Over the past few years, we’ve seen a ton of absolutely incredible creatures get printed and change common play dynamics in Modern and Legacy. We are long past the days where Young Pyromancer was a premier two-drop option. Now, we have cards like Orcish Bowmasters that blow old threats out of the water.
Yet, as good as Orcish Bowmasters is, we’re in a spot where another black two-drop has taken its seat atop the throne. If you’ve been keeping up with Modern, Legacy, and Vintage, you likely know by now how incredible Psychic Frog is. It grows quickly. It generates card advantage. You can even use it as a discard outlet and give it evasion to deal a bunch of damage at once. The card simply does everything you want.
Well, there’s a strong argument to be made that the card just does too much. As players continue to clamor for a Grief ban in Legacy, Psychic Frog is hiding in the shadows. This card is rather problematic, and we could easily reach a point where a Grief ban isn’t enough. We’ve seen other potent cheap creatures cause major issues in recent years, and Psychic Frog looks poised to be the next card to fit the bill.
Taking Reanimator to the Next Level
- Mana Value: UB
- Rarity: Rare
- Stats: 1/2
- Text: Whenever Psychic Frog deals combat damage to a player or planeswalker, draw a card. Discard a card: Put a +1/+1 counter on Psychic Frog. Exile three cards from your graveyard: Psychic Frog gains flying until end of turn.
In the context of Legacy, Psychic Frog has taken an already frustrating archetype and made it significantly better. Prior to MH3, Dimir Reanimator was still an incredible deck that had some players wishing Grief weren’t around. Grief’s presence provided the deck with a similar gameplan as Scam decks in Modern.
However, instead of having to play more situational cards like Not Dead After All, this strategy made use of Reanimate as a versatile powerhouse. Bringing back Grief immediately is great, as is quickly grabbing and recurring Atraxa, Grand Unifier thanks to Entomb.
What really put this deck over the edge was the fact that, unlike traditional Reanimator shells of old, this deck didn’t fold to graveyard hate. Cards like Dauthi Voidwalker added a nice backup plan. Well, Psychic Frog takes this notion and kicks it up a notch.
First of all, it synergizes perfectly with the deck’s main gameplan. You don’t have to worry about your big fatties getting stuck in hand. Second, Psychic Frog is much harder to kill than Dauthi Voidwalker, making it a perfect threat to attack with on an alternate angle. Damage-based removal like Lightning Bolt or even Fury out of mono-red prison doesn’t cut it. At the same time, blocking is a nightmare since you can pump Psychic Frog at will.
The reality is, there’s a good chance that even after a Grief ban, Psychic Frog decks continue to dominate. The play patterns associated with Psychic Frog aren’t the most enjoyable, which has players worried about the future of the format. And while it may seem a bit strange to call for a ban to a two-drop that can be answered by Swords to Plowshares and the like, we’ve seen this movie before.
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An Interesting Comparison
- Mana Value: 1R
- Rarity: Rare
- Stats: 1/3
- Text: Trample. Whenever Dreadhorde Arcanist attacks, you may cast target instant or sorcery card with converted mana cost less than or equal to Dreadhorde Arcanist’s power from your graveyard without paying its mana cost. If that card would be put into your graveyard this turn, exile it instead.
As of right now, the deck that is drawing the most attention in Legacy is certainly Dimir Reanimator. Yet, it was none other than Grixis tempo that won the SCG Baltimore Legacy $5k this past weekend. This deck is constructed in a way that closely resembles traditional Grixis Delver decks, just without the namesake card.
Instead, Nethergoyf and Psychic Frog run the show. From there, Daze and Wasteland do a fantastic job protecting your threats util you can cross the finish line. This deck style is nothing new, but the role Psychic Frog plays is huge and frankly, a bit concerning.
This isn’t the first time we’ve had a two-drop that, despite there being ample answers in the format, ended up getting banned for the massive advantage it can create over time. As you may guess, I’m referring to the ban of Dreadhorde Arcanist. Dreadhorde Arcanist isn’t a busted card by any means. In the context of Legacy, though, the card proved to be too much to handle.
The real culprits were incredible cantrips to flashback, like Brainstorm, alongside elite ways to protect Dreadhorde Arcanist, such as Daze. These cards have proven themselves to be pillars of the format, which has forced cards like Dreadhorde Arcanist that play absurdly well with them out of the format. Psychic Frog is easily better than Dreadhorde Arcanist in this context. The card has warped the format more than you might expect, forcing players to move off Lightning Bolt and other commonly played removal spells to try to beat the Frog menace.
Nonetheless, Psychic Frog can still easily prevail if you have your free disruption ready. Assuming Grief gets banned, this deck is the logical place that Reanimator players will turn to. This could easily lead to Dimir/Grixis Tempo decks taking over, unfortunately replacing one issue with another. Psychic Frog is truly an insane card, and Legacy isn’t the only place it shines.
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Multi-Format Monster
- Mana Value: 1GU
- Rarity: Rare
- Stats: 3/4
- Text: Flying. Creatures you control have “Whenever this creature becomes the target of a spell or ability, reveal the top card of your library. If it’s a land card, put it onto the battlefield. Otherwise, put it into your hand. This ability triggers only twice each turn.”
Much like how Psychic Frog is being overshadowed by Grief in Legacy, the existence of Nadu, Winged Wisdom in Modern has had similar consequences. If Nadu gets the axe in August, more players will likely turn to Psychic Frog decks that line up well against Galvanic Discharge shells.
Dimir midrange with Psychic Frog and Murktide Regent has grown in popularity, but Psychic Frog is showing up in all sorts of places. Believe it or not, the card has found its way into Modern Merfolk as just an amazing card on rate. If that doesn’t scream how homogenous the card is becoming, I don’t know what does.
Not to mention, we haven’t even taken into account how ridiculous the card is in Vintage. The card singlehandedly wins games in Lurrus Saga shells, especially considering how weak basic removal spells are in the format as a whole. With access to so many free spells, the card advantage aspect is easily abusable.
Players are starting to become frustrated by the role Psychic Frog plays in determining how matches play out. Depending on how bans shape out in the coming months, things may only get worse. Psychic Frog is one of the best creatures ever printed, so don’t be surprised if its numbers continue to climb.
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