Catching Up On Magic - Part 3

Planeswalkers

Planeswalkers are a new card type, introduced in Lorwyn. They are fairly complex, but add more depth to the game. I'll walk you through the type, step by step.

The name, expansion symbol (Lorwyn), converted mana cost and art do not need explanation, so let's go to the second half of the card.

Type line: A planeswalker's type is it's subtype. If two planeswalkers that share a subtype are on the battlefield, both are put into their owner's graveyards as a state-based effect, just like legends, except Ajani Goldmane and Ajani Vengeant would both be affected by the legend rule (both are Planeswalker - Ajani).

Loyalty: At the bottom-right, the number 5 is the planeswalker's starting loyalty. Loyalty is similar to life: one damage = one loyalty counter removed. Any damage dealt to a player, combat or not, may be redirected to a planeswalker of your choice that they control instead. Targets are declared with the spell or declaration of attackers.

Loyalty is used as a cost: see the +1, -2 and -8. Each turn, at sorcery speed, you may use one of a planeswalker's abilities (activated ability) if you can pay it's cost by adding / removing the loyalty counters. When a planeswalker's loyalty reaches 0, it is put into it's owner's graveyard.

The rise of creatures

We've covered the new rules: you're now up to speed to play casually. However, if you want to play competitively, you should read the rest of this series, which is the meat and potatoes of the column.

In the last several years, creatures have vastly increased in power. Take a look at these powerful beasts:

Both powerful, tournament-quality creatures in their time. Now allow me to introduce you to a new breed of creature:

The bar's been raised a lot higher. Have a guess at how many of these creatures are tournament-calibre?

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The answer is two. Broodmate Dragon and Baneslayer Angel. The other two creatures are not played in Standard. They aren't good enough or don't fit decks well enough. They are played, but not in Tier 1 decks, and that's what we need to focus on to get you back up to the top.

At the same time, a new breed of creature has arrived: the army in a can.

All this combines to ensure that creatures, especially in the 4-6 mana range, now need to be absolutely incredible to compete, and/or not die to a single removal spell. Combined with the ability to play almost anything in Standard in a single, five-color deck and we need to make sure our creatures are as powerful as they can possibly be.

But the rise of multi-colored decks is a topic for tomorrow.

To be continued...