Legacy: Frog Doomsday - Deck Tech and Sideboard Guide

My dear Legacy fans, greetings! Unsurprisingly, Psychic Frog became the most relevant creature in this format, and you can probably count the days until it is banned. Until then, we'll feel its presence even in archetypes that apparently have nothing to do with it.

Such as, for instance, one of the most complex combo decks in the format: Doomsday. Many players (though not all) have adopted a plan B with Psychic Frog and Tamiyo, Inquisitive Student, as they can simply carry the game on their own or clear a path through your opponent's defenses so you can make the original combo work.

Let me stress that not all players agree that we should use these creatures in this deck - in fact, most lists still focus completely on the combo. However, as our goal is to call your attention to an alternative list, we'll stay with our Frog.

The list we'll work with today managed to top 8 a 1k Starcity event in Columbus in the hands of Newnoobontheblock (what a wonderful name!).

If you're unfamiliar with the combo, this is how it goes: the goal is to play Thassa’s Oracle when your deck has only 2 cards, at most. Fortunately, after you play Doomsday, your deck will only have 5 cards, and you can then easily draw until there are only 2 cards in it with Street Wraith's and Edge of Autumn's Cycling abilities.

For instance: on turn 1, you play Underground Sea, Dark Ritual, Doomsday, and organize your deck with 2 Street Wraiths, 1 Edge of Autumn, Thassa’s Oracle, and something else, usually a Cavern of Souls. Next turn, you just need to Cycle these cards, play Oracle, and win the game. Obviously, your opponent will try to stop you, which is why you'll often need to organize your deck in different ways.

With one Cycling card in hand, you can play your combo over a Blood Moon: you can organize your deck with Lion's Eye Diamond, Brainstorm, Thassa’s Oracle and any other 2 cards. You play the Diamond, Cycle Wraith/Edge, and, as an answer, before you draw a card, you sacrifice the Diamond for 3 blue mana. With one mana, you'll play Brainstorm, and, with the other 2, you'll play Oracle.

I confess that this deck, all the ways you can organize it, and how you can play around your opponent will give you a headache, and, unsurprisingly, many players (me included) consider it the most complex deck in Legacy. However, Thassa’s Oracle has undeniably made all the decisions you need to make with this deck a lot easier. Psychic Frog and Tamiyo, Inquisitive Student let you attack on a different front, and can even make the combo easier, as they both draw you cards on the same turn you play Doomsday.

The rest of this deck is just its usual traditional strategies: Dark Ritual and Lotus Petal as acceleration, Force of Will, Daze, Fatal Push, and Thoughtseize for protection, and the eternal Brainstorm and Ponder, which find your puzzle pieces.

Traditional Doomsday is purely a combo deck, but the Psychic Frog version is less all-in, as you can also keep hands with creatures if you have protection. After all, they help you find your combo.

Starting hands:

This hand doesn't have any part of the combo, but is perfectly acceptable in this version, as playing Delta on turn 1 lets you surveil with Undercity Sewers. With Daze and Force of Will, you can protect Psychic Frog. Verdict: Keep.

This hand doesn't have plan A or plan B, but has enough gas to find you what you need. Verdict: another easy Keep.

This hand is quite similar to the one we just saw, as it doesn't have the combo or creatures, but has protection with Thoughtseize, and a lot of gas. Verdict: Keep.

Now, this hand you can't keep. It has too much mana, and not a lot of action, even with Polluted Delta into Undercity Sewers and Brainstorm. Verdict: Mulligan.

Sideboards that transform your game plan are nothing new: with them, when you think your opponent will attack your plan A, you can just change plans. As this deck is already a hybrid, you're already halfway into an alternative game plan, and Newnoobontheblock built part of their sideboard with this in mind: they brought 3 Murktide Regent and 1 Barrowgoyf, which turn this deck into a pseudo Dimir Aggro. Furthermore, they added extra copies of Fatal Push and Thoughtseize to complement the other copies in the main deck.

Consign to Memory is the standard blue answer against Eldrazi and Forge - and, speaking of Forge, Hurkyl's Recall is in the sideboard because of this deck, but it is also useful against Painter.

Grafdigger's Cage covers Reanimator, Green Sun's Zenith, and occasional graveyard decks (I'm looking at you, Oops, All Spells). Dark Betrayal is perfect against Dimir Aggro, Hydroblast is great against Red Prison and Painter, and Flusterstorm is efficient against other combo decks.

Other common cards for this sideboard are Brazen Borrower, Blue Elemental Blast, Dismember, Duress, Echoing Truth, Faerie Macabre, Ghost Vacuum, Jace, Wielder of Mysteries, Null Rod, Surgical Extraction, Tormod's Crypt, and Vexing Bauble.

Frognator

Both decks have a similar base, but your opponent's combo, albeit not immediately game-ending, is less vulnerable to disruption than yours, which makes game 1 more complicated for you. Plan B makes more sense in this match, as this way they'll have to divide their efforts between defending themselves from your combo and your creatures.

Post-side, you can keep a portion of your combo, but should focus more on your aggressive game plan.

In:

Out:

Eldrazi Aggro

They'll struggle to stop your combo, so you should stick to your main game plan. Post-side, add more protection to make sure Oracle can do its job.

In:

Out:

Red Stompy

Blood Moon is disruptive, but manageable. Vexing Bauble disables Force of Will and Daze completely. On the other side, they'll simply struggle to deal with your Frog, Murktide Regent, and Barrowgoyf, which is why you should use your plan B against them.

In:

Out:

Dimir Aggro

In this match, plan B isn't worth it because your opponent is a much better Dimir Aggro than you could ever be. So, focus on your combo instead.

In:

Out:

Forge Combo

This match is about who can combo first, and, fortunately, you have the tools to do that. In this case, you should stick to your original game plan. Actually, you can even remove part of your creatures to focus on your combo.

In:

Out:

Doomsday can be considered the prime example of a "deck with a high skill-cap" - an archetype that performs well when you know it and the format really well, as this way you'll be able to get the most out of it. It is not a deck that you can play for one weekend and do well with it. It rewards dedication, and few things are more fearsome at a Legacy table than a great "Doomsday player", as everyone knows they are not there to play!

I hope this article helped you understand this archetype a bit better. Thank you for reading, and see you next time!