Courtesy of Wizards of the Coast (WotC) and Noxious, an old favorite has returned in Core Set 2021 to terrorize graveyards all across Standard. Welcome back Scavenging Ooze!
Last printed in Core Set 2014, Scavenging Ooze has a rich history of play in multiple formats — in both maindecks and sideboards.
G: Exile target card from a graveyard. If it was a creature card, put a +1/+1 counter on Scavenging Ooze and you gain 1 life.
Scavenging Ooze’s ability to “eat” a card from any graveyard for only one green mana makes it one of the most dangerous graveyard hate cards of all time. The added bonus of it growing and gaining life with each creature eaten makes it especially difficult for low-to-the-ground, aggressive decks to deal with.
An unchecked Scavenging Ooze is a substantial threat against creature-heavy decks, but it’s also important to note that it functionally shuts off Escape cards, such as Uro, Titan of Nature’s Wrath, and can also put a stop to the Cauldron Familiar / Witch’s Oven shenanigans that have dominated past Standard formats.