Tier 2control

Psychatog

Combo-Control

Featured list~$846Event @ Confluencia TCG (Neuquén, Argentina)

Overview

"Psychatog is a blue-black combo-control deck built around a Xerox engine of cheap cantrips (Portent, Opt, and Impulse) that fills the graveyard while filtering toward answers, with Accumulated Knowledge and Gush providing burst card advantage. Counterspell, Duress, Smother, Foil, and Circular Logic answer threats across every phase until a single Psychatog is pumped to lethal by discarding the remaining hand and exiling the graveyard. Wonder, active from the graveyard, grants that Psychatog flying so it swings over ground blockers for the kill."

Game Plan

Focus on 1-for-1 disruption in the early game using Counterspell, Duress, and Smother. Transition into a resource-gathering phase with Gush and Fact or Fiction. Finally, deploy Psychatog and use 'Tog Math' (discarding hand and exiling graveyard) to swing for lethal, often using Wonder to grant flying.

Key Cards

Core engine & flex

Signature

Psychatog

$9.49

TCG MP CK

Counterspell

$2.57

TCG MP CK

Gush

$5.23

TCG MP CK

Accumulated Knowledge

$2.97

TCG MP CK

Polluted Delta

$124.65

TCG MP CK

Duress

$3.70

TCG MP CK

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Sample Decklists

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Event @ Confluencia TCG (Neuquén, Argentina)

1st PlaceMay 22, 2026

Juan Pablo Cervin

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Juan Pablo Cervin

TCG

Mainboard (60)

$737

Creature (5)

$41.54

4Psychatog

$37.961UB

1Wonder

$3.583U

Instant (26)

$108

4Accumulated Knowledge

$11.881U

$10.28UU

$8.053U

$31.622UU

$20.924U

$8.761U

$0.851U

3Opt

$3.60U

3Smother

$11.941B

1Vendetta

$0.50B

Sorcery (9)

$17.66

1Deep Analysis

$1.143U

4Duress

$14.80B

4Portent

$1.72U

Land (20)

$569

10Island

$29.10

4Polluted Delta

$499

2Swamp

$0.84

4Underground River

$40.60

Sideboard (15)

$110

$7.89U

$23.222B

$10.283BB

$0.992U

$17.76U

$0.401BB

$42.634

$6.451B

Est. Total$846

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PM Local #12 @ Magic Lair (Torino, Italy)

1st PlaceMay 20, 2026

Vittorio Piatti

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Vittorio Piatti

TCG

Mainboard (60)

$737

Creature (5)

$41.54

4Psychatog

$37.961UB

1Wonder

$3.583U

Instant (26)

$108

4Accumulated Knowledge

$11.881U

$10.28UU

$8.053U

$31.622UU

$20.924U

$8.761U

$0.851U

3Opt

$3.60U

3Smother

$11.941B

1Vendetta

$0.50B

Sorcery (9)

$17.66

1Deep Analysis

$1.143U

4Duress

$14.80B

4Portent

$1.72U

Land (20)

$569

10Island

$29.10

4Polluted Delta

$499

2Swamp

$0.84

4Underground River

$40.60

Sideboard (15)

$110

$7.89U

$23.222B

$10.283BB

$0.992U

$17.76U

$0.401BB

$42.634

$6.451B

Est. Total$846

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Premodern LeagueMay162026 (2026-05-16)

1st PlaceMay 16, 2026

__forge__

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forge

TCG

Mainboard (60)

$1123

Creature (5)

$41.54

4Psychatog

$37.961UB

1Wonder

$3.583U

Instant (25)

$497

1Intuition

$3432U

4Counterspell

$10.28UU

3Opt

$3.60U

4Gush

$20.924U

4Accumulated Knowledge

$11.881U

4Foil

$63.242UU

3Smother

$11.941B

2Chain of Vapor

$31.70U

Sorcery (12)

$19.04

$1.143U

$1.72U

$14.80B

$1.38U

Land (18)

$566

$0.42

$26.19

$40.60

$499

Sideboard (15)

$118

1Zombie Infestation

$6.451B

3Annul

$7.89U

2Blue Elemental Blast

$3.14U

$23.222B

$8.88U

$66.582

$1.462UU

Est. Total$1241

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Archetype Anatomy

Based on 544 decks with known dates(545 total)2021-05-25 to 2026-06-15

Mana Base

Average20.4lands

Median20lands

Range18–25lands

Spells39.6avg non-land

Based on 540 decks (All-time)

core Cards(>80%)

Psychatog

100%

3.9x

Counterspell

97%

3.9x

Gush

96%

3.7x

Polluted Delta

92%

4.0x

Accumulated Knowledge

91%

4.0x

Duress

84%

3.7x

Smother

82%

2.6x

Underground River

81%

3.5x

flex Cards(30-80%)

Wonder

75%

1.0x

Foil

74%

2.5x

Portent

71%

4.0x

Impulse

64%

3.3x

Opt

60%

3.2x

Fact or Fiction

52%

2.0x

Circular Logic

44%

2.2x

Mana Leak

36%

2.5x

Intuition

34%

1.4x

Powder Keg

33%

1.7x

fringe Cards(<30%)

Deep Analysis

26%

1.2x

Chain of Vapor

24%

1.5x

Cephalid Coliseum

15%

1.1x

Vendetta

15%

1.1x

Force Spike

14%

2.6x

Diabolic Edict

14%

1.5x

Ghastly Demise

13%

1.5x

Flooded Strand

12%

3.7x

Daze

12%

1.6x

Mox Diamond

11%

3.2x

Cunning Wish

11%

2.9x

City of Brass

11%

3.6x

Shadowmage Infiltrator

10%

2.4x

Boomerang

10%

1.1x

Swords to Plowshares

10%

3.8x

2.2x

2.0x

1.1x

1.8x

3.6x

1.2x

2.8x

1.1x

Undiscovered Paradise

1.1x

3.0x

2.3x

1.2x

1.7x

1.7x

2.4x

1.1x

2.0x

1.8x

3.3x

Parallax Tide Banned

2.8x

1.0x

1.5x

1.5x

3.8x

1.2x

2.5x

9.9x

3.3x

2.5x

2.0x

1.9x

1.3x

2.0x

1.3x

4.0x

3.4x

2.0x

1.5x

1.4x

1.4x

1.0x

4.0x

1.0x

1.0x

1.0x

2.8x

1.7x

1.3x

1.0x

1.0x

Sideboard Anatomy

core Sideboard Options(>80%)

Annul

91.2%

2.9x

Engineered Plague

85.9%

3.0x

flex Sideboard Options(30-80%)

Hydroblast

69.2%

2.2x

Blue Elemental Blast

66.3%

2.5x

Tsabo'S Web

60.2%

1.3x

Zombie Infestation

51.9%

1.2x

fringe Sideboard Options(<30%)

Powder Keg

23%

1.7x

Ivory Tower

17.1%

1.3x

Phyrexian Furnace

16.6%

1.6x

Tormod'S Crypt

15.3%

1.6x

Haunting Echoes

13.5%

1.1x

Masticore

13%

1.1x

Perish

11.4%

1.4x

Hibernation

10.9%

1.1x

Diabolic Edict

10.8%

1.1x

Chill

10.5%

2.1x

Duress

9.7%

1.8x

Vendetta

9.6%

1.1x

Disenchant

9.6%

1.6x

Pyroclasm

8.5%

2.6x

Call Of The Herd

8.1%

2.7x

Chain Of Vapor

7.9%

1.1x

Back To Basics

7.8%

1.7x

Fact Or Fiction

6.8%

1.1x

Coffin Purge

6.5%

1.2x

Shadow Rift

6.2%

1.0x

Infest

6.2%

1.6x

Ghastly Demise

6.1%

1.2x

Smother

1.1x

Brain Freeze

1.8x

Ray Of Revelation

5.4%

1.1x

Control Magic

4.9%

2.0x

Misdirection

4.6%

1.0x

Deep Analysis

4.4%

1.1x

Shallow Grave

4.3%

1.0x

Thwart

3.2%

1.0x

Snuff Out

3.2%

1.0x

Tsabo'S Decree

2.8%

1.0x

Gloom

2.8%

1.5x

Capsize

2.6%

1.0x

Morphling

2.5%

1.1x

Sickening Dreams

2.4%

1.1x

Nausea

2.2%

1.4x

Nevinyrral'S Disk

1.6x

Sphere Of Law

1.1x

Stifle

1.9%

1.4x

Dominate

1.8%

1.1x

Seal Of Cleansing

1.8%

1.3x

Dystopia

1.8%

1.7x

Red Elemental Blast

1.8%

1.8x

Armageddon

1.8%

1.1x

Cabal Therapy

1.7%

1.8x

Gush

1.7%

1.0x

Cremate

1.5%

1.0x

Withered Wretch

1.3%

2.5x

Aura Flux

1.3%

1.4x

Upheaval

1.2%

1.0x

Swords To Plowshares

1.2%

1.7x

Warmth

1.1%

1.2x

Foil

1.1%

1.0x

Tranquil Domain

1.1%

1.0x

Turnabout

1.1%

1.0x

Corpse Dance

1.0x

Circle Of Protection: Red

1.2x

Boomerang

1.7x

Mana Short

1.2x

Pyroblast

1.4x

Circular Logic

1.0x

Recent Events Featuring this Archetype

Blekinge Rumble Premodern 10

2026-06-13•Blekinge, Sweden•17 Players

Highest Finish: 6th

VIEW EVENT

4Seasons Spring Ed. @ Bologna (Italy)

2026-06-13•Bologna, Italy•156 Players

Highest Finish: 3rd

VIEW EVENT

Premodern Challenge 32 (2026-06-12)

2026-06-12•Magic Online•64 Players

Highest Finish: 15th

VIEW EVENT

Lega Milano 3/10 @ Milano (Italy)

2026-06-12•Milano, Italy•56 Players

Highest Finish: 19th

VIEW EVENT

Magico Conclave Etrusco - Lega Spartana II tappa

2026-06-12•Cecina, Italy•27 Players

Highest Finish: 6th

VIEW EVENT

Matchups

Head-to-head: DuressCrew (MTGO) · field strength: our event data

Field strength: Holds even with the field

placement-derived · not head-to-head · 550 finishes · 106 wins

Replenish
67.6%
DxC · n=37
Stiflenought
63.8%
DxC · n=69
Oath Ponza
57.1%
DxC · n=21
Goblins
53.8%
DxC · n=52
Enchantress
52.9%
DxC · n=34
Machine Head
51.6%
DxC · n=31
Bw Control
50%
DxC · n=26
Elves
44.3%
DxC · n=61
Terrageddon
44.1%
DxC · n=34
Stasis
40.9%
DxC · n=22
Landstill
38.6%
DxC · n=44
The Rock
34.6%
DxC · n=26
Burn Sligh
31.2%
DxC · n=64

DxC = DuressCrew MTGO head-to-head · win rates diverge from a 50% centre line

Core Combos

intermediate

NEAR-INFINITE

Gush-Tog Loop

lock Strategy

Upheaval Finish

lock Strategy

"Board Cleanse and Win"

2 Steps

Master the loop

Quick Facts

Tier2

Stylecontrol

Meta Share1.6%

Avg Lands20.4

Est. Price~$846

Colors

Deck Weaknesses

Single point of failure: the entire win condition is Psychatog, so one well — timed removal spell, especially an edict or exile effect that ignores its variable size, erases the kill and leaves them holding card-draw with no clock.
Graveyard dependence: Tog Math fuels the lethal swing by exiling the graveyard and Wonder only grants flying from the yard, so graveyard hate simultaneously caps their damage output and grounds their attacker.
Thin disruption that trades one — for-one. Counterspell, Circular Logic, Foil, and Smother each handle a single threat, so going wide or simply presenting more pressure than they have answers overwhelms their interaction.
Slow proactive turns: time spent on Gush, Fact or Fiction, Accumulated Knowledge, and Deep Analysis is time not spent on the board, leaving a window where a committed clock outpaces them before Psychatog can close.

How to win with it

Mulligan any hand that lacks both a blue source and at least one of Counterspell, Duress, or a cantrip such as Portent, Opt, or Impulse: a keepable hand needs disruption or card selection in the first two turns, not just lands and a Psychatog sitting idle.
In the first three turns, sequence your cantrips to seed Accumulated Knowledge. Fire Portent and Opt early to peek at and set up incoming draws and dig for your second and third Accumulated Knowledge before you tap out on a threat.
Hold Counterspell and Foil until you actually need to protect a Fact or Fiction or a Psychatog; jamming countermagic on early irrelevant spells leaves you tapped out for the key turn, and Foil's pitch cost is especially punishing when you want cards in hand for Tog Math later.
The dream draw kills in one swing: resolve Psychatog behind a Duress that clears the way, cast Gush on your turn returning two Islands to draw two and rebuild your hand, then attack and pump by discarding your remaining hand and exiling your graveyard, counting the instants, sorceries, and cantrips you binned during your cantrip chain to confirm lethal before committing.
The grind plan leans on Accumulated Knowledge chains and Fact or Fiction for card advantage: cast the first Accumulated Knowledge early so it sits in the graveyard and each later copy draws more, then make sure Wonder is in the graveyard with an Island in play so Psychatog connects through the air when the fast kill is off the table.
The key decision every game is when to flip from control to kill: keep Psychatog in hand, keep accumulating with Gush and Fact or Fiction, and only commit it once your hand plus graveyard count enough cards to win on one unblocked Wonder-granted-flying swing. Remember that Tog Math's graveyard exile can strip Wonder, so leave it binned until the attack resolves.

How to beat it

This deck wins on one card: Psychatog assembles a sudden one-shot kill by discarding its hand and exiling its graveyard for +X/+X, often swinging through the air because Wonder in the graveyard grants flying. Hold a removal spell for the turn Psychatog attacks rather than the turn it lands, since the pump happens at instant speed and a dead Psychatog ends the kill on the spot.
An edict effect (forced sacrifice) is the cleanest answer because Psychatog is usually their only creature and its toughness is irrelevant to a sacrifice; time it before they untap so they cannot rebuild a board to protect it. Exile-based removal is even better, dodging any value and removing the threat permanently.
The kill math depends on a stocked graveyard, so graveyard hate starves it: exiling their yard shrinks every Tog Math activation, neuters Wonder's flying grant, and blanks the recursion off Deep Analysis and Accumulated Knowledge. Pressure the graveyard before the turn they want to combo, not after.
Their disruption is a thin wall of one-for-ones, so flood the board and force trades: Counterspell, Circular Logic, Foil, and Smother each answer exactly one thing, and a deck that presents more relevant threats per turn than they hold answers will run them out of interaction. Don't walk a single must-counter spell into open mana when you can bait Counterspell first.
Race their tempo before the engine comes online. Early on they spend cards on Gush, Fact or Fiction, and Accumulated Knowledge rather than affecting the board, so a fast clock forces them to deploy Psychatog as a blocker and combo before they have lethal, where any instant-speed removal blows them out.

Resources

moxfield.com

Last Updated: 2026-05-31

Overview

Game Plan

Key Cards

Sample Decklists

Juan Pablo Cervin

Mainboard (60)

Creature (5)

Instant (26)

Sorcery (9)

Land (20)

Sideboard (15)

Vittorio Piatti

Mainboard (60)

Creature (5)

Instant (26)

Sorcery (9)

Land (20)

Sideboard (15)

__forge__

Mainboard (60)

Creature (5)

Instant (25)

Sorcery (12)

Land (18)

Sideboard (15)

Unchained Appearances2 decks

Archetype Anatomy

Mana Base

core Cards(>80%)

flex Cards(30-80%)

fringe Cards(<30%)

Sideboard Anatomy

core Sideboard Options(>80%)

flex Sideboard Options(30-80%)

fringe Sideboard Options(<30%)

Recent Events Featuring this Archetype

Matchups

Core Combos

Gush-Tog Loop

Upheaval Finish

forge