Scrappy Survivors Upgrade Guide

Quick verdict

Scrappy Survivors is a Naya deck that dresses up its creatures with Auras and Equipment and gets paid every time one of them attacks. Dogmeat, Ever Loyal creates a Junk token for each enchanted or equipped attacker, so a board of three suited-up creatures digs three cards deeper every turn. The deck's problems are a mana base full of taplands and filter lands, two board wipes that hurt you more than anyone else, and fewer ways to draw cards than a deck this reliant on its gear should have.

TurnZero HQ rates Scrappy Survivors a 2 out of 5 on difficulty and a 3 out of 5 on power, as it comes in the box. That is our editorial read, not an official Wizards rating. The full hundred cards are on the Scrappy Survivors decklist page, and every other precon we cover is on the precon directory.

How the precon plays

Dogmeat, Ever Loyal costs three mana and does two things. When it enters, you mill five cards and return an Aura or Equipment card from your graveyard to your hand, which means it usually finds you something to play the next turn. After that, whenever a creature you control that's enchanted or equipped attacks, you create a Junk token. A Junk token is an artifact you can tap and sacrifice at sorcery speed to exile the top card of your library and play it that turn.

The rest of the deck supplies the gear and the bodies to wear it. Cheap Equipment like Pip-Boy 3000 , Bloodforged Battle-Axe and Swiftfoot Boots cost one or two mana, and Puresteel Paladin makes equipping free once you control three artifacts, which Junk tokens help with. Creatures like Gunner Conscript and Mister Gutsy grow with every attachment, and Codsworth, Handy Helper taps for mana that only casts Auras and Equipment.

The deck also recovers from removal better than most voltron decks. Cass, Hand of Vengeance moves the Auras and Equipment from a creature that dies onto another one, Mantle of the Ancients returns gear from your graveyard, and Brotherhood Outcast brings back a cheap Aura or Equipment when it enters.

What works out of the box

Dogmeat, Ever Loyal ↗

Three mana, refunds a piece of gear from the graveyard when it enters, and creates a Junk token for every enchanted or equipped attacker. The more creatures you dress up, the more cards you see.

Puresteel Paladin ↗

Draws a card whenever an Equipment enters, and makes every equip cost zero once you control three artifacts. Junk tokens count toward that three.

Cass, Hand of Vengeance ↗

When an enchanted or equipped creature of yours dies, its Auras come back from the graveyard and its Equipment moves onto another creature. One removal spell no longer costs you three cards.

Strong Back ↗

The enchanted creature gets +2/+2 for each Aura and Equipment on it, and Auras and equip costs aimed at it cost three less. It turns one creature into a cheap, fast threat.

Well Rested ↗

Two mana. Each turn the creature untaps it gets two +1/+1 counters, you gain 2 life and you draw a card. On a creature that attacks every turn, this is the deck's steadiest draw engine.

Almost Perfect ↗

Makes the enchanted creature a 9/10 with indestructible. Put it on anything carrying a trample Equipment and it closes games quickly.

What needs improvement

The mana is the first thing to fix. The box runs three taplands that scry, two cycling lands that enter tapped, three filter lands that need another mana to make colors, and Temple of the False God . A three-color deck that wants to cast a creature and then equip it on the same turn loses a lot of tempo to lands like these.

The board wipes work against the plan. Megaton's Fate and Single Combat clear your own board along with everyone else's, and this deck spends most of its turns building one. Its card draw is thin too: apart from Puresteel Paladin , Well Rested and the Junk tokens, there is little that refills your hand once the first wave of gear is down. See how much card draw a Commander deck needs for a number to aim at.

Upgrade ideas

Each upgrade below starts from something the deck does poorly and says what a replacement card has to do. The cards named are examples, not the only answer: if you own something else that does the same job, or a newer printing does it better, it goes in the same slot. Make one change at a time and play a few games between them, so you can tell which change helped. The general method is in how to upgrade a Commander precon →

1. Untap your lands on time

Dogmeat wants a creature on turn two and gear on it by turn three or four. Every land that enters tapped or needs extra mana to filter delays that by a turn.

What to look for Two-color lands in this deck's pairs that usually enter untapped: check lands, slow lands, snarls and similar. Lands that tap for colorless only should go first.

Cut, for example

✕

Temple of the False God Produces nothing until you control five lands, which is too late for a deck that does most of its work in the first five turns.

✕

Scavenger Grounds A colorless land whose ability exiles every graveyard, including yours. Dogmeat, Cass and Mantle of the Ancients all want your graveyard kept.

✕

Mossfire Valley Needs a second mana to produce red or green, so on its own it adds nothing toward a two-mana play.

Add, for example

Furycalm Snarl ↗

Red or white, and it enters untapped if you reveal a Mountain or Plains from your hand.

Game Trail ↗

The red-green version of the same land. Enters untapped when you reveal a Mountain or Forest.

Overgrown Farmland ↗

Green or white, untapped once you control two other lands, which covers every turn after your second.

2. Trade the self-destructive wipes for spot removal

This deck invests several cards in each creature, so a board wipe costs it more than it costs most opponents. Cheap removal that hits one threat keeps your board intact.

What to look for One- to three-mana instants that remove a creature or any permanent. Flexible answers that hit artifacts and enchantments too are worth more here.

Cut, for example

✕

Megaton's Fate Six mana. The Detonate mode deals 8 damage to each creature, which kills most of your own equipped attackers. The other mode is an expensive artifact removal spell.

✕

Single Combat Five mana, and each player keeps one creature or planeswalker. You lose your Junk producers and Squirrel tokens, and you can't cast creatures until the end of your next turn either.

Add, for example

Swords to Plowshares ↗

One mana at instant speed to exile any creature. Its controller gains life equal to its power.

Generous Gift ↗

Three mana to destroy any permanent. The opponent gets a 3/3 Elephant, which your equipped creatures can fight through.

Beast Within ↗

The green version: three mana, destroy any permanent, and its controller gets a 3/3 Beast.

3. Draw a card for each piece of gear

The deck casts an Aura or Equipment most turns. Cards that draw off those casts keep your hand full without spending a slot on a draw spell that does nothing else.

What to look for Cheap creatures or enchantments that draw a card whenever you cast an Aura, an Equipment or an enchantment.

Cut, for example

✕

Vault 21: House Gambit Two loots and a Treasure payoff that rarely makes more than one or two Treasures. It filters your hand but doesn't add to it.

✕

Three Dog, Galaxy News DJ Needs an Aura on itself plus two more mana each attack to copy that Aura. It costs a lot of setup for a 1/5.

Add, for example

Sram, Senior Edificer ↗

Two mana: draws a card whenever you cast an Aura, Equipment or Vehicle spell. Every Aura and Equipment in the deck triggers it, and the box has close to thirty of them.

Kor Spiritdancer ↗

Draws a card whenever you cast an Aura, and gets +2/+2 for each Aura on it, so it is both a draw engine and a body worth enchanting.

Sythis, Harvest's Hand ↗

Two mana: you gain 1 life and draw a card whenever you cast an enchantment spell, which covers every Aura in the deck.

4. Get gear onto creatures faster

The deck's slowest turns are the ones where you spend all your mana on equip costs. Tutors and cheaper ways to attach let you attack sooner with a suited-up creature.

What to look for Effects that find an Equipment, put one onto the battlefield, or attach gear for free, ideally on a two- or three-mana card.

Cut, for example

✕

Brass Knuckles Four mana for two Equipment that only grant double strike when both sit on one creature. Fireshrieker gives double strike on its own for less.

✕

Duchess, Wayward Tavernkeep A four-mana 4/3 that makes Junk tokens off quest counters. Dogmeat already makes Junk, and Duchess does nothing with Auras or Equipment.

Add, for example

Stoneforge Mystic ↗

Finds an Equipment when it enters, then puts Equipment from your hand onto the battlefield for two mana, which matters with a big card like Behemoth Sledge.

Sigarda's Aid ↗

Lets you cast Auras and Equipment at instant speed, and attaches each Equipment to a creature for free as it enters.

Win conditions

The upgraded deck wins by combat damage, the same way the precon does. Pick one or two creatures, load them with Strong Back , Almost Perfect or Behemoth Sledge , and attack every turn while Dogmeat turns each equipped attacker into a Junk token. Fireshrieker and Silver Shroud Costume get damage through faster, and the cheaper removal and better mana mean you reach that board a turn or two earlier.

Who should buy this precon

A good first deck for someone who likes building up a single big threat. Each turn is easy to read: play a creature, attach something, attack, crack the Junk tokens. It is reasonably strong out of the box, and the upgrades above mostly smooth the early turns rather than change the plan. A player who wants to stop opponents' spells or race combo decks will find little of that here.

Checked against the printed decklist on October 10, 2026.