In this article, we will talk about all things planeswalker. If you’ve had questions about them in the past like who’s the best or if they can die from a
What Are Planeswalkers In MTG And How Do They Work?
Planeswalkers are permanents that can be cast at sorcery speed and they come into play with a set amount of loyalty counters. Usually, they have 3 abilities. One “plus” ability that gives them more loyalty counters. One minus ability that takes away counters. The last ability takes more loyalty than they start with and usually has a game-winning effect. In order to get to this point, you will have to protect them.
Players can attack planeswalkers just like players. When a player moves to combat, they can send some of their creatures to attack the planeswalker, damaging its loyalty. When a planeswalker’s loyalty hits zero it goes to the graveyard. You can only use a planeswalker’s ability on your turn and only at sorcery speed. To learn more about the stack, check out Jeff’s most recent article.
How Do Planeswalkers Fit Into Building A Deck?
I can hear you saying, with all the card draw, removal, and mana ramp, how can I fit in planeswalkers? Simple. planeswalkers can do it all! Depending on the planeswalker, they can remove creatures and they can have card draw plus much more.
When building your deck doesn’t put them in expecting to activate their big, ultimate ability. Your opponents aren’t going to just let you build them up unopposed. Instead, focus on their other abilities. Take Elspeth, Sun’s Champion for example.
In a token-style deck, she functions as a token maker and a one-sided
When building your deck, make sure any planeswalkers you add fit your deck’s strategy. Planeswalkers are prime targets for removal so bear that in mind when you add them in.
What Are The Limits To Planeswalkers?
Planeswalkers need to be protected to get the most out of them. You might only get one ability activation off before your opponents put a stop to your shenanigans. For example, no one is going to let Karn Liberated stick around if they can help it.
You can only activate a planeswalker’s ability once a turn. Additionally, cards like The Chain Veil are powerful in a planeswalker heavy deck. The more activations of abilities the better.
You cannot activate a minus ability if you don’t have enough loyalty to activate it. Not all planeswalkers are made equal. Not all decks even want to run a planeswalker. Just keep in mind planeswalkers are usually the first thing players target with removal. They essentially give you a free effect every turn and that is a powerful thing.
How Many Planeswalkers Can You Have On The Board ?
Planeswalkers are legendary so you only have one of each named planeswalker on your side of the field. You can’t have two Ajani Goldmane, but you can have Ajani Goldmane and Ajani, Caller of Pride. Effectively they have different names so they are different Ajani.
Back in “ye olden times” you couldn’t have two of the same planeswalker if they had the same first name. Now, planeswalkers follow the normal legendary rule, so as long as they have different card names you can have as many out as you want. If you want to have all of the different Ajani out on the field at the same time, you can. As long as they are all different.
How Do Board Wipes Affect Planeswalkers?
[/c]Mtg planeswalkers are not creatures. Wrath of God won’t destroy planeswalkers. They are permanents, however. Therefore, any spell that hits permanents will hit planeswalkers.
[c]Merciless Eviction
has a mode that deals with planeswalkers only. If the spell deals damage to any target, it can target your planeswalker. Every point of damage removes a loyalty counter. At zero they go to the graveyard. Planeswalkers aren’t safe from allWho Are The Best Planeswalkers?
Planeswalkers come in all shapes and sizes. The best ones usually cost less to cast, can protect themselves or provide the most value. There are many great planeswalkers out there and this article talks about some of them. Here is a list of the 5 best planeswalkers in our opinion.
5. Narset, Parter Of Veils
Narset might not have many abilities but that doesn’t matter. This planeswalker prevents your opponents from drawing more than one card a turn. Shutting down card draw is a powerful effect. Cards like Font of Mythos and Wheel of Fortune are completely one-sided. -2 effect isn’t bad but most likely you have her in the deck to stop card draw. If you like drawing cards but don’t want others to draw cards, Narset is for you.
| Pros | Cons |
| Powerful effect | No other effects |
| Cheap to cast | Basically an enchantment |
| -2 added bonus |
4. Tezzeret, Agent Of Bolas
Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas is perfect in artifact centered decks. His -4 ability is easy to reach and it will most likely take out a player. Additionally, his +1 lets you dig for your best artifacts. Better yet his -1 turns your mana rocks into deadly weapons.
Turn your Darksteel Citadel into an indestructible 5/5 and smash away. The artifacts hit with this ability stay 5/5. What more could an artifact deck want?
| Pros | Cons |
| Easy to kill a player | Best in artifact-only decks |
| Helps get out the artifacts you need | Can be stopped before -4 is activated |
| Low mana cost |
3. Karn Liberated
Karn Liberated has strong abilities. +4 exiles a card out of a player’s hand. His minus ability exiles a permanent. His -14, which is easier to reach than you would think and restarts the game.
In addition to that, you get to start with all of the permanent you exiled with Karn on your side of the field. This effect is devastating and a game-ender. Karn is not a planeswalker to use to make friends at the table.
| Pros | Cons |
| High starting loyalty | High mana cost |
| All options are great | Archenemy when he hits the field |
| -14 ends the game |
2. Teferi, Hero of Dominaria
Teferi has fantastic abilities for a control-style deck. Being able to untap two lands at the end of your turn is great. Therefore you can play more things on your turn and have mana left for counterspell. His -3 removes threats and if you manage to activate his -8 then it is game over.
Primarily, Teferi is used to draw a card and untap your lands or to put nonland permanents back into your opponent’s library.
| Pros | Cons |
| Draw cards and untap lands | -8 is unlikely |
| Put cards back into opponent’s deck | High mana cost |
| Great for control |
1. Oko, Thief of Crowns
What the heck were they thinking when they printed this guy? He is banned in almost every format. Oko is so strong he doesn’t need help protecting himself. Big threat? Elk. Powerful artifact? Elk. Not only can you turn your opponent’s things into elks but you can turn the food tokens he makes into elks that you can use to block all your opponent’s elks. Who knew you were both running elk tribal?
| Pros | Cons |
| Low mana cost | Not as good in commander |
| Everything is elks |
What About The Best For Each Color?
There are still plenty of planeswalkers out there. The first run of mtg planeswalker where mono color. Similarly to our last list, let’s talk about the best planeswalkers for each mono color. You can’t go wrong with any planeswalkers listed here!
Ugin, the Spirit Dragon
Ugin, the Spirit Dragon has a high starting loyalty. His +2 deals three damage to any target, so not only can he hit creatures, he can take down other planeswalkers! He can -x to remove permanents as long as they have a color. However, If you manage to use his -10, winning is in your future.
| Pros | Cons |
| Can remove threats | Opponents will target it right away |
| High starting loyalty | High mana cost |
Nissa, Who Shakes The World
Nissa passively lets your forests tap for extra green mana. That is great on its own. Further, her other abilities make your lands a force to be reckoned with. If you want to get out your big creatures or spells faster, Nissa is for you. Any green deck that needs a lot of mana will want to run this mono-green Planeswalker.
| Pros | Cons |
| Double mana | Opponents will target it right away |
| Great in lands matter decks | Lands as creatures can be dangerous |
Chandra, Torch of Defiance
Do you like casting all of the spells? Chandra wants to help you do just that. She has two +1 abilities to her name. One is a temporary card draw and the other gives you temporary mana. She can also take out creatures with her -3.
Chandra’s -7 grants you an emblem that deals 5 damage to creatures or players whenever you cast spells. For this reason, she can help you storm out a win in no time.
| Pros | Cons |
| Low mana cost | Hard to defend in a spell-slinger deck |
| Great abilities |
Gideon, Ally of Zendikar
Gideon can use his big ability right away. In essence, it gives you a permanent anthem effect, boosting all of your creatures. Because of this, some decks can abuse this ability over and over again.
Aside from that, he makes creatures that can be powered up or like most other Gideons, he can turn into a creature when needed. Gideon is great in token decks or flicker decks.
| Pros | Cons |
| -4 on the turn he hits the | Not the best ultimate |
| Low mana cost | Other abilities are mediocre |
Liliana of the Veil
Liliana of the Veil keeps your opponents out of resources therefore making opponents discard and sacrifice creatures over and over again until they can’t do anything makes her a big threat. It doesn’t seem like much at first but because you can cast and get her out fast, it becomes oppressive fast. Liliana is great in graveyard matters decks.
| Pros | Cons |
| Low mana cost | $65 dollars |
| Drains opponents resources |
Jace, the Mind Sculptor
There are several Jaces I could have picked but let’s talk about this one. He can let you scry your own deck or your opponents. You can Brainstorm every turn. You can bounce threats to Jace. He has so much utility that no other blue planeswalkers are close. If you can afford this planeswalker, consider him in your next blue deck.
| Pros | Cons |
| Great options | Will be targeted once on the |
| Low mana cost |
Dishonorable Mention
We talked about the best planeswalkers and there are even more than mentioned here that I have not talked about. Like when I talked about Partner Commanders, most planeswalkers have uses in some deck or another. All of them but one. Tibalt, the Fiend-Blooded is so laughably bad you have to wonder what happened.
Like Oko, what were they thinking? Tibalt punishes you for playing him. You might put him in a madness-style deck but because he makes you discard at random you’d have to rely on luck. You won’t get him high enough to use either of his other abilities. Not all planeswalkers are made equal.
Mtg planeswalkers are fun to use. They spice up any deck they are in. As flexible as they are, they can fit into any deck style. Some decks are all about planeswalkers. Every magic set seems to have new planeswalkers so this list could be ever-changing. These picks are my personal best and you might find other planeswalkers even better for your playstyle. That is what makes planeswalker so great. If you haven’t used planeswalkers before, I recommend you give them a try.
