Psychic Battle MTG Card
| Mana cost | |
| Converted mana cost | 5 |
| Rarity | Rare |
| Type | Enchantment |
| Released | 2000-10-02 |
| Set symbol | |
| Set name | Invasion |
| Set code | INV |
| Number | 68 |
| Frame | 1997 |
| Layout | Normal |
| Border | Black |
| Illustred by | Ray Lago |
Key Takeaways
- Manipulate your library’s top cards to gain advantages and disrupt opponents with Psychic Battle.
- Instant speed responses to card draws provide dynamic control and game planning flexibility.
- High mana cost enforces strategic deck building to accommodate Psychic Battle’s potential.
Text of card
Whenever a player chooses one or more targets, each player reveals the top card of his or her library. The player who reveals the card with the highest converted mana cost may change the target or targets. If two or more cards are tied for highest cost, the target or targets remain unchanged.
Card Pros
Card Advantage: Psychic Battle offers a unique way to manipulate the top of players’ libraries, potentially providing a steady stream of beneficial cards that tilt the game in your favor. By potentially drawing those cards, you ensure you’re well-stocked with options, while your opponent might be left with less strategic draws.
Resource Acceleration: While it doesn’t produce additional mana or tokens, Psychic Battle can inadvertently expedite access to your more impactful spells. By winning clashes and strategically stacking your deck, you may draw into your key resources faster, accelerating your game plan.
Instant Speed: As a spell that interacts during every player’s draws, it functions somewhat like an instant. It gives you the ability to respond to the draws by stacking your own deck at instant speed, creating opportunities to counter your opponent’s moves as they happen and keeping the pacing of your play well within your control.
Card Cons
Discard Requirement: Psychic Battle’s gameplay mechanic necessitates discarding a card, presenting a potential setback when your hand is sparsely populated with playable options.
Specific Mana Cost: With a casting cost that demands exact colors, this card requires a dedicated mana base, potentially complicating its inclusion in multicolored decks.
Comparatively High Mana Cost: The investment of five mana to deploy Psychic Battle might be steep in fast-paced matches, where lower-cost cards could provide a quicker impact on the game state.
Reasons to Include in Your Collection
Versatility: Psychic Battle is a unique card that can adapt to various playstyles, seamlessly integrating into decks that thrive on manipulating the top card of the library or that play around with scrying mechanics.
Combo Potential: It holds the potential to create powerful synergies in decks that capitalize on revealing cards and can combo with cards that allow you to play the top card of your library or effects that rearrange the top cards for consistent control.
Meta-Relevance: In an environment where players often rely on strategic planning and foreknowledge of the deck, Psychic Battle can disrupt opponents’ plans and provide an edge, making it a relevant choice for those looking to add an element of surprise to their gameplay.
How to Overcome Psychic Battle
Psychic Battle presents a unique challenge among Magic: The Gathering cards with its ability to redirect spells cast by strategically having the highest mana cost card on top of a player’s library. To outwit an opponent employing Psychic Battle, you’ll need a strategy that maintains control over the top of your deck or finds ways to neutralize this effect. Approaches include utilizing scry effects to set up your next draw, ensuring you have the tools to manipulate or predict what’s coming next. Cards like Brainstorm in formats where it’s legal can prove pivotal for stack-top control.
When scrying isn’t an option, consider shifting to a strategy that uses a lower curve of spells or incorporates instant-speed removal for Psychic Battle before it becomes a persistent thorn. Library manipulation is often employed by players to tackle this obstacle, but if the Psychic Battle already affects the board state, casting spells that require no targets, like global enchantment removal or creatures with “cannot be countered” clause, could provide a viable solution. The key lies in foresight and resource management, remaining flexible and ready to adapt your playstyle to counteract this powerful enchantment.
Countering or removing Psychic Battle before its effect can dominate the board can significantly improve your odds of maintaining the upper hand and securing victory in a game where it’s a key component of your opponent’s strategy.
Cards like Psychic Battle
Psychic Battle is a unique card in Magic: The Gathering, offering players a way to use their opponents’ spells against them. It stands out for its ability to control the top of both players’ libraries during spells and abilities resolution. In comparison, we can look at Telepathy, which partially mirrors the effect by revealing each opponent’s hand. This transparency does not affect the stack as Psychic Battle does, but still provides a significant informational advantage.
Another related card is Psychic Surgery, which also interacts with opponents’ libraries. It exiles cards whenever an opponent shuffles their library. However, Psychic Battle is more proactive, allowing the manipulation of spell outcomes which directly influences the course of the game. Then there’s Precognition Field, offering the controller the ability to look at the top card of their library anytime, providing a sustained strategic edge, yet without the immediate disruptive potential of Psychic Battle.
While each card holds its merit within the game, Psychic Battle’s unique stack intervention marks it as a formidable tool in Magic: The Gathering, fitting into any strategy revolving around library and stack manipulation, thus holding a special place amongst similar effect cards.
Cards similar to Psychic Battle by color, type and mana cost
Where to buy
If you're looking to purchase Psychic Battle MTG card by a specific set like Invasion, there are several reliable options to consider. One of the primary sources is your local game store, where you can often find booster packs, individual cards, and preconstructed decks from current and some past sets. They often offer the added benefit of a community where you can trade with other players.
For a broader inventory, particularly of older sets, online marketplaces like TCGPlayer, Card Kingdom and Card Market offer extensive selections and allow you to search for cards from specific sets. Larger e-commerce platforms like eBay and Amazon also have listings from various sellers, which can be a good place to look for sealed product and rare finds.
Additionally, Magic’s official site often has a store locator and retailer lists for finding Wizards of the Coast licensed products. Remember to check for authenticity and the condition of the cards when purchasing, especially from individual sellers on larger marketplaces.
Below is a list of some store websites where you can buy the Psychic Battle and other MTG cards:
- eBay
- TCG Player
- Card Kingdom
- Card Market
- Star City Games
- CoolStuffInc
- MTG Mint Card
- Hareruya
- Troll and Toad
- ABU Games
- Card Hoarder Magic Online
- MTGO Traders Magic Online
See MTG Products
Legalities
Magic the Gathering formats where Psychic Battle has restrictions
| Format | Legality |
|---|---|
| Commander | Legal |
| Legacy | Legal |
| Oathbreaker | Legal |
| Premodern | Legal |
| Vintage | Legal |
| Duel | Legal |
| Predh | Legal |
Rules and information
The reference guide for Magic: The Gathering Psychic Battle card rulings provides official rulings, any errata issued, as well as a record of all the functional modifications that have occurred.
| Date | Text |
|---|---|
| 2004-10-04 | An empty library will have no card to reveal, so a player with an empty library has no card to compare. The effect looks for the highest cost card of the cards that actually are revealed. |
| 2004-10-04 | You can change all, some, or none of the targets. |
| 2004-10-04 | You can’t change the number of targets, choose an illegal target, or make something get targeted more than once. |
| 2017-04-18 | The converted mana cost of a split card is determined by the combined mana cost of its two halves. |
