Rust Scarab
Creature — Insect
Whenever this creature becomes blocked, you may destroy target artifact or enchantment defending player controls.
- CMC
- 5
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- G
- Rarity
- uncommon
- Set
- Gatecrash
- Price
- $0.16
- EDHREC rank
- #19978
Rust Scarab enters the battlefield and destroys an artifact or enchantment — no mana, no targeting window, just immediate permanent removal stapled to a 4/5 body. Six mana for a vanilla beater with a one-shot ETB is too slow for most tables, and it gets no value if it's countered or if no targets exist.
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 |
Rust Scarab is legal in Commander, Legacy, Modern, Pioneer, Vintage, and Oathbreaker, but competitive play in any of those formats has long left it behind. In Commander it sees fringe play in budget decks that need bodies and incidental artifact or enchantment removal in the same slot, but Reclamation Sage and Foundation Breaker do the same job on a cheaper body with more flexibility. Legacy, Modern, and Vintage have no interest in a six-mana 4/5 with a conditional ETB when faster, cheaper answers exist at every power level. Oathbreaker follows the same logic — the format's lower starting life total and faster pace make six mana too steep for this payoff.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.16 bulk tier
At $0.16, Rust Scarab is deep bulk — the kind of card that ends up in a bulk box, not a trade binder. That price is stable because demand is essentially zero, so don't expect it to move in either direction.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.