Planeswalker



In the storyline of Magic: The Gathering, planeswalkers are among the most powerful beings in the multiverse. Within the game, they represent the thematic identities of the players. Planeswalker is also a card type within the game.

Player identity
Within the game, each player is supposed to be a planeswalker, which is a point emphasized in the current marketing strategy (for example the intro packs' description refers to your opponents as such). This concept originated from the Alpha rule book.

Card type
Planeswalker card types were introduced in Lorwyn. Like the player, a planeswalker card represents a powerful being that is able to move from plane to plane. Planeswalkers borrowed their "attack me to lower my loyalty" mechanic from something called structures that Richard Garfield made for Ravnica: City of Guilds, but never had been used. An earlier design for planeswalkers, meant to be introduced in Future Sight would later inspire the design of Sagas.

Planeswalkers enter the battlefield with a set number of loyalty counters, printed in the lower right of the card. A planeswalker can be attacked, like a player, or be damaged by an opponent's spell or ability. Any damage dealt to planeswalkers removes that many loyalty counters and a planeswalker with no loyalty counters are put into the graveyard, unless they become a Creature by a spell or ability. In that case, they are put into the graveyard also for the reasons a creature is sent there, such as taking lethal damage or reducing the toughness below 1.

Planeswalkers usually have three abilities: one ability that adds loyalty counters as a cost for a small benefit, one that removes a small number of counters as a cost for a larger effect, and one that removes a large number of loyalty counters for a big effect. The last effect is commonly referred to as the planeswalker's "ultimate" ability and usually leaves the opponent in a devastating state. The starting loyalty of a planeswalker is commonly significantly lower than the cost of its ultimate and a player has to build up the loyalty to access it.

Unlike most other cards in a set, planeswalkers are designed by the people who work on Standard (currently the Play Design team, formerly the development team with contributions from people who played in the Future Future League).

Until War of the Spark, all planeswalkers had been printed with the mythic rare rarity, except for Ajani Goldmane, Jace Beleren, Liliana Vess, Chandra Nalaar, and Garruk Wildspeaker, which debuted in the Lorwyn block when the mythic rare rarity did not yet exist. War of the Spark featured rare and even uncommon planeswalkers. All planeswalkers in the set have a static or triggered ability. In addition, the uncommon planeswalkers have only a minus loyalty ability (no plus abilities), the rare planeswalkers have a plus and a minus loyalty ability, and the mythic rare planeswalkers have the usual three loyalty abilities.

By the time of Zendikar Rising Planeswalkers could be released with set-specific mechanics (something which was previously avoided).

Planeswalker symbol
The handprint-like planeswalker symbol symbolizes planeswalkers and their ability to traverse the planes of the Multiverse. It is, for example, used to planeswalk in the Planechase format, as part of the Masters 25 expansion symbol, and hidden in card art (e.g., Barren Glory and Omniscience). It seems to refer to the different paths or planes that a planeswalker can choose to walk. Specifically: five choices, as in the five colors of Magic. On the other hand, Mark Rosewater has said that it also has a “five becoming one” aspect, to match Magic's ethos of the colors working together. The latter could also mean there is a connection to the Lorwyn Five or the Gatewatch.

There used to be a symbol designed for planeswalkers in Future Sight, but it was not used when the introduction of planeswalkers was moved to Lorwyn. This was different from the current planeswalker symbol.

Rules
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From the "planeswalker uniqueness rule" to the "legend rule"
Planeswalker cards used to have a similar rule to the "legend rule": If a player controls two or more planeswalkers that share a planeswalker type, that player chooses one of them, and the rest are put into their owners’ graveyards. This was called the "planeswalker uniqueness rule".

Starting with Ixalan, this rule was abandoned. All planeswalkers past, present, and future gained the supertype legendary and became subject to the "legend rule". Thus, if a player controls more than one legendary planeswalker with the same name, that player chooses one and puts the other into their owner's graveyard. This has also enabled planeswalkers without types to be printed, such as The Wanderer.

The change was made to simplify gameplay.

There are no current plans to create nonlegendary planeswalkers.

Planeswalker redirection rule
Up until Rivals of Ixalan the following rule was in place: If noncombat damage would be dealt to a player by a source controlled by an opponent, that opponent may have that source deal that damage to a planeswalker the former player controls instead. This is a redirection effect (see rule 614.9) and is subject to the normal rules for ordering replacement effects (see rule 616). The opponent chooses whether to redirect the damage as the redirection effect is applied.

Starting with Dominaria this "planeswalker redirection rule" was removed. Instead each relevant card will tell you on the card specifically whether the card dealing direct damage can target planeswalkers. Older cards received errata to have "player" changed to "player or planeswalker", and similarly for "target opponent". Most others that could previously target a "creature or player" would now refer to simply "any target", defined to include creatures, players, and planeswalkers.

Rulings

 * Planeswalkers are permanents. You can cast one at any time you could cast a sorcery. When your planeswalker spell resolves, it enters the battlefield under your control.
 * Planeswalkers are not creatures. Spells and abilities that affect creatures won't affect them. They can become creatures by spells or abilities, though, such as Sarkhan the Masterless' ability.
 * All planeswalkers have supertype "legendary" and are subject to the "legend rule". Planeswalkers with the same subtypes can exist under your control as long as they are not of the same name.
 * Planeswalkers each have a number of activated abilities called "loyalty abilities." You can activate a loyalty ability of a planeswalker you control only at the time you could cast a sorcery and only if you haven't activated one of that planeswalker's loyalty abilities yet that turn.
 * The cost to activate a planeswalker's loyalty ability is represented by a box with a number inside. Boxes with a point facing up contain positive numbers, such as "+1"; this means "Put one loyalty counter on this planeswalker". Boxes with a point facing down contain negative numbers, such as "-7"; this means "Remove seven loyalty counters from this planeswalker". You can't activate a planeswalker's ability with a negative loyalty cost unless the planeswalker has at least that many loyalty counters on it.
 * Planeswalkers can't attack (unless an ability such as the one from Gideon Jura</c>'s third ability adds the creature type). However, they can be attacked. Each of your attacking creatures can attack your opponent or a planeswalker that the player controls. You say which as you declare attackers.
 * If your planeswalkers are being attacked, you can block the attackers as normal.
 * If a creature that's attacking a planeswalker isn't blocked, it'll deal its combat damage to that planeswalker. Any damage dealt to a planeswalker causes that many loyalty counters to be removed from it, unless they are also creatures (in that case, creature rulings apply).

Subtypes
The subtype for planeswalkers is called planeswalker type and is exclusive to planeswalkers.

R&D have decided that they don't want to have to rein in other card types because they might impact planeswalkers in a dangerous way. They decided not to add these other types when they chose to not make Karn an artifact Planeswalker.

Planeswalker commanders
As from Commander 2014, some planeswalkers (including some pre-Mending era planeswalkers) are now represented as planeswalker cards that can be used as commanders. 5 of these were printed in Commander 2014, their subtypes being Daretti, Freyalise, Nahiri, Nixilis, and Teferi. Two additional planeswalkers with such ability were added in Battlebond, which they can partner with each other that making both become commanders at the same time, their subtypes are Will and Rowan. Commander 2018 has four additional planeswalkers that can serve as commanders, with subtypes being Saheeli, Windgrace, Aminatou, and Estrid.

Planeswalker interaction
During the time of release, planeswalkers were almost never referred to on rules text, being withheld from commons as to increase the mystique of the card type. Over time, and especially after the release of War of the Spark, R&D relaxed this requirement, and now many more spells, especially in red and black, can interact with them.


 * Black is the primary color that can have the text "destroy target creature or planeswalker". A small number remove counters from planeswalkers or a subset of permanents.
 * Red previously could damage planeswalkers through the planeswalker redirection rule, but with the rule change damage spells now need to specify planeswalkers as valid targets. Due to Lava Axe</c> type effects being liabilities often, both damage spells to creatures and damage spells to players may now carry planeswalker as a secondary target.
 * Green didn't call out the planeswalker type by name (Nissa's Defeat</c> being an exception), but can destroy non-creature permanents; however, this effect is fairly rare, and to compensate some of Green's Bite effects have started to target planeswalkers.
 * Fated Retribution</c> is one of the few white cards that specifically can remove planeswalkers, while Planar Cleansing</c> destroys all nonland permanents, including planeswalkers. Bound in Gold</c> and Nahiri's Binding</c> show a trend to allow answers to planeswalkers using Auras. Banishing Light</c> effects have usually had any nonland permanent at 3 mana and creatures only at 2 mana, with only Prison Realm</c> bridging the gap.
 * Blue normally countered planeswalkers alongside other noncreature spells like with Negate</c>. Lately blue has now some creature-target counterspells that also hit planeswalkers (Reject</c>, Anticognition</c>), and also some bounce spells and controlling spells that hit creatures or planeswalkers (Barrin, Tolarian Archmage</c>, Mass Manipulation</c>).

Non-canon planeswalkers
Some iconic Dungeons & Dragons characters are being featured as Planeswalker cards in the cross-over set Dungeons & Dragons: Adventures in the Forgotten Realms. However, this doesn't mean that these characters have a planeswalker's spark. According to Wizards of the Coast, they wanted to make these characters as cool as they could possibly be, and as Planeswalkers were a regular part of new Magic sets - the Planeswalker card type in their opinion would make a great fit.

Further non-canon planeswalkers will be found in sets belonging to the Universes Beyond-series.

Trivia

 * As of Dungeons & Dragons: Adventures in the Forgotten Realms, there are 234 planeswalker cards total (including two silver-bordered cards), depicting 67 different planeswalker characters.
 * There are 63 different legal planeswalker subtypes, plus two additional subtypes that only appear on silver-bordered cards. (The Wanderer, while a distinct character, does not have her own subtype.)
 * There is one planeswalker card (The Royal Scions</c>) that has two subtypes, as it depicts two different planeswalker characters (the twins Will and Rowan Kenrith).
 * There are 95 multicolored planeswalker cards.
 * There are five colorless planeswalker cards.
 * There have been at least five printed planeswalker cards for each of the two colored pairs.
 * Nine planeswalkers have been printed with a color identity of three colors: Nicol Bolas, Tamiyo, Sarkhan, Dakkon, Dihada, Windgrace, Narset, Aminatou, and Estrid. In addition, Ajani, Samut, Huatli, and Nissa have been associated with three colors, but not all at the same time, and Sarkhan has an association with four colors across all his cards. Additionally, Urza's silver-bordered card has all five colors.
 * Gideon, Jace, Liliana, Chandra, Nissa, and Nicol Bolas have all been printed as double-faced cards that are legendary creatures on one side and planeswalkers on the other, depicting them in the moments when their sparks first ignited.
 * Dakkon Blackblade, Jaya Ballard, Karn, Narset, Nicol Bolas, Ob Nixilis, Samut, Teferi, Urza, Venser, Jeska and Xenagos have all been printed as both planeswalker cards and legendary creature cards, either because their creature cards were printed before the planeswalker card type was introduced (Dakkon, Jaya, Karn, Bolas, Teferi, Venser, and Urza's first creature card), or because their creature cards depicted them at a time when their spark wasn't currently active (Narset, Ob Nixilis, Samut, Xenagos, Jeska and Urza's second creature card). However, it should be noted that Urza's planeswalker card was silver-bordered and is not a canonical representation.
 * Azor, Garth One-Eye, Jared Carthalion, Ravi, and Slobad are all planeswalkers who've been printed as legendary creature cards, but not as planeswalker cards. With the exception of Azor, Garth, and Jared, their cards were all printed before the planeswalker card type was introduced, while Azor was printed as a legendary creature because his card depicted him after losing his spark, and Garth and Jared's cards depict the characters before receiving their sparks.
 * Planeswalker was featured as rules cards 1-3 of 5 in the Lorwyn set and 1 of 9 in the Magic 2011 set.

Highest number of individual planeswalker cards per character
Some characters are favored more than others, usually resulting in a higher amount of unique cards representing them.

Planeswalkers that have more than three planeswalker cards as of Kaldheim:


 * Seventeen cards: Chandra
 * Sixteen cards: Liliana
 * Twelve cards: Ajani, Jace
 * Ten cards: Nissa
 * Nine cards: Garruk (Garruk Relentless</c> notably is a double-faced card, with both sides being planeswalkers; in this case, it is still considered one card.)
 * Eight cards: Gideon
 * Seven cards: Sarkhan, Sorin, Tezzeret
 * Six cards: Teferi, Vivien, Vraska
 * Five cards: Elspeth, Nicol Bolas, Kaya
 * Four cards: Ral, Domri, Dovin, Huatli, Ashiok, Nahiri, Tibalt

Abilities

 * Not counting Commander and Partner abilities, the largest number of abilities a planeswalker card has had so far is four:
 * <c>Jace, the Mind Sculptor</c>, <c>Garruk, Apex Predator</c>, <c>Chandra, Torch of Defiance</c>, <c>Nicol Bolas, the Arisen</c> and <c>Nicol Bolas, God-Pharaoh</c> have four loyalty abilities.
 * <c>Nicol Bolas, Dragon-God</c>, <c>Liliana, Dreadhorde General</c>, <c>Tezzeret, Master of the Bridge</c> <c>Chandra, Awakened Inferno</c>, <c>Elspeth, Sun's Nemesis</c>, <c>Niko Aris</c>, <c>Tyvar Kell</c>, <c>Tibalt, Cosmic Impostor</c>, <c>Professor Onyx</c>, <c>Will, Scholar of Frost</c>, <c>Kasmina, Enigma Sage</c>, <c>Dakkon, Shadow Slayer</c>, <c>Geyadrone Dihada</c>, <c>Grist, the Hunger Tide</c>, and <c>Lolth, Spider Queen</c> have four abilities total, with three loyalty abilities and one static or triggered ability.
 * <c>Gideon Blackblade</c>, <c>Vivien, Monsters' Advocate</c>, and <c>Jace, Mirror Mage</c> have four abilities, with two static or triggered abilities and two loyalty abilities.
 * <c>Nahiri, the Lithomancer</c>, <c>Teferi, Temporal Archmage</c>, <c>Ob Nixilis of the Black Oath</c>, <c>Daretti, Scrap Savant</c>, <c>Freyalise, Llanowar's Fury</c>, <c>Aminatou, the Fateshifter</c>, <c>Estrid, the Masked</c>, <c>Saheeli, the Gifted</c>, and <c>Lord Windgrace</c> technically have four abilities as well, as they all have a static ability which allows them to be a commander. Similarly, <c>Will Kenrith</c>, <c>Rowan Kenrith</c>, <c>Jeska, Thrice Reborn</c>, and <c>Tevesh Szat, Doom of Fools</c> technically have five abilities: they also have a static ability which allows them to be a Commander, in addition to another static ability that gives them Partner.
 * All other planeswalkers have three or fewer abilities, with the exceptions of double-faced planeswalkers: <c>Garruk Relentless</c> has a total of five loyalty abilities or six abilities of any kind (two loyalty abilities and a triggered ability on the front, and three loyalty abilities on the back), and <c>Arlinn Kord</c> has a total of five (two on her human side and three on her transformed side).
 * Until War of the Spark, all planeswalker cards had at least three loyalty abilities. However, War of the Spark introduced rare planeswalkers that have only two loyalty abilities in addition to a static or triggered ability, as well as uncommon planeswalkers that only have one loyalty ability in addition to a static or triggered ability. Since then, there have been three mythic rare planeswalkers with only two loyalty abilities: <c>Vivien, Monsters' Advocate</c> and <c>Jace, Mirror Mage</c> (which have two loyalty abilities and two static or triggered abilities), <c>Jeska, Thrice Reborn</c> (which has two loyalty abilities, a static ability, a Commander ability, and a Partner ability), and <c>Nissa of Shadowed Boughs</c> (which has two loyalty abilities and one triggered ability).
 * Until War of the Spark, all but three planeswalker cards had positive loyalty abilities (i.e. loyalty abilities that gave them more counters). The only exceptions were <c>Sarkhan the Mad</c>, <c>Kaya, Ghost Assassin</c>, and the front side of <c>Garruk Relentless</c>, which only had neutral or negative loyalty abilities. However, Kaya's card had an ability that allowed players to exile it and returns it to the battlefield (thus restoring its starting counters), and Garruk's card had positive loyalty abilities on the backside, making Sarkhan's card the only planeswalker that couldn't gain or restore counters on its own. This changed with War of the Spark, which features 20 uncommon planeswalkers who only have negative loyalty abilities.

Loyalty counters

 * <c>Ugin, the Spirit Dragon</c>, <c>Nicol Bolas, God-Pharaoh</c>, and <c>Nicol Bolas, the Arisen</c> have the most loyalty counters (seven) when they enter the battlefield, not counting 'diminishing' planeswalkers (those who can't gain or restore counters) or the event exclusive <c>Garruk the Slayer</c> (who was meant to be played by itself, without a deck). This was likely done to highlight the fact that Ugin and Nicol Bolas are exceptionally powerful, even by planeswalker standards.
 * <c>Sarkhan the Mad</c>, <c>Arlinn, Voice of the Pack</c>, <c>Kiora, Behemoth Beckoner</c>, <c>Kaya, Bane of the Dead</c>, and <c>Huatli, the Sun's Heart</c> also start with seven loyalty, but they have no way to regain loyalty counters. All of these have different design impetuses for having high loyalty:
 * Sarkhan is primarily a draw engine, with situational negative activated abilities. In a low-curved deck, the 7 loyalty allows for more probable activations of the 0 ability.
 * Kaya has the most powerful activated ability with the worst passive, so to balance proliferate in the format requires two proliferates for another activation.
 * Kiora and Huatli are designed in reverse, with draft-around passives, so their high loyalty is to give them longevity, with activated abilities as minor upsides.
 * Arlinn sits in the middle, with the activated ability, passive ability, and high mana value going towards a strong uncommon proliferate payoff, balanced by the fact that she requires three turns to maximize loyalty value, with the first activation giving an under-curve creature.
 * <c>Nissa Revane</c>, <c>Tibalt, the Fiend-Blooded</c>, <c>Kiora, the Crashing Wave</c>, <c>Mu Yanling, Sky Dancer</c>, <c>Kasmina, Enigma Sage</c> and <c>Rowan, Scholar of Sparks</c> have the fewest loyalty counters (two) when they come onto the battlefield.
 * <c>Nissa, Steward of Elements</c>has a variable loyalty X from its mana cost. <c>Jeska, Thrice Reborn</c>enters with a number of loyalty counters equal to the number of times you've cast your commander from the command zone. enters with loyalty equal to the number of lands. All three can enter with loyalty from zero to over seven.