Last year, Jace, Chandra, and Garruk got new
versions, all of which were mediocre. This year,
Liliana and Ajani got new versions, both of
which are absolutely amazing. Ajani can drop as
early as turn three, and put a +1/+1 counter on
your two-drop. That's better than it looks at
first glance, because even if your opponent
attacks and kills Ajani, you've still got the
counters. And one +1/+1 counter each turn means
your early drop can steadily grow and outclass
your opponent's early drop as it keeps pace with
your opponent's later drops, even as you
continue to play more creatures. Thus, on turn
six, your opponent might have a 2/2 and a 6/6
whereas you've got a 2/2 with four +1/+1
counters on it and a 6/6.
Ajani's second ability can be what wins you the
game by itself. Flying and double strike on a
creature of any respectable size will mean an
incredible life swing that can decide the game,
especially if the creature you use it on has
lifelink-- which a white deck could easily
have-- or numerous +1/+1 counters on it-- which
Ajani himself probably gave it. What makes it
especially powerful is that Ajani's starting
loyalty is just high enough to use this the turn
he hits play and not quite lose Ajani. That
makes Ajani an amazing topdeck for when you're
at a stalemate, or at any point in the late
game.
The ultimate ability here is incredibly nice as
well. Not only does it put twice the power's
worth of tokens into play as Ajani 1.0 would
have in the same situation, but it spreads it
out into numerous tokens. That means your
opponent can't stave it off with one blocker or
deal with it with one kill spell. A Pyroclasm
will still wipe it out, but since White is the
color of mass creature pump and lots of tokens
benefit from that better than one big token,
it's a worthy trade-off.
If you read his profile in Duels of the
Planeswalkers, you learned that Ajani's magic
involves bringing out the strength of others and
his approach is rather self-effacing, making him
Magic's equivalent of a Synergist in Final
Fantasy XIII. I admit that I didn't realize that
before then, despite having been around for his
original incarnation in Lorwyn. In many ways,
his Caller of the Pride incarnation is a
callback to his first appearance in Dominaria:
as the Caller brings three spells, one of which
is a small bonus that adds up over many turns, a
second that makes a single combat step extremely
difficult for an opponent, and an ultimate that
creatures a nearly unbeatable board state, he is
useable in many of the same situations and
decks. Having said that, neither obsoletes the
other, as Goldmane works better in decks that
generate lots of creatures before he is cast and
the Caller of the Pride enhances one creature at
a time, as abilities like exalted require more.
Overall, I find this to be a worthy inclusion to
the gallery of planeswalker cards, and one who
is likely to join the high-impact tier thereof.
Magic The Gathering Card of The Day: Ajani,
Caller of The Pride
Welcome back readers todays card of the day
is a powerful three mana planeswalker, the only
downside is it does not have a powerful way to
protect itself but it is offensively powerful.
In standard I can foresee this card seeing quite
an amount of play as it provides a boon for
aggressive decks the ability to add a +1/+1
counter makes even 1/1’s into somewhat of a
threat and the flying and double strike ability
can really allow you to beat down with something
such as Wolfir Silverheart. The ultimate will
rarely be used but it can provide an I Win
button for a player, this card will see a
plethora of play in aggressive decks most
notably white/green style decks I feel is where
it fits well. In modern it is almost as powerful
providing a boon for aggressive decks but has
heavier competition from other planeswalkers. In
legacy and vintage it could see a fringe amount
of play providing a tool for powerful aggressive
decks and at three mana it is also costed right.
In casual and multiplayer using the ultimate
after gaining a significant amount of life
should be fun and entertaining, the other two
abilities are highly relevant as pumping your
army and flying over ground forces to deal
double strike damage could definitely put the
hurt on players, and at three mana you can get
this out early enough some players may not put
pressure on you allowing you to gain advantage
off Ajani. In limited it’s a bomb the flying and
double strike allows you to win in short order
and the other abilities are gravy. Overall a
card with powerful constructed and casual
applications.
Today's card of the day is Ajani, Caller of the
Pride which is a three mana planeswalker with
four loyalty that has a +1 of placing a +1/+1
counter on target creature. This is not a bad
effect for a +1 as the only drawback is it
requires something to target. The -3 of giving a
target Flying and Double Strike can be very
impressive, particularly when used the turn it
comes into play on a large creature or one with
a deals damage to opponent trigger. The -8 can
be fun in a life gain theme or whenever you have
a similar or higher life point total than an
opponent. Overall this is a fun and effective
planeswalker that isn't really overly powerful
due to all of his effects being creature based,
which can commonly be responded to.
For Limited this is much like nearly any
planeswalker by being an excellent first pick
and the creature theme is ideally suited to the
format. Tokens win games and the swarm Ajani can
call into play should win almost every time if
the evasion and Double Strike effect doesn't
have a worthwhile target sooner. The double
White in the cost makes it slightly harder to
manage in Sealed, but even if this comes into
play later on it can and will make an impact.
Welcome to the Pojo.com card of the day. Today
we are looking at Ajani, Caller of the Pride.
Ajani is a mythic rare planeswalker Ajani that
costs one generic and two white mana. Ajani
enters with four loyalty and has three
abilities. Ajani has a +1 ability that puts a
+1/+1 counter on up to one target creature. He
has a -3 ability that says target creature gains
flying and double strike until end of turn.
Ajani’s ultimate is a -8 that says put X 2/2
white cat creature tokens onto the battlefield,
where X is your life total.
Ajani, Caller of the Pride is simply amazing.
Newer planeswalkers are becoming so much more
powerfull than anything from older sets. And
Ajani may be one of the best I have seen.
Putting +1/+1 counters on your creatures is an
amazing ability, building up your creatures
faster than your opponents may be ready for.
Then, his second ability could send a pumped
creature, or even just a decent sized creature
over your opponents defenses and score a
critical hit.
But of course, planeswalkers are more known for
their Ultimates, and none are quite as
impressive as Ajani’s. Putting X 2/2 creatures
on the board, where X is your life total is a
game changer, and more than likely a game ender.
And there are a ton of ways that you can break
the combo even farther. You could be running
Healer of the Pride, which then gains you
another 2 life as the cat tokens enter the
battlefield. Then, you could always go red and
white and run a Warstorm Surge, dealing 2 damage
per token to different sources, but likely
killing your opponent. In older formats, running
Raksha Golden Cub equipped would turn them all
into 4/4 double strikers. And if we still are
running red, Fervor means they will all also
have haste. So there are tons of ways that you
can fully exploit Ajani, and all of his
abilities.
