The 18 Best Frogs in Magic Ranked

Last updated on March 20, 2024

Grolnok, the Omnivore | Illustration by Simon Dominic

For every fantastical dragon, towering leviathan, or majestic unicorn in Magic, there’s also a more down-to-earth everyday creature roaming the various planes of the Multiverse. Frogs are some of the unsung heroes of Magic, really holding entire planes together at the seams. Honestly, can you imagine how unplayable Modern Horizons 2 would be without Jade Avenger?

Okay, maybe frogs aren’t that important. At least not important enough to warrant a distinction between toads and frogs. Ah yes, my favorite childhood book series: Frog and Frog. You know what? They’re not all horrendously bad. I’m digging a stick pretty deep in the mud on this one, but there are some actual top-tier frogs worth talking about. I’ve gotta slog through some muddy waters to reach them, though.

I’ll try not to croak as we sift through this rather small pond of amphibious friends.

What Are Frogs in MTG?

The Gitrog Monster | Illustration by Jason Kang

Posted by Alex G on Youtube

Frog is a generic creature type in Magic. It’s used primarily in the Sultai color spectrum, with no real mechanical identity uniting its individual cards. Frogs basically exist as a worldbuilding tool for various Magic sets. Need a little workhorse common for your Limited environment? Why not make a frog?

There are only just north of 40 frogs in all of Magic, with a small handful of standout cards and an even smaller collection of frogs that might be worth playing in very niche decks. I’m going to include anything that even has a semblance of playability to it. And while I normally focus on Commander, it’s pretty much a free-for-all today.

#18. Halo Hopper

A 3/2 that you can potentially cast for free like Halo Hopper is something, but it’s a very small something. Hey, Kasla, the Broken Halo wouldn’t mind a cheap convoke spell!

#17. Pollywog Symbiote

Pollywog Symbiote’s utility is entirely dependent on you running a mutate deck, but in that exact build it’s quite the enabler. Also, it’s actual friggin’ Babygodzilla. Bottom of the list for being so narrow, though.

#16. Morgue Toad

It’s a bit of a stretch to even mention Morgue Toad, but maybe there’s a world where you use this as a ritual for a big leap in mana. I’m not sure how much a Grixis deck cares about that, but let’s include the corner cases since there aren’t many frogs to chat about.

#15. Bloated Toad

Protection is sometimes useful, and cycling’s always fine. Nothing bad to say about Bloated Toad, though nothing really good to say about it either.

#14. Frogmite

Frogmite. But then again, Frog might not.

Let’s give a little shout for this affinity card from days long gone. You can still probably freerole this into play in plenty of decks, and [I think] it still sees consistent play in Pauper, so it’s not completely gone.

#13. Excavating Anurid

Excavating Anurid is a solid 6-out-of-10 common from Modern Horizons. Cashing in a land for a card is fine, +1/+1 and vigilance when you reach threshold is… something. Yup, that’s the review. Send tweet.

#12. Galloping Lizrog

Galloping Lizrog basically doubles the number of +1/+1 counters on your side of the field, but in a very eggs-in-one-basket approach. That makes for one huge trampler, but you basically end up nerfing your own board if it’s answered.

#11. Yargle, Glutton of Urborg

C’mon, we’re not getting through a list of frogs without mentioning the legendary Yargle, Glutton of Urborg! I didn’t have the gall to put it at number one, but you know where it really belongs.

#10. Poison Dart Frog

A frog so cute it makes your opponents bad people if they kill it. Poison Dart Frog was a solid common in The Lost Caverns of Ixalan Limited, but I’m not sure it has much of a home anywhere else.

#9. Froghemoth

This is where we can actually start talking about playable cards. Does that mean we should’ve just started here? Maybe. Sue me.

A trampler with haste, Froghemoth is a weird hybrid of Scavenging Ooze and Ulvenwald Oddity, and it’s not completely horrendous. Probably not the type of card that carries an entire deck on its back, but a solid option where midrange threats are viable.

#8. Yargle and Multani

Yargle and Multani looks like a joke, until it attacks you while you don’t have a blocker. The design is a bit silly, but there are enough power-matters cards in Commander to put that magical 18 to good use.

#7. Uurg, Spawn of Turg

Uurg, Spawn of Turg now uses errata’d surveil text on its first ability, but it’s an imminently fair card, given its restrictive mana value and the work you have to put in to make it a 2/5 or bigger. Some decks love sending lands to the graveyard, but the land sacrifice ability isn’t adding too much to the equation.

#6. Psychic Frog

Psychic Frog from Modern Horizons 3 is a cool little callback to Psychatog. I don’t play enough Modern to have a great feel for where this lands in the format, but I’ve come to regretfully respect the power level of cards with Modern Horizons set symbols on them.

#5. Plaxcaster Frogling

Plaxcaster Frogling is a solid role-player for +1/+1 counter decks, though I’d pass on it digitally (graft triggers on every creature that enters, including your opponents’). It provides some nice passive protection, and the threat of activation usually means you never actually have to use the ability since players won’t just jam removal into it. If you’re feeling extra spicy you can even shroud your opponents’ creatures in response to pump spells, equipment, and so on.

#4. Spore Frog

Meren of Clan Nel Toth decks playing Spore Frog is what the kids call “a vibe.” Genesis is another likely pairing, allowing you to reanimate Spore Frog for combat damage immunity basically every turn. If you find yourself losing to this sort of interaction too often, it’s a clear sign you need to start packing more graveyard hate.

#3. Grolnok, the Omnivore

If you’re doing anything remotely close to a frog typal deck (and why?), odds are Grolnok, the Omnivore is the main reason. It lets you profit from self-mill synergies in combat whenever any frog (not necessarily Grolnok itself) attacks. And you can supplement this with changelings pretty easily.

#2. Thalia and The Gitrog Monster

Thalia and The Gitrog Monster, eh? Wanna guess which one’s the frog? This card just does a lot of stuff, from cashing in lands and creatures for card draw to pretty much blanking combat thanks to first strike and deathtouch. It’s a goofy little tag team card that more than justifies its multi-color casting cost.

#1. The Gitrog Monster

Sorry Thalia, this one’s all about The Gitrog Monster. The king of frogs is one of the strongest lands-matter commanders out there, to the point where it sees consistent cEDH play. You can combo with Dakmor Salvage, or you can stick this on turn 5 in just any old deck and probably get good value out of it. Also, who doesn’t love deathtouch on a 6/6, right?

Best Frog Payoffs

Well, they’re pretty low-maintenance pets, as long as you don’t get one of the vibrantly colorful ones. Don’t touch those ones.

So… frog payoffs in Magic. Well, Grolnok, the Omnivore is pretty much your only true frog payoff card. Tatsunari, Toad Rider technically works as a frog payoff, but that card’s almost completely self-contained in an enchantment deck and doesn’t really incentivize you to play more frogs.

Croaking Counterpart is a card you’re pretty much always putting in your frog decks, but it’s not really a payoff so much as a synergy piece.

Are Anurids Frogs?

The Anurid were originally beast creatures but were later errata'd to be frogs. Their art ranges from beastly blobs to frog-like things lashing the sky with their long tongues.

Ribbiting Conclusion

Plaxcaster Frogling | Illustration by Greg Staples

And that, my little tadpoles, is the rub on frogs. I wish there were more to say, but these loafing lily pad leapers don’t have enough of a cohesive mechanical identity to do anything other than simply point out which ones are playable and leave out all the rest. Maybe Bloomburrow will change that; hit me up when “frog typal” debuts as one of the 2-color archetypes in that set.

We’ll revisit this one when Grolnok gets a few more friends to play with. If you’ve got a compelling reason why I should’ve included Chub Toad as number one, or you’ve got something you actually consider a “frog typal” deck, let me know in the comments below or over in the Draftsim Discord.

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