Tezzeret the Schemer or 2 SoI Packs

Kyokudai

Looking for some quick advice. I'm a fairly new f2p; started just before the big boxes transitioned to the elite pack, so never really got to take advantage of the big boxes sadly. That said, have a few mythics and a very slowly growing amount of rares. I have all the basic walkers and Kiora. Only one is max level currently.

I'm currently disillusioned about the elite packs as I was able to sample them in the anniversary bundle. I pulled mostly garbage and my 2 rares were the guaranteed and both wound up being exactly the same.  As a paper magic player it's a bit odd to not receive a rare in every pack, but that's beside the point.  

With the amount I am able to play I finally managed to save up the crystals for Tezzeret the Schemer. Tezzeret looks kinda fun to play with, but I also want to get new stuff and I know that I need more cards.  Walkers seem to spice things up a lot easier than cards since it's the rares and mythics that do that, and for f2p newer player those come in at a trickle at best.

 So, as the title suggests, what is going to be the better bet currently?  Thanks in advance.

majincob

Tezzeret 2 for sure. No question. Buy it now.

majincob

IMO you should save all your jewels for the key PW'ers so you can start competing in events and get packs through that and the daily/monthly rewards. It will be slow for the first month or so until you can (hopefully) get lucky and pull a bomb rare/mythic. In the meantime focus on weenie agro for events and try to grind story mode as much as possible. Leveling your PW up to 60 is not  important in bronze, but  you will need to get one or two PW fairly high level just to be able to progress through story mode.

madwren

I generally feel planeswalkers are a better investment than cards. Having a variety of decks and options on event nodes supercedes the single rare and handful of uncommons and commons you'll usually wind up with via the premium packs.

However, if you feel your collection is too small to reliably win games and make progression in events, then bolstering your card selection might be the superior option.

Kyokudai

I have gotten a lot of mileage out of Kiora which is why I had been looking at more walkers.  Is there a good list of the Key Walkers to have?  I did a quick search and didn't see anything stand out.

I am actually up into silver because of black, but my white and red aren't that far behind.  Probably played around too much with cards, but honestly didn't want to game the mastery system too much because I just want to play the game.  (I lurk the forums a lot, so I learned about mastery early on)

I seem to be doing okay in silver.  Sometimes a deck comes along and shows up with huge cool mythics I wish I had, but so far it seems few and far between.

Matthew

I agree with @majincob and @madwren. The more PWs you have, the more things you can compete/participate in. This will allow you to gather more cards and other rewards more easily/quickly. Cards will come with time, and most of them for free via the 8-hr free boosters, the free packs you get every 5 days if you're checking in, or the rewards you'll win from events.

shteev

Kyokudai said:

I have gotten a lot of mileage out of Kiora which is why I had been looking at more walkers.  Is there a good list of the Key Walkers to have? 

I'd say... Kiora and Ob Nixilis most importantly, with Saheeli, Tezz2, and Dovin Baan following close behind.

madwren

"Key planeswalkers" differs from player to player depending on their collection and playstyle. That being said, this would be my general tier listing. This is not intended to imply that anything in the lower tiers is unplayable. The right Garruk or J1 deck can still give people fits, and you can still win with them. However, I find that the planeswalkers in the S and A+ tiers are the ones that I find the most versatile when it comes to winning events. I could drop everything A Tier and lower and not really notice a thing. 

*S Tier* -- most well-rounded and versatile, consistent winners/rarely lose

Saheeli Rai

Kiora

Ob Nixilis

*A+ Tier* -- strong performers overall due to color combo, mana gains, card strength

Nahiri

Koth

Ajani Vengeant

Dovin Baan

Tezzeret, Schemer (2) -- theorized, just got him today

*A Tier* -- solid, generally have a glaring weakness, but can excel in specific niches (such as Liliana2 for zombie damage prevention)

Sorin

Nissa, Force (2)

Jace, Secrets (2)

Liliana, Last Hope (2)

Arlinn Kord

Sarkhan

*B Tier* - Useful but outclassed by modern PWs

Gideon, Battle (1)

Chandra1

Gideon, Ally (2)

Liliana

*C Tier* - Generally limited in performance, mana gains, or scope

Jace, Telepath (1)

Tezzeret, Seeker (1)

Nissa, Animist (1)

Garruk

Chandra ToD (2)

Kyokudai

Thank you all for the input.  I like the PW analysis @madwren

I'll keep with my plan to get walkers over packs.  And maybe I'll get lucky and they will make it somewhat easier to pull what I need from the elite packs in the future.

wereotter

shteev said:

Kyokudai said:

I have gotten a lot of mileage out of Kiora which is why I had been looking at more walkers.  Is there a good list of the Key Walkers to have? 

I'd say... Kiora and Ob Nixilis most importantly, with Saheeli, Tezz2, and Dovin Baan following close behind.

Considering this person is free to play, I'd hold off on Kiora for the time being. There's no doubt that she's an incredibly powerful planeswalker, however, Wizards announced the Nissa that will be released in Amonkhet, and she will also be a green/blue planeswalker. Depending on the mana gains she's given in Puzzle Quest, and her toolbox of abilities, it's possible she will out power Kiora.

Edit: I missed that it was the original poster saying they already have Kiora.

As far as best to get, there's a lot to be said for your personal card collection, but for me, early on Sorin was one of my most reliable planeswalkers. He's got a lower life total than pretty much every other planeswalker, but his life gain potential is insane. If you put him together right, it's possible that every turn you'll be gaining more life every turn than your opponent can inflict.

New Tezzeret is a really well designed planeswalker, and unlike many other recent ones, he's likely to remain relevant for quite some time, so he's a good investment.

My other recommendations, as far as generally well designed planeswlkers, are Dovin Baan, Nissa Vital Force, and Jace Unraveler of Secrets.

DuskPaladin

Anything is better than the premium packs. Literally anything.

morgue427

tezz 2 can be decent, still tweaking mine but a few kill spells and discard spells makes him powerful with living construct and even the last ability together can be deadly, even fought one with blightcaster support which i have never seen  used really he wiped out a 10/10 flyer  i had on the board with it.

ifsandbuts

wereotter said:

As far as best to get, there's a lot to be said for your personal card collection, but for me, early on Sorin was one of my most reliable planeswalkers. He's got a lower life total than pretty much every other planeswalker, but his life gain potential is insane. If you put him together right, it's possible that every turn you'll be gaining more life every turn than your opponent can inflict.

If you have the right cards, Sorin is absolutely the bomb. I am also a black player, and I consider him up there with Ob Nixilis.

A lot of the good cards for his deck are uncommon or common. You should pick him up if you have any of the cards that will work well with him. I have hit for over 300 on a single turn using the following deck:

Uncommon:
War Oracle
Lone Rider
Campaign of Vengeance
Healing Hands
Make a Stand

Rare:
To the Slaughter
Oath of Liliana
Haunted Cloak
Ayli, Eternal Pilgrim

Mythic:
Angel of Invention

You could sub out any of the kill spells (Oath, Slaughter) with other kill spells. And there are other, less rare creatures you could sub for Ayli and Angel of Invention (Bloodbond Vampire, Kalitas, Graveblade Marauder, Blazing Hellhound, etc.)

Basically, figure out the most efficient cards you have to gain life and kill off opponent threats. I love playing black and white irl MTG and I love playing Sorin on PQ. Only thing that makes me happier is an Ob Deck with Lost Legacy...

Kyokudai

Unfortunately, I don't have near the cards to make Sorin run right now.  I have the kill spells, but am lacking the lifegains.  I am also a black player irl, it is my favorite.  I'm just waiting for this game to give me all the black cards.  ALL THE CARDS.  I'll just have to wait for him to come around the pike again.

I did pick up the Tezz 2.0 and so far he's been fun.  Just built him as weenies w/ Thopter Network  / Sphinx while I level him up some.  Also stuck some of my fab 2 low cost creatures in there and it's been fun. 

morgue427

tried thopter network with him also just seems slow an unwieldy. not bad just never quite good or fast.

EDHdad

Any walker with the ability to generate their own win condition is worth owning, regardless of your card collection.  Ob Nixilis is tier 1 because you can durdle until you hit 18 loyalty, then launch his emblem and win in short order (unless the opponent is packing support removal).  This is easier if you have the efficient kill spells and mass draw effects, but even with nothing but commons and uncommons, Ob Nixilis can win reliably.

Tezzeret II is in a similar position.  His 2nd ability (12 loyalty) creates a token which can get out of hand in short order.  If you like black, he's a really, really good walker to have.  He doesn't win fast, but he can win close to 100% of the time.

I generally concur with the list above, though I'd put Gideon II up a notch or so.  He isn't tier 1, but he is a solid tier 2 or tier 1.5.

madwren

EDHdad said:

Any walker with the ability to generate their own win condition is worth owning, regardless of your card collection.  Ob Nixilis is tier 1 because you can durdle until you hit 18 loyalty, then launch his emblem and win in short order (unless the opponent is packing support removal).  This is easier if you have the efficient kill spells and mass draw effects, but even with nothing but commons and uncommons, Ob Nixilis can win reliably.

Tezzeret is in a similar position.  His 2nd ability (12 loyalty) creates a token which can get out of hand in short order. 

I generally concur with the list above, though I'd put Gideon II up a notch or so.  He isn't tier 1, but he is a solid tier 2 or tier 1.5.  I'd also bump Nissa Vital Force up a notch or two because her 3rd ability (24 loyalty) is actually bonkers.  Though I wouldn't bump it too high because Green sucks for removal.

I heartily agree that Nissa2's 3rd ability is essentially a win button. However, I'm admittedly prejudiced against mono-green because of its lack of control elements--though with Nissa2, at least, Deadlock Trap can help out quite a bit.  Still, that's why she's in the "solid but with a glaring weakness" category. 

As I said, though, any planeswalker can win, and everyone certainly has their favorites that they gravitate towards. I find G2 to have fallen behind more recent pw's because of his monocolored nature, the extreme unlikelihood of adding any allies to the card pool anytime soon, and his weak (though balanced) mana gains. Anything he does, you have to imagine that Nahiri could do better with. At the time of his release, though, G2 was my go-to planeswalker, and it was great fun breaking him out in the recent Planeswalker Arena.

EDHdad

I mostly agree with you about Nissa 2 and edited the post.  I originally mistook it for Nissa 1 in the very bottom tier, and thought she belonged more in the lower middle of the pack, where you actually did have her.  Sorry for the confusion.

EDHdad

BTW, Nissa I is actually kind of decent if you focus on the 2nd ability rather than the 1st.  However, she's still lower tier material.

EDHdad

I agree Gideon II is probably a rabbit hole you don't want to go down if you're a new player.  The problem isn't just the crystals to obtain them but also the runes needed to level them up.  It sounds like it will take about 1,600 wins in the events of the future to level up a 2 color walker (about 160,000 runes), plus another 450 wins to buy a 2nd deck slot if desired.

For a new player, Tezz 2 would definitely be on my short list, along with Ob Nixilis, Kiora, Koth, Saheeli Rai.  Just that will run over 1,000 crystals and over 500,000 runes.

Kyokudai

So now I've been playing with Tezz 2 for a week, mostly just doing quick battle for runes to level him and the deck whirs along pretty well with nothing special to back it up.

My opinion so far is that he is making me love this game much more.  The deckbuilding options with him seem a lot more open and less reliant on the mythics that seem to make many of the other decks function at a higher level.  Maybe that just makes him a bit more new player friendly?  At any rate he has made me want to actually tune a deck instead of just throwing together goodstuff decks since I don't have the proper cards to make the other walkers truly work.

His 2nd ability is really nice and allows for a lot of tuning to it specifically.  Once it comes out it makes all the other stuff a force to be reckoned with since it usually isn't the one receiving the fabricate buffs.  So, the computer usually just ignores it.  I had been using the sigiled starfish but just got a Padeem from a daily pack today so i'm eager to see if he replaces the starfish like I think he will and protect my little construct!