Scabbs Cutterbutter is the latest addition to Battlegrounds as of Patch 22.0. After which, he quickly became one of the strongest heroes in the game. A week after Scabbs’ debut, he already lost the armor from his initial release. With his ability to steal cards from your opponent’s Warband, you can make potential triples or, even better, take the card your opponent discovered with their triple.
The Basics of Scabbs Cutterbutter
Scabbs’ hero power is “I Spy”, which states, “Discover a plain copy of a minion from your next opponent’s Warband” at the cost of two gold. This means that you will discover a minion from the next person you are facing at the Warband they had at the start of the current round.
What this means is, if you’re fighting A.F. Kay at Turn three, the turn she gets her two T3 minions discovers, you will not be able to activate your hero power, and you will get nothing. This goes for anyone who withheld playing a minion before facing you. A common example of that may be your opponents not using Deck Swabbie in the first round of the match.
However, if you are facing someone who had a triple last turn and made their discovery, you have the chance to copy their higher-tier minion. Heroes who find triples easy like Jandice, Zephrys, or heroes with special units like Curator, Dinotamer Brann, and N’zoth are reasons why Scabbs becomes very powerful as the game progresses. For a low price with little downside, Scabs can copy the win condition cards of his opponents and mix-and-match them to build a fierce end-game composition.
Do be careful. Certain heroes like Cookie will not let you use your hero power if you have a full hand, but Scabbs still lets you despite that. Count your cards in your hand first before using your hero power.
Scabbs’ Gameplan
You want to create triples or take the same triples as other players. In a meta where many players are staying behind at T1, it is best to think ahead and buy a minion everyone else wants to purchase. Murloc Tidehunter, Alleycat, and Sellemental are the most sought out T1 minions, so of course, you also want to prioritize those. However, there are times you miss and have to reprioritize. Think about what else people want to buy, and pick up a unit like Acolyte of C’Thun, Micro Mummy, and Icky Imp.
Later on in the game, there is a chance you may not have tripled as fast as other players. That is absolutely fine. If you are fighting an opponent who tripled in the previous turn and got something like Witchwing Nestmatron, Impatient Doomsayer, Mama Bear, or any powerful card, then you can discover those cards with your hero power and get back into the game through your opponents’ tools.
After getting your win condition, be sure only to use your hero power if your opponent has a card you may want. For example, if you got Nomi and you’re doing Elementals, don’t waste time using your hero power on someone that says Five Pirates or Seven Demons. You would just waste gold on a card you do not need when you could be using your gold to find more elementals. Try to predict what your opponent has and think whether or not you need to be using your hero power.
Scabbs’ Curves
Scabbs has four main ways to curve, all with their advantages.
We will first discuss the Warrior/Shinese curve, which I use the most. The Warrior or Shinese Curve gives you the overall best chance to find triples.
Turn one (3g): Buy a powerful T1 minion such as Sellemental, Murloc Tidehunter, or Alleycat. Acolyte of C’Thun, Icky Imp, Scallywag, and MicroMummy are also acceptable.
Turn two (4g): Assuming your next opponent has a card to steal, and you started with a token generator (Sellemental, Murloc Tidehunter, or Alleycat): Sell a minion, buy another minion, and hero power. If this does not apply, find a way to utilize your gold. For example, if there is a SunBacon Relaxer or even a good battlecry minion like Refreshing Anomaly, buy one of those and sell it. Then use your remaining gold to hero power. There is no one way to do this turn just think about what is best for you.
Turn three (5g): Hero power and buy the best minion.
Turn four (6g): Either buy two minions, or hero power and buy a minion. Reroll or sell minions if necessary.
Turn five (7g): Sell a minion, then upgrade twice to T3.
Turn six (8g): By this point, try to find more triples or powerful cards at T3 or choose to upgrade again. The latter will give you one extra gold; you can choose to sell one more card to hero power or you can look for better options for the next round.
Scabbs “Rafaam” Curve
Next up is the Rafaam curve. Surprisingly, Scabs could on occasion get too many cards. If we want to use your gold efficiently, then we have to do this curve. Keep in mind, you can only do this when you find an excess of Sellemental, Murloc Tidehunter, or Alleycat.
Turn one (3g): Buy one of the previously mentioned token generators.
Turn two (4g): Just like the warrior curve’s turn two, assume which best works with you. Either buy/sell & ability if your opponent has a token start, or simply buy one and reroll.
Turn three (5g): Hero power and buy the best minion.
Turn 4 (6g): Hero power, buy the best minion, and upgrade to T2.
Turn 5 (7g): Upgrade once more to T3. Sell a minion and hero power.
Turn 6 (8g): Either stick around at T3 or upgrade once more to T4 and hero power.
The Rafaam Curve only works when you get too many cards from the warrior curve. The tokens from Alleycat or Murloc Tidehunter can be annoying and take up space, especially since they are the worst minions in terms of combat. This curve is especially helpful if you found a triple and need to get to T3 or T4 as soon as possible to find a win condition.
The Jeef Curve
The next curve is a typical Jeef curve, which you pursue if you want to get to T3 while holding onto pairs or if you found a triple in the beginning turns.
Turn one (3g): Buy one of the previously mentioned token generators.
Turn two (4g): Just like the previously mentioned curves, assume which one best works for you.
Turn three (5g): Hero power and upgrade to T2. Freeze for any potential triples.
Turn four (6g): Upgrade to T3. Freeze for any potential triples.
Turn five (7g): Hero power. Buy one minion. Either reroll if necessary or sell a minion to buy another one.
Turn six (8g): Upgrade to T4 and hero power.
If you happen to find a triple on Turn two or three, this is the best curve to rush to T3 as soon as possible so you can find a strong T4 card.
The Yogg-Saron curve with Scabbs
Lastly is the Yogg curve, this is done when either you want good T2 minions, your opponent does not have anything worth at turn two, or if you want to get to T3 while also creating a strong foundation.
Turn one (3g): Buy any strong T1 minion.
Turn two (4g): Upgrade to T2.
Turn three (5g): Buy any strong minion and use your hero power.
Turn four (6g): If you have bought a token generator, upgrade to T3 and use your hero power. If you picked Deck Swabbie any time after upgrading to T2, you do not need to sell a minion.
Turn five (7g): Hero power. Sell one minion and buy two strong ones.
Turn six (8g): Upgrade to T4 and hero power.
Closing Thoughts
Scabbs is powerful because he can steal the strength of other players. The difficult part about him is just setting that up and knowing how and when to use “I Spy”. It all comes with practice but reading this guide sets a nice basic understanding of how to use him properly. Thank you all for reading.
Scabbs Cutterbutter is the latest addition to Battlegrounds as of Patch 22.0. After which, he quickly became one of the strongest heroes in the game. A week after Scabbs’ debut, he already lost the armor from his initial release. With his ability to steal cards from your opponent’s Warband, you can make potential triples or, even better, take the card your opponent discovered with their triple.
The Basics of Scabbs Cutterbutter
Scabbs’ hero power is “I Spy”, which states, “Discover a plain copy of a minion from your next opponent’s Warband” at the cost of two gold. This means that you will discover a minion from the next person you are facing at the Warband they had at the start of the current round.
What this means is, if you’re fighting A.F. Kay at Turn three, the turn she gets her two T3 minions discovers, you will not be able to activate your hero power, and you will get nothing. This goes for anyone who withheld playing a minion before facing you. A common example of that may be your opponents not using Deck Swabbie in the first round of the match.
However, if you are facing someone who had a triple last turn and made their discovery, you have the chance to copy their higher-tier minion. Heroes who find triples easy like Jandice, Zephrys, or heroes with special units like Curator, Dinotamer Brann, and N’zoth are reasons why Scabbs becomes very powerful as the game progresses. For a low price with little downside, Scabs can copy the win condition cards of his opponents and mix-and-match them to build a fierce end-game composition.
Do be careful. Certain heroes like Cookie will not let you use your hero power if you have a full hand, but Scabbs still lets you despite that. Count your cards in your hand first before using your hero power.
Scabbs’ Gameplan
You want to create triples or take the same triples as other players. In a meta where many players are staying behind at T1, it is best to think ahead and buy a minion everyone else wants to purchase. Murloc Tidehunter, Alleycat, and Sellemental are the most sought out T1 minions, so of course, you also want to prioritize those. However, there are times you miss and have to reprioritize. Think about what else people want to buy, and pick up a unit like Acolyte of C’Thun, Micro Mummy, and Icky Imp.
Later on in the game, there is a chance you may not have tripled as fast as other players. That is absolutely fine. If you are fighting an opponent who tripled in the previous turn and got something like Witchwing Nestmatron, Impatient Doomsayer, Mama Bear, or any powerful card, then you can discover those cards with your hero power and get back into the game through your opponents’ tools.
After getting your win condition, be sure only to use your hero power if your opponent has a card you may want. For example, if you got Nomi and you’re doing Elementals, don’t waste time using your hero power on someone that says Five Pirates or Seven Demons. You would just waste gold on a card you do not need when you could be using your gold to find more elementals. Try to predict what your opponent has and think whether or not you need to be using your hero power.
Scabbs’ Curves
Scabbs has four main ways to curve, all with their advantages.
We will first discuss the Warrior/Shinese curve, which I use the most. The Warrior or Shinese Curve gives you the overall best chance to find triples.
Turn one (3g): Buy a powerful T1 minion such as Sellemental, Murloc Tidehunter, or Alleycat. Acolyte of C’Thun, Icky Imp, Scallywag, and MicroMummy are also acceptable.
Turn two (4g): Assuming your next opponent has a card to steal, and you started with a token generator (Sellemental, Murloc Tidehunter, or Alleycat): Sell a minion, buy another minion, and hero power. If this does not apply, find a way to utilize your gold. For example, if there is a SunBacon Relaxer or even a good battlecry minion like Refreshing Anomaly, buy one of those and sell it. Then use your remaining gold to hero power. There is no one way to do this turn just think about what is best for you.
Turn three (5g): Hero power and buy the best minion.
Turn four (6g): Either buy two minions, or hero power and buy a minion. Reroll or sell minions if necessary.
Turn five (7g): Sell a minion, then upgrade twice to T3.
Turn six (8g): By this point, try to find more triples or powerful cards at T3 or choose to upgrade again. The latter will give you one extra gold; you can choose to sell one more card to hero power or you can look for better options for the next round.
Scabbs “Rafaam” Curve
Next up is the Rafaam curve. Surprisingly, Scabs could on occasion get too many cards. If we want to use your gold efficiently, then we have to do this curve. Keep in mind, you can only do this when you find an excess of Sellemental, Murloc Tidehunter, or Alleycat.
Turn one (3g): Buy one of the previously mentioned token generators.
Turn two (4g): Just like the warrior curve’s turn two, assume which best works with you. Either buy/sell & ability if your opponent has a token start, or simply buy one and reroll.
Turn three (5g): Hero power and buy the best minion.
Turn 4 (6g): Hero power, buy the best minion, and upgrade to T2.
Turn 5 (7g): Upgrade once more to T3. Sell a minion and hero power.
Turn 6 (8g): Either stick around at T3 or upgrade once more to T4 and hero power.
The Rafaam Curve only works when you get too many cards from the warrior curve. The tokens from Alleycat or Murloc Tidehunter can be annoying and take up space, especially since they are the worst minions in terms of combat. This curve is especially helpful if you found a triple and need to get to T3 or T4 as soon as possible to find a win condition.
The Jeef Curve
The next curve is a typical Jeef curve, which you pursue if you want to get to T3 while holding onto pairs or if you found a triple in the beginning turns.
Turn one (3g): Buy one of the previously mentioned token generators.
Turn two (4g): Just like the previously mentioned curves, assume which one best works for you.
Turn three (5g): Hero power and upgrade to T2. Freeze for any potential triples.
Turn four (6g): Upgrade to T3. Freeze for any potential triples.
Turn five (7g): Hero power. Buy one minion. Either reroll if necessary or sell a minion to buy another one.
Turn six (8g): Upgrade to T4 and hero power.
If you happen to find a triple on Turn two or three, this is the best curve to rush to T3 as soon as possible so you can find a strong T4 card.
The Yogg-Saron curve with Scabbs
Lastly is the Yogg curve, this is done when either you want good T2 minions, your opponent does not have anything worth at turn two, or if you want to get to T3 while also creating a strong foundation.
Turn one (3g): Buy any strong T1 minion.
Turn two (4g): Upgrade to T2.
Turn three (5g): Buy any strong minion and use your hero power.
Turn four (6g): If you have bought a token generator, upgrade to T3 and use your hero power. If you picked Deck Swabbie any time after upgrading to T2, you do not need to sell a minion.
Turn five (7g): Hero power. Sell one minion and buy two strong ones.
Turn six (8g): Upgrade to T4 and hero power.
Closing Thoughts
Scabbs is powerful because he can steal the strength of other players. The difficult part about him is just setting that up and knowing how and when to use “I Spy”. It all comes with practice but reading this guide sets a nice basic understanding of how to use him properly. Thank you all for reading.
For more of Mewwy’s Battlegrounds content, follow on Twitch, Twitter, or join our discord! Also be sure to read Mewwy’s previous guides, covering all you need to know for Fungalmancer Flurgl, Sneed, and how you can improve transitioning in Battlegrounds.
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