Battlefield Scavenger MTG Card
2017-04-28 - Number 118
2020-08-13 - Number 139
| Card sets | Released in 2 setsSee all |
| Mana cost | |
| Converted mana cost | 2 |
| Rarity | Uncommon |
| Type | Creature — Jackal Rogue |
| Abilities | Exert |
| Power | 2 |
| Toughness | 2 |
Key Takeaways
- Enables selective drawing while attacking, promoting strategic hand management and continual resource refinement.
- Must discard a card when exerted, potentially limiting future plays if crucial cards are discarded.
- Can be a versatile addition, fitting into various strategies with combo enabling and meta-relevance.
Text of card
You may exert Battlefield Scavenger as it attacks. (It won't untap during your next untap step.) Whenever you exert a creature, you may discard a card. If you do, draw a card.
Card Pros
Card Advantage: Battlefield Scavenger enables you to exploit the exert mechanic to sift through your deck, selecting the best cards while discarding those less needed in the moment. This selective approach keeps your hand filled with useful options, directly contributing to maintaining a strategic edge over your opponent.
Resource Acceleration: As you engage in combat, Battlefield Scavenger’s ability to churn through your deck indirectly accelerates your access to necessary resources. By refining your hand and drawing into more lands or mana sources, you pace the field more efficiently, advancing your board state while hampering your adversary’s development.
Instant Speed: While Battlefield Scavenger itself is not an instant, it interacts favorably with instant speed spells. With its exert ability, it encourages a playstyle that holds mana open for instant interactions, offering the duality of an immediate threat on board and the potential for a well-timed instant during combat, enhancing the complexity and strategy of your in-game decisions.
Card Cons
Discard Requirement: While piloting a deck featuring Battlefield Scavenger, players may find themselves at a crossroads due to its exert ability, which necessitates discarding a card. This could lead to a reduction in hand size and options, particularly detrimental when crucial cards are in short supply.
Specific Mana Cost: The mana composition required to unleash Battlefield Scavenger’s potential is quite specific, demanding a precise blend of colors. This can pose a challenge in decks that run more than just red and may not always align with a player’s mana base at the desired moment.
Comparatively High Mana Cost: Despite the utility it presents on the battlefield, the card comes with a mana cost that’s considered steep in comparison to other options within the game. Strategists might opt for alternatives that provide more bang for their buck, casting a shadow on the Scavenger’s place in competitive play.
Reasons to Include in Your Collection
Versatility: Battlefield Scavenger fits well into various deck archetypes. With its exert ability netting you card filtration each time it attacks, this creature can refine your draw in aggressive strategies as well as bolster the consistency of your mid-range builds.
Combo Potential: This card’s exert mechanic allows for interesting synergies with cards that care about tapping, untapping, or cycling. It can enable combos by discarding a specific card you need in your graveyard and drawing into more pieces of your combo puzzle.
Meta-Relevance: In environments where aggressive decks are prevalent, Battlefield Scavenger can shine by maintaining card quality. This ensures that your threats remain relevant and helps to keep the pressure on control or slower-paced decks.
How to beat
Battling against Battlefield Scavenger in Magic: The Gathering demands strategic play to circumvent its advantages. As a creature with the exert mechanic, it allows the controlling player to draw and discard when attacking, optimizing their hand and grinding out value over time. It’s essential to mitigate this advantage to avoid falling behind in the resource race.
To tackle this, the use of removal spells as soon as Battlefield Scavenger hits the board is key. These spells can efficiently dislodge the Scavenger before it starts to exert its influence. Swift removal will prevent your opponent from gaining the incremental advantage this card offers. Moreover, creatures with first strike or deathtouch serve as formidable adversaries, deterring the Scavenger from attacking and thus neutralizing its ability to exert.
Additionally, limiting the number of combat phases is another avenue to explore. By controlling the pace of the battlefield, you reduce the opportunities for your opponent to utilize exertions effectively. Through calculated card play and maintaining board control, the hindrance presented by Battlefield Scavenger can be effectively neutralized, keeping you on track for victory.
Cards like Battlefield Scavenger
Battlefield Scavenger offers a unique dynamic to creature-based strategies in MTG, sitting in a space shared with other cards that synergize with exertion and card advantage. Kin to cards like Ahn-Crop Crasher, which also utilizes the exert mechanic to disrupt opponent defenses, the Battlefield Scavenger stands out by allowing the player to sift through their deck to find useful cards during combat phases.
Another card worth mentioning is Prophetic Ravings, which also enables a draw-and-discard mechanism, though it does so at the cost of attaching to a creature rather than being a standalone creature like Battlefield Scavenger. While Prophetic Ravings perpetuates card flow without relying on the combat phase, it lacks the integrated battlefield presence provided by a creature card. Conversely, Battlefield Scavenger holds its ground, affording both an attacking body and a filtering effect in one slot within your deck.
All things considered, Battlefield Scavenger is a valuable card for players looking to maximize engagement during combat while refining their hand. Its combination of exertion-triggered looting and combat capabilities ensures it remains a viable choice against its counterparts in MTG.
Cards similar to Battlefield Scavenger by color, type and mana cost
Where to buy
If you're looking to purchase Battlefield Scavenger MTG card by a specific set like Amonkhet and Amonkhet Remastered, 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 Battlefield Scavenger and other MTG cards:
- eBay
- TCG Player
- 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
Printings
The Battlefield Scavenger Magic the Gathering card was released in 2 different sets between 2017-04-28 and 2020-08-13. Illustrated by Dan Scott.
| # | Released | Name | Code | Symbol | Number | Frame | Layout | Border | Artist |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2017-04-28 | Amonkhet | AKH | 118 | 2015 | Normal | Black | Dan Scott | |
| 2 | 2020-08-13 | Amonkhet Remastered | AKR | 139 | 2015 | Normal | Black | Dan Scott |
Legalities
Magic the Gathering formats where Battlefield Scavenger has restrictions
| Format | Legality |
|---|---|
| Historicbrawl | Legal |
| Historic | Legal |
| Legacy | Legal |
| Paupercommander | Restricted |
| Oathbreaker | Legal |
| Gladiator | Legal |
| Pioneer | Legal |
| Commander | Legal |
| Modern | Legal |
| Vintage | Legal |
| Duel | Legal |
| Explorer | Legal |
| Timeless | Legal |
Rules and information
The reference guide for Magic: The Gathering Battlefield Scavenger card rulings provides official rulings, any errata issued, as well as a record of all the functional modifications that have occurred.
| Date | Text |
|---|---|
| 2017-04-18 | All cards in the Amonkhet set that let you exert a creature let you do so as you declare it as an attacking creature, as do some of the cards in the Hour of Devastation set. You can’t do so later in combat, and creatures put onto the battlefield attacking can’t be exerted. Any abilities that trigger on exerting an attacking creature will resolve before blockers are declared. |
| 2017-04-18 | If an exerted creature is already untapped during your next untap step (most likely because it had vigilance or an effect untapped it), exert’s effect preventing it from untapping expires without having done anything. |
| 2017-04-18 | If you gain control of another player’s creature until end of turn and exert it, it will untap during that player’s untap step. |
| 2017-04-18 | Some cards have abilities that trigger whenever you exert any creature. These abilities trigger when you exert that creature or any other creature you control. |
| 2017-04-18 | You can’t exert a creature unless an effect allows you to do so. Similar effects that “tap and freeze” a creature (such as that of Decision Paralysis) don’t exert that creature. |
