Psychatog

Favorite Card Revelation

New • 14 Feb 2023 • Asked by gevth • 60 Comments

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.
Black Card Printing Creatures Dimir (U/B) Discard Doubling Season Flavor Formidable Head Designer Humor Mark Rosewater Psychatog Torment Your Hand

Mega Standard Format Proposal

New • 07 Feb 2022 • Asked by mysterio797 • 64 Comments

Hello Mark, new idea for a format that would shake up the meta called “Mega Standard” where a player can use any deck that was legal in standard at one point
Example: Psychatog deck from odyssey could play against a current standard deck (definitely would need to ban certain cards from Urza block like Tolarian Academy) What do you think?

This was actually a format I played at one of the Magic Invitationals.
Bannings Format Legality Odyssey Psychatog Standard Tolarian Academy Urza

Oldschool Combos Reprinting Request

New • 03 Oct 2021 • Asked by cairnwanderer • 30 Comments

Hi Mark, could I request more oldschool combos be reprinted into Standard? Are things like ProsBloom and Psychatog too powerful for Standard in this era?

Not a play designer, but yes, I believe so.
Psychatog Reprints Standard

Psychatog Trivia

New • 16 Jul 2017 • Asked by imajoel • 48 Comments

It is my birthday today, can I get some trivia on my favorite card: Psychatog?

Psychatog was originally the name for the white/blue Atog in the cycle, but at the last minute I swapped its name with the blue/black one (I was in charge of names for Odyssey) because I thought Psychatog was the best name and the blue/black one was the strongest card.Happy Birthday!
Atog Azorius (W/U) Birthday Black Blue Cycles Dimir (U/B) Odyssey Psychatog White

Psychatog Standard Power

New • 04 Jan 2017 • Asked by protectionfrominstants-blog • 18 Comments

FYI: Ian gave a detailed answer to the question of whether Psychatog would be too powerful for Standard on the wizardsdeveloper tumblr a few months ago

FYI
Blogatog / Tumblr Psychatog Standard

Psychatog Reprint Possibility

New • 03 Jan 2017 • Asked by imajoel • 30 Comments

Can I get a maybe on a Standard reprint of my favorite card: Psychatog?

My internal developer senses (note, not a developer) says “way too powerful to reprint in Standard”.
Card Printing Not a developer Psychatog Reprints Standard

Power of Psychatog

New • 04 May 2015 • Asked by griefermadness • 25 Comments

Is Psychatog too good for standard? (presumably without upheaval)

Not a developer, but yes and I believe it’s not close.
Not a developer Psychatog Standard

Psychatog Trivia

New • 17 Dec 2014 • Asked by dimiralwayslies • 36 Comments

MaRo! Its that the of year! My birthday! I was wondering if you had any trivia on my favorite creature Psychatog? Or perhaps maybe even some info on The House Dimir. Thank you! :)

Psychatog was called Phantaog and Phantatog was called Psychatog until very late in the process. (Remember I was in charge of names for Odyssey.)  It became clear to me in development that the blue/black atog was going to be the best one and I felt Psychatog was the best name so I swapped the names between the two cards to put the better name on the more powerful card. Happy Birthday!
Appreciation Atog Birthday Black Blue Creatures Dimir (U/B) Mark Rosewater Odyssey Phantatog Psychatog

Upheaval's Playtest Name

New • 09 Apr 2014 • Asked by uncledragi • 17 Comments

Soooo, we give up. What was Upheaval's playtest name? Feed the Psychatog?

It was called Eye of the Storm.
Eye Eye of the Storm Keyword Abilities Playtesting Psychatog

Psychatog Strategy Excitement

New • 01 Mar 2014 • Asked by wobbles • 19 Comments

"I'm going to get 4 cards in hand to feed to my Psychatog!" Tom gushed

: )
Psychatog Your Hand

Psychatog Creation

New • 28 Feb 2014 • Asked by maxwellperlman • 14 Comments

Hey MaRo, Who designed psychatog? I am in a quest to get mine signed by both the designer and Edward P Beard Jr.

I designed Psychatog. I actually designed the whole gold cycle in Odyssey. Randy Buehler wanted to add a multicolor agog cycle and I came up with a a design. I also convinced him to put Atogatog in which I had made for Unglued 2 which never happened.
Atogatog Mark Rosewater Never Happened Odyssey Psychatog Unglued

Psychatog's Potential Impact

New • 14 Aug 2013 • Asked by maxwellperlman • 10 Comments

If it were reprinted, would psychatog break modern/standard like it has broken previous formats?

Yes, I believe it would.
Card Printing Modern Psychatog Reprints Standard

Dimir's Power Level

New • 18 Apr 2013 • Asked by deathcloud86 • 20 Comments

Why did Dimir in Gatecrash and Dragon's Maze get the shaft? Least powerful guild mechanic because development killed it, no playable cards for Spikes in constructed formats, weakest guild in Gatecrash draft, and nothing previewed yet has excited us Dimir fans. Are we in for a surprise? I'm honestly trying to give constructive criticism here. Back in the day we would get Dralnu, Glimpse, Psychatog...I'll even take Consult the Necrosages at this point to draft with.

Check out the card galleries for a card called Notion Thief. That’s the Dimir card that’s been previewed that’s spurred the most talk so far.
Constructed Consult the Necrosages Dimir (U/B) Dragon Dragon's Maze Gatecrash Gates Limited Mechanics Notion Thief Psychatog Spike Two Color

Blue Creatures Analysis

New • 18 Jun 2012 • Asked by necrogenesis • 2 Comments

When you say Blue has "the smallest percentage of good creatures," are you referring to "good in theory" or "good in practice?" Blue has a long history of strong creatures if you look at constructed tournaments. Not just Faeries. There's also Merfolk, Illusions, Morphling, Psychatog, Inkwell Leviathon, Consecrated Sphinx, and the list goes on.

I was saying compared to other colors.  Also, some of blue’s early powerful creatures, weren’t powerful, they were just the best creatures in blue which was such a powerful color that simply good creatures were enough.
Blue Colors Consecrated Sphinx Constructed Creatures Faerie Illusion Merfolk Morphling Psychatog Sphinx

Psychatog's Power Level

New • 18 Jun 2012 • Asked by homemdosgalos • 2 Comments

Actually, i do understand the power of Psychatog, i really doubt that it could warp a format nowadays like it did before. Creatures became much more powerful than before, and aggro strategies are nowadays pretty strong vs this type of strategies. But i believe it could have a place in Modern, where it could see some play. Though Psychatog is in the Top10, it doesn't see play in Legacy, the main format we could see it being used. So, the argument of being "too powerful" kind of vanishes.

Just because a card doesn’t see play in Legacy (or any format) at the moment is not a proper test on its power level. Often times, very powerful cards just don’t quite click in a certain metagame.
Creatures Legacy Modern Power Level Psychatog The Moment

Psychatog's Power

New • 17 Jun 2012 • Asked by relentlessasrats-blog • 2 Comments

Psychatog is only on the list of "10 best creatures ever printed" if you include Morphling and Serra Angel on there as well. Magic has progressed very far in terms of creature power since his day, and I'm not sure he'd even be playable in Standard in this day and age. In cube, for example, Psychatog is a decent threat, but there are numerous better creatures and planeswalkers to serve as control finishers, all of which were printed in recent years.

You underestimate the power of Psychatog. Just because creatures have gotten better overall doesn’t mean we didn’t print a few overpowered creatures in the old days. (I find it weird to call Odyssey “the old days”.)
Angel Card Printing Creatures Cube Draft Morphling Odyssey Planeswalkers Psychatog Serra Angel Standard

Psychatog Reprint Potential

New • 16 Jun 2012 • Asked by homemdosgalos • 3 Comments

Since it's my favorite creature ever printed, can we expect Psychatog to be back ever?

Psychatog is one of the top ten most powerful creatures ever made, so its chances of being reprinted in an expert expansion are low.
Card Printing Creatures Psychatog Reprints

Portions of Marodigest are unofficial Fan Content permitted under the Wizards of the Coast Fan Content Policy. The literal and graphical information presented on this site about Magic: The Gathering, including card images and mana symbols, is copyright Wizards of the Coast, LLC. Marodigest is not produced by or endorsed by Wizards of the Coast. All other content © 2024 Webscape Internet Engineers. All rights reserved.