MTG Wiki
Advertisement

Atog
Atog
Creature Type
(Subtype for creature/kindred cards)
Beeble Scale 7[1]
Statistics
12 cards
{W} 8.3% {U} 8.3% {B} 8.3% {R} 16.7% {G} 8.3% {W/U} 8.3% {U/B} 8.3% {B/R} 8.3% {R/G} 8.3% {G/W} 8.3% {M} 8.3%
as of Mirrodin
Scryfall Search
type:"Atog"

Atog is a creature type describing a species of small creatures known for their insatiable appetites and unusual diets.

Description[ | ]

Atogs come in various forms, but most uniformly possess a humanoid shape, a reptilian or amphibian appearance, bulging eyes, and enormous toothy mouths.[2] Some bear a slight resemblance to goblins. Atogs possess a glimmer of sentience but do not seem to have a society as such. The first creature to bear the type was Atog in Antiquities.[3]

The word "atog" is an anagram of "goat", another creature humorously rumored to eat metallic objects.[4][5] In reality, goats nibble at the paper labels of the cans.

Species[ | ]

Though found on several planes throughout the Multiverse, atogs appear to be most common on Dominaria, where they are scattered across several continents. Atogs were first seen in the continent of Terisiare at the time of the Brothers' War, where they wreaked havoc on the weapons employed by the powerful artificers of the era, though the largest variety and concentration of atogs was in Otaria, where they flourished as scavengers in the wake of the Phyrexian Invasion. Most atogs are scavengers, with the power to gain strength and sustenance from certain substances.

Known varieties of atogs (and their diets) include the following:

  • The most common type, known simply as the atog, feeds on artifacts and various metallic substances. On Dominaria, atogs are city-dwelling scavengers considered pests by most. As noted above, common atogs were first encountered on Terisiare, but have also been seen on Otaria as well, and may have lived in Aerona (the country of Kush produced a potable called Atog Ale). Some atogs were transported from Dominaria to the metallic plane of Mirrodin, where, faced with a world where every living thing is suffused with metal, they settled into a new niche as alpha predators. Common atogs have vein-covered purple skin and huge, glowing orange eyes.
    • The megatog is a gigantic offshoot of the common atog found only on Mirrodin. It resembles a common atog, but walks on all fours and stands at least fifteen feet at the shoulder, appearing considerably larger than an elephant. Like other inhabitants of Mirrodin, part of the megatog's anatomy is metal. Its mouth is full of huge, blade-like metal teeth, but these are merely ornamental, as the megatog prefers to swallow its prey whole.
  • The foratog is a forest-dwelling atog that feeds on wood. Foratogs are noted for their ability to eat with blinding speed. They have been encountered in Jamuraa. Foratogs have light blue scales, large green eyes, and spiky barbels extending from their chins and the tops of their heads.
  • The chronatog is by far the most unusual and mysterious member of the atog family. Resembling not a humanoid but something akin to a huge, blue, three-toed salamander, the chronatog nonetheless possesses the characteristically huge and toothy atog mouth and large, white, orb-like eyes. Chronatogs are known to feed on time — but how this is accomplished is unknown. Like foratogs, chronatogs hail from Jamuraa.
  • The necratog, which may live in Jamuraa, Urborg, or Aerona, is a scavenger that digs up the rotting corpses of other creatures to eat. Necratogs appear almost corpse-like themselves, with shriveled green-grey skin and glazed-over red eyes.
  • The auratog was first seen on the artificial plane of Rath but may exist today on Dominaria in the wake of the Rathi Overlay. Auratogs resemble nothing so much as shriveled pink goblins with huge mouths and bulging orange eyes. Auratogs feed on enchantments, devouring their raw magical energy.

Otarian atogs[ | ]

Atogatog

Atogatog. Art by Ron Spears.

The atogs of Otaria come in a very broad array of types, including common atogs but also an assortment of others. Otarian atogs differ from other varieties in that they can ingest a wider variety of substances, but gain less overall sustenance from them. These atogs may be more intelligent than their relatives elsewhere since they've been seen wielding primitive weapons and wearing crude jewelry. Otarian atogs include the following:

  • The phantatog eats enchantments and psychic energy from other creatures (represented by discarding) and resembles a large, blue, humanoid tree frog.
  • The psychatog eats psychic energy and decomposing flesh and has a green-grey scaly body with an enormous, bulbous head.
  • The sarcatog eats decomposing flesh and artifacts, has vivid green skin, and resembles a cross between a frog and a goblin.
  • The lithatog eats artifacts and pieces of its surrounding terrain (represented by sacrificing lands) and resembles a blue-skinned goblin with red and green eyes, huge teeth jutting from its mouth, and small spikes on its head.
  • The thaumatog eats lands and enchantments and resembles a blue- and purple-scaled reptilian humanoid with a short snout.

Also on Otaria dwelt the mysterious Atogatog, a unique atog "lord" of great size and power who fed upon its kind.

Manstone[ | ]

Trivia[ | ]

  • Mark Rosewater's Tumblr, Blogatog, is named as an atog. When it eats blogs, it gets bigger.[6]

References[ | ]

  1. Mark Rosewater (August 11, 2019). "Could I get atogs on the beeble scale?". Blogatog. Tumblr.
  2. Magic Arcana (February 27, 2002). "Atog breeding". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  3. Mark Rosewater (August 31, 2017). "Trivia on atogs?". Blogatog. Tumblr.
  4. Allen Varney (1995). "Words of Magic"
  5. Mark Rosewater (May 30, 2024). "The “a” doesn’t stand for “artifact”. Atog is an anagram of goat because Atogs like to eat things.". Blogatog. Tumblr.
  6. Mark Rosewater (January 29, 2014). "What does the blogatog get when you sacrifice a creature to it?". Blogatog. Tumblr.
Advertisement