The Planeswalkers of Kaladesh
The new set Kaladesh is bringing in some awesome new Planeswalkers.
Isn’t that right Director of Magic R&D Aaron Forsythe?
Here are the new Planeswalkers from our Planeswalker Deck product that replaces intro packs starting in #MTGKLD. pic.twitter.com/mfv0YgxxEm
— Aaron Forsythe (@mtgaaron) September 7, 2016
Well… No.
Those were quite the Nissa and quite the Chandra we were looking for, Aaron. Luckily Kaladesh has got some other options.
Let’s check out the new Planeswalker Nissa, Vital Force:
[+1]: Untap target land you control. Until your next turn, it becomes a 5/5 Elemental creature with haste. It’s still a land.
This first ability has amazing implications.
First of all, Nissa, Vital Force is more than 80% of a Reality Smasher. Five mana; five power of haste. Sign me up?
You aren’t forced to attack with the animated Elemental land, of course. You can leave up a 5/5 to block; or if you untap a red land, use it to remove one of the opponent’s threats. In either case, you can protect this Planeswalker.
Nissa, Vital Force’s [+1] is a useful ramp ability (she takes you from five to seven)… But really this is about going straight to six loyalty to get her emblem.
[-3]: Return target permanent card from your graveyard to your hand.
Niss’a [-3] is great; in fact, Patirck points out that there is some Den Protector going on here. But the [+1] straight to [-6] is such a powerful incentive, look for this ability to be used less commonly than it might have been in other contexts.
[-6]: You get an emblem with “Whenever a land enters the battlefield under your control, you may draw a card.”
This is a shockingly potent Ultimate given how easy it is to set up.
Consensus: This Planeswalker will be both a Staple and a Flagship.
Saheeli has the worst fatal flaw of Planeswalkers (can’t defend herself), but as a three mana one, has something special going on.
The comparisons to Jace, the Mind Sculptor are probably by design.
With the least of her abilities, Chandra produces mana more efficiently than Hedron Archive.
More about all the Kaladesh Planesalkers in “The Planeswalkers of Kaladesh”:
