Nighthawk Scavenger
Creature — Vampire Rogue
Flying, deathtouch, lifelink
Nighthawk Scavenger's power is equal to 1 plus the number of card types among cards in your opponents' graveyards.
- CMC
- 3
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- B
- Rarity
- rare
- Set
- Zendikar Rising
- Price
- $1.84
- EDHREC rank
- #1787
Nighthawk Scavenger is a three-mana flying, deathtouch, lifelink threat that scales its power with your opponents' graveyards — in a multiplayer game, it routinely enters as a 4/3 or better on turn three. Indominus Rex, Alpha runs it because keyword-dense creatures are exactly what that engine wants, and the Scavenger delivers three relevant keywords on a body that only gets bigger.
Best Commanders
Commanders with the highest synergy
Indominus Rex, Alpha
Indominus Rex, Alpha specifically hungers for creatures with multiple keywords to imprint, and Nighthawk Scavenger is one of the most keyword-efficient creatures in black — flying, deathtouch, and lifelink on a single card that also grows with the game state.
Anowon, the Ruin Thief
Anowon, the Ruin Thief wins through rogue combat damage, and Nighthawk Scavenger's flying and deathtouch combination forces opponents to either take the hit or trade a blocker — either outcome fills your graveyard or pads your life total.
Olivia, Opulent Outlaw
Nighthawk Scavenger is a Vampire, which means Olivia, Opulent Outlaw counts every combat hit it lands toward generating Treasure — deathtouch and flying make those hits reliable, not conditional.
Vito, Thorn of the Dusk Rose
Every point of lifelink damage Nighthawk Scavenger deals becomes a drain trigger through Vito, Thorn of the Dusk Rose, and a flying, deathtouching body that regularly attacks for four or five makes that engine punishing fast.
Kathril, Aspect Warper
Kathril, Aspect Warper distributes keywords from creatures in your graveyard, and Nighthawk Scavenger contributes three — flying, deathtouch, and lifelink — making it one of the most efficient keyword-donors in the 99.
Format Analysis
Where it lives, where it can’t
| Format | Verdict |
|---|---|
| commander | legal |
| legacy | legal |
| modern | legal |
| pioneer | legal |
| standard | not legal |
| vintage | legal |
| pauper | not legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
In Commander, Nighthawk Scavenger is a staple — multiplayer graveyards ensure it enters with inflated power, and the flying-deathtouch combination turns it into a credible blocker and attacker simultaneously. In Modern and Pioneer, it's playable in midrange black shells that can exploit lifelink for stabilization, though it competes with a crowded three-drop slot and its power scales less reliably in 1v1. Legacy has too many faster, more broken things happening for a three-mana vanilla-ish creature to matter. Nighthawk Scavenger is at its absolute best in Commander, where the free power boost from four opponents' graveyards is essentially guaranteed.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$1.84 cheap tier
At $1.84, Nighthawk Scavenger is firmly budget territory for the return it offers — three keywords plus a scaling body is rare value at this price point. Cards with this level of Commander penetration (showing up in thousands of decks across multiple archetypes) typically hold or creep up over time, so there's no reason to hesitate on picking up copies.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.