I've been thinking a lot about Gideon's new
incarnation here. I think the reason he's been
consistently one of the strongest planeswalkers
recently is closely related to why creature
lands are so good: namely, that a creature
that's only a creature when it suits you removes
a lot of the risk involved with playing
creatures. In Gideon's case, he does this while
also generating card advantage in the form of
repeatable effects, and in the case of his Ally
of Zendikar form, those repeatable effects are
about as strong as it's possible to be. His +1
makes him a creature that certain opponents
won't be able to deal with at all, and his 0
ability plays well with every Ally card and
means you'll never run out of Allies. And if his
-4 ability seems less relevant on someone who
can be a 5/5 by himself, don't forget that if
your opponent has fewer creatures than you
and/or yours are evasive, it makes him look
oddly much like a four-mana white Overrun.
Welcome back were closing out the year with
some of the most powerful cards available.
Gideon, Ally of Zendikar is such a powerful
planeswalker it can single handidly take over
games. It protects itself by pumping out a large
amount of tokens and being able to transform and
swing in to beat your opponet, the emblem also
just gives you Glorious Anthem to push through
damage. In standard this card is a powerhouse in
multiple decks its sheer power level pushes it
over the top. This card comes down early and
protects itself and can single handily take over
the game acruing signifcrnt advantage. This card
has been one of the major players of 2015 and
its powerful is well documented. In modern this
card is also powerful although to a lesser
extent. In legacy and eternal format this
planeswalker doesent quite meet the level of the
powerful planeswalkers that came before him. In
multiplayer and casual as well as EDH this card
is amazing being able to pump out early blockers
and pump your team espcially benefits token
builds and provides a powerful early threat that
can do work into the late game. In limited its a
bomb it can be straight up unbeatable in a lot
of situations. Overall this is one of the most
powerful cards printed this year.
The number two card of the year is Gideon, Ally
of Zendikar which is a four mana White
planeswalker with four loyalty and three strong
effects. The -4 grants an emblem that
gives your creatures +1/+1 which even if played
right away is worth the four mana in a swarm
deck. The 0 puts a 2/2 token into play
which is an easy choice for most situations,
though after the first turn it can be better to
play the +1. The +1 makes a 5/5
Indestructible threat available and makes
removal more difficult with the increased
loyalty. It should almost always be used
at least once to leave the option of the -4
without sacrificing Gideon outright.
Overall a powerful planeswalker, particularly in
swarm builds, and should see play across
multiple formats as it both supports and is
supported by popular designs.
Like most planeswalkers and other Gideons
specifically this is a dominant force in Limited
that just wins games when it hits the table.
An absolute first pick in Booster that can not
be passed even if out of color and should force
your deck into White in Sealed unless the rest
of the pool is utterly unplayable. Token
generation is always strong in the format and
the 5/5 Indestructible is very difficult to
oppose, making this a versatile threat in nearly
any situation.
Eh. Giddy does what he does. turns into a
creature, enabling ally shenanigans (...Are
anybody playing Ally tribal? No? Okay then.),
Token generation, which is new for him, and an
anthem emblem. Oddly enough, I'm sure this is
just getting played for the Ult, and while I
can't completely blame players for it, I do have
to kinda go..... why should this be no. 2 on the
list? Sure, it generates advantage, but vanilla
2/2's. One at a time. I don't care for it. It's
blind beater deck bait over actual strategic
value. Nope.
