Extremely Valuable MTG Fallout Deck Delivers Disappointing Gameplay

Out of all the new Fallout decks, Scrappy Survivors looks like a new take on an old archetype. With plenty of card selection thanks to Dogmeat, Ever Loyal Dogmeat, Ever Loyal When Dogmeat enters, mill five cards, then return an Aura or Equipment card from your graveyard to your hand.
Whenever a creature you control that's enchanted or equipped attacks, create a Junk token. (It's an artifact with "{T}, Sacrifice this token: Exile the top card of your library. You may play that card this turn. Activate only as a sorcery.") and a steady supply of Junk Junk {T}, Sacrifice this artifact: Exile the top card of your library. You may play that card this turn. Activate only as a sorcery. tokens, assembling “Voltron” should be easier than ever. On top of that, the deck features multiple recursion cards so removal doesn’t stop you cold. With backup from support cards and protection effects, you have even more insurance. Yup, turning Dogmeat into a huge creature and winning in a couple of swings sounds great, but is the deck effective? While many of the cards in our most expensive Fallout cards list appears in Scrappy Survivors, the value may be better than the gameplay. In short there are a few problems. Where did Scrappy Survivors go wrong and how can we fix it?

A Classic Dilemma

Try as it might, Scrappy Survivors is victim to what I call the one-third problem. Essentially, the deck must draw gas, payoffs and mana at a one in three ratio or it does not function well. The hope was that Dogmeat’s mill trigger alongside extra help from Junk tokens would fix this fundamental obstacle. Alas, while the deck does many things well, it cannot generate a consistent game plan. In one game, Dogmeat hit the field and the mill five trigger completely blanked. In another, Dogmeat got suited up with Swiftfoot Boots Swiftfoot Boots Equipped creature has hexproof and haste. (It can't be the target of spells or abilities your opponents control. It can attack and {T} no matter when it came under your control.)
Equip {1} ({1}: Attach to target creature you control. Equip only as a sorcery.) , Behemoth Sledge Behemoth Sledge Equipped creature gets +2/+2 and has trample and lifelink.
Equip {3} , Bloodforged Battle-Axe Bloodforged Battle-Axe Equipped creature gets +2/+0.
Whenever equipped creature deals combat damage to a player, create a token that's a copy of this Equipment.
Equip {2} and Brass Knuckles Brass Knuckles When you cast this spell, copy it. (The copy becomes a token.)
Equipped creature has double strike as long as two or more Equipment are attached to it.
Equip {1} ({1}: Attach to target creature you control. Equip only as a sorcery.) with Mantle of the Ancients Mantle of the Ancients Enchant creature you control
When this Aura enters, return any number of target Aura and/or Equipment cards from your graveyard to the battlefield attached to enchanted creature.
Enchanted creature gets +1/+1 for each Aura and Equipment attached to it. in hand as backup. Call it feast or famine, all or nothing. Sometimes the deck crushes and other times it flounders which is normal for many pre-cons.

Any Help From Preston?

The short answer is “no” and the longer answer is “it’s a completely different deck.” Preston Garvey, Minuteman Preston Garvey, Minuteman At the beginning of combat on your turn, create a green Aura enchantment token named Settlement attached to up to one target land you control. It has enchant land and "Enchanted land has '{T}: Add one mana of any color.'"
Whenever Preston Garvey attacks, untap each enchanted permanent you control. could easily be removed from the deck, alongside Squirrel Nest Squirrel Nest Enchant land
Enchanted land has "{T}: Create a 1/1 green Squirrel creature token." , with zero issues. Five mana is so much more than three and he doesn’t really start to go off until turn six. Meanwhile, Dogmeat can generate value two or three turns sooner. Board reset? Dogmeat to the rescue! Preston, though, is back at square one. No, you’re absolutely playing Dogmeat and it’s a lot easier to fix moving forward as well.

Modern Commander pre-cons typically have an overwhelming presence if they are left alone to do their thing, and Scrappy Survivors is no exception.

One large problem with the deck is the amount of, essentially, do nothing, low impact, modest value creatures that get in the way of the plan.

Get rid of the Junk

Take a look at Duchess, Wayward Tavernkeep Duchess, Wayward Tavernkeep Hunters for Hire — Whenever a creature you control deals combat damage to a player, put a quest counter on it.
{1}, Remove a quest counter from a permanent you control: Create a Junk token. (It's an artifact with "{T}, Sacrifice this token: Exile the top card of your library. You may play that card this turn. Activate only as a sorcery.") . For four mana, you get a creature that does nothing. That’s right, it’s a 4/3 for four mana. No enters the battlefield. If you deal combat damage to a player you get to put a quest counter on a creature. Then if you also pay mana and remove said counter, you can create a Junk token. So five mana and combat damage to get one Junk token? Unimpressive. Dogmeat also generates Junk provided a modified creature attacks. Why would you cast this creature instead of Dogmeat a turn earlier?

Crimson Caravaneer Crimson Caravaneer Double strike, trample
Whenever this creature deals combat damage to a player, create a Junk token. (It's an artifact with "{T}, Sacrifice this token: Exile the top card of your library. You may play that card this turn. Activate only as a sorcery.") is much the same. A 1/2 body for three mana is steep. Sure it has Trample and Double-Strike and it makes Junk tokens. That said, a turn four attack and make two Junk tokens is medium at best. That’s if you skipped playing Dogmeat on turn three. Obviously, you can look at the Caravaneer as a body to suit up with equipment and auras but what if you have Fireshrieker Fireshrieker Equipped creature has double strike. (It deals both first-strike and regular combat damage.)
Equip {2} ({2}: Attach to target creature you control. Equip only as a sorcery.) and Brass Knuckles Brass Knuckles When you cast this spell, copy it. (The copy becomes a token.)
Equipped creature has double strike as long as two or more Equipment are attached to it.
Equip {1} ({1}: Attach to target creature you control. Equip only as a sorcery.) as your draws? Unfortunately, there are multiple poor synergy interactions like this in the deck and you have very little chance of fixing it, as is.

Veronica, Dissident Scribe Veronica, Dissident Scribe Menace
Whenever Veronica attacks, you may discard a card. If you do, draw a card.
Whenever you discard one or more nonland cards for the first time each turn, create a Junk token. (It's an artifact with "{T}, Sacrifice this token: Exile the top card of your library. You may play that card this turn. Activate only as a sorcery.") is another almost good looking card until you actually play it. It has a filtering option which the deck drastically desires, but you get less value for discarding land. Why play this card? The same logic as above works here. If you cast Veronica on turn three, you missed casting Dogmeat, so you’re probably a turn behind. Furthermore, Dogmeat can generate Junk as well, so you’re neutral there. Casting this later in the game is extremely slow and likely not worth it.

Even more Junk

Consider Ian the Reckless Ian the Reckless Whenever Ian the Reckless attacks, if it's modified, you may have it deal damage equal to its power to you and any target. (Equipment, Auras you control, and counters are modifications.) . It’s another card that says “I’m a body for buffing” but then you do so and simply lose tempo when it dies. Plus it deals damage to you. It’s not the biggest drawback ever created but a crafty opponent can buff your creature to give you options which hurt you badly. With all the forced combat decks out there and the ever increasing number of Goad cards, Ian seems far from great.

Commander Sofia Daguerre Commander Sofia Daguerre Flash
Crash Landing — When Commander Sofia Daguerre enters, destroy up to one target legendary permanent. That permanent's controller creates a Junk token. (It's an artifact with "{T}, Sacrifice this token: Exile the top card of your library. You may play that card this turn. Activate only as a sorcery.") is four mana for a highly restrictive destruction effect with a downside. Four mana kill someone’s Commander isn’t useless, but it’s far from efficient. Giving them a Junk token is not a huge drawback, but why? All it can do is help them a little and you’ve already done that by playing a four mana 1/3. Does this card interact with your graveyard, auras, or enchantments? No? Why is it here?

I wanted to love Mister Gutsy Mister Gutsy Whenever you cast an Aura or Equipment spell, put a +1/+1 counter on this creature.
When this creature dies, create X Junk tokens, where X is the number of +1/+1 counters on it. (They're artifacts with "{T}, Sacrifice this token: Exile the top card of your library. You may play that card this turn. Activate only as a sorcery.") . At two mana, you can sneak him in on turn two so he’s ready to accrue value for the entire game. The problem is the amount of value is extremely low and it’s a pretty bad top deck the longer the game goes. There are better cards for this slot.

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A Different Deck

Now, that being said, all of the above poor performing cards belong in a different deck. Imagine an Akiri, Line-Slinger Akiri, Line-Slinger First strike, vigilance
Akiri gets +1/+0 for each artifact you control.
Partner (You can have two commanders if both have partner.) deck dripping with Junk generators. Here, all the artifact generation you can get works and with a Commander that is only two mana. It does not mess with your tempo at all. Very few cards in Magic are purely good or bad, they rely on other cards. For Scrappy Survivors, the entire Junk angle is minimal to the deck’s strategy at best. For a different deck, though, you are sure to have some cool new includes!

The Single Best Addition

In all its banned in Modern glory, Faithless Looting Faithless Looting Draw two cards, then discard two cards.
Flashback {2}{R} (You may cast this card from your graveyard for its flashback cost. Then exile it.) is an auto include if you’re building for Dogmeat. It’s priced perfectly at one mana, does not care if it gets milled, and it helps you get rid of those excess lands this deck loves to draw. Furthermore, the deck has a critical issue with Junk tokens. If you end up using your Junk to dig for answers, it’s totally possible to dig into something and then not be able to cast it. Junking into Looting ensures you won’t be forced to exile a key card. Both Cathartic Reunion Cathartic Reunion As an additional cost to cast this spell, discard two cards.
Draw three cards. and Thrill of Possibility Thrill of Possibility As an additional cost to cast this spell, discard a card.
Draw two cards. are additional copies and there are many similar cards to consider.

On much the same note, Ephemerate Ephemerate Exile target creature you control, then return it to the battlefield under its owner's control.
Rebound (If you cast this spell from your hand, exile it as it resolves. At the beginning of your next upkeep, you may cast this card from exile without paying its mana cost.) is a high impact, high value one cost spell that the deck enjoys. You can both save Dogmeat and your best buff card when Dogmeat ETBs and you can do so twice if necessary. For a second copy, Galadriel’s Dismissal Galadriel’s Dismissal Kicker {2}{W} (You may pay an additional {2}{W} as you cast this spell.)
Target creature phases out. If this spell was kicked, each creature target player controls phases out instead. (Treat phased-out creatures and anything attached to them as though they don't exist until their controller's next turn.) is another excellent effect with a multitude of uses. Although it’s a little worse if you hit it while Junking, the upside is that it protects Dogmeat or any other suited up creature without making them lose all their buffs.

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Everybody Loves Kellan

Now we’re talking! Kellan does everything this deck wants to do. First, it gets your best aura or equipment, and can do so on turn two without interrupting your game plan. Then, he waits on an adventure as a backup plan if you need one.

Kellan, Daring Traveler Kellan, Daring Traveler Whenever Kellan attacks, reveal the top card of your library. If it's a creature card with mana value 3 or less, put it into your hand. Otherwise, you may put it into your graveyard. also works well for the deck because it gives you another effective mill trigger, and if you made Map Map {1}, {T}, Sacrifice this artifact: Target creature you control explores. Activate only as a sorcery. (Reveal the top card of your library. Put that card into your hand if it's a land. Otherwise, put a +1/+1 counter on that creature, then put the card back or put it into your graveyard.) tokens off of Journey On, you have a way to modify him which synergizes with Dogmeat. Again, at either one or two mana, this Kellan won’t interfere with your turn three Dogmeat and is cheap enough to play off of Junking.

It goes without saying that Rhythm of the Wild Rhythm of the Wild Creature spells you control can't be countered.
Nontoken creatures you control have riot. (They enter with your choice of a +1/+1 counter or haste.) is an excellent card for every green and red deck. Here, it’s no less amazing. It makes every creature either hasted or modified so it has tremendous synergy and also gives you can’t be countered. Rhythm of the Wild is way better than all the cards recommended for removing and it’s not expensive to include.

Additionally, if you’re building Dogmeat as the usual target for all your auras and equipment, it’s important to have a game plan if he does get removed multiple times. For those reasons you should consider both Campfire Campfire {1}, {T}: You gain 2 life.
{2}, {T}, Exile this artifact: Put all commanders you own from the command zone and from your graveyard into your hand. Then shuffle your graveyard into your library. and Command Beacon Command Beacon {T}: Add {C}.
{T}, Sacrifice this land: Put your commander into your hand from the command zone. . Both of these cards essentially let you recast for only three mana and thus are adding four or more mana when you use them so think of them like better versions of Jeweled Lotus Jeweled Lotus {T}, Sacrifice this artifact: Add three mana of any one color. Spend this mana only to cast your commander. .

Close, but no Cigar

Scrappy Survivors does not have a bad game plan, simply an inconsistent one. To solve that, issue you can add tutoring, draw power and additional redundancy. That said, there’s a problem with simply adding more redundancy in the form of cards like Ethereal Armor Ethereal Armor Enchant creature
Enchanted creature gets +1/+1 for each enchantment you control and has first strike. . It does not fix your draws, filter bad cards or offer additional synergy, it just makes one extra big target the entire table will fight.

Since you’re playing red and you utilize the graveyard, looting is one of the best ways to solve this. Once you hit the perfect mixture of cards, you can start beating down for the win. When they interrupt you, it’s fine because you have exactly enough protection and recursion to keep going.

If you enjoyed playing Virtue and Valor from the Wilds of Eldraine, you’re going to love Scrappy Survivors because it gives you an additional element of depth to explore while doing mostly the same thing; making a huge creature and turning it sideways for big damage. If you’re looking for a more interactive game play experience, you may be better off choosing another Fallout deck that has higher complexity and better consistency.

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