[Peasant Magic] Psychatog

[Ephraim]

Almost a year ago, I suggested that Psychatog could be a playable uncommon in Peasant Magic. At the time, Tides with Brain Freeze was the dominant deck and conventional wisdom dictated that two- or three-colour decks were not feasible. Furthermore, I was not sufficiently familiar with any Psychatog decks to build a reasonable facsimile of one in Peasant Magic. Brain Freeze has since been banned, slowing down the format, I've done enough testing to convince myself that the conventional wisdom is incorrect, and I've looked at enough Psychatog decks to have some idea what I am doing.

There really isn't anything particularly unusual about my build, except that it's tailored to Peasant Magic.

Creatures (3)
3 Psychatog (U)

Disruption (8)
4 Prohibit
4 Rend Flesh

Card Drawing (15)
3 Mental Note
4 Frantic Search
4 Deep Analysis
2 Fact or Fiction (U)
2 Gush

Miscellaneous Tools (10)
3 Reckless Charge
4 Shadow Rift
3 Fling

Land (24)
6 Mountain
7 Swamp
11 Island

Sideboard (tentative)
4 Infiltrate
4 Diabolic Edict

***

The part of this deck with which I am most concerned is the disruption package. There are a variety of options here and my decision hinges mostly on balancing versatility with potence.

Prohibit is a potent, splashable counter, when I don't have to worry about things costing more than two mana. Although Prohibit will often be able to counter the spells I'll see, this deck is proof enough that I may be facing more expensive spells: Psychatog, Fact or Fiction, and Gush are all hard to counter with Prohibit. I will be considering and testing Mana Leak, Thoughtbind, and Arcane Denial in this position.

Rend Flesh was selected because it has optimal versatility. Innocent Blood or Diabolic Edict may come down cheaper, but in a format that is heavy with creatures, they are seldom going to do anything about the real threat to my survival. Rend Flesh costs more, but it allows me to ignore my opponent's feeble mana elves and go after the Tangle Golem he just cast. Terminate would also be good in this position, but I'm afraid of depending on a spell that requires both of my non-dominant colours.

Fling serves the same purpose in this deck as Berserk does in traditional Psychatog builds. It is often difficult to get Psychatog's power up to 20, but it is trivial to get it up to 10. Fling has won many games for me during testing. In some ways, it is better than Berserk. I had begun pumping my 'Tog (okay, so it's bad to pump 'Tog before he's declared as an attacker -- I played poorly) and my opponent tapped him down with Ice. I happened to have enough cards to get him up to 20 and I had Fling in my hand, so I still won that turn.

Reckless Charge may seem a little bit iffy, but it's very solid. Granting haste is good, since it often helps this deck to maintain the element of surprise, dropping 'Tog the same turn it plans on winning. Without the +3/+0 bonus, this card would never make the cut. With it, it's almost indispensible. Starting off with a 4/2 'Tog for for one mana and one card really makes it easy to get a 10/x creature for the turn.

Again, because this is such a creature-heavy format, unblockability is extremely valuable. Shadow Rift fulfils this need admirably. I pack Infiltrate in the sideboard (for now) to combat aggro decks that pack both shadow and normal creatures.

The card-drawing package may undergo some minor changes. I have yet to test with more Gush and fewer Deep Analysis. Although Deep Analysis is very good to me, 3/3 may be a possibility. As it stands, it's pretty easy to be holding a Gush when I want to swing for the win and Deep Analysis is really good for building up to that position.

[Nazdakka]

That's a very strange 'Tog deck... it is very aggressive. You seem to have an awful lot of cards in there which don't do anything to help your primary plan of buying time and controlling the game (10 cards devoted to making 'Tog better, including Rift AND Fling, which both do exactly the same thing.) and very little which does anything to help you control the game. 'Tog is a control deck at heart, and should be built as such. Also, please don't play Prohibit. Mana Leak, Power Sink, Condesend, and many others are better than it :-/.

I'll give a couple ideas of how I might convert old T2-style 'Tog into Peasant:

Option 1: 'Zevatog' (Popular soon after 'Tog was discovered, aimed to use bounce and Standstills to live the 9 turns it needed to get the winning combo of 8 land+Upheaval+Psychatog)

Creatures:
4 Psychatog (U)

Disruption/Tempo Theft:
4 Counterspell
4 Mana Leak
4 Rend Flesh
4 Repulse
4 Aether Burst


Draw:
4 Deep Analysis (There could be something better for this slot)
4 Gush
1 Fact or Fiction (U)

Upheaval:
3 Shadow Rift (poss. Infiltrate, meta dependant)

Land:
7 Swamp
17 Island


The plan: Bounce, counter, draw, bounce, kill, bounce, draw, 'Tog, counter, Shadow Rift, 'Oops, I win!'

Other cards: Ghastly Demise would like a slot, and 8 counters is not as many as I would like. Against a more controlling meta the bounce obviously sucks and should be replaced, probably with Duress. For even more creature hate, consider Exclude.


Option 2: 'Dark Tog'. Much more creature kill in here, this is a slower, more controlling version.

Creatures:
3 Psychatog

Disruption:
4 Counterspell
4 Mana Leak
2 Power Sink (???)
4 Duress
4 Rend Flesh
4 Diabolic Edict

Draw:
4 Gush
1 Deep Analysis
2 Fact or Fiction (U)

Upheaval:
2 Shadow Rift/Infiltrate

Land:
9 Swamp
17 Island

The plan: Control the game, don't worry about winning fast. Gush gives the 'huge hand' end of Upheaval when required for the kill, but survival is the main objective for much of the game. This is a control deck, treat it as such.

Options: Might want more D.A.s in place of some creature kill. Ghastly Demise would like a slot here too. Power Sink has ?s because I'm not sure what is the best counter for this slot, while the Duresses could be moved to the SB, depending on the metagame. Again, Exclude is a SB posssibility against creature decks.

[Edit: I see what's happened here: You've tried to port Vintage 'Tog, which looks nothing like the T2 builds I am familiar with. I think T2 is a better starting point, as you simply haven't got the draw power in Peasant which makes Hulk into a viable Vintage deck, and so you have to use conventional control strategies as opposed to Hulk's combo-control plan]

[Ephraim]

Thank you for the commentary, Nazdakka. The first 'Tog build that you suggested is actually very similar to the build I tried back when I first suggested Pyschatog in Peasant Magic. You are right, by the way, that my current version bears greater resemblance to Vintage Psychatog decks than it does to Standard Psychatog decks. Keep in mind, however, that access to multiple copies of both Frantic Search and Fact or Fiction really does provide the Peasant version with "the draw power...which makes Hulk into a viable...deck." Although they are weaker than the overtly broken card drawers in Vintage, the format is several turns slower, which gives them time to come online.

You have criticized the presence of ten cards that make Psychatog better, presumably 4 Shadow Rift, 3 Fling, 3 Reckless Charge. The reason I have included both Shadow Rift and Fling is precisely because they do not do the same thing. Yes, they both ensure that damage gets past blockers, but more importantly, I can use both of them in the same turn. As previously noted, it is difficult to get enough cards in my hand and graveyard to give Psychatog 20 power. By giving it shadow/unblockability and having the ability to Fling it, I drastically increase my ability to win in a single turn, relatively early in the game (before I have been eaten alive by swarm aggro.) On the other hand, your deck uses more than twice as much disruption than mine does -- clear indication of a pure control deck with a Psychatog win, rather than a control/combo deck. I am willing to test with your build, but I am afraid that the control options available in Peasant will not be sufficient to defend me until such point as I swing with a 20-power Psychatog, which will take considerably longer without the increased quantity of card-drawers. Your build has six fewer card-drawers than mine does and I feel that they're of somewhat lower quality. Gush is fantastic when swinging for the win, but is difficult to use when trying to establish board position adequate to swing for the win. Although Repulse may be classified as a card-drawer as well, I'd almost certainly fill that slot with Number Crunch, from Unhinged.

From the second build, I like the increased potence of the disrution package, but the card-drawing package is even more anemic than that of the first build. I was under the impression that Psychatog decks are at their finest when drawing lots of cards. I fail to understand why it behooves a deck to draw cards at a stately pace and try to control the game, when instead it could just draw many cards and win early, worrying about control only as much as absolutely necessary.

Generally, what I dislike about both of these builds is that they increase my dependence on having a 20-power Psychatog, while decreasing my ability to get one.

[Hi-Val]

I remember when I was fooling around with Pez Tog that I had Nightscape Familiars in the deck. They really help punch your draw spells out and are great at early defense. I think I ran 2 Psychatog, 3 Fact or Fiction and 4 Gush as well as some other things. The low number of Togs was offset by running an Unearth or two as well, so if one died I could just reanimate it. Hope this is of some use to you.

[Ephraim]

I'll see about Nightscape Familiar. I tried the 2 Psychatog/3 Fact or Fiction build with Unearths, but it turned out that sometimes, I just had too much trouble finding 'Tog in the first place (let alone having to worry about reanimating it.) Since switching to 3 'Tog/2 Fact, I've been able to find Psychatog much more consistently and have decided that he gets to my hand consistently enough (even with 3 Mental Note) that I don't need to bother with Unearth, which cleared up space that I could use for better cards.

[Nazdakka]

I remember when I was fooling around with Pez Tog that I had Nightscape Familiars in the deck. They really help punch your draw spells out and are great at early defense. I think I ran 2 Psychatog, 3 Fact or Fiction and 4 Gush as well as some other things. The low number of Togs was offset by running an Unearth or two as well, so if one died I could just reanimate it. Hope this is of some use to you.

I should have thought of that :-/. Nightscape is superb and was an auto 4-of back in IN-OD T2, I just forgot him... I'd probably add him to the first deck I posted by cutting 2 DA and 2 Repulse, and to the second by cutting the Duresses.

Ephraim: Carlos Romao won a World Championship with 9 draw spells + 4 Repulse in his 'Tog deck (Counting Cunning Wish for FoF as a draw spell). Also, sorry about the Fling/Rift error, I missed that trick... it makes you a fair bit faster.

Anyhow, I guess the key question is 'can your version kill fast enough?'. Your deck clearly aims to use its light disruption to stall an aggro opponent long enough to combo out with Tog+Rift and/or Fling, but what I'm wondering is whether you can buy that much time with 4 Rends and 4 Prohibits as protection, as well as having enough laft in the tank to protect the 'Tog. If your testing says you can, then fair enough I guess .

My experiance in T2 was that 'Tog in that format had to start out controlling the game before going for the giant 'Tog. Even the Upheaval-centric builds similar to the top one would aim to survive until around turn 9, cast Upheaval, and then drop land + 'Tog to go for the kill. You seem almost entirely dedicated to feeding up the 'Tog with Frantic Search, Mental Note, Reckless charge, with little in the way of actual card advantage.

Anyhow, if I were going your way, this is what I might consider doing:

-2 Deep Analysis, +2 Gush. Gush reads 'target Psychatog gets +6/+6', and that synergy had a lot to do with Gush's subsequant restriction. If you are going for speed, then 4*Gush is not optional. DA is probably your weakest draw spell, and so makes way.

-4 Prohibit, +4 Mana Leak. I realise you dislike Mana Leak, but if you are going for a fast kill then hopefully your opponent won't last long enough for them to be able to pay 3 mana.

+4 Nightscape Familiar. -4 ?. Combo with Frantic Search, a regenerating blocker, and a discount on your spells. Nothing here to dislike.

Hope this helps

[Edit: Romao had 9 draw spells, not 7]

[Ephraim]

Looking over what coverage I can find from 2002 Worlds, the deck of choice seemed to be Psychatog. Squirrel Opposition was also present, but was outnumbered 3:1 in the top 8. It appears that the expected field was somewhat lighter on creatures than the field I am anticipating. Nonetheless, I am sure that Psychatog at the time was prepared to beat random aggro (and Squirrel Opposition, obviously). If nothing else, I will strongly consider replacing Rend Flesh with Repulse. If I make many changes that slow down the deck, I may need to add Rend Flesh again, but since it is really only there to buy me tempo, Repulse will do the trick (and will tighten the manabase a little bit.) One thing I have to take into consideration, however, is that that World Champion deck was built in a Standard environment. I'm not going to abandon the notion that a faster build may be better, simply because a faster build may not have been possible when those decks were built.

[Ephraim]

I took to heart some of the suggestions made earlier. I'm still hanging on to the red component, though. I really like what Fling does for the deck. I've begun to consider what my sideboard ought to look like. In general, Peasant metagames are janky, so the first concern is that I ought to be prepared for aggro. In that regard, I'm pretty sure that I win the race. The only creature-aggro matchup that really concerns me is Affinity. Straight burn or burn with Isochron Scepter is a little bit harder to deal with, because it necessitates protecting the Psychatog rather fiercely. Against Elfclamp, I think it's a headlong race to combo out. Against black control decks with Pestillence, I am pretty sure that I can pump 'Tog beyond the capacity of Pestillence to kill it. I am uncertain of my matchup versus ProsTides. I'm not sure whether the deck kills in one turn or not. If it doesn't, then Prosperity is only going to help me do what I want to do.

The maindeck now looks like this:

Creatures (7)
3 Psychatog (U)
4 Nightscape Familiar

Disruption (8)
4 Mana Leak
4 Repulse

Card Drawing (12)
2 Fact or Fiction (U)
2 Gush
4 Frantic Search
4 Deep Analysis

'Tog to the Dome (9)
3 Shadow Rift
3 Reckless Charge
3 Fling

Land (24)
6 Mountain
7 Swamp
11 Island

Sideboard
3 Infiltrate
3 Pyroblast
3 Shattering Pulse
3 Number Crunch
3 Arc Lightning

***

Most of the tools in the sideboard are present to enable contingency plans, should I wish to make the deck more controlling post-sideboard. Pyroblast can come in to defend against Prosperity or any other blue-heavy deck. Shattering Pulse gives me some game versus Affinity. Arc Lightning helps me to stave off the initial rush from a swarm aggro deck. All three of these sideboard options can replace 2 Reckless Charge and 1 Fling when I side them in. Number Crunch can give me an all-around tighter grip on the board. I am NOT certain which matchups it strengthens, but I feel that 4 Repulse may not be enough bounce, in which case, Number Crunch can be sided in to give me more room to breathe.

[IndyTerminator]

When we play Peasant around here there is someone who plays a Tog build that's pretty good. One of the main differences is that it is strickly U/B and that it uses Wash-Out. A lot of decks in Pez are mono color so Wash Out can become like a one-sided Evacuation that could swing tempo and the game in your favor.

[Ephraim]

How do people feel about replacing [card]Shadow Rift[/card] with [card]Veil of Secrecy[/card]? It loses the card-draw, which is a big perk of Shadow Rift, but it also acts as a pseudo-counterspell for protecting Psychatog and Nightscape Familiar.