Psychic Frog Legacy ban in MTG, explained

Banning is nothing new in the history of Magic: The Gathering , but the legacy format is rarely hit in the form of banned cards. In recent history, however, Legacy has been hit with several banned cards that have had a huge impact on the meta.

Jegantha the Wellspring Banned in Magic The Gathering's Modern Format.

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This time, only one card was restricted to the format: a blue and black frog creature that does a lot for just two mana. If you were wondering why Psychic Frog was removed from the format, we have all the details for you.

What is a mental frog?

The Magic The Gathering Card Psychic Frog by Pete Venters

This humble little fellow has run rampant through Legacy in the two main decklists, offering a very consistent strategy that has become a little too good to keep around. There is a mental frog Three abilities for only two mana in 1/2 bodyWhich is already pretty cool. Although it has a somewhat difficult mana commitment of one blue and one black mana, it is not difficult to inherit. The Three Abilities of the Mental Frog All are very good, and they can Work together to set up some powerful plays. Frog anytime Dealing combat damage to a player or planeswalker they control, you gain Draw a cardWhich is very good.

Banned Magic The Gathering Card The One Ring.

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Then, you can Cancel the card at any time you like Put a +1/+1 counter on it. Being able to cancel the card at an instant speed allows you to Fill your grave at any time As you like, set yourself up for plays whenever you need them. And finally, you can Exile three cards from your grave Give a flying frog a turn. This ability may not be used often, but it is still a good way to draw some cards or take some damage to close out the game.

Why was the mental frog banned in the inheritance?

The Magic The Gathering Card Psychic Frog Full Art by Chuck Lukacs.

Basically, there was a mental frog Dimir Reanimator and Dimir Murktide played extensively in the deckwhich had been dominating the format for a long time. Earlier in 2024, Elemental Shock was banned in Legacy to help reduce the deck's prominence, though not enough to balance the meta out. As it stands, Dimir Reanimator was being played with more frequency than most other decks in the format. When the deck takes on a lot of meta, this Either one not having enough answers will knock out the other decks Troubled decks or Players who choose to jump ship to the best performing decks To try and win more.

Psychic Frog works so well on Dimir Reanimator because of its ability Draw more cards to find your reanimator targets faster. Once you do, you get a free way to pitch it to your graveyard to easily bring it back. Being able to do this at instant speed helps you clear more graveyards, waiting to set up plays when your opponent isn't able to interact.

Nadu, the Wisdom of Magic is being banned in The Gathering Commander.

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In Dimir Murktide, most of the other decks and other variations of the Murktide decklist were being forced. Given Psychic Frog's tight mana restrictions, and the need to be able to play it on curve, players won't be distracted by a two-mana version of the deck. This same effect is seen in Dimir Murktide decklists. There is a mental frog Strong enough to stop people from exploring adding white, red or green to these blue-based tempo decks. who Increase the variety between existing archetypes without completely removing them from the patternMental frog is banned.

Could something else be restricted to inheritance instead?

The Magic The Gathering Card Reanimate by Johann Bodin.

There really isn't anything like Psychic Frog, there weren't many other options available to the teams behind Magic: The Gathering to limit the power of these Dimir decks in Legacy. short Restricting other key cards to the archetype like Entomb or ReanimateThe deck continues to be just as strong.

The problem with banning cards like those two, however, will be this Too many archetypesSo it will lack so much power it will be one Completely removing the deck from Legacy. Not to mention, there will still be a very powerful blue and black frog running around that will dominate the format.

Will Mental Frog ever be banned?

While there's no such thing as never being said in magic, it's unlikely that Psychic Frog will be returning to Legacy anytime soon. While the Frog has plenty of removal in Legacy to deal with, having such a versatile creature in the format makes it a bit of a focal point in the game, paving the way for bigger threats to stay safely on the board.

With the need to ban Psychic Frog it's unlikely that Wizards of the Coast will print another card similar to Frog, as they don't want to risk banning another card from the infinite format.

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