The Gathering may be about to break a Planeswalker trend

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Summary

  • The limited number of Planeswalker cards is restrictive to building decks in MTG if they are often multi-colored.

  • Recent MTG sets since 2024 have mainly featured multicolored planeswalkers, impacting the diversity of decks.

  • Wizards of the Coast is addressing the issue of multicolored planeswalkers for future sets.

There are many internal rules that need to be addressed when Wizards of the Coast designs new Magic: The Gathering cards, such as respecting the suit pie and considering what the effects of a given card bring to the table. For example, while all colors are in Magic: The Gathering they have some form of removal, differ in themes and average costs to represent the philosophy behind the color pie and different color combinations. The Planeswalkers shook Magic: The GatheringIts gameplay in big ways over the years, and while they were introduced as single-color cards, they eventually began to populate sets in multiple color combinations.

Color combinations in Magic: The Gathering it can be particularly interesting for both card design and philosophy, as well as gameplay. An example comes from the various combos in Rakdos Magic: The Gathering which should win players at high cost or high risks. While they had multicolored cards inside MTG is often a good thing, it can come with its fair share of deckbuilding concerns, especially for the types of cards that are printed in small quantities in each set, such as Planeswalkers. In fact, many sets only include one or a handful of Planeswalkers, and whenever they are multi-colored, it can be difficult to include them in some decks. However, WotC may be about to change that trend.

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Why Multicolored, One-Per-Set Planeswalkers Are a Big MTG Concern

The reason multi-colored Planeswalker cards come in Magic: The Gathering may be problematic is that starting with Wilds of Eldraine and beyond, Wizards of the Coast decided to only feature one Planeswalker per set. As such, with only a limited number of Planeswalkers each year, having them mostly as multicolor cards can put a big restriction on deck building. The result is that some Planeswalkers, while playable, struggle to get their time in the spotlight in the meta because they need specific decks and colors to work.

Wilds of Eldraine came out on September 8th, 2023 and was the first MTG to feature only one Planeswalker card outside of reprints and guest cards, starting a new trend.

The idea of ​​a single Planeswalker card per set isn't necessarily a bad one, as it allows Wizards of the Coast to put more emphasis on the goals and alignments of each Planeswalker and how they impact the set in which they play. However, reducing the number of new Planeswalker cards per set to one means that it can be difficult to fit them into decks depending on the format, with most restrictions being in Magic: The GatheringHis Standard and non-Eternal formats.

MTG's Planeswalkers in 2024 sets explained

In 2024, several Planeswalker cards were printed and only one of them was monochrome. This was Jace Reawakened from Outlaws of Thunder Junction, a blue card, while the other Planeswalker cards from last year were all multicolored. This includes:

  • Kaya, Spirit Justice (Black & White) from Karlov Manor Murders

  • Oko, the Leader (green and blue) of Outlaws of Thunder Junction

  • Ral, Crackling Wit (blue and red) by Bloomburrow

  • Kaito, Bane of Nightmares (blue and black) from Duskmourn: House of Horror

Jace wasn't even the “face” Planeswalker for Outlaws of Thunder Junction last year, which was Oko. With four total Planeswalkers in the 2024 main sets, not having a dedicated mono-colored Planeswalker can sting quite a bit when it comes to deck building.

Magic: The Gathering tries to solve the multi-colored Planeswalker problem

Over, Magic: The GatheringHis UB sets won't have Planeswalkers even with the new 2025 release schedule, meaning there will only be three Planeswalker cards this year. However, WotC's Mark Rosewater recently confirmed that the company is working on the issue of multi-colored Planeswalkers and their limited deck building potential.

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It's still unclear what exactly Wizards of the Coast is planning for future Planeswalkers in order to not make them too restrictive in terms of colors, but fans can wait and see. The first standard-legal set of the year will be MTGof Aetherdrift in February and will feature Chandra as a themed Planeswalker, but not much else is known at this time.

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