Scarecrow

Scarecrow
Creature Type
(Subtype for creature/kindred cards)
Beeble Scale	4
Statistics	43 cards 2.3% 2.3% 2.3% 93% as of Duskmourn: House of Horror
Scryfall Search
type:"Scarecrow"

Scarecrow is an creature type used for cards depicting vaguely humanoid objects dressed in old clothes.

Except for Straw Soldiers all Scarecrows are artifact creatures.

History

The first creature to bear the type Scarecrow was the original Scarecrow from The Dark, though it only gained the subtype first in the Grand Creature Type Update, together with Straw Soldiers from Portal Three Kingdoms. Shadowmoor block added 23 Scarecrows at once. Mechanically they often deal with colors and -1/-1 counters.

R&D had considered Scarecrow tribal for artifacts in Innistrad, but decided it didn't fit cleanly into the ally-colored “monster/victim” tribal. One card remained; One-Eyed Scarecrow discourages flying creatures just like the original Scarecrow and the intended purpose of real-life Scarecrows.

Storyline

Duskmourn

Wickerfolk are living constructs of wood that used to be humans and other survivors. In the early days of Valgavoth's Ascension, as awareness of the House's expansion across the plane grew, many people sought out ways to ward themselves against fear. Some people discovered a ritual to transform them into a form that would render them immutable, untouchable, and safe from horror forever. However, people soon discovered that the transformation would change their bodies into living wood — but leave their minds intact, unable to die and unable to experience sensations. Spindly and strange, they look like constructs of wicker and bundled sticks, some decorated with flowers, mimicking hair or other ornamentation. They move stiffly and lack vocal folds, making them unable to speak.

Wickerfolk spend most of their time standing still and are frequently mistaken for lifeless wickerwork figurines or even trees. Wickerfolk often wait for a straggler to get close to them before infesting the person by sending slivers of leaves and branches into the victim's body through any gap they can to transform the person from both the inside and the outside. Some wickerfolk produce infectious spores from their bodies. Inhaling enough of the spores causes a person's joints to ossify and skin to harden, effectively petrifying them without killing them.

They are usually found in the Hauntwoods. Fire is a wickerfolk's biggest fear and the most effective way of forcing a wickerfolk to release a victim. they use cold bonfires that burn with blue-white flames and send off snowflakes instead of sparks to avoid it.

Shadowmoor

The scarecrows of Shadowmoor were created by kithkin cobblesmiths and hedge mages to help them with farming. Some say the first scarecrow-makers used the enchanted wood of dead treefolk, and their movements are indicative of the wood's intrinsic rage. Over time, some of them got lost or outlived their creators and took on a life of their own, often attempting to continue performing their intended actions. These scarecrows are led by the Reaper King.

Distribution

Scarecrows are known to be built and animated on the following Planes:

• Dominaria (Scarecrow)
• Duskmourn (Wickerfolk Thresher)
• Eldraine (Signpost Scarecrow)
• Innistrad (One-Eyed Scarecrow)
• Kaldheim (Scorn Effigy)
• Shadowmoor (Painter's Servant)

Notable Scarecrows

Duskmourn

• Rendmaw
• The Swarmweaver

Lorwyn–Shadowmoor

• Reaper King

Trivia

• Straw Soldiers is the only non artifact creature Scarecrow.
• Reaper King is the only WUBRG artifact Scarecrow.
  • It was the only multicolored Scarecrow until The Swarmweaver was printed in Duskmourn: House of Horror.