Core set 2019: New Planeswalker
Spoilers, Rumors, and Speculation forum
Posted on June 11, 2018, 11:59 a.m. by AgentGreen
So there's a new Mono- Walker coming into the next set. This should probably be in a general M19 spoiler post; but I'll leave that for someone else. Instead, here's the newest green walker to hit the field
Vivien Reid
Legendary Planeswalker
Starting loyalty: 5
+1 Look at the top four cards of your library. You may reveal a creature or land card from among them and put it in your hand. Put the rest on the bottom of your library in a random order.
-3 Destroy target artifact, enchantment, or creature with flying (she carries a bow; that's why)
-8 You get an emblem with "Creatures you control get +2/+2 and have vigilance, trample and INDESTRUCTIBLE
Yes, I put indestructible in bold because that is exactly what I expect from a planeswalker emblem, something that will end games and this WILL end games.
Also noteworthy (from the article):
"Core Set 2019 ... will feature the notorious evil elder dragon Nicol Bolas, and all five Planeswalkers in the set, Ajani, Tezzeret, Liliana, Sarkhan, and Vivien ..."
June 11, 2018 1:18 p.m. Edited.
rockleemyhero says... #4
Rip garruk:(. At least there’s no jace. Nice to see sarkhan back at red too, although i wish we’d see sarkhan around with garruk
June 11, 2018 1:52 p.m. Edited.
AgentGreen says... #5
I wonder what Sarkhan is going to be
So far we have in Ajaini; in Tezz, in Lili, and in Vivien. Sarkhan is going to be ? Maybe
June 11, 2018 2:11 p.m.
AgentGreen,
The set is supposedly about all the 'walker's early interactions with Bolas, so I was assuming we'd see the old school (mono-colored) walkers. Plus that makes the color-balancing MUCH easier (which Wizards doesn't always do of course, but which seems appropriate for a Core set).
And of course the color-balancing gets REALLY tough if we end up getting a Bolas card too ...
June 11, 2018 3:09 p.m. Edited.
MindAblaze says... #7
Ajani could be mono white and Tezzeret could be mono blue too. Its possible and it wouldn’t be precedent setting for he characters.
June 11, 2018 3:19 p.m.
AgentGreen says... #8
clayperce So basically the core set would be story wise "Flashbacks" in a way.
I hope they don't gimp the Walkers any.
June 11, 2018 3:32 p.m.
DemonDragonJ says... #9
Are they making Sarkhan mono-red, again? The game already has plenty of mono-red planeswalkers, and Sarkhan has been multicolored in three of his four appearances, so I believe that he should remain multicolored.
As for Vivien, she seems to be powerful, but I would much rather use Elspeth, Knight-Errant, since her emblem grants indestructibility to other permanents in addition to creatures.
Also, I believe that it would have been better to wait until after the battle with Bolas to introduce a new character, since there will little time to develop her and make the audience care about her before the third Ravnica block.
June 11, 2018 9:23 p.m.
DemonDragonJ says... #10
Also, why is this set named "Core 2019," rather than "Magic 2019," for the sake of consistency?
June 11, 2018 9:34 p.m.
DragonGodKing90 says... #11
technically, "indestructible" doesn't end games. its the object itself that wins the games. indestructible just makes it harder to remove.
June 11, 2018 9:47 p.m.
She has a nice chunk of starting loyalty and blows up a few problematic creatures, but otherwise ehhhhhhhhhhhh....
The problem is her +1 doesn't protect her much since it can whiff. Ajani Unyielding, Ajani, Mentor of Heroes, and Garruk, Caller of Beasts, in comparison put either more types of cards into your hand or multiple cards in your hand. That way, you can either grind your opponent down through attrition or at least find a specific answer.
Her -3 is definitely relevant, but again, it's more situational and doesn't deal with your opponent's non-flying 100/100 trampling eldrazi elephant raptor of doom.
These two factors mean she'll probably never ult, which isn't a good measurement of a planeswalker anyway (since most planeswalker ults win the game).
I dunno, maybe she will end up being relevant? It just seems like she's really ho-hum for a 5 mana 'walker in green. If your board is empty, she can't protect herself and she may even whiff on the +1, so really her only saving grace is that she'll have 6 loyalty. That still doesn't seem all that great in a format with a 5/4 for or against a deck that can play their 5 mana planeswalker and use its +1 to Negate or Spell Pierce yours.
June 11, 2018 11:09 p.m.
Some interesting things in the article from Wizards with all the Welcome Deck spoilers:
First, the art on the booster pack packaging really makes it look like we're getting mono-colored Planeswalkers:
Also, the art from the Store Champion playmat is a really interesting Nichol Bolas because he doesn't have that little egg thing between his horns:
That, plus the fact he's not on the booster packaging, makes me thing maybe we get to see Bolas back when he was "just" an Elder Dragon, before he got his Planeswalker spark ...
June 12, 2018 12:16 a.m.
Maybe Vivien is good in elves or merfolk ? she could be protected by small creatures and help them find other small creatures
+1 search for creatures either for Marwyn, the Nurturer, Llanowar Elves Steel Leaf Champion, Kumena, Tyrant of Orazca Merfolk Branchwalker Jadelight Ranger, Thrashing Brontodon Carnage Tyrant
-3 destroy Artifact( Heart of Kiran Wheatherlight, Blackblade Reforged, Enchantment History of Benalia, Hidden Stockpile all the flip enchantment from the Ixalan block Search for Azcanta Flip, Legion's Landing Flip Journey to Eternity Flip etc.. and Creatures with flying Glorybringer,Lyra Dawnbringer, Demonlord Belzenlok.
-8 get a emblem which gives all you're creatures +2/+2 trample, vigilance and indestructible.
the one thing i look forward to in this set is if this card is a "hiddenpowercreep" it's always those little details which decides if it's the real deal or not :)
June 12, 2018 5:59 a.m.
Vivien is one of the worst PWs I have seen. After a slew of great Nissas, I think we are spoiled.
Her +1 is Adventurous Impulse which is decent at best, but does not protect her. A 23rd card in draft is not what you need a 5 mana version of.
Her -3 is entirely too overcosted mix of Naturalize and Pierce the Sky. You do not normally play those in draft maindeck and you certainly do not need a 5 mana version of them.
Her -8 is cool, but so is every other PW ultimate, so that is not really news.
I cannot imagine any deck in stardard that would want her. The Chainwhiler format is not favorable to PWs already, so having new mediocre ones is not what I call groundbreaking new tech.
June 12, 2018 8:41 a.m.
well that's true, thanks to Goblin Chainwhirler it's a meta which 1 thoughness creatures such as Llanowar Elves is not as powerful, except Champion of Wits cause you want it to the graveyard so you can eternalize it.
June 12, 2018 10:08 a.m.
The power of Goblin Chainwhirler helps red out in the department which it needed help.. against 1/1 creatures and tokens :/
but there is a lot of powerful creatures and walkers in red such as Chandra, Torch of Defiance
Glorybringer and Hazoret the Fervent so maybe in the rotation there will be a shift in the meta ;)
June 12, 2018 10:12 a.m.
Lili and a Mono-U Tezz from the Planeswalker decks were spoiled on Wizards' Korea site:
June 12, 2018 11:16 a.m. Edited.
Coward_Token says... #20
From an EDH standpoint, I'm happy about Colossal Majesty as it's a much more color-appropriate source of regular drawing compared to Sylvan Library
June 15, 2018 3:48 p.m.
Hi_diddly_ho_neighbor says... #21
So is this official spoiler thread for M19?
Also, I literally spit out my tea when I read the new Nicol Bolas card. That card is absolutely broken and I fully expect him to become the new most common Grixis commander (probably will make a big impact in standard too).
June 16, 2018 8:52 a.m.
Hi_diddly_ho_neighbor says... #23
AgentGreen, I disagree. At worst he is an aggressively costed 4/4 flyer that is an automatic 2-for-1. I think we can expect to see a grixis shell form around him in standard. The question is will it be midrange, or control? His flip ability is probably more relevant in EDH where he will really shine. Casting him and then flipping him in the same turn is extremely easy in EDH.
June 16, 2018 3:07 p.m.
Hi_diddly_ho_neighbor,
"Aggressively costed" really depends on how the mana works out ... Turn 5 will be easy for sure, but Turn 4 may be unlikely.
And "automatic 2-for-1" is only if the opponent is on a slow deck or didn't sandbag a land.
Don't get me wrong, I think the card's good. But I'm not yet sure it's great ...
June 16, 2018 6:54 p.m.
Coward_Token says... #25
EDH-wise I could see Baby Bolas piloting a Grixis superfriends deck using his -4 to cheat out expensive 'walkers.
Also, I'd like to appologize to the OP for turning this into the central set discussion thread due to me barely reading the first post.
June 17, 2018 5:23 a.m.
DemonDragonJ says... #26
I am very glad that there shall be new versions of the original elder dragons, as they have not been mentioned in the story in a long time, and I do hope that this means that there shall be a card of Ugin before his planeswalker spark ignited.
June 18, 2018 9:57 p.m.
DemonDragonJ says... #27
Given that several planes are being represented in this core set, as is the case with every core set, I really wish that Kamigawa would appear in it; since another full block on that plane is highly unlikely to occur at any time soon, references to it in both core sets and Commander sets would be very nice.
June 18, 2018 10:10 p.m.
Coward_Token says... #28
So uh is Palladia-Mors, the Ruiner supposed to be a bad Naya Dragonlord Ojutai or am I missing something?
June 19, 2018 12:39 a.m.
DemonDragonJ says... #29
I am not surprised, but still displeased, that the worst cycle of dual lands (or at least one of the worst cycles) is being reprinted in this set, but at least all ten are being reprinted, as it has been some time since a full cycle of ten dual lands was printed in a single set.
Also, Pelakka Wurm was perfectly fine as an uncommon, so promoting it to a rare is wasting a rare card slot in this set, in my mind.
After two negative observations, I have a positive one: WotC finally printed a strictly better version of Jayemdae Tome in the form of arcane encyclopedia! Currently, I do not need such a card for any of my decks, but it will be very welcome if I do need it. Now, would it be too much to hope for a one-time version of Planar Portal or Ring of Three Wishes?
June 21, 2018 7 p.m.
AgentGreen says... #30
User:DemonDragonJ The crapiest dual lands in a core set? Sucks, but legit. I was hoping to see the return of the painlands, but with the enemy check lands it takes the need away.
The BIGGEST problem; if not rectified in Ravinca, is that when the cycle lands rotate out we lose the dual basic land types
June 22, 2018 9:18 a.m.
Hi_diddly_ho_neighbor says... #31
Which makes the printing of Infernal Reckoning all the more head scratching since we are heading into a heavy multi-color set. My guess is that card is reserved for a later set after Ravnica.
Also, you don't want Pelakka Wurm as an uncommon in a limited environment. That is just asking for trouble.
June 22, 2018 12:37 p.m.
DemonDragonJ says... #32
I like Infernal Reckoning very much, as it is nearly a black version of Swords to Plowshares, one of the most powerful creature removal cards in the game, but I am surprised that WotC printed it in a set that is legal in both standard and modern, since StP has never been printed in a modern-legal set, so I would have expected IR to be printed in a Commander or other supplemental set.
How is Gigantosaurus even remotely balanced? It is a 10/10 creature for 5 mana with no drawback! I thought that, if a creature has power and/or toughness higher than its converted mana cost, it needs to have a drawback of some form to balance that.
I also am very disappointed that there is no card of Ugin in this set, considering that he has been playing a crucial role in the current story and the other five elder dragons have cards that depict them in this set.
June 23, 2018 12:43 a.m.
DemonDragonJ says... #33
Diamond Mare is very nice, but the fact that its ability triggers only when its controller casts spells makes it worse than the other "lucky charms," as those cards work when any player casts a spell of a specific color.
AgentGreen says... #2
Here's the article that has it
https://www.themarysue.com/magic-the-gathering-vivien-reid/
June 11, 2018 12:03 p.m.