This concept for a Psion is unrelated to that presented on Warding Psion.

Why is this a flip card

Flip card gooD

DFC bad

Honest answer —

Because while I think DFCs are better in that they allow a greater amount of text and art, and because it's easier to tell when they're tapped, I think that the Modal DFC designs, with a land on one side, should have been flip cards.

At least for a text-light design like this one, a flip card seems superior to me. It avoids a lot of the rules and implementation baggage of a DFC while still allowing the card to be played as either a creature or a land.

I arrived at this particular design while thinking about how Psionics isn't technically magic, and it's usually presented as a separate system when the two coexist in the same setting. That made me ponder whether a Psionic "spell" should even use mana to cast, which is where I arrived at a spell that cost energy.

A spell costing energy, though, is pretty parastic — IIRC almost all Kaladesh cards that used energy also had a way of providing it. Therefore, I thought, perhaps this card could either spend energy or provide it.

I only just realised the new DFC lands have no rules telling you you can play either face. I guess you're supposed to know from the little icon? I assume this works the same way.

I picture a little ↑↓ symbol on the side or something indicating as such