Bold Pyromancer is the newest incarnation of our favorite fiery red head and a welcome addition to the deck. Her +1 is a nice little boost of mana. Her -3 is a little lackluster when dealing with creatures (since EDH tends to have gigantic creatures), but a bolt to a Planeswalker is really good. And finally her ultimate deals a whopping 10 damage to an opponent, and another 10 to each creature
and Planeswalker they control. Considering she only needs two turns to get into ultimate range, it can be a good tool for clearing threats off the board and punishing an opponent for thinking they had the upper hand.
The classic, the original, the lovely Chandra Nalaar. Just like her other iterations, she's mostly burn-based. Her +1 is a ping effect, while her -X allows for spot removal. Typically, unless you really need to hit a threat, keep upticking her because her -10 is a one-sided board wipe.
Another recent addition to the long line of Chandras is Torch of Defiance. In my opinion this is her strongest card yet, being one of the few Planeswalkers with four abilities. Her first +1 is an okay way of generating card advantage, although top decking a counterspell or other control card when it's not needed can kind of suck. But at least she does something even if you don't cast the spell. Her other +1 is a good mana boost, just like Bold Pyromancer. Her -3 is a little lackluster here, as even though it deals 4 damage it is completely limited to creatures only. Her ultimate is really good though. The emblem it creates puts opponents on a pretty short clock, as 5 damage per spell adds up really quick. Better yet, it can serve as a way to keep the board clear of creatures to protect other walkers that can win you the game. All in all, Torch of Defiance is a good utility Planeswalker.
When people think of strong Planeswalkers, they think of Jace, the Mind Sculptor. What is there to say that hasn't already been said? His +2 can keep an opponent locked out of the cards they need, his 0 digs for whatever you may want, his -1 can keep the board clear, and his ultimate is a game-ender. When Jace is out you better be ready to protect him, because you can be sure everyone else at the table will want him dead.
A much more recent printing of Jace, but also a very powerful one. This Jace's +1 is an
Opt, a very good draw spell to have on a stick. His -2 is identical to Mind Sculptor's -1 which is not bad, and his ultimate is a very strong control tool. The only downside is that you need to keep him protected for 4 whole turns to see it happen, but if it does happen your opponents are pretty screwed.
Heavy boots of lead, fills his victims full of dread. Karn, Scion of Urza is a pretty fun card. His +1 is a mini
Fact or Fiction, while his -1 can grab the other card(s) not chosen. He also can make blockers with his -2, which is incredibly useful in a deck like this. Altogether he's a solid planeswalker.
As far as I'm concerned, this is the strongest Liliana in the commander format. Her +1 isn't the best, just a targeted discard, but her -2 is where she really shines -
Vampiric Tutor on a stick is fine by me! Other than that her ultimate can win you the match late-game after a few wipes have gone off.
You're going to notice a theme with the names of the Bolas walkers here. This one has an annoying mana cost requiring 5 colored mana, three of which are black. However, he has all loyalty abilities of
all walkers on the field, including your opponents'. This alone would be a golden ability in a superfriends deck, but he's packing some punches of his own. His +1 is a standard draw, but has a tacked-on effect of exiling a card from an opponent's hand or permanent they control. His -3 is unconditional removal for a creature or planeswalker. And finally his ultimate makes it so that any player that does not control a legendary creature or planeswalker loses the game. It seems pretty easy to get him to ultimate range, drop a board wipe, then secure an easy win. I'll have to playtest with this guy some to see how it works out.
God-Pharaoh is the second printing of a Bolas and by far one of the strongest. He starts wreaking havoc when he hits the board with some very strong options available to him. His +2 is a
Stolen Goods, which is extremely powerful in a format like EDH where people run high cost bombs. His +1 is also very strong, forcing each opponent to exile
two cards from their hand. Not only does it hit two cards, but it also exiles! And if that wasn't enough, his -4 hits an opponent or creature for a whopping seven damage, more than enough to kill most creatures in the format. And finally his ultimate is a one-sided
Play of the Game. This is a walker that will change the flow of the game when he hits, he's more than capable of taking out a table with minimal support.
And here is the OG Bolas Planeswalker. This guy is definitely one of the strongest ever printed, coming with a strong control suite and a super strong ultimate. His +3 hits any non-creature permanent. So not only are you removing a threat but you also get to put an extra 3 counters on him - not too shabby. And if your issue is with creatures, his -2 takes care of them with a Mind cCntrol. This is probably what makes me love him the most, he can deal with any type of permanent. If it's not a creature, blow it up. If it is a creature, just steal it. Amazing flavor and power on these two abilities. And if that's not enough, his ultimate hits a player for seven, makes them discard seven cards, and makes them sacrifice seven permanents: Pretty much removing them from the game at that point. This is another walker you want to keep up because he will win you games.
And now we reach our final Bolas: the Deceiver. While he is not nearly as powerful as his two other printings, this Planeswalker deck card can be quite strong on the board. His +3 is okay- it does add three counters to him which is decent, but other than that it works as a
Torment of Hailfire for 1 - most opponents will just take the 3 life. His -3 however is a lot better, taking out any creature on the board and then drawing you a card. It's like an
Annihilate but better. And then this Bolas keeps the theme of sevens with his ultimate: He hits each opponent for seven damage, then you draw seven cards. Sure it doesn't ruin someone's board like Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker, but it does give you some pretty hefty card advantage. And seven damage is no joke in EDH. I'd say this guy isn't the greatest walker in the deck, but he is surely strong in the format.
Ob Nixilis is a very interesting character: Once an extremely talented Planeswalker, warrior, and wizard. He acquired
The Chain Veil, was cursed by it to turn into a demon and sought out the mana rich plane of Zendikar to break the curse. Unfortunately he ended up stranded on Zendikar, eventually losing his spark. But as of the newest Zendikar expansion, he has regained his spark and his new shiny printing is pretty cool. His +1 is pretty much the color of black personified - one card for one life. His -3 is similar to the Deceiver in that it destroys any creature on the board, and finally his ultimate is a really strong Emblem that hates a player out of the game and even has some great synergy his +1. Any time
any player draws a card, the player with the emblem loses 2 life. EDH is full of extra draw effects, and in a multiplayer game that adds up quick.
Saheeli's latest iteration from War of the Spark is quite interesting. She's another artifact-based planeswalker and while her other printings are also really strong, this one drops early and passively makes blockers for us, which is rare for an izzet planeswalker. Every noncreature spell we cast (which is like 90% of the deck) will give us a 1/1 servo token. Her -2 can then turn the servos or any other artifact we have into a copy of another artifact or creature we control until end of turn. This can help ramp us up by turning the servos into mana rocks. We can't reliably do this however, as she has no built in way to add loyalty counters. That being said, I think she's a solid walker for making us blockers and giving us the option to really ramp up.
Tamiyo has had a home in this deck since she was printed. Talk about a great ultimate! Hailing from Kamigawa, this eastern-influenced moonfolk has some pretty strong abilities. Her +1 taps down threats and keeps them from untapping for a turn. More often than not I find myself using this on creatures, but if the board state is fine tapping down mana rocks can set people back. Her -2 is Borrowing 1,000 Arrows: a decent card for the format but not too great in a control deck like this, even if it does have synergy with her +1. And even so, you don't want to waste her loyalty on that. You want to save up for that juicy -8 emblem. Whenever any card is put into your graveyard from anywhere, return it back to your hand. This means Planeswalkers are here to stay! It also means that a single counterspell or board wipe can keep the game on lockdown for good. Tamiyo is usually a huge target when she hits, but if you get her emblem it's pretty much game over for everyone else.
The year of Teferi is going strong, bringing us another gold mine. This Teferi can be used any turn at instant speed, allowing his phasing to work as spot removal and protection. His +1 is a good uptick as well, helping filter until we can ultimate him, and with two extra turns we should be able to win the game.
Teferi was my most anticipated Planeswalker to be printed, and his inclusion in Commander 2014 was a godsend. He's the Planeswalker's Planeswalker, and one of my favorite characters in the game. He may be expensive to play, but his abilities sure as hell make up for it. His +1 is a
Sleight of Hand, a decent enough draw and digging tool. His -1 is also incredibly powerful, untapping four permanents. Meaning that he can seriously ramp me up by untapping lands and mana rocks. His strongest ability is by far his ultimate. He needs five turns to even have enough loyalty to get it off, but it's just bonkers. Allowing me to use loyalty abilities any time, any where, in response to anything. I dont even have enough space in this description to list all the crazy stunts you can pull with that- I'm sure you know that it's a pretty big "I win" button.
Tezzeret, a hateful pawn of Nicol Bolas is an artifact-themed planeswalker. His +1 digs through the top five cards for an artifact. With so many mana rocks and utility artifacts, he's bound to hit one. His -1 is pretty useless in this deck, it turns an artifact into a 5/5. Using this on artifact lands, utility artifacts, and mana rocks just makes them more susceptible to removal and board wipes, so I tend to skip this ability. His ultimate, however, is a different story. The -4 (which he can use the turn after he drops) can be a huge boon and even a win con in a deck with so many artifacts in it.
Arguably the best Tezzeret in the commander format, Tezzeret the Seeker brings some much needed consistency to this deck. His +1 is decent enough, usually giving me some extra mana or allowing me to pop
Nevinyrral's Disk the turn it drops. His -x is his real bread and butter: Tutoring any artifact from the deck into play. Pretty much anything is game here. Ramping me by grabbing a
Sol Ring or artifact land, finding a board wipe in Nevy's Disk, or even setting up a win with
The Chain Veil. His ability to grab any artifact I want or need at any moment makes him a very strong addition to the deck. His ultimate should never be used unless it will net you a quick win, as artifacts are a lot more likely to die once they get animated. Ignore his -5 and just pretend his -x is his ultimate.
Ugin is a colorless power house. His +2 is pretty nice, as it's an homage to
Ghostfire, the first card mentioning Ugin. His -x is probably his most influential ability though- working as a board wipe for all colored permanents converted mana cost X or less. This can be a costly move though, as you can end up being forced to exile your own Planeswalkers if you use it to protect Ugin. His ultimate is pretty good as well, working as an opposite to the original Bolas' ultimate.