Aminatou, the Fateshifter – Commander 2018
Date Reviewed: January 28, 2021
Ratings:
Constructed: 2.50
Casual: 4.00
Limited: N/A
Multiplayer: 3.67
Commander [EDH]: 4.13
Ratings are based on a 1 to 5 scale. 1 is bad. 3 is average. 5 is great.
Reviews Below:
David
Fanany
Player
since
1995
It’s no longer unusual for cards from Commander releases to appear in Legacy decks, but it is unusual for a “wacky” planeswalker like Aminatou to do so. Granted, the main reason she’s considered “wacky” is probably her ultimate, an ability where the easiest way to resolve it is probably to get up and change seats in the style of Unglued‘s Mirror Mirror. Beyond that, there’s little not to like about manipulating the top card of your library (Terminus being another top card in Legacy), or about endless flickering, both on a card with all the advantages of planeswalkers.
Though Aminatou’s gimmick is her ability to manipulate the Norn-strings that bind us all, I’m told that she could not, in fact, reverse the Mending. Though I’m not sure why you would want to do that anyway.
Constructed: 3/5
Casual: 4/5
Limited: N/A (she’s never been in a draftable set)
Multiplayer: 3/5
Commander: 4/5
As always, Commander releases don’t intrinsically carry limited scores, and Aminatou has not been released in a draftable product.
Aminatou is a sort of unusual, fiddly planeswalker whose strength lies in incremental advantage than in bombastic play. Being able to blink things back to you is nice if they get taken, and while her +1 is card-advantage neutral, it can let you set up miracle spells or other effects that happen during upkeep steps. It’s definitely a card whose strength is more in doing little things decently enough to not be instantly threatening.
Speaking of little things, Aminatou’s ultimate is a weird one, and it sort of pairs with her -1 to get your Things and Stuff back (eventually). It’s definitely an intriguing trick, especially if you make out like a bandit in the process, but with little ability to protect herself, getting that ultimate off is quite the challenge. It’s more “cute” than good, and while Aminatou’s low mana cost isn’t a huge issue for Legacy, her effects are generally hard-pressed to be more than cute parlor tricks. Not a bad planeswalker, but generally one you need to keep at Commander tables.
Constructed: 2
Casual: 4
Multiplayer: 4.25
Commander: 4.25
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