Psychotic Haze MTG Card

Mana cost
Converted mana cost	4
Rarity	Common
Type	Instant
Abilities	Madness
Released	2002-02-04
Set symbol
Set name	Torment
Set code	TOR
Number	76
Frame	1997
Layout	Normal
Border	Black
Illustred by	Alex Horley-Orlandelli

Key Takeaways

Provides card advantage by multi-target damage dealing with a single card, conserving hand resources.
Enables resource acceleration by saving mana and cards, allowing for strategic allocation of resources.
Offers tactical flexibility with instant speed casting, disrupting opponent strategies efficiently.

Text of card

Psychotic Haze deals 1 damage to each creature and each player. Madness o1o B (You may play this card for its madness cost at the time you discard it from your hand.)

Card Pros

Card Advantage: In any match, keeping up with the draw can be the difference between victory and defeat. With Psychotic Haze, you get the potential to degrade multiple threats with a single card. This can tip the scales, as it mitigates the need for multiple spells to handle several creatures, ultimately conserving the cards in your hand.

Resource Acceleration: While Psychotic Haze doesn’t directly generate mana or ramp, the resource acceleration comes into play by its multifaceted use. By dealing damage to multiple creatures, you’re effectively saving mana and cards that might have been invested in multiple removal spells. This, in turn, allows you to allocate resources elsewhere, keeping you ahead in the game.

Instant Speed: The flexibility of casting Psychotic Haze at instant speed cannot be overstated. Reacting to an opponent’s actions or waiting until the last possible moment for maximum effect gives you a strategic edge. Whether it’s disrupting an attack, stopping a combo in its tracks, or simply making the most of your mana each turn, the instant speed of Psychotic Haze ensures you’re always one step ahead.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: The Psychotic Haze card requires the player to discard a card, presenting a potential setback, especially when your hand size is diminishing and every card matters.

Specific Mana Cost: Psychotic Haze demands a particular blend of mana, one black and three of any color, which may restrict its inclusion to decks that can reliably produce both types of mana.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: With a cost of four mana to deal 1 damage to each creature and each player, the efficiency of Psychotic Haze is questionable when compared to other sweepers or damage-dealing cards available for a lesser mana investment.

Reasons to Include in Your Collection

Versatility: Psychotic Haze can serve multiple roles in a deck. It’s a solid inclusion in strategies that focus on controlling the board thanks to its capacity to deal damage to each creature and player. This makes it a flexible answer to both swarming tactics and aggressive starts by opponents.

Combo Potential: Given its ability to ping multiple targets, Psychotic Haze can work wonders in a deck designed around death triggers or life-draining effects. It can synergize with cards that benefit from creatures dying or enable various strategies centered on reducing opponent life totals through indirect damage.

Meta-Relevance: In a game environment where small creatures and token strategies prevail, Psychotic Haze can significantly disrupt your opponents’ boards. It may also be a decisive play against decks that rely on maintaining a wide board presence without significant creature buffs.

How to beat

Psychotic Haze offers a versatile mix of both creature damage and life gain, a duality that can tip the scales in MTG. As a card capable of affecting multiple creatures at once, it stands out among spells that deal damage to opposing creatures. Differing from single target removals, Psychotic Haze has the potential to swing momentum by clearing multiple threats with its area of effect damage.

However, its strength can become a setback when faced with well-prepared opponents. Protection abilities or cards that grant indestructible status to creatures can mitigate its impact. Similarly, creatures with a toughness greater than four can outlast the damage, and spells that counter noncreature spells can prevent Psychotic Haze from resolving entirely. Players might also leverage graveyard synergies, using the card’s self-discard to their advantage to set up powerful plays from the graveyard. To navigate around Psychotic Haze, consider a strategy that incorporates these elements—protection, counterplay, and leveraging higher toughness—to maintain a resilient board presence.

In essence, while Psychotic Haze can be a powerful tool in the right circumstances, strategic preparations and tactical plays can effectively neutralize its advantages on the battlefield, allowing players to maintain the upper hand in the game’s ever-evolving dynamics.

Cards like Psychotic Haze

Psychotic Haze offers versatility in the lineup of black damage spells in MTG. Its closest relatives are those which deal damage to multiple creatures or opponents. For instance, Infest is similar in that it provides a damage sweep, affecting all creatures. Yet, Psychotic Haze allows for more precise strikes since it can target creatures or the opponent, giving players the control to eliminate specific threats or push for game-end-threatening damage.

Barter in Blood is another interesting comparison. Though not a damage-dealing card, it shares the dark theme of creature disruption in black magic. It forces each player to sacrifice two creatures, essentially clearing the board and creating a high-stakes environment. Unlike Psychotic Haze, this effect does not discriminate based on power or toughness, which can both be a boon and a bane.

Ultimately, what sets Psychotic Haze apart is its combination of direct damage potential and the added flexibility from the cycling ability. This grants card replacement if the spell is not currently needed, a feature lacking in the other compared spells. This characteristic bolsters Psychotic Haze’s position in the realm of creature management tools within MTG.

Cards similar to Psychotic Haze by color, type and mana cost

Hagra Mauling // Hagra Broodpit - MTG Card versions

Hostile Negotiations - MTG Card versions

When Fluffy Bunnies Attack - MTG Card versions

Tendrils of Corruption - MTG Card versions

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Psychotic Haze MTG card by a specific set like Torment, 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 Psychotic Haze and other MTG cards: