For zero loyalty, this planeswalker can turn
itself into a 6/6 creature that can't be killed
by damage. And he can do it every turn. For no
cost. Or he can spend two loyalty to destroy a
tapped creature. He can also gain two mana to
make your opponent's army go all out on him,
though they probably will be anyway so I'm not
sure what the use of that is besides gaining
loyalty. Possibly to set up targets for his -2,
or to tap all his potential blockers for you to
swing back, but you want to consider if you want
Gideon to survive that onslaught, and if so,
take measure to protect him. You can start with
blockers.
Like his sometime rival Chandra Nalaar, Gideon
is an offensive and defensive powerhouse, able
to take creatures off the table and players out
of the game. Players are still deciding whether
he is well-placed for Standard and other
constructed formats, but I think his prospects
are good. I also expect him to be adopted in
multiplayer games, as he offers a way to control
opponents' attack steps at will and wreak havoc
on the most well-laid plans.
Today's card of the day is Gideon Jura which is
unique for having a zero cost "ultimate"
ability. Becoming a 6/6 that can't be
damaged is quite impressive, but unfortunately
can not be used defensively where it would
really shine. The -2 is a nice Royal
Assassin effect which may be more associated
with Black, but is also present on several White
cards including the hynrid Deathbringer Liege.
The +2 forces opponent creatures to attack
Gideon if able which can of course lead to
favorable blocking scenarios or any number of
White instants that react to attacks. This
also combines quite well with the -2 to force an
attack then destroy a specific target or to
follow up with an alpha strike including the
6/6. Overall a very flexible Planeswalker
that will see play in several formats for quite
some time.
In Limited this is a card to build a deck around
and should probably never be passed in Booster
barring truly extenuating circumstances.
For Sealed and Booster you want to keep an eye
out for Harmless Assault, Hyena Umbra, Kor
Line-Slinger, and the rare Lightmine Field as
they all combine extremely well with Gideon's
abilities to either handle attackers or destroy
tapped creatures.
