Psychic Drain MTG Card

Mana cost
Converted mana cost	2
Rarity	Uncommon
Type	Sorcery
Abilities	Mill
Released	2005-10-07
Set symbol
Set name	Ravnica: City of Guilds
Set code	RAV
Number	220
Frame	2003
Layout	normal
Border	black
Illustred by	Nick Percival

Key Takeaways

Psychic Drain provides a scalable card advantage, crucial for controlling the game flow.
Versatile instant speed allows for strategic plays and optimal timing.
It requires dual mana colors, which can limit its deck compatibility.

Text of card

Target player puts the top X cards of his or her library into his or her graveyard and you gain X life.

"Gold can be reearned, goods restored. The moroii steal youth, more precious than either, and once gone, it's gone forever." —Berta Suszat, civic healer

Card Pros

Card Advantage: Psychic Drain scales its impact by the amount of mana invested, letting players potentially draw a significant number of cards. This can turn the tide by providing access to more options and responses, crucial in tightly contested matches.

Resource Acceleration: While not directly providing mana acceleration, the cards drawn from Psychic Drain could lead to other resource acceleration mechanisms. The more cards you have, the higher the chance to pull lands or mana-generating spells, fuelling your game plan and outpacing opponents.

Instant Speed: This spell’s instant speed is a subtle strength, allowing players to react to the evolving board state at the end of an opponent’s turn, or when it’s most advantageous. Timing the casting can disrupt opponent strategies or maximize the number of cards drawn if they’ve gone wide with their own strategy.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: In the case of Psychic Drain, while there’s no actual discard requirement, the card does force a mill strategy which can be a high-risk maneuver. If your strategy isn’t set up to take advantage of the opponent’s milled cards or if the opponent benefits from having cards in their graveyard, this could backfire.

Specific Mana Cost: This card’s mana cost demands both blue and black mana, which pigeonholes it into only being playable in decks that feature those colors. Players of monochrome or other color combinations may find Psychic Drain incompatible with their deck strategy.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: For its cost, Psychic Drain could be seen as having a less immediate impact on the game. Other cards with a lower mana investment can provide more immediate board presence or disruption, making Psychic Drain potentially less attractive in faster-paced games.

Reasons to Include Psychic Drain in Your Collection

Versatility: Psychic Drain serves as a multifaceted tool in decks focused on mill strategies or drawing cards. It scales well into the late game, allowing players to tailor the effect based on the game’s progression and available resources.

Combo Potential: Psychic Drain can synergize with effects that trigger when an opponent’s cards are put into their graveyard. This can amplify the impact of other mill-themed cards or set up conditions for powerful graveyard-based play.

Meta-Relevance: In environments where long games dominate and decks are packed with numerous high-value spells, Psychic Drain can disrupt your opponent’s strategy while simultaneously bolstering your own card advantage, making it a cunning choice against slow-paced or control decks.

How to beat

Psychic Drain stands out in MTG as a force to be reckoned with, melding life-gain and mill strategies into a single, impactful spell. Comparable to other mill cards like Glimpse the Unthinkable, it presents a unique challenge due to its scalability based on the amount of mana you pour into it. Additional mana not only increases the mill potency but also offers a proportional life boost, further distancing you from potential defeat.

To effectively navigate around Psychic Drain, consider countering it outright, prioritizing spells like Negate or Dispel which target non-creature spells. Disrupting the opponent’s mana base with cards like Ghost Quarter to stifle their resource growth can also be pivotal, as it directly undermines their ability to enhance Psychic Drain’s effect. Graveyard shuffling cards like Gaea’s Blessing provide a safety net by recycling your milled cards back into your library, potentially nullifying the progress made by Psychic Drain.

Mastering the delicate balance between sustaining your library’s integrity and maintaining a healthy life total is key. Through strategic deck building and timely reaction, overcoming the challenge posed by Psychic Drain is well within reach for skilled players.

Cards like Psychic Drain

Psychic Drain is an intriguing card within the realm of milling strategies in Magic: The Gathering. Its ability to target an opponent to mill a number of cards equal to the mana spent to cast it places it alongside other prominent mill cards. One such example is Glimpse the Unthinkable, which efficiently mills ten cards for only two mana but lacks Psychic Drain’s scalability.

A more direct comparison might be Traumatize, which is designed to mill half of a player’s library, regardless of its size. This might seem more impactful compared to Psychic Drain; however, the former lacks the flexibility of choosing exactly how much to mill determined by your available mana. Then there’s Mind Funeral, another potent mill card that continues the process until four land cards are revealed, costing less but introducing a level of variance.

To sum up, Psychic Drain’s performance in mill decks can be substantial, particularly in longer games where available mana increases, allowing for significant chunks of a library to be targeted. This level of control, along with its compatibility in multicolored decks thanks to its hybrid mana cost, ensures its relevance in the variety of mill strategies in Magic: The Gathering.

Glimpse the Unthinkable - MTG Card versions

Glimpse the Unthinkable - Ravnica: City of Guilds (RAV)

Cards similar to Psychic Drain by color, type and mana cost

Cruel Somnophage // Can't Wake Up - MTG Card versions

Wail of the Forgotten - MTG Card versions

Diabolic Vision - Masters Edition II (ME2)

Glimpse the Unthinkable - Historic Anthology 6 (HA6)

Extract Brain - Forgotten Realms Commander (AFC)

Cruel Somnophage // Can't Wake Up - Wilds of Eldraine (WOE)

Wail of the Forgotten - The Lost Caverns of Ixalan Promos (PLCI)

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Psychic Drain MTG card by a specific set like Ravnica: City of Guilds, 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 Drain and other MTG cards: