Mwahaha, creature kill! Another Pongify, and that card was hilarious. This one's better (frog lizards > monkeys).
... but where's the Simic watermark? It's oozing with Simic flavor but it's not guild-aligned?
Abl
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(2 votes)
The flavor text in this one is rather clunky too.
ThinkOriginal
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(3 votes)
So will it be better to use this on the opponent's creature...or your own to trigger Evolve mid-combat?
Tiggurix
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(4 votes)
... on the bright side, we can now have eight Pongifys in a deck at once!
CORRBentOrgy
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(20 votes)
"What do you mean that's not what you asked for? You clearly stated you wanted to be more attractive, and now you're a human/frog/lizard. We've effectively tripled your dating pool. Honestly, some people just can't be happy." -- Speaker Trifon.
LordOfTheFlies87
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(2 votes)
Finally. Versatile and hilarious. Great card to have around.
Diakia1044
★★★★☆ (4.1/5.0)(5 votes)
I think this card is great at one mana. Here's a combo I figured out. Turn 1: Young Wolf Turn 2: Experimental One then use this card on the Young Wolf which un-dies triggering the evolve on the Experimental One and then triggering evolve again with the 3/3 Frog Lizard token resulting in 2 3/3's and a 2/2 on turn 2.
Purplerooster
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I love cards that can be potentially used on your own creatures or your opponents. This can take out something big late game of your opponents at a time that a 3/3 won't be too relevant, or this can be an unconventional combat trick on your own creature.
Goatllama
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Transmutation flavor is NOT an excuse for 1 mana, instant speed kill in blue. Oh boy, you get a 3/3! That argument barely worked for Beast Within and it definitely doesn't work here. At least the token art is badass: http://media.wizards.com/images/magic/daily/features/feat231b_froglizard.jpg
"I'm not sure what my win condition is, but now you're playing a frog deck! Muahahaha!"
Now all we need is something like:
Hypnotoad, Tyrant of Pond 3UG Legendary Creature - Frog Avatar When CARDNAME enters the battlefield, gain control of all frogs. ALL GLORY TO THE HYPNOTOAD 3/3
C'mon Wizards! We're so close!
blindthrall
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
How could anybody prefer this over Pongify? Frog, schmog, I want my monkeyman.
Magnor_Criol
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
@blindthrall: The flavor text.
I do love Pongify, but that flavor text makes me giggle like no one's business. "You're welcome!" Ehehehehe.
pedrodyl
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Less cool name as opposed to Pongify, but far cooler creature types. I suppose that equals out. 4/5
chrome_dome
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
4/5. Fatty meet Simic, Simic meet.... What the frog is that!?
Keiya
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I think it's hilarious how this card interacts with creatures that have Undying or Persist. Supposedly the creature is being "transformed and mutated" but the Undying/Persist creature just comes back... I guess one of the creature's limbs off and becomes a Frog Lizard limb looking thing?
hawkeye137
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
C'mon guys. This is exactly the good old Pongify. Why such low rating? 5/5 from me.
JRE47
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Loving it in my UB Zombies. Kill opponents' creatures, or temporarily kill your own Gravecrawler or undying Zombie and get a 3/3 essentially for free. Spiffy!
Curlie-Joe
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Mortus Strider becomes a Frog Lizard before I declare blockers (I did not have the best luck with what I opened at the prerelease...but that combat trick made me smile)
GrandmasterJax
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Surprised it's only got 3.5 stars, I don't think people realize how good this is. Versatile, instant-speed creature removal/simic combat trick for U. Insane.
psychichobo
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(1 vote)
Not just for monkeys now!
MisterAction
★★★★☆ (4.5/5.0)(2 votes)
@Diakia1044: Great idea, but I think I can improve it.
Turn one, Cloudfin Raptor. Turn two, Young Wolf, evolving Raptor. Then tap your island for this. Wolf comes back with a counter, evolving the Raptor again, then the Frog Lizard evolves it a third time.
Turn two, you have a 3/4 flier that's ready to attack, with a 2/2 and a 3/3 ready for the next turn.
Doghealer
★★★★☆ (4.0/5.0)(2 votes)
WHY is this only 3.5 stars?
It's removal. For one mana. ONE. MANA. REMOVAL. That's pretty much grounds for an instant 4-star rating minimum.
It also has combo potential. Cast Act of Treason, then this, and BOOM, for , you have accomplished "Destroy target creature without regen. You get a 3/3 token." Act of Treason was even reprinted here, so this Johnny is usable in draft. I pulled it off during prerelease. Opponent was quite impressed. This Johnny is even BETTER used against the only creature an opponent has; take it, swing with it, then kill it.
Heck, if nothing else, it can be used to get a 3/3 out on turn 2 (or even turn 1 if you have a 0-drop creature). I would argue that using it for this is doing it wrong (it should be used as removal), but it's still an option.
5/5
EDIT: Oh yes. Lets not forget about populate. It IS a token, and while it may not be in Selesnya colors (well, the token color is, but that hardly matters), playing 3 colors is probably going to be the norm as long as Ravnica is still around in standard.
More flavorfully, lets also not forget about Evolve. Anything with 2 or less P or T will evolve if you hybridize something on your field.
I guess what I'm trying to say is: My inner Johnny is having a field day with this card.
FIAmagic
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I am surprised they still keep it faithful by having the "can't be regenerated" clause as well. Guess some Lotleth Troll is not going to laugh anymore at target removal.
This will see a lot of play in decks that run blue. Giving them a 3/3 vanilla might be less appealing, but it's the most cheapest removal we have in standard at the moment, and the creature you removed tend to be more troublesome to begin with anyway.
Though it is scary to think a frog lizard is the size of an elephant.
Zaevyn_Merari
★★★☆☆ (3.5/5.0)(3 votes)
"She turned me into a newt!"
Smoke_Stack
★★☆☆☆ (2.0/5.0)(3 votes)
ur fatty is now froglizard. U R WELCOME :)
Continue
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Strictly Pongify. Last I checked, Pongify was pretty good. This certainly shouldn't be rated as low as it is.
Enemy_Tricolor
★★★★☆ (4.0/5.0)(1 vote)
The flavor text reminds me of Magic Man from Adventure Time.
accsavious
★★★★☆ (4.5/5.0)(1 vote)
Trumps Unsummon when dealing with those oh-so popular "enters the battlefield" or overpowered creatures before they become a big problem, Im looking at YOU Obzedat, ghost council
Osprey_93
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Most players see a kill spell.
I see a 1 mana Vorapede flicker that triggers evolve and hands me a 3/3 Frog Lizard. There is so much synergy among the Simic Combine its awesome.
Splizer
★★★☆☆ (3.0/5.0)(2 votes)
"Sanctuary Cat, what's wrong? What happening to your legs?!?! WHY U GOT NO WHISKERS NO MOAR?!?!"
RagingGoblinGrenade
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(2 votes)
I would love to see a game where someone used this against a selensya deck, then they populate the 3/3 token.
Biglonty
★★★★☆ (4.0/5.0)(1 vote)
Use on your own Stuffy Doll for a free 3/3 for one... Idk.
GhostCounselor
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
That moment when you win draft because someone turns your Metropolis Sprite into a 3/3 frog and you enchant it with Gift of Orzhova.
TomBrady
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
That's a big f-ing frog though if it can eat a grizzly bear.
Gamecat23
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
There is a lot to like about this card. with undying creatures, it pumps them while adding another creature (and possibly triggering evolve on your other creatures). It gets rid of your opponents bigger threats. It fuels populate. It can be a great utility card in the right deck.
Rootkit9208
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I love this card so much for its flexibility. Them: I'll cast Searing spear on your Vampire Nighthawk Me: I'll hybridize it and make your spear's rarget invalid.
spiney
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I had a moment when I my opponent was swinging with too many creatures that I could block with; if any one was let through I would lose.
Then I realised I could just Rapid Hybridise my Predator Ooze to get a free creature and be able to block that one last creature that would have killed me.
RunedServitor
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(4 votes)
What's fun is doing this and then Permafrost Trap or Whiplash Trapping them. The first combo turns a creature into a 3/3 with no abilities and then taps it and something else for two turns, for . The second combo kills one creature outright and bounces another for , as long as they played a creature on that turn. How ridiculous is that?
Playing this kind of combo does ruin your card advantage a bit, though. Then again, you have effectively removed two cards using two cards, so it isn't too bad.
This card is beautiful. Just a great piece of design. Creature destruction, in blue, at instant speed and for ? Yet they still make it fun, interesting and not broken.
What is great here though is the flavor and versatility. I love the idea that the creature doesn't die, but is mutated, and the flavor text has the perfect condescending blue mage tone. This isn't just a blue Terror, it really does feel like a blue spell through and through. As for the uses, here we go:
1.) Destroy your opponent's big creature. 2.) Trade up one of your creatures to a 3/3 3.) Turn in a creature of yours for a 3/3 before it dies. 4.) Fuel some simic evolution, Undying or get a 3/3 for with indestructables.
...and more! This card combos with so many other cards, or is solid alone. I especially love Runed Servitor's suggestions. I ended up with a couple play sets and I could not be happier.
@CogMonocle: "it can't be regenerated." :P Anyway, love this card! I wish it exiled for flavor reasons, but I also understand that it would be a different (and more expensive) card. Gonna run it with 4 Pongifys for shenanigans!
Interesting that this is rated almost a star below Pongify. The only difference is the creature created, and there is one ape tribal creature, but no frog or lizard creatures. I rate this one higher because it has more flavor.
Both are useful however, especially in my removal challenged {G}{U} EDH deck.
dies2doomblade
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
5/5. Between the versatility of using this on your own or your opponent's creatures, the cheap mana-cost, and the fact that the creatures can't be regenerated, this card is insane.
Also, pure speculation here, but ... you know how Wizards said it was discontinuing it's "can't be countered" cycle from Return to Ravnica? I seriously wonder if maybe, just maybe, this card were originally designed that way. Compare it to Abrupt Decay, for example. Anyway, I could be totally off with that speculation ...
Hussalo
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
At last night's FNM, I used this card to win a round that I probably shouldn't have won. I was a Bu Aggro against Izzet Burn/Control. Every burn spell effectively turned my 2/2's into 3/3's, and sometimes a 3/3 with a 2/2 at the same time. It was fun.
ChrisHansonBiomancin
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Something interesting I recently learned- since the Indestructible ability does not affect the legality of targeting a permanent with a "Destroy" spell, you can use Rapid Hybridization on your Thassa in creature mode (or any Indestructible creature for that matter) to create your own one-mana 3/3 at instant speed with no drawback. As if Devotion to Blue needed another trick.
Pongify, Ovinize, Snakeform, Turn to Frog, Swan Song, and now this. Definitely one of the best, most flavorful cards ever printed. Love it.
Kanra777
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
I have used this far more on my creatures than an opponent's. A 3/3 on turn 2 is good for blue normally. Combine with young wolf and cloudfin raptor to get a 2/2, 3/3, and a 3/4 flier that can attack on turn 2. If the opponent does get a creature worth using this on then it usually isn't too hard to with a bounce spell. Also have used this to "remove" pacifism on a 2/2 before. 4.5/5 for versatility and utility.
shotoku64
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Can't be regenerated is an often overlooked feature of this card. One of the best reasons to play it IMO.
Also, I'm a sucker for 1 mana removal
Technetium
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
This card is really good because of the Standard metagame it belongs to. Esper & Orzhov decks are really popular and the big threats from those decks, Blood Baron & Obzedat, are immune to most other removal spells.
Lockwert
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
This card is underrated. I decided to test it in a American Aggro deck running delvers and geists, and it always proved to be useful in situations where your creatures are targeted by removal or whenever your opponent has something better than a 3/3 vanilla. Of course it is useless against mass removal, but that is the only con. Also, you can always target geist's angel token before it is exiled, keeping a 3/3 for basically nothing (U). And it's not bad with snapcasters and unsummons, you can figure why. It's versatile and the cheapest it could be. 5/5
Comments (62)
... but where's the Simic watermark? It's oozing with Simic flavor but it's not guild-aligned?
-- Speaker Trifon.
1. Frog Lizard instead of Ape.
That is all
"I'm not sure what my win condition is, but now you're playing a frog deck! Muahahaha!"
Now all we need is something like:
Hypnotoad, Tyrant of Pond 3UG
Legendary Creature - Frog Avatar
When CARDNAME enters the battlefield, gain control of all frogs.
ALL GLORY TO THE HYPNOTOAD
3/3
C'mon Wizards! We're so close!
I do love Pongify, but that flavor text makes me giggle like no one's business. "You're welcome!" Ehehehehe.
(I did not have the best luck with what I opened at the prerelease...but that combat trick made me smile)
Turn one, Cloudfin Raptor.
Turn two, Young Wolf, evolving Raptor. Then tap your island for this. Wolf comes back with a counter, evolving the Raptor again, then the Frog Lizard evolves it a third time.
Turn two, you have a 3/4 flier that's ready to attack, with a 2/2 and a 3/3 ready for the next turn.
It's removal. For one mana. ONE. MANA. REMOVAL. That's pretty much grounds for an instant 4-star rating minimum.
It also has combo potential. Cast Act of Treason, then this, and BOOM, for
Heck, if nothing else, it can be used to get a 3/3 out on turn 2 (or even turn 1 if you have a 0-drop creature). I would argue that using it for this is doing it wrong (it should be used as removal), but it's still an option.
5/5
EDIT: Oh yes. Lets not forget about populate. It IS a token, and while it may not be in Selesnya colors (well, the token color is, but that hardly matters), playing 3 colors is probably going to be the norm as long as Ravnica is still around in standard.
More flavorfully, lets also not forget about Evolve. Anything with 2 or less P or T will evolve if you hybridize something on your field.
I guess what I'm trying to say is: My inner Johnny is having a field day with this card.
This will see a lot of play in decks that run blue. Giving them a 3/3 vanilla might be less appealing, but it's the most cheapest removal we have in standard at the moment, and the creature you removed tend to be more troublesome to begin with anyway.
Though it is scary to think a frog lizard is the size of an elephant.
I see a 1 mana Vorapede flicker that triggers evolve and hands me a 3/3 Frog Lizard. There is so much synergy among the Simic Combine its awesome.
Them: I'll cast Searing spear on your Vampire Nighthawk
Me: I'll hybridize it and make your spear's rarget invalid.
Then I realised I could just Rapid Hybridise my Predator Ooze to get a free creature and be able to block that one last creature that would have killed me.
Playing this kind of combo does ruin your card advantage a bit, though. Then again, you have effectively removed two cards using two cards, so it isn't too bad.
I mean you can always just hit your indestructibles, but hey.
What is great here though is the flavor and versatility. I love the idea that the creature doesn't die, but is mutated, and the flavor text has the perfect condescending blue mage tone. This isn't just a blue Terror, it really does feel like a blue spell through and through. As for the uses, here we go:
1.) Destroy your opponent's big creature.
2.) Trade up one of your creatures to a 3/3
3.) Turn in a creature of yours for a 3/3 before it dies.
4.) Fuel some simic evolution, Undying or get a 3/3 for
...and more! This card combos with so many other cards, or is solid alone. I especially love Runed Servitor's suggestions. I ended up with a couple play sets and I could not be happier.
Anyway, love this card! I wish it exiled for flavor reasons, but I also understand that it would be a different (and more expensive) card. Gonna run it with 4 Pongifys for shenanigans!
Both are useful however, especially in my removal challenged {G}{U} EDH deck.
Also, pure speculation here, but ... you know how Wizards said it was discontinuing it's "can't be countered" cycle from Return to Ravnica? I seriously wonder if maybe, just maybe, this card were originally designed that way. Compare it to Abrupt Decay, for example. Anyway, I could be totally off with that speculation ...
Also, I'm a sucker for 1 mana removal