The full set of Magic 2012 is fully spoiled, and with it there are new cards. Of particular interest today are the remixed versions of three of the original planeswalkers.
While the original five have been landmarks of the previous two sets, the planeswalker roster gets shaken up in Magic 2012. Black and white planeswalkers Sorin Markhov and Gideon Jura make a reappearance in this core set, retaining their original form and abilities.
However, Garruk, Chandra, and Jace are getting a makeover in this release. Does Jace have the power to get banned again (which you can read about here)? Does Chandra have a better reincarnation than her Ablaze? Check it out...
First, up Chandra. In her previous two incarnations, both had unorthodox activation costs. For the vanilla flavored Chandra Nalaar, her second ability expended a variable number of loyalty counters for points of damage. In her second iteration Chandra Ablaze, her first ability had an additional cost of discarding a card. They are interesting experiments on the traditional planeswalker abilities, but only vanilla Chanda had an impact in the Standard environment as part of some Superfriends decks.
This time I'd say the designers improved greatly with Chandra, the Firebrand. Her basic +1 ability is great since now her 1 damage can be redirected to both players AND creatures. While 1 damage may seem insignificant, it does poke utility creatures such as Birds of Paradise and also hits 3 damage with Shock (Lightning Bolt is NOT in M12). The ultimate is 6 damage on up to 6 targets, nothing fancy but it gets the job done.
Her copy ability is what makes her interesting. For two loyalty counters, the next sorcery or instant you cast will be copied. Good choices include Plow Under (that's 4 land to the top of the deck) and Time Warp (hey, it's Time Stretch for half the cost). The problem with traditional forking spells is that the fork spell itself is an additional cost as well as an additional card. The added cost means that the forked spell will be played turns later, giving your opponent more time to mount a counterattack. The added card also means that the card to copy can be countered, rendering the fork spell useless; with Chandra, the spell is copied as soon as it is cast, meaning that an opponent has to have a counter for both spells rather than just one.
Also note that copying a spell with proliferate returns the 2 counters expended for the ability. That means spells like Tezzeret's Gambit or Volt Charge can have their effect twice, meaning four cards or 3 damage twice. While the number of instants and sorcery spells with proliferate are few, there are enough to use with Chandra.
Second, Jace. Jace was so good in his Mind Sculptor version that it had to be banned in the Standard format. That doesn't stop the planeswalker from rampaging through other formats such as Legacy, Extended, and even Vintage. Jace 1.0 has been called a Phyrexian Arena for blue, providing cards at the expense of loyalty for his controller.
Since blue is used to getting the nerfstick from Wizards, of course the new Jace pales in comparison to the Mind Sculptor. Jace 1.0 focused on drawing cards, Jace 2.0 took the best utility spells for blue, and Jace 3.0 focuses on mill. Mill has rarely been a strong condition in competitive Magic, but it's popular with casual players since alternate wins tend to get more props than straight damage to 0 victories. What's cool about having the mill on a planeswalker though is having the leftover mana, especially in a color that has tricks like blue.
Finally, Garruk. I'd say Garruk is the best of the planeswalkers both old and new. In comparison to vanilla Garruk, producing a 3/3 Beast token has transitioned from a -1 ability to a +1 ability. If you've ever played with Elspeth, then you know producing creatures every turn is strong. Besides that, Garruk also provides green with indirect card draw. Finally, Garruk's ultimate going off is usually game unless your opponent can either send direct damage for the kill or stave off the Wurm onslaught. The ult relies on having a high land count, but green has no problems with providing the real estate.
Talking about what makes a good planeswalker is another tale. So I'll ask you a question -- would you rather have a planeswalker that has synergistic abilities like Jace, Adept OR a planeswalker with a variety of utility spells like Garruk or Jace, the Mind Sculptor? Drop a comment below or tweet me at @shadowsketched .
Till next time,
@shadowsketched
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