Frenzy in MTG: Rules, History, and Best Cards

Garbage Elemental | Illustration by Hector Ortiz

Future Sight dropped a ton of new mechanics that R&D were interested in testing out but couldn’t commit to designing an entire set around. Frenzy was one of these short-lived, one-off mechanics that would never again see the light of day.

How does frenzy work, and why was it abandoned? Let’s take a closer look at what makes this Future Sight mechanic so undesirable!

How Does Frenzy Work?

Might Sliver | Illustration by Jeff Miracola

Frenzy is a triggered ability. It’s notated as “Frenzy N” and triggers whenever the creature it’s attached to attacks and isn’t blocked. The attacking creature gets +N/+0 until the end of the turn. If a creature has multiple instances of frenzy, they each trigger independently. This means that if you have two Frenzy Slivers on the field, each sliver has frenzy 1, frenzy 1, giving unblocked attackers +2/+0 until the end of turn.

The History of Frenzy in MTG

Frenzy first appeared in Future Sight in 2007 on a single card, Frenzy Sliver. It would never return in a black-border set and has only appeared on Unstable’s Garbage Elemental #82a. Frenzy Sliver got a reprint in the Premium Deck Series: Slivers deck, but it didn’t make it into Time Spiral Remastered. What a shame!

Mark Rosewater had been attempting to get frenzy into a set for years before Future Sight, but Play Design didn’t care for the mechanic (ranking it as an 8 on the storm scale, writing on his blog: “Every time I’ve tried to include it, development has killed it”).

Rosewater argued that it encouraged blocking, but he’s been told by Play Design that the play pattern isn’t fun. I take issue with this, personally. I have the most fun in Magic when I’m forced to make a tactical decision and weigh the outcomes of a particular event.

In this instance, I think frenzy makes for an interesting dilemma; do you block the Frenzy Sliver and possibly lose your creature or take an extra damage from each of those slivers attacking you? Is it worth “trading up” your 1-mana mana dork into that sliver to stop it early? These minor decisions are the cornerstone of Magic: The Gathering. Squeezing small bits of advantage out of your opponent each turn is the surest path to victory. Frenzy changes the way we traditionally think about declaring blockers and has a lot of unexplored design space, in my humble opinion.

Is Frenzy a Triggered Ability?

Frenzy is a triggered ability. It triggers at the end of the declare blockers step, after the creature with frenzy is confirmed as unblocked.

What if a Creature Has Multiple Frenzy Abilities?

A creature with multiple frenzy abilities has each one trigger independently. This means that if you have two Frenzy Slivers on the field and both attack and are unblocked, each Frenzy Sliver gets +2/+0 until the end of the turn.

Gallery and List of Frenzy Cards

• Frenzy Sliver
• Garbage Elemental

Best Frenzy Cards

There are only two frenzy cards, and only one of them is a black-border card legal in traditional formats. As such, Frenzy Sliver is both the best and worst frenzy card in MTG. Garbage Elemental does have some play as a 4-power mostly-unblockable attacker, and at 5 mana it’s playable in Limited formats. However, the exponential value you’ll get out of Frenzy Sliver leaves the Garbage Elemental in the dust.

Think of it this way: for a 2-mana investment, you’ll get at least 1 additional point of damage out of every sliver you can connect with. It’s been some time since I’ve played a slivers deck, but I’m pretty sure they still run a ton of creatures, so you’re looking at quite a bit of extra damage to sneak through.

Frenzy Decklist: Time Spiral Block Constructed

Gemhide Sliver | Illustration by John Matson

Frenzy Sliver doesn’t see much play outside of 5-color slivers Commander decks, so to showcase its abilities I’ve built a traditional 60-card Constructed deck using only slivers from the original Time Spiral block. This deck functions much the same as any other slivers deck: play lots of slivers every turn, and turn them sideways to attack. Simple and brutal.

Frenzy Sliver takes the spotlight here as your “big finisher.” Despite its low mana cost, Frenzy Sliver won’t make a big splash if it hits the board in the early game. Instead, it makes for a great pseudo-Overrun effect when it drops into a battlefield full of sliver cards already. A board full with a few Sinew Slivers and a Two-Headed Sliver can suddenly take off once your frenzied friend arrives. Focus on the exponential value you can generate with Frenzy Sliver: With two slivers already on the field, you’ve got a chance for 2 extra points of damage that turn. Play Frenzy Sliver on a board with five slivers, and you’re looking at 5 extra damage from a 2-mana creature. This only gets crazier with multiple Frenzy Slivers on the field.

Wrap Up

Tidy Conclusion | Illustration by Bastien L. Deharme

Frenzy was short-lived, it’s true, but that doesn’t mean it didn’t leave a legacy. We can learn a lot about Wizards’ intentions for the future of Magic from the exclusion of frenzy from any following sets. Play Design seems to think that complicated decisions in the declare blockers step isn’t an enjoyable play pattern. Whether you agree or disagree, it’s important to have the facts on how this mechanic works.

Is frenzy worth a revisit? How would you modify it to make it more relevant? Let me know in the comments, or over on Draftsim’s X/Twitter.

Thanks for reading, go berserk!