#psychatog

[beatsandskies]

Theme Deck Review Compendium: Torment “Grave Danger”

I am a huge fan of Black: it’s my favourite colour. So I’m a big fan of Torment’s four theme decks. As they are all black. And not the boring Rugby Union type. (Let’s Gone Warriors!) I’ve only got one of them (Waking Nightmares) built up currently but the other three are near the top of the list to work on next. I think I’d have to do all three of them since it’d be almost impossible to choose.…

[dravidious]

You're more amazing than eye contact

Tried playing Modern Horizons 3 sealed and won my first 3 games off the back of this really cool frog

[probablyevilrpgideas]

Rust monsters are cool and all, but consider-

Atogs

Atogs are a creature from Magic the Gathering, starting with the standard Atog all the way back in Antiquities (IE, almost as old as a card can get, the second expansion set, and the first expansion set that takes place in a setting entirely of WotC's creation). It's a small creature that gets bigger when you sacrifice an artifact card to it (in flavor- it eats magic items and gets stronger, notably, its name was created by just jumbling the letters in "goat"):

The original Atog, a classic "weird little guy"

Gradually, it was joined by other atog-typed creatures:

Foratog, in Mirage, which eats Forests

Chronatog, in Visions, which eats time (ie, your turns)

Necratog, in Weatherlight, which eats carrion (creature cards in your discard)

and Auratog, in Tempest, which eats magic (enchantment cards.

They have a general shared visual aesthetic, and a unifying mechanic which shows some fun variation by being tailored to what each color cares about and generally has a lot of- forests, corpses, enchantments. Chronatog eating time is mostly just thematic, but blue does have some ways to get around its downside.

Odyssey gave us some fun dual-colored atogs-

Lithatog, RG, which eats lands and artifacts

Phantatog, WU, which eats enchantments and cards from your hand

Psychatog, BU, which eats cards in your graveyard or hand*

Sarcatog, BR, which eats artifacts and cards in your graveyard*

Thaumatog, WG, which eats lands and enchantements

*special note- Sarcatog and Psychatog are especially good because when you discard a card from your hand or sacrifice an artifact, it goes to your graveyard, so they actually get two meals

And also Atogatog, which eats other atogs, and gets their full power as a buff to its power and toughness:

There's also Megatog in Mirrodin, which is just a bigger atog:

Rust monsters are fun, sure. But they're very limited, only consuming metal, and just making it rust. Atogs, even the standard atog, can eat any manufactured item, literally taking bites out of it. And (at least more recently) they're implied to be sapient, given that some are shown wearing clothes or having piercings. They're kinda like goblins who respond to crusaders wading in to wipe them out by taking a huge bite out of the crusaders' shields.

Atogs can just literally eat the adventurers' equipment. Auratog can eat spells, foratog can be the center of an adventure where elves ask the party to take out the infestation that's chowing down on trees, or necratogs are digging up graves and need to be dealt with. Admittedly, I don't know how to translate chronatog into D&D well.

But also, because they're sapient, they can be reasoned with, the PCs can negotiate with them instead of just cutting them down like animals. Maybe a dwarf forge has an atog employee who serves as a convenient way to get rid of slag or other waste materials from forging.

And then, there can also be a scene where the party meets the King Atog, who chows down on a subject in the middle of conversaton.

[mtg-polls-cube]

[pixiteai]

👨🏻‍🎨🎨🖼️ What do you think about this unique personalized fashion piece, created through the imaginative prompts of our users? Prompt: Psychatog design merged with upheval design as if the tog was doing it. From mtg. Odissey art. Use coupon code: SAVE20 to save 20% #tshirt #aitools #fashion #sweatshirt

[zoydraft]

Discard to Hell Sultai drafted by ML, February 2, 2024.

ML: "Psychatog MVP for me. I didn’t expect it to do the heavy lifting it did. There was a wild interaction with a card in DF's deck where they were trading back and forth. Hell Mongrel was great too in a discard/graveyard-eating deck like that, their whole thing feels deliciously broken. Sickening Dreams was my fav, so nasty. Krosan Restorer untapping Fertile Ground enchanted land to get Pelakka Wurm out on turn 4 was my highlight of the night (sorry CC). I liked the forbidden cube! Definitely a different experience than kitty pink sleeves, but would play again."

CC: "Did you have card draw? It seemed like you sac'ed a lot but always had more cards in hand."

ML: "Yeah, Obsessive Search with Madness kicked ass, then Adventurous Impulse and Relentless Pursuit helped me out a few times."

With the positive review of the land enchantments and untapper I think that's where I lean in. I didn't have a vision for green outside of some Delve, but I can definitely add Arbor Elf and Wild Growth.

Psychatog being a focal point warms my heart; it's supposed to be a central card in the list and it delivered. Also cool that Sickening Dreams was worthwhile. I got hit with it to clear my board and that felt like a steep but correct investment. I was worried it would just be trash but it's absolutely not, at least for now.

[somewhere-south-of-neutral]

Literally only just got that it's a Psychatog joke

Teaser images for Magic: the Gathering cards that are part of the upcoming Modern Horizons 3 were (finally) released, so I can show you a card my husband painted! Presenting PSYCHIC FROG!

PSYYYYYYYCHIC FROOOOOOOOG!

[edbeardjr]

Drawing on #mtgplaymats #nicolbolas #mtgbirdsofparadise #psychatog madman!all available now #Dragonart lol. #edbeardjr #ultrapro #nicolbolasplaymat now available at www.edbeardjr.com #wip #dragonartist #handdrawn #mtglegends #mtgcards https://www.instagram.com/p/BtH-kptAYqE/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=ad9gvuf3qxbn

[markrosewater]

I asked ChatGPT “what is Mark Rosewater’s favourite card he designed?”. You’ll need to train it a little more before it can take over Blogatog.

Mark Rosewater, the head designer for the trading card game Magic: The Gathering, has designed many cards over the years, and he has mentioned several as his favorites. One card that he has specifically mentioned as his favorite design is "Psychatog."

"Psychatog" is a blue/black creature card that was first printed in the Torment expansion set in 2002. It has a unique ability that allows its controller to discard cards from their hand to increase its power and toughness, making it a formidable threat on the battlefield. The card has been a favorite of many players over the years due to its power and versatility.

Rosewater has stated that he loves "Psychatog" because it is a great example of a card that combines different elements of the game in a creative way. He enjoys the challenge of designing cards that are both mechanically interesting and flavorful, and he feels that "Psychatog" is a perfect example of a card that succeeds on both levels.

I didn't know when I produced all my writing that I was helping train my successor. : )

EDIT: Also, while I did design Psychatog and generally like its design, it is not my favorite card I designed. That's Doubling Season.

[devilcat3d]

they did it. they power crept psychatog 😔 (i absolutely love this tho lmao)

PLEASE. PLEASE. NEW SILLY-NAME AURATOG. ILL DO ANYTHING

[mtgbracket]

Round of 2048 - Batch 2

You can now vote in Batch 2!

Feature card: Titan’s Revenge stands out somewhat as a weak card to have made it this far.  It got here by defeating Tormentor’s Trident, Volrath’s Dungeon, and Stitched Mangler.

Don’t forget you can also still vote in Batch 1!

Full list of matchups:

Predatory Advantage vs Tendrils of Agony Knight of Infamy vs Mirri's Guile Auriok Steelshaper vs Platinum Angel Lys Alana Huntmaster vs Vela the Night-Clad Hanweir Battlements vs Steel of the Godhead Deathrite Shaman vs Curious Homunculus Giant Growth vs Pillar of Flame Containment Priest vs Engulf the Shore Lotleth Troll vs Tundra Show and Tell vs Zedruu the Greathearted Bayou vs Bramblecrush Corpsejack Menace vs Kruphix, God of Horizons Kindle vs Descend upon the Sinful Iroas, God of Victory vs Ghostway Gaea's Blessing vs Mox Diamond Narset Transcendent vs Innocent Blood Imperious Perfect vs Angus Mackenzie City of Brass vs Brute Force Vorinclex, Voice of Hunger vs Psychatog Monastery Mentor vs Pyrokinesis Raised by Wolves vs Confusion in the Ranks Stonehewer Giant vs Braid of Fire Anguished Unmaking vs Lotus Blossom Goblin Trenches vs Aetherstorm Roc Nightscape Familiar vs Hissing Quagmire Lich's Mirror vs Thran Dynamo Exhume vs Phyrexian Infiltrator Titan's Revenge vs Condescend Coiling Oracle vs Dread Return Sarkhan, the Dragonspeaker vs Ancestral Recall Stinkweed Imp vs Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite Corpse Dance vs Kinsbaile Cavalier

[dailytopimagic]

Topi’s Daily Card #997:  Shadowmage Infiltrator

This card is probably one of my favorite little evasive creatures, for multiple reasons. Number one, it’s Johnny Magic in the artwork, this card being John Finkel’s Magic Invitational card.  According to stories from around that time, Finkel’s first card was a Wrath for 1WWU that untapped four lands, akin to a lot of the Urza ‘free’ spells.  This was his second submission, only changed slightly from the card you see above by dropping the power from a 2/3 to a 1/3.  The card was great, destined for competitive play for sure... and then Psychatog happened.  Shadowmage Infiltrator never really got much play in standard, even when reprinted in Time Spiral. Still, this card is amazing, giving you card draw and a good man to hold whatever sword and whatever equipment you want.  To me it’s a must have in a lot of U/B builds, or anything that wants evasive creatures.  He never got to shine in Standard, but Shadowmage Infiltrator is one of my favorite Dimir colored cards of all time.

[brewingbad]

Bad Meta Decisions: How I learned to Stop Hating the Meta and Just Beat Psychatog

While early 2000′s Albuquerque didn’t have a huge Pro scene, it did have a thriving local meta that took its cues from the Regional and Pro circuits.  Being New Mexico, internet was crap back then so most decklists were researched in magazines or newsletters or just by word of mouth.  There was a bit of a lag, but Psychatog Upheaval was just as prevalent there as it was in the rest of the MTG world.

If you don’t know what this deck is, consider yourself lucky.  It played with some of the best draw cards in the game, and won by generating at least 9 mana in a turn, casting Upheaval and floating 3 to cast Psychatog, after controlling the game for 9+ turns usually. As with most tier 1 decks you either played it, or played to beat it.

You may ask yourself quite often ‘How can I beat X deck?’  For those of you that may not know, this is referred to as making a Meta decision or overcoming the Meta.  The word meta is so simple it is complex.

What we mean is ‘the state of the game and what people are doing in this format’ or in the case of local meta ‘the decks and strategies being used by players in my community’.  A meta-killer would be ‘a deck designed to beat the top deck(s) at this time’.  In the name of defeating a meta, really experienced players can make some serious sacrifices in card quality and deck design.  While wizards tries to negate the sting of meta superiority (I’m looking at you Felidar Guardian), there is a natural flow to meta shifts.

This is an oversimplification of the basic flow of a meta from Mr Safety in his detailed meta analysis called Roots: On the Clock with Magic’s Nine Deck Archetypes.  Good read, highly recommended. Control beats combo, so if the biggest portion of decks you play against is Combo then you want to run Control unless you are running the tier 1 Combo deck in the meta. So on and so forth.  If you don’t understand these terms you might want to start here.

This is a more precise breakdown of the deck archetypes and subtypes.  In this case Psychatog falls in more of a Combo-Control subtype, but it is still beaten by a form of fast Aggro or Aggro control so the diagram still works.

If the format is well constructed, players should realize what sideboard choices work to hate out the big deck of the day and chose a deck to run those sideboard choices that matches a format that has a good shot of beating the deck unsided, right? 

Well… not if that deck is so oppressive that it stays around the entire season or the meta is ‘unsolved’ as was the case for Psychatog-Upheaval combo.  Wizards had a more hands off approach back then, only stepping in the the ban-hammer when a card was run in 80%+ of decks.  This is probably in an attempt to really design their way into a better meta. The rise of Psychatog Combo happened in between the Standard bans of Mind Over Matter and Skullclamp.  I think Wizards looked at Psychatog and said ‘It takes 9 turns, if you can’t beat that it is your own fault.’ and ignored the meta.

So based on these diagrams what was it that people chose to try to beat Tog?

That’s right!  Red Green Aggro.

Of course this is Bad Brews so we have something especially terrible to show you.

http://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/how-i-beat-psychatog/

The purpose of this build was to defend/beat with Gladiator and sacrifice him to use Cabal Therapy and Diabolic Intent.  These provide the engine of control in the deck.  Intent searched for Lobotomy or Chainer if I already had a Daring Apprentice.  The Apprentices were to stop Upheaval, Chainer recurred the Apprentices.  If I couldn’t stop the Upheaval, then I searched for Evacuation or Spinal Embrace to try to stop the Pyschatog itself.   Wheel and Deal was a spicy meta decision that got me a few games.  You play it in response to Upheaval late game if there isn’t a Psychatog already on the field.  This means they usually have it in hand. There is a possibility of drawing another, but it is lower in late game. Especially if you have already killed a few.

Big  problem with this build.  It is really weak to fast aggro.  What was EVERYONE else running at the time?  RG Beats.  So lesson learned.  Don’t over specialize in a meta.  

Eventually I just got tired of playing against Tog and started running a deck that intentionally drew every game with an endless Faceless Butcher loop.  That got me kicked out of a store once.

[daily-mtg-tarot]

Concentrate upon your question, and draw from a deck of 173 blue and black cards with CMC between 3 and 5...

The Present

Coerced Confession

{4}{U/B}

Sorcery

Target player puts the top four cards of his or her library into his or her graveyard. You draw a card for each creature card put into that graveyard this way.

The Challenge

Dementia Sliver

{3}{U}{B}

Creature — Sliver

All Slivers have "{T}: Choose a card name. Target opponent reveals a card at random from his or her hand. If that card has the chosen name, that player discards it. Activate this ability only during your turn."

3 / 3

The Past

Psychatog

{1}{U}{B}

Creature — Atog

Discard a card: Psychatog gets +1/+1 until end of turn.

Exile two cards from your graveyard: Psychatog gets +1/+1 until end of turn.

1 / 2

The Future

Torpor Dust

{2}{U/B}

Enchantment — Aura

Flash

Enchant creature

Enchanted creature gets -3/-0.

Above

Clutch of the Undercity

{1}{U}{U}{B}

Instant

Return target permanent to its owner's hand. Its controller loses 3 life.

Transmute {1}{U}{B} ({1}{U}{B}, Discard this card: Search your library for a card with the same converted mana cost as this card, reveal it, and put it into your hand. Then shuffle your library. Transmute only as a sorcery.)

Below

Grixis Sojourners

{1}{U}{B}{R}

Creature — Zombie Ogre

When you cycle Grixis Sojourners or it dies, you may exile target card from a graveyard.

Cycling {2}{B} ({2}{B}, Discard this card: Draw a card.)

4 / 3

Advice

Diregraf Captain

{1}{U}{B}

Creature — Zombie Soldier

Deathtouch

Other Zombie creatures you control get +1/+1.

Whenever another Zombie you control dies, target opponent loses 1 life.

2 / 2

External Influences

Glen Elendra Liege

{1}{U/B}{U/B}{U/B}

Creature — Faerie Knight

Flying

Other blue creatures you control get +1/+1.

Other black creatures you control get +1/+1.

2 / 3

Hopes/Fears

Moroii

{2}{U}{B}

Creature — Vampire

Flying

At the beginning of your upkeep, you lose 1 life.

4 / 4

Outcome

Glint-Eye Nephilim

{U}{B}{R}{G}

Creature — Nephilim

Whenever Glint-Eye Nephilim deals combat damage to a player, draw that many cards.

{1}, Discard a card: Glint-Eye Nephilim gets +1/+1 until end of turn.

2 / 2

[zoydraft]

Dimir Artifacts drafted by DF, February 2, 2024.

This deck had a very hard time in the early game, but it was very informative for the future of the cube.

DF ended up here going hard on hand hate early in the draft before moving in on Ethersworn Sphinx. A pretty mean suite was taken out of the deck.

DF: "The discard version fared even worse. I was playing against ML who wanted cards to be discarded anyways so I felt like I was just helping him. And the discarding didn't slow him down enough for me to get my cards out. There was some cool interaction between Sewer Nemesis and Psychatog. That interaction was the highlight of the night for me. Every other game was me just getting brutalized haha."

Looking at the pool, DF is totally right that this deck was way too slow, and I think that's a product of the list. Broodstar, Network Terminal, Immortal Coil, and Keening Stone stand out as cards that should be replaced, plus Colossus Hammer not having an enabler. Outside of this deck, Leveler and Darksteel Garrison look like they should get cut as well.

There were a bunch of cards I didn't include for budget or availability reason, but this convinced me that at least some of them are important for a fun list: Silver Myr, Vault Skirge, Cranial Plating, Memnite, Puresteel Paladin, Mishra's Bauble, Mystic Forge, Myr Enforcer, and Mishra's Factory. On top of that, I'm now considering Gingerbrute, Signal Pest, Bone Saw, Brass Squire, Bonesplitter, Terrarion, and Mind Stone. Basically anything to make the artifacts deck more explosive.

The other question is whether artifacts being focused in White-Blue is too narrow. I think for smaller cubes (this cube is 260 right now) putting themes across 3 colours works better. It could stretch into Red, but I'd rather go into Black, to differentiate it from my main cube, which has a little bit of an artifact theme across the Jeskai colours. The counter point is that the artifact deck could just be heavy on colourless, as you see in this deck.

Oh, also, I want the Tron lands to be in triplicate, my LGS just didn't have them in stock.

[mtg-cards-hourly]

Psychatog

Artist: Edward P. Beard, Jr. TCG Player Link Scryfall Link EDHREC Link