Pointed Discussion

zombies is gonna be big, so this could possibly be side-boarded, but most likely not.

Wizards, we WANT to play Scavenge. We simply can't when most of the Scavenge creatures are useless on at least one of their forms.

Pros like me prefer our zombies with swampwalk. Having scavenge as well? That is gravy.

Word, NuckChorris. Word.

Golgari was the worst guild at the prerelease, and lost all of it's matches. It's kind of sad, but this is why. Even if all of the Salvage creatures had identical salvage costs to their CMC, they'd have still been as worthless as Sewer Shambler.

Unleash doesn't require an extra mana investment, in fact it LESSENS your mana, because your stuff is bigger for less.

Detain is just Gravy on already powerful creatures, like the skyknight or the unblockable spirit.

Populate is ALWAYS attached to something amazing, whether it's a fog, an indestructible effect, or something as crazy as the lifegain of the guild leader.

Overload by its very nature is a 2-for-1, not necessarily in killing your opponent but in getting a more traditionally cheaper spell cast 2, 3, or even more times.

Scavenge requires you to pay, usually a premium, to get a mediocre boost. If you put it on a good creature, you get 2-for-1ed, and if you put it on a bad creature, it's generally worthless, since that thing's going to die anyway. With the literally 20 different removal spells in Return to Ravnica, (of which at least half were instant), you were always losing everything the second you wasted a turn scavenging.

@RAV0004: I disagree with that assessment. I've played with and against Golgari in the prerelease, and I have to say, Scavenge is really good. Especially this card, oddly enough, due to its cheap Scavenge cost. I put together a killer Golgari deck at the prerelease, losing only to a timely Supreme Verdict and Ultimate Price. And I have to say, Scavenge is readlly, really good. By itself, it doesn't provide the biggest boosts, I will admit. However, when I put counters on creatures, things got out of hand fast. When I put them on Wild Beastmaster, my whole team grew to huge sizes. When I had Corpsejack Menace out, even this guy provided huge boosts to my creatures. Even without those, Scavenging counters onto Daggerdrome Imp causes massive damage, and the counters do add up really quickly. You put them on a Korozda Monitor? Suddenly, it's a 5/5 trampler coming at you rather than a 3/3. The difference is huge. You're also not actually losing card advantage; if you get them off a Grisly Salvage, you're getting a benefit for no card disadvantage. If Scavenge creatures you like die, they still served their purpose as a creature; then, you get extra value late in the game when you're stalling on lands and need to punch through.

Scavenge is deceptively powerful, in draft. It gives you a huge amount of inevitability, and I daresay that it's one of the best mechanics in the set, next to Unleash. It requires no other synergistic cards to make it work, you get a lot of advantage out of working with it (via Grisly Salvage and such), and even without fancy abilities, it's still a body when you need it, unlike Populate, Overload, or Detain.

Play a few games with a solid Golgari limited deck, and you'll understand how good Scavenge actually is.

A lot of you guys seem to be really underevaluating Evasion for limited in this set. Swampwalk is often better, and sometimes worse of course, than Flying in RtR. And no one would shake their head at a 2/1 flying Scavenge for this cost, no sir.

Don;t see why everyone hates this card so much, I mean a plus 2/2 on a creature after this one has died can really make a difference, especially when you combine it with sacrifice thingies

I don't know why people have such a problem with this card, what more could you want with it? It's evasive, has legs, and can boost your other bodies after it's served it's purpose for a reasonable price. If you don't see the versatility in this card then there is something wrong.

I know that it isn't always going to find it's way into a deck, but if you have space left and you enjoy piling up your graveyard with cards like Grisly Salvage or even Faithless Looting, then I would hope you'd at least glance over this card. I myself found that it can really come in handy in my BR Vampire deck. If I really need a chump blocker for some reason, the guy's there for me. I use a Faithless Looting to scout for some more lands or creatures, he's the perfect discard fodder. I didn't pull a Heir or a Captain for my Exterminator, I can use my discarded Shambler to get him to a 3/3 turn 3. My opponent just happens to be playing a black deck, hey look I now have an unblockable creature. Oh look, I happen to get my Vampire Nocturnus out, he may not be a vampire but he's still black.

If this guy was any cheaper he would probably be one of the most sought after cards in the set. Of course, then he would just be a Drudge Beetle on steroids. And somehow that card is rated higher than this card...?

i got a foil of this, I LOVE IT. gotta love Nils Hamm. I don't see why there is so much hate on a common. he's a beast compared to some of the other scavengers. for example look at drudge beetle that is a lot of mana. it's not that much of a cost does anyone want to play the game anymore or do you all want everything handed to you?

I can't believe what some of you are saying about this card. As an old school Magic Player I am so disappointed in the lot of you. This card is seriously one of the greatest Common Black Creature Cards I have seen in a long time.

I feel like to ask for commons better than this is like asking for someone to do all the hard work and thinking for you. Pathetic.

This card has everything I could ever want in a single Black Card pull. This card was one of the first commons I pulled out of my very first booster of "Return to Ravnica" and my original reaction to it was "Sweet Jesus, how can Wizards of the coast get away with this as a common!"
Let's take a look at this card for everything that it has to offer us ungrateful players.

1. It is a three mana 2/1. Now I don't know about you young'uns out there, but that right away isn't so terrible. I mean obviously a 2/1 for three cmc is not something I would often go out of my way for but it's decent as a common creature. Obviously it would run away from any Grizzly Bear or in this case Drudge Beetle, but obviously unless it services you as a chump blocker, it's obviously meant for being offensive. 2/1, not bad but not great,the implications are there but needs more back bone obviously... but wait...(gasp) could there be more?

2. Swampwalk! YAY SWAMPWALK! So Swampwalk is often laughed at along with a lot of the other land walking abilities. However, Swampwalk is better and don't let anyone tell you different. Why is that? This is a common situation for almost any type of game play that I've experienced. People love Black. You can't deny all the amazing things that Black has, monster killing/common removal spells, sacrificial benefits, scary creatures with scary effects. It's a wholesome color that is commonly run or splashed for. Now I used to play in tournaments back in the day (not any more I actually just got back into Magic upon the release of this new set and not interested in attending tourneys much any more, mostly now for fun), and I commonly would try to find purpose in needing Swampwalk creatures, but often they would just clutter up my decks with not much utility. Although Swampwalk is wonderful and selectively powerful (obviously more so when fighting other Black decks), it can do a lot of damage but a three cmc 2/1 with swampwalk, although more appealing than normal, it's still hard to want to utilize in a deck, I even find it a hard stretch while thinking about that now.
If only... If only this card could somehow be more with it...

3. Scavenge. lolwut. <-- This was my first reaction to the the Scavenge ability on this card. So you mean to tell me, that at 3cmc, I can play a spell that is a 2/1 swampwalk creature, that can be used as I see fit whether it be a blocker or a possibly scary attacker, and then even after death it still potentially benefits everything I have on the field if I'm willing to stretch for a measly 3 mana after its death?!?! It's like as if in death it counts as an additional spell that you may still potetially play at any time during your turn. At that point it's like having another 3 cmc spell in your hand that beefs up anything in play by a permanent +2. I'm sorry, whoever says a permanent +2/+2 sorcery for 3cmc is bad, is an idiot and needs to play this game A LOT MORE.
This card serves you in both life and death, and to say that it is not worth playing from your hand, then good god guys, there are so many ways to get this thing into your graveyard faster, you guys acted as if Lotleth Troll wasn't in this set or something.

4. Can you believe there was a 4th thing that makes this card wonderful? Bet you didn't. It is simply this, Creature Type: ZOMBIE. How is that not immediately attractive? It is a black card with all of those insane utilities that any real Black Player would salivate over... and then to top it off it's a Zombie, which is one of the largest Creature Tribes throughout all of Magic History! If you as a Magic Player do not already find this card amazingly good in this set then at least show the patience to wait to see how much scarier this will make some Zombie deck function, whether in this set or any other set or format for that matter.

This card is genius and IMO one of the most broken commons for Black I have seen in a long time. I actually feel shame for the lack of recognition over how good this card is. Look at this card closer guys and really think about it. For all of you that laugh at this card, be sure that you will probably end up in front of one while it continuously finds a way to beat your face in. Be forewarned fellow Magic players.

2/5. A 2/1 swampwalker for 3 and scavenge for 3. Not bad but it wouldn't be my first choice in draft and its unplayable in competitve constructed. Casual may find a home for this somewhere.

I was Golgari at RTR prerelease and I decimated my opponents. I only lost my last match due to some bad draws.

This is one of the best scavenge cards out there if you can grab it. Evasion and cheap scavenge cost is amazing.

This guy is great and I'm so sad to see him with such a low rating. 4/5 from me.
I play 4 of them in my deck because he's great Lotleth Troll fodder, and he has a cheap scavenge cost. I'm never afraid to use him as a blocker either. In the occasional circumstance he even turns out to be a great evader.
You have to consider how these cards synergize with other cards in the set, and compare all the Power/Mana ratio scavenge costs. This guy comes second, right after Slitherhead, and tied with Sluiceway Scorpion.
Throw those scavenged cards on a swampwalker that your opponent can't remove and you're smacking them for lots, throw them on a Lotleth Troll and you've got an evil trampling regenerator.

@RAV004: I don't know what games you were watching, but Golgari was the best deck at RtR prerelease and drafts. Sure, Golgari deck has its weak points, but every deck does and that's what's great about them.

@SomeGuy007
@Razzy64

I love you guys

This is a solid card and I like it.

He could of used another point of Power or Toughness, but he's perfectly serviceable thanks to the reprint of Contaminated Ground.

This isn't too bad, in fact it is one of the better scavenge cards. Most scavenge guys are either too expensive to play or provide a really crappy bonus, sometimes both... 2 1/1 counters for 3 is acceptable (though would be better at instant speed) and 2/1 flyers are usually 2-3 drops.