Niko Aris – Kaldheim
Date Reviewed: February 22, 2021
Ratings:
Constructed: 3.13
Casual: 4.00
Limited: 4.13
Multiplayer: 3.00
Commander [EDH]: 3.25
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
When we get another Un-set with the next evolution of red’s anti-“wordy” cards, expect them to be used against Niko Aris (assuming they can be!). But I don’t mean that as a point against Niko: they have a lot of interesting abilities, living up to this color combination’s reputation for cunning-craft, and perhaps previewing a mechanic we’ll see in Theros III: Xenagos’ Arrow Paradox. The shard tokens have a number of uses beyond their innate abilities, not least triggering constellation abilities multiple times in a turn, and a casting of Niko will sometimes pay for itself just from things like that. Once they’re on the table, opponents will be forced to exercise even more caution, as that -1 ability will kill lots of things and that +1 will get more dangerous the more creatures you play. I like what Niko offers to plane-vikings setting off for Strixhaven and beyond – not least since a game like ours needs new abilities and tools as the horizon gets pushed farther and farther back.
Constructed: 3/5
Casual: 4/5
Limited: 4/5
Multiplayer: 3/5
Commander: 3/5
Another “value” planeswalker without a conventional ultimate, Niko Aris is an interesting one, aiming to eke out incremental value. They’re capable of coming out on turn 3, but they function better as a mana sink, giving you a bunch of redeemable card-draw tokens in the process. All that card draw is good for fueling their first -1, which acts as removal (and can remove a very big creature with those Shards getting cracked all at once). They’re also able to make more shards, and the +1 is good for enabling a big swing. Or reusing comes-into-play triggers. It’s an interesting ability with a bit of flexibility to it in terms of getting damage through at all costs.
Niko’s main issue is that their presence on-board tends to be fairly passive without a lot of mana investment. They can blow up a creature, but you’re usually needing to spend a lot of mana to power that -1 up for it. The +1 needs a creature to work, and the other -1 is sort of passive value. All the while, Niko has a rather low loyalty base, and while this isn’t insurmountable, they’re definitely hard-pressed to protect themselves turn after turn to keep cranking out the value. A harder planeswalker than most to really evaluate, I do think Niko’s decent overall.
Constructed: 3.25
Casual: 4
Limited: 4.25 (Niko’s repeatable removal is really good here, and card advantage in limited is valuable)
Multiplayer: 3
Commander: 3.5
We would love more volunteers to help us with our Magic the Gathering Card of the Day reviews. If you want to share your ideas on cards with other fans, feel free to drop us an email. We’d be happy to link back to your blog / YouTube Channel / etc. 😉
Click here to read over 4,000 more MTG Cards of the Day! Daily Since 2001.