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you may draw a lot of parallels between the post-apocalyptic world of Fallout andMagic: the Gathering’s Commander format. Both feature groups violently battling it out for survival, and no group is better at this than theScrappy Survivalists, a new Commander deck coming in Universes Beyond: Fallout.
With Scrappy Survivors, you’ll fill your graveyard with useful supplies that help you in your fight to control the wasteland. And whenever you journey through the waste, you’ll find Junk that can be turned into more useful cards. You’ll see a lot of familiar Fallout faces in Scrappy Survivors, including one incredibly good boy.
Mantle of the Ancients
Terramorphic Expanse
Scrappy Survivors Commander Deck Themes
The key to being a scrappy survivor is using whatever you can find. This mostly involvesauras and equipment. You’ll find a lot of cards in Scrappy Survivors that will modify creatures to become bigger, better versions of themselves, and you’ll also find a ton of cards that look for auras and equipment to become larger.
Any artifact in the deck that’s not a mana rock is an equipment, and there are some real bangers in there likeBasilisk Collar,Behemoth Sledge, and the newSilver Shroud Costume. Similarly, most of the enchantments in the deck are auras that enhance critters, likeRancor,All That Glitters, andAlmost Perfect.
Cards likeGunner Conscript,Moira Brown, andMister Gutsyall love to play with auras and equipment, going from relatively minor threats to game-ending monstrosities once fully kitted out. Putting all your eggs into a single basket is usually a recipe for disaster in Magic, but cards likeMantle of the Ancients,Inventory Management, andCass, Hand of Vengeancekeep you from losing your investment if your enchanted/equipped creature eats a removal spell.
A secondary theme to the deck isaura/equipment reanimation. You’ve got a lot of cards that will let you fill your graveyard (either through discard or mill), and then you can reanimate those auras and equipment usingSuper Mutant ScavengerorVault 101: Birthday Party.
Generally, you’ll want toplay a few key creatures alongside Dogmeat, and thencast as many equipment and auras as possibleto turn your critters into enormous beasts. Keep a creature or two in your hand to replace those that beef it on the battlefield, and rely on Dogmeat’s Junk tokens to find more auras and equipment.
Finally, a more tertiary theme isthe new Junk token type, which brings us to our box-topper commander.Dogmeat, Ever Loyalfirst mills for five cards and lets us return an aura or equipment to our hand. That’s good on its own, but on top of that, enchanted or equipped creatures make Junk tokens on the attack.
Junk tokenscan be sacrificed to exile the top card of your deck and possibly play it that turn. This can let you hit land drops if you missed it, oreffectively give you an extra drawif you’ve got the mana to cast whatever you find. It’s a bit risky, but Dogmeat Junk tokens allow Scrappy Survivor to operate without quite as much card draw as normally recommended.
Our other option, if we wanted to keep the Naya colors, is to playPreston Garvey, Minuteman. Preston isn’t a bad card, but heonly really cares about auras, whichdoesn’t synergize with the many equipmentfound in Scrappy Survivors. He also doesn’t give us any card draw, and without Dogmeat’s Junk tokens, Scrappy Survivors would surely stall.
Stick with Dogmeatas this deck’s commander.
Scrappy Survivors Commander Deck Analysis
Out of the box, Scrappy Survivors is pretty good. You’ve got agood balance of creatures, equipment, and auras. You’ve got cards to bring your auras and equipment back from the graveyard, and so long as you’re cautious with your creatures, you should be able to maintain a threatening position the entire game.
Scrappy Survivors also hasthree board sweepersinBlasphemous Act,Single Combat, andMegaton’s Fate, as well as a fewinstant-speed answersinBreak Down,Chaos Warp,Path to Exile, andHeroic Intervention. The newBobbleheadscombine withSol Ring,Arcane Signet, andWild Growthfor asolid bit of ramp, too.
There are a few areas where Scrappy Survivors could improve, however.Thirty-eight lands is quite a lotfor a deck that has arelatively low mana curve, which allows us to maybe toss a few for some better creatures. And while Junk tokens are great,Junk tokens and some repeatable card draw iswaybetter.
To that end, the recommended upgrades are going to point out a fewbudget bombs that shouldn’t be overlookedand also a fewcards that really play well with those Junk tokensDogmeat keeps finding.
Forest
Mountain
Not every survivalist deserves to survive in Scrappy Survivors.Bighorner Rancherdoes too little for five mana, whileIan the Recklessis maybe a little too reckless.Cait, Cage Brawleroffers discard, but not much else.
Megaton’s Fatehas some versatility, but its first mode is basically a Shatter at sorcery speed, and its second mode isn’t necessarily going to sweep the board (and thosefour milled cardsaren’t doing much either).Single Combatcould be easily replaced by a far better board sweeper, which we’ll talk about in the following section.
There is better equipment to find thanBrass Knuckles,Fireshrieker, andExplorer’s Scope, and there are better token generators out there thanSquirrel Nest.Strong Backis a decent enchantment, but it’d be improved with a far better enchantment.
Vault 21: House Gambitlooks like a really fun card, and it does offer some discard, but the final pay-off could easily fizzle if you don’t find the right cards. At best, you’re looking at a Treasure token, and at worst, you’ll get nothing. Plus, it’s not an equipment or an aura.
Finally, we’re going totoss two basic landsto better match the deck’s mana curve and to add some real bombshells.
Scrappy Survivors Commander Deck Budget Upgrades
Many creatures would do extremely well in Scrappy Survivors, plus a few auras and equipment that are strict upgrades over what we’ve taken out. There’s also a sweeper that is just dying to be added to a deck full of auras. Here’s therecommended replacements for those underperforming cards.
Reason
Bear Umbra
Better than having a Strong Back is to take on the aspect of the bear. Now your critteruntaps all your landsin addition to having a layer ofprotection from enemy removal.
Chishiro, the Shattered Blade
Why have 1/1 snakes whenyou could have 2/2 spirits? Better yet,every enchanted or equipped creature gets biggerevery turn Chishiro is around.
Danitha Capashen, Paragon
Danitha is an incredible target for auras and equipment. She’s cheap, comes witha ton of relevant keywords, andmakes your auras and equipment cheaper.
Danitha, New Benalia’s Light
Danitha is here twice because she’s just too good to pass up. This version retains the efficiency of the previous Danitha but adds some additionalreanimation to your auras and equipment.
Kellan, the Fae-Blooded
A combination ofaura/equipment tutorand theperfect target for all your auras and equipment.
Koll, the Forgemaster
Koll protects your enchanted and equipped creatures, as well as providing them with a little more power and toughness. A highly efficient Scrappy Survivor.
Lizard Blades
Better than Fireshriekerin every conceivable way. As an added bonus, you don’t even need a creature to equip it.
Nettlecyst
A deck witha lot of artifacts and enchantmentscangain a lot from Nettlecyst. Another artifact that doesn’t need a creature to be effective.
A straight-uptutor for enchantments or auras.
Pia Nalaar, Consul of Revival
Pia plays really well with Dogmeat. Every time you cast a spell or play a land from exile (which is what ideally happens whenever you crack a Junk Token), you get a Thopter.
Sram, Senior Edificer
As previously mentioned, Junk tokens are good, but havingcard drawas well as Junk tokens is strictly better.
The War Doctor
Another pairing for Dogmeat. Whenever you crack a Junk token, The War Doctor gets a time counter, and whenever The War Doctor attacks, it deals that much damage to whatever you want.An escalating threatthat will eventually become a big problem for your opponents.
Winds of Rath
With the amount of auras in Scrappy Survivors,Winds of Rath will often be a one-sided board wipeleaving you in the best position to win.
