At first look, I think he'll be the best guild leader in constructed play. You play him, you sac a creature to protect him, you scavenge the creature to make him beefier, rinse and repeat. I feel like him and Lotleth Troll are probably going to be best of friends.
Hunter06
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.8/5.0)(2 votes)
I don't need it... I don't need it... I don't need it... I NEED IT!!!... for my Reanimator EDH 3.5/5 Stars
Bluehero
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(13 votes)
Death's Shadow and Phyrexian Dreadnaught would like to have a word with this guy.
Flyheight
★★★★☆ (4.2/5.0)(6 votes)
I'm tellin' ya it's the shrooms man. THA SHROOMS.
.Blaze.
★★★★☆ (4.3/5.0)(3 votes)
O what fun your going to be. Easily my favorite of the Guild Champions.
Nucleon
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
I love how he's so cheap. A legendary creature you can get out with that kind of effect is a force to be reckoned with. Pretty much any "low mana cost with a drawback" creature like Phyrexian Soulgorger works nicely with him.
steev
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
That's a nice commander. Good boy! Go ahead and eat this Lord of Extinction corpse, buddy, you earned those 47 +1/+1 counters.
This guy might just have made Brushstrider a viable card. A 3/1 with vigilance pretty much forces your opponent to trade, with this guy out it will in most cases put your opponent down a creature and you up three +1/+1 counters for four mana and one card. Not incredibly powerful, but Lotleth Troll sure wouldn't mind. (or you could just discard the Brushstrider to Lotleth troll giving you a 6/5 trample ready to attack on turn four with mana open for regenerate)
JSSarfin
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(3 votes)
I think this is probably the most playable Maze Runner, at least for Standard. At the very least, he's cheap and can protect himself, so I'll be using him.
Exava is probably the second best, but of course R/B aggro still has a lot of better four drops than her until Innistrad rotates out. Then there's Ruric Thar, also known as "screw you control" as long as he's not countered, and you still have a hand after you get to six mana. A beautiful sideboard card, but it may not really see much mainboard play.
Then Vorel and maybe Melek will be very great casual cards because of their interactions, and then Teysa and probably everyone else will be seen in EDH.
Gcrudaplaneswalker
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
"Scars and Stripes Forever" - Golgari Anthem
And Jund Aggro has yet ANOTHER tool to work with. By far my most favorite Scavenge card.
rollinsclone
★★★★☆ (4.8/5.0)(4 votes)
I really want to build a deck around him and Lotleth Troll.
The_Evictee
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
We're gonna have "Varolz" of fun.
majinara
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
One of the few interesting cards in this set. I can see this as a fun commander, using cheap creatures with huge power (lord of extinction, phyrexian dreadnought, abyssal protector, hunted horror and so on), to either buff this guy above the 20 power mark (so that you can one-hit players in commander regardless their life), or to fuel cards like triskelion.
Totema
★★★☆☆ (3.0/5.0)(2 votes)
So let me get this straight. If this fella's on the battlefield and you have a Drudge Beetle in your graveyard, you can scavenge it for ? ...Hot damn!
And it's not quite as good as Death's Shadow for this purpose, but Force of Savagery looks pretty neat too.
Blanka dishes out some serious pain here when coupled with Gruul. He's also gonna be a sick-ass general. I'm compelled to play EDH again.
Nancymaker
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Vexing Devil and Slumbering Dragon are the two most efficient standard playable cards that this works with. This also, conveniently, helps negate the main drawback of Slumbering Dragon, should you decide to cast it rather than discard it or mill it... Definitely the guild champion I am most interested to see in action.
vantha
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
4 stars out of 5, my only gripe with this guy is that his name is so similar sounding to the other Maze runner Vorel of the Hull Clade
But seriously this Troll really packs a punch, getting you some mileage out of your dead creatures at a discount. I played RTR thinking Scavenge would be so good if the cost wasn't so high, well Ask and you shall receive. This guy is like Santa Claus because he brings presents. He not only survives Supreme Verdict but can also make the best use out of his dead pals.
Its a shame he can't remove Pores (+1/+1) to regenerate but that is asking too much. He already has one way to regenerate without being completely broken. Good card.
This guy completely breaks the savage mechanic. So many units had savage cost that nearly doubled their cmc. But now....holy crap! Just make sure you use Slitherhead first before putting this guy out. Unless I'm mistaken, this guy takes him from being free to costing one mana.
GlintKawk42
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Golgari is looking damn good in standard right now.
Continue
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Jund +1/+1 counters? In my Standard? Between this and Exava, it's more likely than you think.
Cyber_Squirrel
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Really nice card, but it seems a bit daft that with him in your deck there's even less reason to include anything with a scavenge ability of it's own. Combos well with Simic, Grull, heck just about anything other than Golgari. Actually, scratch that - combos really well with all the Golgari stuff that doesn't use Golgari's key ability.
I think he's one of the few Maze-Runners that may actually be a Respected and High Ranking officer of the Guild. Check out my comments on Melek for the other Guilds. It's not so much that the others are outcasts, so much as really Rebellish. Well, plus some of them are Outcasts.
What I'm saying is Jarad might actually LIKE Varolz. and Tajic might be the only other who can say that about his Guildmaster. Melek does not count. He clearly is not liked as a Person by the Izzet. Rather, the Izzet are Smiling because Melek is to them a Great Way To Cheat. "Don't have anyone willing to actually risk their own neck in this guild? (besides you Goblin Test Pilot. We actually want to win. -_- ) Fine we'll just Build Someone instead! :D
Emmara...has an odd story. I hope the Vorthoses overrun her Gatherer page, but the Spikes probably will, hating her. :/ She definitely WAS favored by Trostani, but I would guess that by mid-way through the Secretist, she is..less favored. But she's still there. and Ma'at Selesnya still feels like it can use her. But she's being watched even by Selesnya right now.
Obzedat and Borborygmos would like nothing more than to drink the blood of their 'Maze Runner' from their skulls. :P I would say 'nothing personal, it's just Business' in Orzhov's case buuut...it's Personal Business. :P
TowerDefender
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Boneyard Wurm power and toughness applies in all zones, does that mean that for 1G you scavenge equal to creature cards in gy (-1?) . If so that could be cool in the right deck.
Finally, I can scavenge Terrus Wurm for a reasonable cost! ... Wait...
Arachnos
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(5 votes)
SCARS AND STRIPES!
SAUS3
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I think the only problem with the card is the flavour. It feels more like a zombie than anything else. It should be a zombie-troll. Maybe the name could be updated too.
What I really like about this guy is that he is interesting. This is what I like to see. Its abilities are very simple, but work together very well. The also both feel very golgari.
Turn 2: "I play Vexing Devil" "I'll take the damage."
Turn 3: "I play Varolz!" "Oh... Balls..."
Stevenbutts
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
Problem?
EvilDarkVoid
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
@DeathScytheCustom: I'm pretty sure that any card that already has Scavenge would have two instances of Scavenge on it when this guy is out, and you can choose which one to use. This means that Slitherhead (as well as Sluiceway Scorpion and Zanikev Locust, the only other Scavenge cards with a lower Scavenge cost than their casting cost) would be able to be scavenged for the lower cost. Note that even if a card has two instances of Scavenge on it it will only give the +1/+1 counters once.
On another note, this guy on the field along with Back from the Brink allows you to create as many psuedo-Mimeoplasms as you want so long as you have the mana and cards in your graveyard.
DeaTh-ShiNoBi
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
This card is underrated. He can get some strong value in an aggro deck in Standard with Vexing Devil, Spike Jester, and Slumbering Dragon (nice Scavenge target, plus putting Scavenge counters on him will allow him to attack) and he works nicely with Dreg Mangler (reducing its Scavenge cost) and Lotleth Troll (because he's a strong card in the same colors and trample + regeneration is nice for putting Scavenge counters on, plus a decent Scavenge target) and don't forget Gyre Sage. Outside of Standard, there are some excellent Scavenge targets, such as the already mentioned Death's Shadow and Phyrexian Dreadnought.
TheBringer
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I just like that him and The Mimeoplasm both like the exact same types of creatures to be in your deck.
j_mindfingerpainter
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Thanks to this card, Green Sun's Zenith will probably stay banned in Modern for a while because Melira, Kitchen Finks, and this card can all be tutored by GSZ.
Nalanhata
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
One look at his face and I can't help but think... "Why so serious?"
Brilliant card to finally bring Golgari up to the standard I was hoping for. 5/5
Zebra_Lord
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
This guy satisfies both my Timmy and Johnny needs. I can use silly combos to make the best use out of this guy's effect, and his effect let's me get massive creatures. Perfect.
Not to mention that this guy is really fun to catapult with Jarad if you have him pile the counters on himself. Also it's quite entertaining to imagine Jarad throwing this burly, flail-toting troll like a javelin right into your opponent's face.
Requires a god hand / library, but the deck I can do this in can swing for lethal by turn 5 at the LATEST.
Pipikako
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
brutal card
TheWrathofShane
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Good to see the Mohawk trolls which seem to be everywhere but MTG. Much needed artwork and boss ability which has some nasty combos.
jfre81
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
On most creatures with the Scavenge ability, it's too much mana for the amount of counters you get. You should not be paying six or seven mana for three +1/+1s. But in most cases tying a creature's Scavenge cost to its mana cost will make it much more economical. Lots of 3-for-4, 4-for-4 deals or better to be had.
Remember too that you can use the regenerate ability to sacrifice a creature at will, not just in response to Varolz actually being destroyed or taking lethal damage. The regenerate ability says "the next time this creature is destroyed this turn." Doesn't matter whether that actually happens. You can sometimes make multi-target spells fizzle that way as well.
I have Varolz in a deck that has Deadbridge Chant. While scavenging will take creatures out of the graveyard to get reanimated for free, but doing so can thin weaker creatures out to power the ones on the board with a counter or two to get multiplied by proliferate and Renegade Krasis.
Charmaster87
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
It's great! I once got him to a nice 26/26
Osprey_93
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
I love how he is literally a living Lotleth Troll. I'm assuming he'll be serving Jarad long after death just like his corpse-y cousins but considering that the only live golgari troll right now is their legendary general just oozes flavour.
Ironically they find it much easier to regenerate after death, all it takes is a little necromancy I guess.
I have been looking for rulings of Varolz about scavenging double sided creatures. Why would I not be able to target Archdemon of Greed for (0) mana. Unless I see another ruling on scavenge because this would be broken. I could also see paying the CMC for one side of card for either. If you search wizards for Archdemon of Greed it is it's own creature with cmc of zero.
Windoozleshocky
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
@ CountRodrigo
711.2a In every zone other than the battlefield, and also on the battlefield with its front face up, a double-faced card has only the characteristics of its front face.
Comments (55)
At first look, I think he'll be the best guild leader in constructed play. You play him, you sac a creature to protect him, you scavenge the creature to make him beefier, rinse and repeat. I feel like him and Lotleth Troll are probably going to be best of friends.
3.5/5 Stars
A 3/1 with vigilance pretty much forces your opponent to trade, with this guy out it will in most cases put your opponent down a creature and you up three +1/+1 counters for four mana and one card. Not incredibly powerful, but Lotleth Troll sure wouldn't mind. (or you could just discard the Brushstrider to Lotleth troll giving you a 6/5 trample ready to attack on turn four with mana open for regenerate)
Exava is probably the second best, but of course R/B aggro still has a lot of better four drops than her until Innistrad rotates out.
Then there's Ruric Thar, also known as "screw you control" as long as he's not countered, and you still have a hand after you get to six mana. A beautiful sideboard card, but it may not really see much mainboard play.
Then Vorel and maybe Melek will be very great casual cards because of their interactions, and then Teysa and probably everyone else will be seen in EDH.
And Jund Aggro has yet ANOTHER tool to work with. By far my most favorite Scavenge card.
And it's not quite as good as Death's Shadow for this purpose, but Force of Savagery looks pretty neat too.
But seriously this Troll really packs a punch, getting you some mileage out of your dead creatures at a discount. I played RTR thinking Scavenge would be so good if the cost wasn't so high, well Ask and you shall receive. This guy is like Santa Claus because he brings presents. He not only survives Supreme Verdict but can also make the best use out of his dead pals.
Its a shame he can't remove Pores (+1/+1) to regenerate but that is asking too much. He already has one way to regenerate without being completely broken. Good card.
I think he's one of the few Maze-Runners that may actually be a Respected and High Ranking officer of the Guild. Check out my comments on Melek for the other Guilds. It's not so much that the others are outcasts, so much as really Rebellish. Well, plus some of them are Outcasts.
What I'm saying is Jarad might actually LIKE Varolz. and Tajic might be the only other who can say that about his Guildmaster. Melek does not count. He clearly is not liked as a Person by the Izzet. Rather, the Izzet are Smiling because Melek is to them a Great Way To Cheat. "Don't have anyone willing to actually risk their own neck in this guild? (besides you Goblin Test Pilot. We actually want to win. -_- ) Fine we'll just Build Someone instead! :D
Emmara...has an odd story. I hope the Vorthoses overrun her Gatherer page, but the Spikes probably will, hating her. :/ She definitely WAS favored by Trostani, but I would guess that by mid-way through the Secretist, she is..less favored. But she's still there. and Ma'at Selesnya still feels like it can use her. But she's being watched even by Selesnya right now.
Obzedat and Borborygmos would like nothing more than to drink the blood of their 'Maze Runner' from their skulls. :P I would say 'nothing personal, it's just Business' in Orzhov's case buuut...it's Personal Business. :P
...
Wait...
What I really like about this guy is that he is interesting. This is what I like to see. Its abilities are very simple, but work together very well. The also both feel very golgari.
@Krysto
See Death's shadow for EDH or modern potential.
Turn 2: Forest, Arcbound Slith
Turn 3: Swamp, Varolz, the Scar-Striped
Turn 4: Forest, Phyrexian Dreadnought, scavenge Phyrexian Dreadnought to Arcbound Slith giving it 12 +1/+1 counters, Phyrexian Dreadnought sacing Arcbound Slith, giving Phyrexian Dreadnought 13 +1/+1 counters making it 25/25
Turn 5: Swing for lethal
Your Welcome
"I play Vexing Devil"
"I'll take the damage."
Turn 3:
"I play Varolz!"
"Oh... Balls..."
On another note, this guy on the field along with Back from the Brink allows you to create as many psuedo-Mimeoplasms as you want so long as you have the mana and cards in your graveyard.
"Why so serious?"
Brilliant card to finally bring Golgari up to the standard I was hoping for. 5/5
Not to mention that this guy is really fun to catapult with Jarad if you have him pile the counters on himself. Also it's quite entertaining to imagine Jarad throwing this burly, flail-toting troll like a javelin right into your opponent's face.
Turn 1: Forest, Birds of Paradise
Turn 2: Swamp, Birds of Paradise, Grisly Salvage (revealing a Forest, Swamp, Death's Shadow, Phyrexian Dreadnought, and Varolz - take Swamp, rest go to graveyard)
Turn 3: Unearth the Varolz in my graveyard, then scavenge Death's Shadow onto one bird and Phyrexian Dreadnought onto the other; attack for 25
Requires a god hand / library, but the deck I can do this in can swing for lethal by turn 5 at the LATEST.
Remember too that you can use the regenerate ability to sacrifice a creature at will, not just in response to Varolz actually being destroyed or taking lethal damage. The regenerate ability says "the next time this creature is destroyed this turn." Doesn't matter whether that actually happens. You can sometimes make multi-target spells fizzle that way as well.
I have Varolz in a deck that has Deadbridge Chant. While scavenging will take creatures out of the graveyard to get reanimated for free, but doing so can thin weaker creatures out to power the ones on the board with a counter or two to get multiplied by proliferate and Renegade Krasis.
Ironically they find it much easier to regenerate after death, all it takes is a little necromancy I guess.
Turn 2: Swamp, Varolz
Turn 3: Swamp, Buried Alive for Death's Shadow, Phyrexian Dreadnought, Brawn. Scavange both, swing for 27 trample.
711.2a In every zone other than the battlefield, and also on the battlefield with its front face up, a double-faced card has only the characteristics of its front face.
Ravenous Demon is the front face, not Archdemon of Greed. Therefore you can only scavenge Ravenous Demon.