ex-PLANE-ing Planeswalkers

[@MagicArcanum]

Hey friends, thanks for stopping by to learn about Planeswalkers! I'm having a ton of fun reading and replying to your comments, but wanted to answer some of the recurring questions right here: 1. "How do you explain having two or more copies of the same planeswalker in play at the same time?" The better you know a planeswalker, the more willing they are to help you, and the more of their own moves are available to you to ask for. The first Chandra is like you asking for a ride to the airport. The second one is the time you asked to help move a couch. Both on the field together means you know her well enough to help you toss all your stuff in a van and move across the country. 2. "Where is that Wanderer video you mention?" It's called The Current Mysteries of Magic and you can find it here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/f4Gvc3eXgNZlY6s (is it not showing up as a card for people on the video? or is it only people on mobile asking this or something?) 3. "What about creatures? How do they get summoned to a new plane?" Summoned creatures are usually 'replicas' made using mana. Look at the flavor text on Ajani's Pridemate (War of the Spark printing) for an in-game reference. This also explains how the same legendary creature can be on opposite sides of the battlefield, as you and your opponent are each summoning your own memories of interacting with that person at a different time. Thanks again for watching, and I'll see you on the battlefield for Core Set 2021!

[@frankyalvarado9333]

WAR OF THE SPARK IS THE BEST SET IN MY OPINION THANK FOR YOUR VIDS~!!!!B :SDDDD

[@NStripleseven]

Huh. Well, this is a really cool bit of this game's lore that I had no idea about.

[@ryanspruce7447]

Wait, doesn’t the legend rule make it so you CANT have more than one copy of a certain planeswalker in play at once?

[@MagicArcanum]

@@ryanspruce7447 You can't have multiples of cards with the same exact name. So for example, having both Jace, Mirror Mage and Jace, Wielder of Mysteries in play together is fine, but two copies of Jace, Mirror Mage is not ok.

[@aidensypolt]

I pulled Chandra from Crisom Vow

[@raydelmartinez2905]

How to become a Planeswalker: Walk inside of an LGS and ask for a free starter deck, your spark will ignite soon after when you get destroyed during your first game.

[@TempestDacine]

Truly traumatic

[@aceundead4750]

I wish it had been strangers instead of my closest friends that hurt me so

[@Pistolsatsean]

Ahahaha so true

[@tomhur1]

Hey, that's what happened to me...I got zapped to Ravnica just in time to help out during War of the Spark...

[@raimarulightning]

The most consistent trauma is a first game of magic.

[@stepniak18]

Teferi represents this kind of person who you ask to help but instead they do everything by themselves because 'they don't have time to explain you everything'.

[@MagicArcanum]

"NO I AM NOT MAKING THIS UP AS I GO"

[@CanuckMonkey13]

@@MagicArcanum NGL, I laughed out loud at this reply!

[@chasebalcziunas4289]

“I don’t have the time to explain this to you.” - Time Mage

[@kriptonite981]

@@chasebalcziunas4289 lol, wasn't he stated to always be late to class and never able to manage his time wisely when he was younger?

[@triopsate3]

​@@kriptonite981 Yep. He was always a disruptive student. Now he's being just as disruptive to others by screwing with their time.

[@booradley1138]

Liliana: I'm not a black mage. Jace: I'm not a blue mage. Nissa: I'm not a green mage. Me: So why are you all always wearing outfits with those colors?

[@NeroVingian40]

Hey, that’s stereotyping! Lmao

[@primecreator5257]

I mean, that’d be corny as hell. Would you only wear the same color as your mana’s?

[@fleru5931]

I guess your mana color includes your tastes too, i mean my card would be sultai, and those happen to be my favorite non magic colors as well

[@cointoss4825]

when a spark of a planeswalker ignites, they go to a random plane. but i have a theory that it might not be as random as everyone thinks. chandra jace, and liliana had me starting to think about this. chandra's first planeswalk brought her to ragatha. there was lava everywhere and well trained fire monks, which is kinda the perfect place to go if you where a pyromancer who wanted to improve your skills. liliana's first planeswalk brought her to innistrad a place where she would later comment on how her necromancy works easier there than on any other plane. and jace? what better place for a telepath to go than to the plane of ravnica where you can always make full use of your telepathic abilities thanks to the fact that the entire plane is a giant city full of people. obviously none of them had anyway of knowing any of these places existed before they became planeswalkers, and again, this is just a theory, but i think a person might subtly influence where they first go, maybe on a subconscious level or something. just a thought. what do u think? am i completely off base?

[@MagicArcanum]

Very possible. There are other examples too, like Elspeth winding up on Theros at first, and Huatli going to Kaladesh. There might be something that draws a new spark to a plane that shares some sort of alignment or affinity. But it hasn't been explicitly stated that this is the case...yet!

[@fuzzyglory]

Or, and hear me out on this, its just convenient for the plot

[@dumberfluffdumberfluff7324]

If so I think that Gideon landing on Bant and immediately encountering a knight is pretty on theme

[@Raven-ub9vj]

@@MagicArcanum it could be and that would be fun and flavorful but it could also be survivorship bias. we might only see the planeswalkers who were lucky and survived their first trip by getting randomly sent somewhere somewhat hospitable or that supports their affinity for mana. with a functionally infinite amount of planes with probably millions or more residents each we could easily not be seeing many planeswalkers just immediately dying on their first trip.

[@ZakanaHachihaCBC]

Ugin to Tarkir, Samut to Theros and Nissa to Lorywin also fit.

[@NotAnEvilMastermind]

Oh that explanation on WAR Chandra is so good… and possibly why that’s my favourite planeswalker card probably of all time.

[@johnlovingood8588]

She's definitely a good way to explain exile effects to new players as well, showing where/what exile is, teaching extra draws, but also isn't confusing by growing one's hand to large. And the 1+ ping damage also helps alot on showing direct damage without having to spend mana to do so.

[@jkcv_ncrew]

When I went to the wots pre release, I got the promo of her

[@onfrolicker9317]

Fun Fact: If a characters spark ignites and we never see them again it’s because they jumped to rabiah and Maro just won’t let anyone show it because it’s too confusing

[@onfrolicker9317]

GamerBear Lmao rabiah is the zone that AWOL puts the card into

[@clyr8386]

I'm (relatively) new to magic's lore, what's Rabiah?

[@kyoken8691]

@Nick Fanchette It's also thematically apt because of the 1001 subplanes theme it has.

[@Happymasks]

Or they somehow found their way to Duel Masters...

[@haladmirknowsbest]

I would love to see more lower rarity Planeswalker cards. Uncommon could be the newbies with no experience. Rare are the ones who have traveled and started making a name for themselves. Mythics would of course be the living legends like Liliana who's reputation proceeds them

[@CathrineMacNiel]

common planeswalker cards would be the DCI Card of each player

[@YawgmothWasRight]

Sadly Earth isn't part of the Multiverse

[@harrybaldino8955]

so origins

[@MoonRegolith]

I know I'm 2 years late, but thought you'd love to know this! It's "reputation *precedes them." Carry on and good idea!

[@TheRealMaxAndrew]

I love how you painted the picture that a game is like me fighting the enemy and a planeswalker card is a friend that will assist, but should not necessarily win the battle for you.

[@heyjosieposie6394]

Teferis smugness always makes me think of someone who’s asks you whether you enjoyed the holidays with you family, only to be tell you he wished he could have as well but he was so busy volunteering for charity he didn’t find the time. Like: yes thank you teferi, I know you’re better than me, but there was no need to rub it in like this

[@MagicArcanum]

Nailed it. His voice lines on Arena really drive that home, too. "I'm known for my excellent TIMING."

[@EJsGameplay]

ALSO! This reminds me of a campaign some friends and I were doing, it was DnD, but in the Ravnica setting thanks to the book. Funny thing was, only myself and the DM played Magic! So, I decided that since that was the case, I'd be the wizard who studied and researched things, so it would give me an in game reason to explain things. However, I played dumb when stuff like "other realms" came up, since lore-wise non-walkers rarely know about other planes, and we were low level. We were actually doing a kind of, "what were other people doing during the lead up to War of the Spark" sort of plot, so during our first Eternal encounter, I just assumed they from deep in the few unexplored wild places left. One player was a Rakdos Bard (and he played it as awesomely as that sounds actually) from Innistrad, who actually got put on Ravnica due to DM backstory secret plot stuff. Anytime he tried to convince us he was from a different world, I would brush him off as just making up more stories to cause panic.

[@CanuckMonkey13]

I'm not sure how, but until today I didn't realize that Garruk was one of the original five planeswalkers. I feel a lot more hyped about him now!

[@keithfilibeck2390]

I wouldn't be, he fell out of favor as one of the main characters long ago, same with Ajani and Elspeth, both where the "main" white walkers for a time, but mostly discarded, Elspeth though is far more popular to players because she's simply a better character than most walkers, so she'll always come back.

[@Teifling]

*Hits the part where Ryan says "Hopefully does not drop you into a worse one"* Are we going to mention Tezzeret going from being stabbed to being surrounded by zombies? *Ryan talks about Vraska* Ah. Sure. Lol

[@oafkad]

This is why I always use different land art for all my lands. Makes the deck stronger.

[@oafkad]

As an aside, I actually don't like planeswalkers. I use them occasionally because otherwise I'm at a serious disadvantage but I often feel like they take over for you in terms of the "story" being told. Like when I play my Venser deck I don't imagine that *I* am calling Venser. I imagine that this is HIS story and I'm watching it unfold. I like that and it has its place but for most of my decks I'm wanting to be the hero (or villain) so I don't include them.

[@DevilishGuts]

The audio and video quality are superb now, Ryan! I feel like finally the channel caught up to the technical level your videos had when you were still in tcg player!

[@MagicArcanum]

Thanks for noticing. It's taken a lot of little improvements over the past six months but yeah, I think we're looking pretty good now!

[@alphapolimeris]

That's an interesting channel I stumbled upon ! I haven't played magic in a long while (stopped at early Kamigawa), but I used to love the lore. My main gripe on the "new" lore is that the stories are so fast: Some plane is in danger -> everyone goes there and battle. Some other plane is in danger -> everyone goes there and battle. Previous plane is in danger again -> everyone goes there and battle. I used to feel as if Magic was about unraveling a plane's history (we know A LOT about Dominaria, from different time periods). While modern magic seems (from afar) like bite-sized stories.

[@timhenrickson9653]

The idea that you are a planeswalker and your deck is your set of spells, it kinda makes you wanna character build, doesn't it? Like write a little story about your character. What plane you came from, or which one you call your home. What race is your character. What type of magic do you tend to use (i.e. pyromancer, mind, etc.) [Color combination can be included here too if so desired]. Hey Ryan, since Magic Arcanum is about stories... ;)

[@rachelybanez6650]

In one of the stories, Jace is so good at it he managed to planeswalk onto a moving train. And he was trying to trace the other gatewatch at that time. 😋

[@MagicArcanum]

That's right! I believe it was after Ixalan, when he was reuniting with Gideon and friends on Dominaria...so Jace was at peak abilities then, for sure.

[@TakeoGW2]

I could sit here and listen to you explaining Magic lore all day! Didn't notice how flavourful the WAR Planeswalkers were, but you're absolutely right! Great Job

[@Skullgrin.]

WAR Ashiok shows up, laughs at your opponents, and leaves.

[@nolanbreen7631]

I saw the title, and just thought “Yeah, don’t know why there haven’t been more pun titles”

[@aceundead4750]

Ex-plane-ing Planeswalkers who took an airplane over the plains. Addendum - sorry i try to turn rhymes out of nothing

[@davidbrasher3595]

Need more villain planeswalkers! In Core 2021, of the five planeswalker decks, we have three good guys and two sometimes good guys. Liliana is not always a villain. Right now she has taken on Gideon's surname, and is working with Kaya and Teyo. Garruk is healed and is no longer hunting and killing random planeswalkers. In fact, he is trying to help and protect Will and Rowen.

[@TheShuffleAlliance]

Lots of good humour in this episode. More planeswalker trivia: Planeswalkers are able to transport inorganic objects, or else they would planeswalk naked. Huatli planesWalked some organic peppers and they didn’t survive the trip. The amount they can transport is relative to their physical strength. For example Gideon could planeswalk more objects than Jace. Also most Planeswalkers need to help each other planeswalk to planes for the first time. This can be seen when Liliana had to help the Gatewatch get to Amonkhet or when Jace travelled to Dominaria by focusing really hard on Gideon’s spark

[@nathanl8622]

It's worth noting that it doesn't need to be trauma specifically to ignite a spark, just a moment of extreme emotion. Like Basri Ket was intensely reverent of Oketra so the elation at passing her trial was enough to set his off. It's just that most Planeswalkers have traumatic ones because they're basically superheroes and most superheroes have a tragic backstory.

[@TheCrazyPlayer]

I do think most of the Liliana's over the top abilities make sense: her ego is (usually) the size of a plane, so of course she shows up and is like, "I'll win this! Um... for you, of course. *Awkward pause* Of course." So nice of you to tease us with that Phyrexian lore. Yawgmoth will remember this.

[@yis8fire]

I like your " mustache minutes!" in your videos.

[@theoctopus5308]

It's a bit of a different idea, but how would you feel about doing something like top 10 strongest planeswalkers according to the lore or something along those lines? As someone who constantly argued about urza vs bolas, it'd be fun to see in my opinion

[@MagicArcanum]

I like this idea!

[@juliogalvao7560]

@@MagicArcanum YES PLEASE

[@exitioregem8466]

oof, bolas post or pre mending?

[@NeroVingian40]

ExitioRegem pre-mending, of course, because we only have pre-mending Urza

[@oom-3262]

Well as Urza is painted, I would certainly see him as n°1

[@apophis456]

New Magic Arcanum episodes always brighten up my day. Thank you guys for all the content you put out. You’re the best

[@zale8952]

I subscribed. You have given me so much information and knowledge about magic. I’ve been dying waiting for a phyrexian video. So please make one

[@lyralince6681]

Finally! I understand how the planewalker GPS functions

[@NZMateus]

Great video! Always good to have more informations on Planeswalkers. Now that Ravinica and There's are D&D settings, I'm hopping to see Planeswalkers officially in the system.

[@Starfury117]

That both hilarious and true. This it YOUR fight, Teferi shouldn't just come and win for you" lololool

[@lenardEkko]

I liked the philosophy at the end there. It makes us as planeswalkers feel more individual when we don't have to rely on Teferi or Nissa to win the game for us

[@vaivs7903]

In a story where Vivien was on Ixalan when Vivien planeswalked away at the end of the story it was described as Vivien would feel the membrane of the multiverse and could see many planes behind it.

[@PaulOkon1981]

I like Ryan's opinion on what Planeswalker cards should be aiming for, but I'll be damned if going ham with a Torch of Defiance or Nicol Bolas wasn't some of the most fun I've had playing.

[@mikeciul8599]

I came back to Magic around M19 after being away since Alliances. I was confused and annoyed to see planeswalkers at first, but since I remembered that players are planeswalkers, I instantly got the idea that they were like extra players on your side. I was baffled that they could even have plus abilities - it seemed like getting something for nothing! But after understanding more about them, I got to like them. Making it possible for creatures to attack them helps with the flavor as well as with the mechanics. But it still feels unfair when one player builds up a board of planeswalkers and has the ability to generate powerful effects every turn without using any cards or mana. Then again, we've always had WInter Orb + Icy Manipulator!

[@juanckjim]

What if after the first planeswalk, when you look the trail of your first planeswalk and there's the other trails of other planeswalkers. That's why they get connected or get to meet

[@gqphoenixclops3056]

So the Planeswalkers are Mutants. The Gate Watch are the X-Men and Nicol-Bolas is like Apocalypse

[@LeonaDX]

I love planeswalkers. They have been an integral part of the game ever since I started playing and during that time they did huge, flashy things, which was great for a new player like me. I don’t like the direction they’ve taken and how they’ve basically run away with every story instead of regular people on each plane, but that’s just me.

[@Watch-0w1]

Eh but the problem they too good that u can run a deck with just planewalker.

[@draxthemsklonst]

"Regular people" are non player characters, it makes since that planeswalkers would be everywhere as protagonists/antagonists/main characters that can planeshift.

[@alexanderforbes1452]

Have to agree about the kinds of planewalker cards Ryan likes and the ones he doesn't, I generally dislike planeswalkers because a lot of them (at least the ones people bother playing) just warp the game too much. Ones that offer incremental advantage rather than a great big swing are a lot more fair and fun to play with.

[@ethansmith8813]

Agreed. That's why I only play hard to get out ones

[@Kona_AJ]

I'm going on a long drive and I cant wait to binge Magic Arcanum while I do :) Keeep it up!

[@psy_p]

Liliana and Teferi are pre-mending too. Also, the shade in Amk was weak cause it was acting in broad day light.

[@Aelesis]

Love the love for War's rare walkers, Chandra especially. I feel like not having to meet "mythic power standards" opens up SO much more interesting design space, and less inherently splashy or swingy at that, and I really hope Wizards don't shy away from designing some more focused, middle-ground walkers in the future.

[@Thickolas]

I remember in the flavor text of Thran Lens, Urza mentions the different types of mana (though not by color). Maybe if they were still immortal, Planeswalkers would eventually figure out their "mana color" if they traveled long and far enough to realize that certain types of magic can only be fueled with certain types of mana, and that 'walkers with similar abilities always have an affinity for the same sort of locations?

[@MagicArcanum]

Perhaps! I think most wizards and magic users just don't really care enough though. For them, mana comes as easily as electricity does for us, and when was the last time you really thought about where your electrons are coming from? haha

[@andykehoe4339]

You make everything so interesting with Magic, you have such a good way of explaining everything to keep me interested, even with all of my ADHD distractedness. Keep up the good work!

[@TheJovenshire]

Great video!

[@matthewdaughtry-weiss7540]

Do you have any plans for more MTG videos?

[@jubbmaster5000]

Really enjoyed this video, hadn't thought of the planeswalker flavour that way. Keep up the great content and hope you're well (p.s so happy this new channel is growing and paying off!)

[@Dseagles14]

I have been playing magic for about a year now and my favorite Planeswalker is still the first one I ever got Jace, Arcane Strategist

[@nathanaelrants]

Thanks for the awesome video once again! I like a lot of planeswalkers for sure, but they're not my favorite 'mechanic' in the game. I feel like they need to be powerful, but not too powerful. And I have to agree with you on the uncommon and rare walkers being your favorites because they have great static abilities that help you throughout the game. And they're a little cheaper than other cards that do the same thing (e.g. Uncommon Samut vs Fervor).

[@Toshiro287]

I know I said it somewhat recently, but.... Man you have my favorite magic channel by far. It's rare to find another who shares the sheer level of passion for the game and lore. When this mess is over, it'd be awesome to meet at a Magic Fest or something and I'd love to buy you a beer (or whatever). :)

[@ericleiva]

the "Ral using an artefact to aid his mana availability" example was so funny!

[@SuperUltraDevin]

We should have more rare and uncommon walkers! Great video.

[@DarthSmirnoff]

I managed to get all 5 of the OG planeswalkers when they first came out. I cracked a box and got all of them except Lilliana, and traded a Deathrender for her I think.

[@javiertalay]

your videos are the most anticipated from all my channels. Such quality content. Love your work guys

[@jojorabaut]

I really liked the less confined format of this one, jumping from interesting topic to interesting topic, good job!

[@KaRmaTheSchemer]

I want to run a dnd planeswalker game and I was struggling to make the mechanic and feats ... No more 😎🤙

[@blueredlover1060]

That's what 5e is for. There's support for a half dozen planes already and more that should come out eventually.

[@ExandShadow]

Alright, is Nicole or Ryan responsible for that title

[@MagicArcanum]

Nicole and I have screen shots to prove it.

[@T_Peazy]

No doubt its Ryan.

[@DragonxFlutter]

OKAY! Ben’s comment and Ryan’s answers actually cleared up a LOT for me! How do the basic mechanics of the game work in the lore? He explains Mana! There are more questions you could derive even from that basic overview, but as a starting point, that’s great! Now I just want to inow how Creatures work. Heck, a mini-series just talking about how each major mechanic of the game works in the lore would be really interesting!

[@MegaAgamon]

I thought that lands represent the plane you and your opponent fight in right now. Since the longer you are there you get more powerful absorbing mana from the plane.

[@MagicArcanum]

I suppose it could but if I play lands that depict Dominaria and you play lands that depict Ravnica, where are we actually fighting?

[@MegaAgamon]

@@MagicArcanum A plane that has similar landscape traits with Ravnica and Dominaria?

[@lukenzur1667]

That was incredibly awesome - I love how you mention they should be cards that comes to help you out and not ultimately wins you the battle on their own. Love that flavor 🙃🙂👍🏽👍🏽

[@MiguelMaravilla]

I absolutely love the emphasis on uncommon planeswalkers and their inherently "assisting" nature. Way more room for flavour, and not detracting from the immersion of players as planeswalkers themselves! i.e. kinda obnoxious seeing mythic planeswalkers basically being the centerpiece of each interaction, and games are sometimes just waiting rooms for expensive characters to pop off. :/

[@mynameisyourname4684]

The title is just... *YES*

[@raginbacon1160]

Don't forget that powerful planeswalkers can place their sparks into other things, such as what happened with Karn and the Weatherlight ship.

[@Enja_Near]

Non-Planeswalkers can sometimes do this. Memnarch almost succeeded in stealing Glissa's spark.

[@rachelybanez6650]

I love the shoulder shrug when you spoke about Phyrexians. 🤣

[@danielharrison2383]

Guest stars definitely.

[@vbkllr]

i love the graphics update, and that you wear a branded shirt now! the show tone has gotten very consistent, and i always look forward to ne work by you and your team. shouts out to the whole crew!

[@fredranzalot4849]

It's interesting (though I don't actually think it means anything) that players in Magic are oldwalkers. They still care about mana created directly by lands, and the colors of mana themselves, and are far more powerful than planeswalkers we see. Not to mention none of the rules changed for us when the mending happened.

[@fredranzalot4849]

@GamerBear Really? I'll admit I haven't experienced that much of the lore, I probably missed it.

[@yungo1rst]

after hearing the explanation of the war of the spark planeswalkers i like the idea of them being temporary allies that assist you so long as you protect them. not winning the fight for you as it is your battle and not theirs.

[@MrWarptime]

I've always seen multiple of the same Planeswalker as you summoning up a strong memory of a Planeswalker, them at a particular part of their life. They're using the abilities that they used in those memories and it also explains why you can summon up anyone regardless of the actual Planeswalker's allegiance.

[@lintoralnoman]

Got 3 out 5 of the first planeswalkers. And even had a red elemental lorywn deck around chandra ! She is my fav ever since

[@jackoshaughnessy711]

I believe that planeswalkers should be the main characters in the story, because the allow for a familiar cast of characters without having to wait 6 years to go back to a plane to see your favorite characters again

[@keandrecochran3022]

In my humble opinion, palenswalkers should be decently scarce. If they weren't you could make decks that just featured tons of them and decent tactics to stop attackers and they'd , as you said, set the entire tone of games. Which is totally unfair to every other card type.

[@caseywellington4761]

*cough* jeskai walkers *cough*

[@EveMizgala]

These decks exist and I hate them. In EDH they're often called Super Friends decks.

[@NeroVingian40]

Eh, I can make an entire deck out of just token-making enchantments. Decks that is just sorceries and/or instants exists as well (that just super-controls the game while killing you slowly with 1 attack birds). It’s fine, we’ve seen these types of decks with every single card type in the game for now. The game itself is about flexibility and playing with the cards you like.

[@silverdeathgamer2907]

@@EveMizgala Planeswalkers are far worse in EDH because they get targeted so much.

[@xavierdeabreu1991]

Ive been learning about magic 3 days now and i loveeee the lore.

[@brunosoares1500]

Nicely put with the Chandra case Ryan, good history lesson on how planeswalkers got out of hand both in power and flavor. I found then amazing at first, bringing new mechanics to the game and spectacular journeys to follow (like the way Ursa shapes a good amount of the history of Dominaria itself to conform to his interests). As a player you could relate to them because you felt like you had that kind of power in your hands. But as time went on they got less and less consequential to the point we're now where they fell like mundane and so weak a mere masticore can hunt them down. Yes, some arcs were amusing here and there but man is it bad now... I myself wait for the next big thing in Magic and can't see it in planeswalkers in any capacity - if anything an extinction event would make then much rarer and better.

[@simplemaddness]

General rule for planeswalker sparks It's 'muscle' that needs exercising like anything else, the more you use it the more able you are to use it frequently someone like nico bolas *before being desparked* could travel a few times a day, while Huatli would probably get tired after the first one, maybe 2 with some adrenaline running through her (reason why Huatli has an ignited spark while never leaving her home plane is long, but basically immortal sun annexed her first walk but didn't prevent it from igniting)

[@lukeholmes9602]

Huzzah, a camera of quality!

[@jdcaceres]

I love your explanation on planeswalkers. I wish they had gone that approach. They show up, they help you and they vanish, they don't win for you. It's still your battle. I miss Lorwyn. Those planeswalkers still felt powerful but fair.

[@williamturner6192]

So with this lore each game you are a new plainswalker awakening with a rivalry existing or soon starting with one or more opponents?

[@rockCity777]

old comment, but.... I think you can take this a couple of ways: The action-figure way, and the "cinematic universe"-way. The action-figure way, is basically thinking about it as playing with toys: Each player is bringing their "character", in the form of their deck, into the fight, and they meet, battle, and a victor is decided, and that is the end of the game. The other way to think about it is as a narrative, that the players are playing out. Even if the themes or specific cards don't match into any one event or story, (cause it is a card-game), you can think of it on a conceptual level, like a movie-scene playing out, where the player is playing a part. "What would happen, if a fire-mage went up againsta bunch of zombies?", or a master blue-mage went up against a master goblinmancer, etc. There is a pretty subtle difference in perspective between the two takes, which is sort of the difference between 1st-person and 3rd-person. Are you controlling your deck, or are you becoming it, basically.

[@Reliquancy]

This was great! Thanks for answering all my questions!

[@ivellious209]

One thing that I think you could have went into was the exception of Amintou, she saw that her spark was going to ignite and she didn't want to wait so she just made it spark.

[@ShawnSansonetti]

Where was this video when I was getting into the game? Great work on this one!

[@embermk6264]

I can't wait for the phyrexian episode. I love the lore of them and I am excited to see how you talk about them.

[@EngagingPicard]

I agree 100% with your planeswalker card favorites.

[@phillipmeade7640]

I want to agree with everyone else who is giving you praise for your opinions on the uncommon and rare planeswalkers. I like the professor feel like these overpowered PW that are so hard to interact with but must be removed or you lose the game really hurt the playability of magic. Great video by the way. I had some of these questions rattling around in my head and you answered them. Thank you!

[@mixedmick]

Hey what can become a planswalker???? We know Dragons, Minotaur, Elf ect... can become a planswalkers so can dogs, demons, goblins and giants? What is needed for a being to be able to poses a spark?

[@MagicArcanum]

It seems you need to be sentient, and must be a natural creature, not a construct of mana. That rules out angels, demons, and homunculus, for sure. There is at least one goblin planeswalker: Daretti. We haven't seen a giant yet but it is possible. Dogs and cats no, unless we count leonin like Ajani.

[@mixedmick]

Ok so its along the lines that just because we haven't seen them yet doesn't mean they aren't around .. Thanks as a player of only 2 years a lot of the history is unknown to me and the new sets dont really explain why things are what they are. Thanks for explaining

[@OKCoyote]

@@MagicArcanum I believe Slobad (from Mirrodin) had a spark as well.

[@tahlialysse]

I very much agree that having varying rarity Planeswalkers just makes a lot of sense. Limiting any card type to a single rarity is just that - limiting. Both from a lore perspective (we only see the most powerful versions of characters) and from a mechanics perspective. I'm okay with walkers mostly living in rare and mythic the way other legendary cards do. They are mechanically complex and represent unique and powerful allies. But just like how dipping into uncommon with legendary creatures is fun and flavorful to do every so often, the same is true with walkers. WAR was an incredibly fun set to play with, and a lot of that was because of the variety that the uncommon and rare walkers brought.

[@jamespooh2]

I agree with you. War of the Spark had some of the best planeswalkers. Not because of power, but because they acted as a friend to assists and bows out. I hope they more more planeswalkers like that (esp with static abilities) and still create powerful but few mythic planeswalkers.

[@LeonardoOliveira-858]

I love them as characters and it is nice to have a familiar face when a new set or plane comes out. As cards, I think they are too powerful in general, being an "I win" card more often than not. I am with you there, planeswalkers without ultimate and with a passive ability (functioning more like a GOOD enchantment or artifact) make more sense to an enjoyable game for all players

[@MrTeploukhov97]

This philosophy of planeswalkers not knowing their color identity is perfect for Ugin. This dragon is so old and wise that he could probably acknowledge the concept of "mana" and "color", and he just walked away from it. Direct damage? Card draw? Exile/destroy effects? Ramp? He's got it all

[@Will_Morand]

The first Planeswalker I ever played with was Chandra, Pyrogenius in an unaltered Planeswalker Deck. My opponent, who knew just about as much about Magic as me at the time, was so scared of her -10. Only game I ever won with that deck because they took 2 damage off of Chandra and swung at her with literally everything they had, leaving me with an easy shot. I know now that the card’s not very good, but it’s one of my favorites for nostalgia reasons. I got into the lore not long after, starting with Kaladesh because that was my favorite set(still is, along with Ixalan and Throne Of Eldraine), and after a couple of chapters, quickly determined that Chandra was my favorite character. So far, her only challenger is the Kenrith twins.

[@mikosazarethkalvar]

In this video I learned about Ral Zarek’s “accumulator,” and found it very cool. I know Chandra has her goggles and Liliana had (sad) the Chain Veil, could you discuss more of the other planeswalkers artifice//tools more in the future?

[@furiouschicken1]

BRAVO! The wait is worth it.

[@jasonbertram4960]

I think i am best represented by that Viashino planeswalker who warped to the war of the spark and then immediately got dusted (in the book). Definitely a mood

[@goldengauntlets]

Maro has mentioned before that Nicol Bolas is able to access all types of mana from his vast experience (the Defeat cycle from Hour of Devastation, for instance,) but that his color identity represents his personal alignment and most obvious magical power.

[@jacob4920]

Let's talk about Ugin. The most OVERPOWERED PLANESWALKER EVER PRINTED! I'm talking about his original printing. Not "The Ineffable." Although that version is also powerful, it doesn't hold a candle to "Ugin: The Spirit Dragon," who can literally show up, with seven loyalty counters right away, and immediately empty the entire battlefield of all colored permanents, at or below a certain mana cost! If you yourself are playing a colorless deck, this Planeswalker can, in one fell swoop, completely destroy your opponent's ability to operate. The most chilling part of Ugin? THAT'S NOT EVEN HIS ULTIMATE ABILITY!! I love Ugin in Commander (that's really the only format that Ugin works in, to maximum ability). But if he comes in under your opponent's control, you'd better either counter him, or bounce him immediately off of the battlefield, before your opponent can set him off. Because the minute he goes off... you are at an EXTREME disadvantage! "Ugin, The Spirit Dragon's" -X ability is the single most BROKEN ability of any Planeswalker in the game. Even the strongest version of his brother, Nicol Bolas, doesn't send chills down my spine, the way that Ugin does!

[@MagicArcanum]

Ah yes, many Lore Mages have come face to face with Ugin, only to find themselves suddenly in exile! 😂

[@Vospader21]

I run Ugin in my dragon treasure hoard deck. He’s not an essential to my deck’s winning strategy but he comes in really handy when I play him.

[@eggmansizzle]

I heard you mention Phyrexians and now that's all i can think about for the next month. Thanks.

[@MagicArcanum]

Working as intended!

[@lionoaksimba2154]

i really like planeswalkers and i would not minding seeing them in other rarities. i just think we need more answers for them in all colours

[@NeroVingian40]

Yes to both

[@Ramipon]

what do you think a common planeswalker would look like? it would be an interesting design idea

[@Thesaurus_Rex]

I do wish we had more "staple" mono-color planewalkers in red and black, since Chandra seems to have entirely usurped all other red planewalkers and black has only ever really had Sorin and Liliana as major planewalkers (and Sorin seems to have moved to Orzovh). And I guess with Gideon dead, the only major mono-white Planewalker we have at this point is Ajani. Blue has Jace and Tezzeret and Teferi, and Green has Nissa, Garruk, and Vivien. Though at this point Garruk and Viven are pretty interchangeable, given that they both spend their time generating beasts, making beasts bigger, and getting beasts out of your library. I figure a common planeswalker would be like a WAR uncommon, but without a passive, and a single rather bad - ability they can only use once or twice. Flavorwise a common planeswalker would be much harder to explain, unless someone managed to mass produce Karn.

[@Ramipon]

@@Thesaurus_Rex They have introduced Basri. Some vocal do have an issue of having too many planeswalker. They want the story to revolve around certain characters only. Their main complaint is that it would be "hard to follow" So whatever WOTC does, they cant please everyone.

[@jhopperpot]

The honest BEST way to explain plainswalking i feel is to use the Goku instant transmission method. Where as long as you have a good idea what the place looks or where a sourse of energy is coming from he just has to focus and BOOM he is there

[@albertooliveira7312]

Is there any moment in Magic History that we have someone living with a spark but it is not ignited? What would that do to a, let just say, a shoe maker's life? Also do you have an opinion/Theory on what use the Planeswalkers have for the Multiverse?