If a token with no -1/-1 counters on it has persist, the ability will trigger when the token is put into the graveyard. However, the token will cease to exist and can’t return to the battlefield.
2013-06-07	If multiple creatures with persist are put into the graveyard at the same time (due to combat damage or a spell that destroys all creatures, for example), the active player (the player whose turn it is) puts all of their persist triggers on the stack in any order, then each other player in turn order does the same. The last trigger put on the stack is the first one that resolves. That means that in a two-player game, the nonactive player’s persist creatures will return to the battlefield first, then the active player’s persist creatures do the same. The creatures return to the battlefield one at a time.
2013-06-07	The persist ability triggers when the permanent is put into a graveyard. Its last known information (that is, how the creature last existed on the battlefield) is used to determine whether it had a -1/-1 counter on it.
2013-06-07	When a permanent with persist returns to the battlefield, it’s a new object with no memory of or connection to its previous existence.