Spoiler Highlight: Frenzied Baloth in Competitive Formats

When it was released in Throne of Eldraine, Questing Beast was considered one of the biggest exponents of the power creep Magic was experiencing at the time. Essentially, the legendary creature was an ability and keyword soup without any consequences or restrictions that made it a bad choice. Every line of its text was a quality, and this trait eventually led to other cards that dominated the Metagame to the point of being banned, such as Omnath, Locus of Creation.

Questing Beast, however, never needed banning. Despite its extensive text box, it was ultimately just a 4/4 with haste for four mana that did a few more things. In a world like today, with Sheoldreds and the like, it's even average for most formats, which perhaps motivated the creation of the new Frenzied Baloth.

Half the cost, smaller body than a Kalonian Tusker, but with a wealth of abilities and a mana value that makes it comparable to Questing Beast and relevant for competitive Magic: whether it's protecting against counterspells in Game 1 against Tempo and Control decks, pressuring the opponent with three power attached to Trample and Haste on the second turn, or ignoring a The One Ring in Legacy—of all the cards revealed so far, this is probably one of the few with the greatest potential for relevance in competitive formats right now.

If you've been following my articles about cards with competitive potential post-rotation, you'll probably notice that I frequently mention the possibility of a Green Aggro in the new Standard season.

The main reason is the credibility that combining Tifa Lockhart with pumps offers to establish a powerful clock with plenty of added protection between Snakeskin Veil and Royal Treatment. While it doesn't directly interact with the Landfall plan, Frenzied Baloth does a lot for its cost and helps add more pressure to the board.

Consider a list that tries not to always go for the combo and instead goes for a more linear beatdown plan like Mono Green from the Innistrad: Midnight Hunt season. Pawpatch Recruit is already an excellent one-drop, and both Baloth and Tifa can exert significant pressure from turn two onward with the right pumps. They can be accompanied by Keen-Eyed Curator and Scrapshooter as cheap, high-power threats.

We also have Spinner of Souls to invalidate the opponent's removals, and Surrak, Elusive Hunter also guarantees a three-drop that punishes interaction while putting pressure on the board. Add cards like Overprotect or Titanic Growth, maybe a few copies of Hard-Hitting Question or Bushwhack and Archdruid's Charm, and we have enough to consider Stompy lists next season.

Another possible archetype with it involves either Delirium lists, where it would compete for slots with Wildfire Wickerfolk or Keen-Eyed Curator, or even Gruul Mice lists, which naturally want some cheap pumps and/or recurring ways to increase the power of their creatures. In this case, a Baloth growing every turn with Innkeeper's Talent or similar becomes a threat due to Trample.

Obviously, another option for this card is as an Aggro deck's answer to Control lists that focus heavily on counterspells, but stack interaction tends to be awkward in these matchups anyway, especially if the opponent is on the play, and it's common to trade some of them for more removal in these matchups.

A more Midrange-oriented version, or one with more midrange value threats, might want Baloth to protect their creatures, but the lists that would most benefit from a 3/2 with Trample and Haste certainly don't tend to deal much with counterspells anyway in post-sideboard games.

Frenzied Baloth does very little as a threat in the main Pioneer decks, but its role can be different: ensuring a key card comes into play the same turn it enters, or being a perfect one-of or two-of target for Chord of Calling and the like.

In the current Metagame, it's hard to imagine which archetype would want this type of card and still use a tutor for it. The main combo creatures we want to resolve, most of the time, are Greasefang, Okiba Boss or Ygra, Eater of All, while Baloth is closer to the type of card you'd look for with Bring to Light to guarantee a Niv-Mizzet Reborn the following turn while interacting very poorly with the deck's focus on multicolored cards.

It's in a similar role to Voice of Victory: it's an excellent card, its text lines can matter in the right Metagame, archetypes would certainly use it in the sideboard or even the maindeck if the scenario demanded this type of interaction, but Pioneer currently doesn't have room for it right now.

By some irony, the new Baloth was likely conceived due to a card that was once one of Modern's biggest problems: The One Ring.

An important addendum about Protection in Magic is that the rule states to prevent all damage caused by sources from that type of protection. For example, a Kor Firewalker can take a Pyroclasm but will still survive because the damage is prevented.

For some time, players used Bonecrusher Giant and Fear, Fire, Foes! as a way to bypass The One Ring in Modern. After all, one of the most common plays with the card was to play it on turn four to secure the game, untap, having drawn three more cards in the process, and play a second copy of it, or find a way to bounce the artifact to play it again.

Frenzied Baloth would be a powerful tech against this type of interaction, almost like a Skullcrack that bypasses the protection effect since it attacks for three damage, guaranteeing a clear path for any creature to end the game, while also bypassing Counterspell and the like.

But Baloth arrived too late. The One Ring is banned, and damage prevention isn't common enough in the format to require its presence in most lists—it could change at some point, but right now, it's barely relevant in the scene.

Despite these limitations, there are some scenarios where it's a decent option: it's found with Recruiter of the Guard, but mainly with Green Sun's Zenith and grants a free pass to play Yawgmoth, Thran Physician or other creature-based combos; it bypasses Chalice of the Void if your archetype is very focused on a specific mana value, or it even serves to cast a Primeval Titan over counterspells if the opponent can't deal with it, making it, perhaps, a complementary piece with Cavern of Souls.

The One Ring is still legal in Legacy, and Green Sun's Zenith players tend to run a copy of Questing Beast to deal with the artifact's damage prevention, so Frenzied Baloth would be a clear alternative since it costs less and, moreover, prevents the opponent's Force of Will from countering your creatures.

The reality is more complex: Questing Beast doesn't just deal with damage prevention; it doesn't get chump-blocked, survives trades against Delver of Secrets and Dragon's Rage Channeler, runs through several small creatures in the format, and also deals with Planeswalkers—an important factor in a Legacy where Kaito, Bane of Nightmares has seen more play, and some established staples include Tamiyo, Inquisitive Student, Narset, Parter of Veils, Teferi, Time Raveler, and Jace, the Mind Sculptor.

Baloth doesn't take care of this. In theory, it resolves Planeswalkers if they have three or less loyalty, but it needs to redirect the attack to it rather than do so as an added value. Additionally, it trades with any creature with two or more power in the format and dies to Lightning Bolt, making it less resilient.

There may be times when the cost is important for Green Sun's Zenith and the like, or an Aggro/Stompy player who plays under could benefit from the card—a bit difficult given that Stompy in Legacy is based on City of Traitors and Ancient Tomb—but for now, it seems like Questing Beast still has a bit more to offer for archetypes that need these effects, unless a player really wants to avoid Force of Will.

That's all for today!

If you have any questions, feel free to leave a comment!

Thanks for reading!