Enter the Planeswalkers
By J. B. Eissac
Over the years Magic the Gathering has had many different characters throughout the different sets that they have released. However they have never been able to create a character or group of characters that has the ability to drive an on going series weather it be in books, as a TV series or even a full-length motion picture.
For years they have built the foundry for not just one land, but many different planes. They have done a great job making a wide variety of differences between Mirrodin, Ravnica, Lorwyn and all the rest. Unfortunately there has always been something lacking that can tie them all together and at the same time keep them individual.
I love seeing what new abilities that the creators of the game come up with, but at the same time its tough to see a new ability that you like come and go as the new sets come. There hasn’t been a great lasting card type or ability introduced since they revealed equipment in the Mirrodin block. I have been waiting for something great to change the way magic is played for a few years now.
With the creation of five cards in the Lorwyn block, MTG has found a way to solve all three of these issues. Ajani Goldmane, Chandra Nalaar, Garruk Wildspeaker, Jace Beleren, and Liliana Vess all give Magic a new dimension that could be huge in more than one way.
The five planeswalkers give the card game a new dynamic of playing with their unique rules. A lot of strategies will be changed due to their amazing abilities. Many deck lists will be revamped to either deal with the new additions or to make room for them. MTG has stated that this will be a new card type seen throughout all the upcoming sets, which gives hope that they have developed a change in the way magic will be played for years to come.
I like the planeswalkers more for another reason than the simple fact that they change the game of magic. The give the writers a way to tell an ongoing story, one that can transcend the different realms the creators have made. I could see Jace Beleren dealing with both Memnarch and Konda on their respective planes.
It’s great that magic has created small back-stories on each of the different planeswalkers. I sit wondering just what Lilianna’s dark secret is. I want to read about Jace and is mind altering abilities. To me these are interesting characters that you can develop a story around going back to old worlds and journeying to new ones.
I have been wondering for a while now why MTG is so quick to discard the old worlds. I think they could do so much better by making those worlds important again in the modern sense of the game. Has magic become to Type 2, forgetting the old sets as the fall out of the type of game play.
Perhaps now with the planeswalkers MTG will bring back the old worlds, if not in the games but then in the stories. I truly believe that MTG can develop an epic fantasy. The planeswalkers give them more than the ability to accomplish this. Now all I can do is wait and see what MTG does with their newest creation.
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