This is going to sound weird. Are we finally appreciating Scrapheap Scrounger?

Okay.

We already invoked the b-word. Ban.

Is Scrapheap Scrounger the kind of card that should get banned?

Swiss Army Scrounger

It’s honestly not crazy. Scrapheap Scrounger has a lot going for it… Maybe too much. Scrapheap Scrounger is (obviously) resilient against removal, and gives its players long-term opportunities to generate card advantage. The problem, of course (well, one of the problems, anyway) is that it can go into so many different decks. At the end of the last format we saw some U/W decks bending towards black to buy it back. Today Scrapheap Scrounger is therefore not just a Staple card in colorless-heavy decks (like Mardu Vehicles) but is starting to see play in some versions of B/G, even. Delirium decks are cutting Grim Flayer for it!

Two Two Drops

Of all the great things that Scrapheap Scrounger offers, perhaps the most contextually important is that with three power (for only two mana!) it can crew a Heart of Kirin. Besides the return on three power for two mana being pretty good in and of itself, Pro Tour Aether Revolt showed us the lengths players will go to to play mostly (or all) creatures that can crew that legendary vehicle.

Reasonable players are cutting everything from Walking Ballista to Winding Constrictor to accommodate only threats that can consistently crew.

The Solution to Grinding

Standard right now has got a lot of grinding and trading. A single card that can trade, card-for-card / mana-for-mana but by itself offer additional card advantage is inherently valuable in this kind of a context. Mass removal like Fumigate can be great against Mardu Vehicles or one of the B/G decks… Scrapheap Scrounger can ensure that you always have crew for your mighty Heart of Kiran, or at least have a threat of some sort, even without the vehicle, even through Fumigate.

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