Scuzzback Marauders MTG Card


Card setsReleased in 2 setsSee all
Mana cost
Converted mana cost5
RarityCommon
TypeCreature — Goblin Warrior
Abilities Persist,Trample
Power 5
Toughness 2

Key Takeaways

  1. Persist ability grants the marauders exceptional longevity and a consistent board presence that is hard to remove.
  2. Graveyard synergy makes it an asset, especially in decks that capitalize on creatures entering or leaving the battlefield.
  3. Mana requirements may limit flexibility, but strategic deck building can turn Scuzzback Marauders into a powerful asset.

Text of card

Trample Persist (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.)


Card Pros

Card Advantage: When discussing the benefits of Scuzzback Marauders in your deck, it’s crucial to recognize its role in gaining card advantage. Its persist ability ensures that even after being dealt lethal damage, it returns to the battlefield with a -1/-1 counter. This essentially gives you two creatures in one card, making it a resilient threat that demands an answer.

Resource Acceleration: Scuzzback Marauders may not directly accelerate your resources, but it seamlessly fits into decks that benefit from graveyard strategies. By successfully returning from the graveyard, it synergizes with mechanics that capitalize on creatures entering or leaving the battlefield, effectively becoming an engine for resource acceleration.

Instant Speed: While Scuzzback Marauders itself does not operate at instant speed, it pairs well with instant speed spells in a MTG deck. This card’s recurrence from the graveyard means you can time your instants and removal spells without worrying about losing board presence, allowing strategic flexibility during gameplay.


Card Cons

Discard Requirement: For players considering including Scuzzback Marauders in their decks, it’s important to be aware that this card doesn’t have a discard requirement, so this particular con is not applicable. Players should check for other potential downsides that might affect their gaming strategy.

Specific Mana Cost: Scuzzback Marauders may not fit seamlessly into every deck build due to its red and green mana requirement. This specific mana combination can potentially restrict its playability to only those decks that can easily produce both types of mana.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: Despite its undying ability, some players might find the cost of five mana for a 5/2 creature a bit steep, especially when considering alternative creatures that might be more cost-effective or offer additional abilities for a similar or lower mana investment.


Reasons to Include Scuzzback Marauders in Your Collection

Versatility: Scuzzback Marauders boasts resilience through its persist ability, allowing it to return to the battlefield after being destroyed. This makes it an adaptable choice for decks needing robust creatures that can withstand removal.

Combo Potential: With persist, Scuzzback Marauders pairs well with +1/+1 counters and sacrifice mechanics, opening avenues for powerful combos. Integrating it into decks that manipulate counters or require recurring creatures can set the stage for devastating plays.

Meta-Relevance: In a game environment where creature-based strategies dominate, Scuzzback Marauders offers reliable board presence. Its ability to persist makes it a recurring threat, ensuring that your side of the battlefield is never left unprotected.


How to beat Scuzzback Marauders

Scuzzback Marauders joins the fray of Magic: The Gathering as a creature that can pack a punch. With its undying ability, allowing it to return to the battlefield after being destroyed is what makes it particularly tricky to deal with. Unlike many other creatures, it doesn’t go down easily due to this resilience, making it frustrating for opponents to handle.

To effectively counter Scuzzback Marauders, it’s essential to bypass its undying ability. Utilizing exile or bounce effects can be a solid strategy. Cards that can exile creatures, such as Path to Exile, can permanently remove Scuzzback Marauders from play, sidestepping the undying comeback. Alternatively, employing bounce spells to return the creature to its owner’s hand, like Unsummon, can help reset its undying status or potentially force the opponent to discard it if their hand is full.

Playing cards that inhibit a creature’s ability to return to the battlefield, such as Grafdigger’s Cage, can also cripple Scuzzback Marauders, rendering its undying ability useless. By employing smart strategies and utilizing the right cards, players can effectively beat Scuzzback Marauders and gain the upper hand in their Magic: The Gathering matchups.


Cards like Scuzzback Marauders

Scuzzback Marauders from Magic: The Gathering adds a distinctive edge to the selection of creatures that can return to the battlefield. It’s akin to cards like Bloodsoaked Champion, which also offers a robust resurrection trait. However, Scuzzback Marauders excels with its ability to emerge from the graveyard with a persist counter, putting it right back in the action whenever it dies.

Examining other parallels, Persist creatures such as Kitchen Finks provide an interesting side-by-side. Kitchen Finks gains life upon entering the battlefield, a bonus Scuzzback Marauders lacks, but both share the tantalizing persist ability that doubles their longevity and annoyance factor. In terms of cost-effectiveness, Pyreheart Wolf similarly bestows an advantageous ability to your other creatures during combat, though it does not share the Marauders’ capacity for self-revival.

If we scrutinize the mechanics and evaluate the comparative worth of these creatures, Scuzzback Marauders emerges as a competitively resilient creature, ready to face foes time and again, affording MTG players a reliable presence on the battlefield that opponents can’t easily ignore.

Bloodsoaked Champion - MTG Card versions
Kitchen Finks - MTG Card versions
Pyreheart Wolf - MTG Card versions
Bloodsoaked Champion - Khans of Tarkir Promos (PKTK)
Kitchen Finks - Shadowmoor (SHM)
Pyreheart Wolf - Dark Ascension (DKA)

Cards similar to Scuzzback Marauders by color, type and mana cost

Sunastian Falconer - MTG Card versions
Sawback Manticore - MTG Card versions
Segmented Wurm - MTG Card versions
Serpentine Kavu - MTG Card versions
Shivan Wurm - MTG Card versions
Harbinger of the Hunt - MTG Card versions
Streetbreaker Wurm - MTG Card versions
Steam Spitter - MTG Card versions
Stonebrow, Krosan Hero - MTG Card versions
Deus of Calamity - MTG Card versions
Blitz Hellion - MTG Card versions
Gorger Wurm - MTG Card versions
Deadshot Minotaur - MTG Card versions
Thromok the Insatiable - MTG Card versions
Zhur-Taa Swine - MTG Card versions
Zhur-Taa Ancient - MTG Card versions
Ulrich of the Krallenhorde // Ulrich, Uncontested Alpha - MTG Card versions
Raging Swordtooth - MTG Card versions
Regisaur Alpha - MTG Card versions
Nikya of the Old Ways - MTG Card versions
Sunastian Falconer - Masters Edition III (ME3)
Sawback Manticore - Mirage (MIR)
Segmented Wurm - Beatdown Box Set (BTD)
Serpentine Kavu - Invasion (INV)
Shivan Wurm - Vintage Masters (VMA)
Harbinger of the Hunt - Starter Commander Decks (SCD)
Streetbreaker Wurm - Guildpact (GPT)
Steam Spitter - Coldsnap (CSP)
Stonebrow, Krosan Hero - Salvat 2011 (PS11)
Deus of Calamity - Duel Decks: Heroes vs. Monsters (DDL)
Blitz Hellion - Alara Reborn (ARB)
Gorger Wurm - Alara Reborn (ARB)
Deadshot Minotaur - Alara Reborn (ARB)
Thromok the Insatiable - Planechase Anthology (PCA)
Zhur-Taa Swine - RNA Guild Kit (GK2)
Zhur-Taa Ancient - Dragon's Maze (DGM)
Ulrich of the Krallenhorde // Ulrich, Uncontested Alpha - Shadows over Innistrad Remastered (SIR)
Raging Swordtooth - The Lost Caverns of Ixalan Commander (LCC)
Regisaur Alpha - The Lost Caverns of Ixalan Commander (LCC)
Nikya of the Old Ways - Ravnica Allegiance (RNA)

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Scuzzback Marauders MTG card by a specific set like Shadowmoor and Ultimate Masters, 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 Scuzzback Marauders and other MTG cards:

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Printings

The Scuzzback Marauders Magic the Gathering card was released in 2 different sets between 2008-05-02 and 2018-12-07. Illustrated by Pete Venters.

#ReleaseNameCodeSymbolNumberFrameLayoutBorderArtist
12008-05-02ShadowmoorSHM 2162003normalblackPete Venters
22018-12-07Ultimate MastersUMA 2212015normalblackPete Venters

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Scuzzback Marauders has restrictions

FormatLegality
CommanderLegal
LegacyLegal
PaupercommanderLegal
ModernLegal
OathbreakerLegal
PauperLegal
VintageLegal
DuelLegal
PredhLegal
PennyLegal

Rules and information

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

DateText
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.

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