Planeswalkers how do they work

So just remember, if you need to destroy a Planeswalker, use a spell or use your combat step to attack a Planeswalker instead of your opponent. As a whole, you can protect Planeswalkers with counterspells or by using creatures you control to block attacks.

Planeswalkers are powerful cards that can give 1 player a serious advantage, especially if it is the only Planeswalker in play. When Planeswalkers enter play, creatures often take on a bodyguard-style role to keep your Planeswalkers alive as long as possible or until you win the game due to the overwhelming value a Planeswalker will often generate in a game.

If you have a card that can protect a permanent or are playing blue, it can be a good idea to hold up a counterspell when you have the option to with a Planeswalker in play. Planeswalkers are an incredibly interesting card type to play with, but they can be a bit confusing to get your head around when you first start playing Magic. Most of the important information you need to know about Planeswalkers have been covered in this post, but having a more detailed explanation of how some of the finer rules on how Planeswalkers work can help you develop and become a better player.

If you are looking for even more information about Planeswalkers, check out some of the suggested posts linked below to help you on your journey to becoming a better Magic player.

Hi, I'm Nick, a professional writer living in Japan, and have been a part of the Trading Card Game community for over 20 years. I share tips, answer questions, and anything else I can do to help more people enjoy this wonderful cardboard hobby.

Planeswalkers are not only some of the most powerful cards in Magic The Gathering, they are arguably the most interesting.

I love the fact that Planeswalkers come in all shapes, sizes and have an Planeswalkers are one of my favorite card types to play within Magic The Gathering. However, it's a good idea to know just how many Planeswalkers you are allowed to have in a deck if you are looking Skip to content Since I started playing Magic The Gathering over a decade ago, Planeswalkers have easily become the most iconic card type in the game.

There are also planeswalker cards within the game, though this was introduced much later. They represent powerful beings that can move from plane to plane think of planes as different universes. Planeswalkers are a unique type of permanent spell in Magic with some very special rules.

Just like any other Magic card, planeswalkers have a name, mana cost, and type, but there are some extra pieces that you need to know that are unique to them: loyalty counter, static abilities, plus abilities, minus abilities, and ultimates.

Loyalty counter. Static abilities. Plus abilities. Minus abilities. The ultimate is the ultimate pay-off for your planeswalker. It will always be a minus ability and can cost anywhere from -X to Just like minus abilities, Ashiok would need to have at least 11 loyalty counters to use its ultimate. You can only activate the loyalty abilities of planeswalkers as a sorcery. You can, however, use a loyalty ability the turn your planeswalker enters the battlefield.

You can attack planeswalkers with creatures. If your opponent has a planeswalker and you want to get rid of it, you can attack it directly instead of attacking your opponent. They can then block with their creatures as they normally would. The planeswalker loses a number of loyalty counters equal to the damage done by each unblocked creature attacking it. Unless you have a card that gives creatures haste, like Fires of Yavimaya , of course.

You can have a maximum of four planeswalkers with the same card name in your deck, just like any other MTG card. You can have more than one of the same type of planeswalker in your deck, however. For example, you can have four Ashiok, Nightmare Muse s and four Ashiok, Dream Render s in your deck depending on the format and legality of the cards, of course.

This also means that the legendary rule now applies to planeswalkers. For example, if you have a Nissa, Steward of Elements in play and you cast a second one, you have to pick one that you keep in play and the other will go to the graveyard.

Note that you and your opponent can both have Nissa, Steward of Elements in play, but you and your opponent cannot have more than one of them on your respective sides of the battlefield. This should help you find all the solutions to the interactions you can encounter when dealing with this bunch!

This should be clear after reading the comprehensive rules, but no, planeswalkers are not creatures. They are a distinctly different type of permanent that have very different rules.

Some planeswalkers can become creatures like Gideon of the Trials or Sarkhan the Masterless , but this is the exception, not the rule. Again, there is no limit. Just make sure you abide by the singleton and color identity rules of the format. Their inception came about to give the game a physical representation of one of the two biggest pillars of Magic: the color wheel and wizards fighting with magic. At the time, we, the players, fighting each other in a game of Magic, were the best representation as the physical planeswalkers of the game.

Matt Cavotta, a member of the design team for Future Sight , came up with the idea to create actual planeswalker cards for a new set. Believe it or not, it took some convincing. The idea proved too big for Future Sight, already a time-consuming set to create, so this bold new move was pushed forward to Lorwyn and the rest is history. Liliana Vess Illustration by Aleksi Briclot. WotC said they were introducing a new card type to the game in Planeswalkers hit center stage in a big way with the first five planeswalkers created for the game:.

After that, all planeswalkers have been printed or reprinted at mythic rare, even the original five. Tezzeret the Seeker Illustration by Anthony Francisco. For example, a burn deck with Chandra, the Firebrand has an edge. You're welcome. Keeping Planeswalkers alive can be hard. Especially if your opponent knows what's coming. Try to keep creatures ready to block before you cast your Planeswalker and try to make sure you have some instants in your hand just in case.

Also note that a Planeswalker can keep you alive by distracting your opponents from your life total. Magic: The Gathering Wiki Explore. Card Types. Creature Creature Types. Clue Contraption Equipment Fortification.

Aura Curse Shrine. Arcane Trap. How to Play Rules Mechanics Zones. White Blue Black Red Green. Explore Wikis Community Central. Register Don't have an account? How to use a Planeswalker. History Talk 0. The defending player may still declare blockers, even if a planeswalker is being attacked.

If a spell or ability you control would deal damage to an opponent, you may choose to have it deal that damage to a planeswalker that opponent controls instead. For example, you can't target a planeswalker with Shock, but you can have a Shock which targets your opponent deal 2 damage to one of his or her planeswalkers—instead of to the target player—when it resolves.

You cannot split damage from a single source between a player and a planeswalker.