Hello everyone, as I am currently writing this I am actually on my summer vacation in Texas. I know some vacation spot right? Oh well, I'm not complaining. Now for what you guys really want to read, today I am going to spend some time dissecting each Planeswalker being released next weekend and the playability of each in the 4 major formats, Standard, Modern, Legacy, and EDH but focusing more on Standard. I will organize these Planeswalkers from least powerful to most powerful in my opinion. Beginning with Jace, the Living Guildpact.
Jace, the Living Guildpact
I am not sold on this card at all. I think anybody who says this card is playable is plain wrong. His +1 lets you look at the top 2 cards in your library. Okay starts off cool, right? WRONG! I have to put one in the graveyard after I'm done looking at them? That's just straight horrible. His -3 removes another nonland permanent to owner's hand. This ability is actually relevant in most situations and I actually think this is the only saving grace to this card especially in an extremely greedy metta that is Standard today. Now for his ultimate. The fact that it's a -8 makes it kinda tough to reach and I believe it'll be difficult to protect him to be able to use this ability. But the fact that the ability is a better Time Reversal causing only you to draw the seven new cards makes the ultimate his only saving grace. As far as playability in formats, I don't believe he will see much play in any Constructed Tournaments but I believe he might be playable in EDH because of how generally slow the format is and his 2UU mana cost.
Liliana Vess
I have Lili Vess being the next card because I think it will only truly see Standard play in a Mono-Black Waste Not list. Her +1 makes target player discard a card. Not a terrible ability with certain cards but certainly not a great +1 ability like others in the set. I think Mono-Black discard will be a fairly relevant decklist as long as M14 remains in Standard and maybe even after Khans of Tarkir releases based on the cards we might see this fall. But back to Lili, her -2 ability lets you search your library for a card and put it on top of your library. So it allow you to manipulate your draw to either draw into a threat or an answer depending on the current situation. The -8 ability is great, I'm going to steal all of your creatures from your graveyard and play them myself. The biggest draw back I see when it comes to playability of Lili is her 3BB Mana cost. Black doesn't have any way to ramp into her as early as they'd like but being a late to mid-game threat makes Liliana Vess a fairly decent Standard threat. With her being a reprint that doesn't currently see play in other constructed formats I don't think that will change.
Chandra, Pyromaster
Our favorite red Planeswalker is next on my list. Not simply because she is another reprint, but because this version of Chandra is actually relevant in many formats right now. Her +1 pings a creature, deals 1 damage to it's controller and that creature can't block. In my current Naya Monsters deck, that's pretty relevant to prevent somebody from blocking a Stormbreath Dragon or Polukranos, World Eater. This also gives you the ability to shoot your opponents mana-dorks when necessary. Her 0 ability is probably the most relevant in most decks that she sees play in. I've started seeing her pop up as a 1 or 2 of in many burn lists simply because of the power this ability has in the deck. It allows you to not only thin out your deck for more threats but also allows you to possibly hit land drops you may have missed or find that 1 answer you needed. Now to discuss her rarely used ultimate. At a -7 that makes the ability in a reasonable reach. But exiling the top 10 cards of your library and choosing an instant or sorcery and casting 3 copies of the card without paying it's mana cost is extremely relevant in a burn deck. You can deal maximum damage this way very easily. Say you exile a Warleader's Helix you can then deal 12 damage and gain 12 life at the same time. That's a 24 life swing that will more than likely win you the game. Plus the fact that she's only a 4 drop makes her very powerful.
Nissa, Worldwaker
This one was actually a tough decision between putting Nissa in this slot or Ajani Steadfast. I'll explain my choice in a second. First, let's analyze the card. First the obvious, she has two +1 abilities which makes people assume that she's going to be extremely powerful. I disagree as I'll explain. Her first +1 ability turns a land into a 4/4 Elemental with trample, but note, the wording on the card doesn't say "Until end of turn" anywhere in the text for that ability. The down side to this ability is that you have to play it very carefully because turning it into a creature makes your lands vulnerable to any removal spell. So pick your lands very carefully. Her second +1 ability isn't as powerful as everyone believes it to be. Untapping 4 Forests although can be relevant at times, green doesn't have much removal or instants even to cast on your opponents turn. Yes you can untap your shock lands but that usually isn't what you want. Her ultimate is powerful don't get me wrong. -7 search for basic lands and put them into play as 4/4 lands with trample, hope your opponent doesn't have a board wipe. That's all I need to ruin your plan. The biggest reason I put her third on my list and not second from the top is because of her casting cost and starting loyalty counters. She costs 3GG which although you can easily ramp into Nissa on turn 3, she only starts with 3 loyalty. Meaning you have to keep her alive for 4 turns before hoping to ultimate her. I see her being more of a stall tactic with her first two abilities with an ultimate being a nice thing that will happen every once in a while. Don't get me wrong though, she will be a singleton in the sideboard of my current Naya Monsters build.
Ajani Steadfast
I love this card. I really do. I will be the first to admit, I like anything that has to do with a large cat kicking butt with an axe. But that's just me. Anyways, Ajani's +1 ability giving target creature +1/+1, first strike, vigilance, and lifelink is almost over powered in my opinion. Okay it can't target my Stormbreath Dragon but I think I can manage. But the -2 ability will affect my Stormbreath Dragon because it doesn't target so, HAH! The -2 ability puts a +1/+1 counter on each creature you control without targeting and also puts an additional loyalty counter on each other Planeswalker you control. This is the ability most people are extremely excited about. This will give you the ability to ultimate a Kiora, the Crashing Wave the turn after you play it if you use the abilities correctly. The ultimate of this new Ajani is very powerful but has a drawback as well. It prevents ALL BUT 1 damage from EACH source. So if I'm swinging in with an 12 3/3's you will still take 12 damage as opposed to the 36 damage I swung with. Very strong ultimate for a very strong card but also a rather significant drawback by still letting some damage go through. Also Ajani costing only 3W makes the card not very color intensive and it also starts off with 4 loyalty so it has a very reachable ultimate and has ways of protecting itself.
Garruk, Apex Predator
Now for the card that everyone has fallen in love with instantly. Garruk, Apex Predator makes the top of my list with little to no surprise, it very easily protects itself, and is castable on turn 4. He is only the second Planeswalker with 4 loyalty abilities with Jace, the Mind Sculptor being the other. His first +1 ability destroying another Planeswalker is more powerful that people give it credit for. I personally would use this ability to protect me from a Planeswalker nearing it's ultimate or a Planeswalker that's just giving me a headache. His second +1 ability puts a 3/3 beast with deathtouch into play giving him all the protection he needs to survive and sustain his battlefield presence. -3 destroy target creature and gain life equal to it's toughness allows you to protect yourself from a big fatty that is threatening you and creates just an extra way to keep yourself in the game although with the presence of Skullcrack being in standard for the next 3 months makes me wonder just how relevant this ability will be in some matchups. Now I suggest you read and then re-read Garruk's ultimate. "Target opponent gains an emblem: 'Whenever a creature attacks you, it gets +5/+5 and gains trample until end of turn.'" You are giving your opponent the emblem so whenever your creature attacks them it then gets the +5/+5 bonus and gains trample. So the 3/3 beast you made earlier is now an 8/8 beast with trample and deathtouch. Has your opponent proceeded to the scoop phase yet?
This is my opinion and power rankings of the Planeswalkers coming out next Friday. Don't forget about pre-release this weekend and our release party next Friday as well. Good luck to everybody participating and please don't let Jake Valentine pull Garruk, foil Garruk out of the same pack.
Thanks for reading -Logan Mitchell (Twiggy)
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