As a 2/2 for 1G, Scavenging Ooze has quite a
pedigree to live up to, with luminaries like
Wild Mongrel, Werebear, and the like to live up
to. I think it succeeds. It has the ability to
get gradually and permanently bigger, for a
meager cost of only one mana, and gain you a
little life in the process. It also gives you a
means with which to counteract graveyard
recursion and abilities like Flashback, Recover,
Retrace, etc., without having to run cards like
Nihil Spellbomb or Ravenous Trap which do
nothing against an opponent who can't recur his
graveyard. While you won't prefer to use the
Ooze's ability on noncreature cards, I like the
fact that you can, as it allows you to do this.
And because the Ooze doesn't care whose
graveyard it scavenges, you can feed it yourself
as well.
Graveyard strategies have a history of being,
well, slightly obnoxious, in either a power
sense or an "alienate all your friends" sense.
Most decks tend to not have a way to interact
with them naturally, meaning that changing your
deck to include anti-graveyard cards (whether
via sideboarding in tournaments or kitchen table
retooling) often meant diluting what it actually
wanted to do. As such, my favorite
anti-graveyard cards are ones that are creatures
(Rysorian Badger, Gravegouger, Withered Wretch,
Loaming Shaman, Yixlid Jailer), because you can
include them in any deck of the right color and
always be able to do at least one thing.
Scavenging Ooze is the latest in that long line,
and it's a very solid one at that. It gives you
more benefits than almost any similar card in
the past, and is the first one where you might
actively want to target your own graveyard. It
also brings the pain in both the early game and
the late game - another thing that not many
creatures can do. I'm not sure whether it will
displace Tarmogoyf in competitive Legacy, but it
might be the recent creature that has the best
chance of doing so. But even if the most it ever
does is punish the guy in your group who has
Dark Ritual, Entomb, and Exhume in the same
deck, that's not nothing.
Today's card of the day is Scavenging Ooze
which is a two mana Green 2/2 that for one Green
mana can exile a target card in a graveyard and
if it is a creature it gains a +1/+1 counter and
you gain one life. While only legal in
Commander, Legacy, and Vintage this is a decent
creature for the cost and can be quite
disruptive, especially in multiplayer.
Green generally has access to quite a bit of
mana which can make this a large creature,
increase your life total noticeably, and prevent
your
opponent(s) from reusing the creatures they've
discarded or had destroyed. Overall there
is really no drawback to playing this in
Commander and it may find a home in sideboards
or possibly a few decks as a response to certain
themes.
Welcome to another
Card of the Day article here at Pojo.com. Today
we will be taking a look at Scavenging Ooze from
MTG Commander. Scavenging Ooze is a rare 2/2
green creature ooze that costs just one generic
and one green mana. The Scavenging Ooze comes
with an ability that says pay one green mana:
exile target card from a graveyard. If it was a
creature card, put a +1/+1 counter on Scavenging
Ooze and gain one life.
While unfortunate that cards such as Scavenging Ooze
cannot be played outside of casual formats, they
do make for some great combos, and fun decks.
Scavenging Ooze would definitely be a great card
to see printed in a regular block, so that
Standard formats could see this amazing creature
at work.
The ability to exile cards from any graveyard, and
receive a benefit if it is a creature is just so
amazing. I cannot believe that this kind of card
was printed, even if it is just for fun. The
reason it will likely never see an actual block
is multi-faceted, but lies in what it is capable
of. Taking out potential threats that could
reccur, such as a Blightsteel Colossus, just got
easier. A blue/green deck could use Turn to Frog
on the Blightsteel, making it simple to kill,
then once it hit’s the graveyard, and it’s
ability goes on the stack, you simply use
Scavenging Ooze to eliminate it, permanently.
These kinds of cards make for some great free play
scenarios.
