HERE COME’S M12!!! Overall, the set is pretty ‘meh’-tastic. Maybe ‘bloodthirst’ is a better mechanic in practice than in my mind but right now I’m not too excited about it. I don’t think anyone was shocked or excited to see the titan cycle return. I’m excited for most of the ‘mage’ cycle of uncommons. I specially think Crimson Mage is gonna be the sickness.

Probably the most exciting announcement for the set is the new face of the lorwyn trio. Jace, Chandra, and Garruk are all back and the interwebs are going rampant with speculation. Will any of them be any good? So far, the response has been ‘no’. I think they are better than they look. In this article I hope to present the planeswalkers in their best light and then decide their playability in standard.

I’ll start with Chandra, the Firebrand, because she’s the one I want to play THE MOST. I’ve always loved red and Koth of the Hammer was like my wildest dream coming true. Will new Chandra ‘light my fire’ in the same way?

The fact that her +1 can now hit creatures makes her quite a bit better. Here’s a list of good targets for the new meta.

Lotus Cobra, Grim Lavamancer, Pulse Tracker, Viscera Seer, Crimson Mage <--- Dude is gonna be SICK,Spikeshot Elder, Birds of Paradise, Growth Spasm token,  Steel Overseer, Suture Priest, Soul's Attendant, Squadron Hawk, Steppe Lynx, Furnace Scamp, Student of Warfare/Joraga Treespeakers that are late to the party,Goblin Ruinblaster, Plated Geopede, Memnite, Llanowar Elves, Arbor Elf, Blade Splicer, Kuldotha Rebirth Tokens, Bloodghast, Cunning Sparkmage, Scute Mob, Immolating Souleater, Phyrexian Revoker, Skinshifter (If they are tapped out of green)

Also Kills Vampire Hexmage and Hex Parasite for maximum awkward factor.

She also lets you 'value up' a lot of cards. Suddenly Dismember + Chandra kills titans. Chandra + Bolt kills 4 toughness guys, etc. etc.

Her plus gives her a realistic ability to protect herself, that’s what most good planeswalkers need. Hitting creatures gives her real value.

Going to the face isn’t bad either. If there are any playable ‘bloodthirst’ guys in the new set, Chandra will be a preferable way of activating them. It’s also good vs. other planeswalkers since you can effectively ping them too. It’s never dead in that you can always ping the face. The first activation puts her at a respectable 4 loyalty. Not great, but likely she can survive for your next untap.

Originally I thought her -2 said ‘for the rest of the turn’ and I was all like “BOOOOOOOOOOM!” but I guess I need to keep it in my pants. It’s still a fine ability. It’s sort of like Koth of the Hammer or Jace, the Mind Sculptor’s minus ability. It’s a good utility, you won’t use it often, but when you do use it, it will give you good value.

This ability also doesn’t have a ‘color clause’ which makes her playable in multi-colored decks. Copying a Go for the Throat seems like value. If you need to dig, copy Preordain. If you need to burn, copy Lightning Bolt.

As a bonus, her -2 gives her a sweet win condition with Sorin's Vengeance

Ultimate is an ultimate. Not much to say here. [-6] is probably out of reach as far as _This ability will be relevant in a close game of magic_ goes. It isn’t available until 3 turns after she’s played and she doesn’t protect herself well enough to not ever take damage. If you’re ult-ing, you’ve probably already won. It could be better in some sort of Proliferate deck, but as far as I know, that deck doesn’t exist.

Other Synergies:

• Activates Shrine of Burning Rage
• Can be played off of Koth of the Hammer’s -2 ability
• +1 to the face activates Chandra's Phoenix
• +1 to the face activates Bloodthirst
• +1 to the face activates Quest for Pure Flame
• Splash-able at 3R

In summary, she will be judged by her first two abilities and especially by her +1. I say as long as there continues to be plenty of relevant X/1s for her to target she’s going to be above-average to good. A reliable planeswalker consistently trades for a card, soaks up damage, and provides value if you ever get to untap with it. Chandra has all of this going for her.

Moving on, we’ve got Jace, Memory Adept, A.K.A. NOT Jace the Mindsculptor. So if it’s not JTMS, why would you play it? Well word has it the new block, Innistrad, has a _graveyard matters_ theme. Jace 3’s ‘0’ ability can be activated targeting yourself, and theoretically provide some value if mechanics like ‘flashback’ return. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves…

Jace 3’s +1 means he’ll be at worst a 5-mana cantrip, which is actually pretty good. It also puts him up to a respectable 5 loyalty. If your opponent has to spend a card getting rid of him, then it ends up being reasonable value. It’s nice that the _mill a card_ on the +1 can also target you. The main problem I see here is that aggressive decks will probably just ignore him and continue to attack the face. He doesn’t dig for answers in the same way that a brainstorm does, and drawing a card isn’t what you want to be doing when you’re at 7 life.

VA-VA-VA-VALUE! Yeah, this ability is pretty sick-nuggets, but I’m not sold. It’s definitely good in a mill deck, but I’ve always been pretty pessimistic about the ability for mill to be a viable strategy. It just seems like it’s to easily hated by cards like Darksteel Colossus, and then the sideboarding gets funky. Putting ten in your bin could also pretty good when Innistrad comes out. Right now, it has the following synergies:

Vengeful Pharaoh Also triggers if they attack Jace! Woot!

Bloodchief Ascension/Mindcrank combo, Bonehoard, Vengevine, Visions of Beyond, Chandra's Phoenix, Grim Lavamancer…?, Haunting Echoes? C-C-C-COMBO!!!, Crypt of Agadeem?Get to brewing kids!, Kuldotha Phoenix, Necrotic Ooze, Sheoldred, Whispering One, Sutured Ghoul, Molten-Tail Masticore, Geth, Lord of the Vault, Bloodghast.

So it seems like jace could be a part of many a janky combo deck, or you could go the mill route if you fancied. In either of those situations you really would want Jace, though those decks aren’t usually successful.

Ultimate is once again an ultimate. This one doesn’t flat out win you the game, but it’s gotta be hard to lose.

So basically, if you want Jace in a deck, you’re really gonna want Jace in a deck. The fact that his [0] can hit you is huge, and it makes him the most viable graveyard enabler in standard. I’ll definitely hold on to Jace 3’s if I get them, at least till I see what Innistrad looks like.

Last but not least, we’ve got Garruk, Primal Hunter I love this dude. I was a big fan of old Garruk too. Is he good enough?

+1 Make a dude? Elspeth, Knight-Errant anyone? Provides a ton of protection, guarantees value, puts him at 4 loyalty and out of Lightning Bolt/Incinerate range. LOVE IT.

Eh, -3 is a teeny bit steep to pay for this, but the value is definitely there. Seems like you’ll always draw at least 3 cards with this, because you’ll probably use it after making a beast token. When you use it, you’re way ahead in value. It’s also a good ability because he’s probably the most likely of these three to not ever take damage, and sometimes drawing 3+ cards is going to win the game faster than waiting for him to ultimate.

Once again, the ultimate is fine, and probably the most “in reach” of the 3.

Overall, new Garruk seems like a great value-card, and value in green can be very powerful. It kinda stinks that he’s 2GGG instead of 3GG, but green-based decks usually have plenty ways of fixing their mana anyways. I’ll definitely be holding on to this guy if I get any. I see him going up in value.

So that’s about it. We’ve got some epic planeswalkers coming up in the new set, and I feel like they all have potential to see play in standard. I’m off to brew a sweet Crypt of Agadeem/Jace, Memory Adept deck. Thanks for reading!