Standard Format Planeswalker Power Rankings (Post M19 & Guilds of Ravnica)

mrhibachi

Hi my name is Max Moed-Nelson (IGN: mrhibachi) and today I've am once again updating my planeswalker power rankings (for those of you who did not read the first two articles, check them out here and here). In the time since my last article, Hour of Devastation has rotated out of Standard and there have been two new sets added, both of which have a higher average power level of cards compared to Dominaria. M19 consists of alot of cards that are generally strong and don't rely on synergies with other cards to be effective. Guilds of Ravnica, on the other hand, does have some cards that are generally strong on their own but also has a lot of cards based around five new mechanics (Convoke, Jump-start, Mentor, Surveil, and Undergrowth) that promote certain deckbuilding synergies. There have also been a lot of new planeswalkers added to the game since my previous installment of this series. The main takeaway here should be that there are more viable options for planeswalker choices and deckbuliding choices than ever before.

As for this edition of the power rankings, I've decided to keep things similar to last time with two main exceptions. First, I will be using full planeswalker names as well as placing nicknames in parentheses next to most of the planeswalkers. This should be helpful in differentiating between planeswalkers with different names. Second, since there is now another colorless planeswalker in the game (The Eldrazi Devastator), I have decided that it's time to assign ranks to both colorless planeswalkers. 

Note: Planeswalkers in each tier are listed in alphabetical order and are not being directly compared with each other (... usually). The goal of this ranking is not determine which broken planeswalker is more 'broken' for example but rather to explain why they should be considered 'broken' in the first place. For these rankings I am evaluating each planeswalker with their level 60 stats and abilities and treating the deckbuilding options solely based off non-masterpiece cards (they are still not very accessible despite recent changes to the elite pack system and it's difficult to guarantee access to any one particular card). 

And now here is a description of each tier and the rankings for each planeswalker (man there are so many planeswalkers to get to).

Tiers:
Broken: If a planeswalker is broken, it means they are extremely unhealthy for the game and deserve to be nerfed in large part because they crowd out other planeswalkers with the same/similar color(s).
Overpowered: If a planeswalker is overpowered, it means they are generally stronger than the majority of other planeswalkers but not enough to make the weaker planeswalkers lose viability.
Balanced: Balanced planeswalkers are good enough to be used to win games but not good enough to be considered the best option for any given game.
Weak: If a planeswalker is weak, it either means they have a few or more weaknesses that make them difficult to win with or there are simply other planeswalkers who outclass them.
Bad: If a planeswalker is bad, it should never be used to try to win games in events because no amount of deckbuilding can make it good.

BROKEN

Kiora, Master of the Depths (Kiora): To start things off in these rankings, I have decided to move Kiora into the 'Broken' tier. This is because despite green/blue not being one of the color combinations featured in Guilds of Ravnica, she still gained a whole host of new overpowered cards to add to her already endless arsenal -- the most notable of which is Beacon Bolt (this card will be mentioned many times in this article because the card can win games by itself). Although her abilities aren't quite as broken as the other planeswalkers in this tier, Kiora compensates for that by having a ridiculous amount of access to both cards that convert gems (ie. Storm the Vault and Thunderherd Migration) and ways to 'cheat out' cards (ie. Concoct and Vivien's Invocation). I admit that she doesn't need to be nerfed in the same way the other 'Broken' planeswalkers do because her abilities don't warp the game as much. But in the current Standard format, she has access to way too many powerful cards and deck archetypes and she utilizes them better than almost every other green and/or blue planeswalker in the game.

Koth of the Hammer (Koth): Before Guilds of Ravnica was released, I would've considered demoting Koth because mono-red had mediocre card draw and creature removal once Hour of Devastation rotated out of Standard. Both issues have since been addressed with some really strong options such as Apex of Power, Beacon Bolt, and Justice Strike. He even gained more help in getting red matches thanks to Rupture Spire and Runaway Steam-Kin. 

Nicol Bolas, God-Pharoah (Bolas 1): Now that another Nicol Bolas has been released, there has been debate about which of the two planeswalkers are better (they share the same colors with the same net mana bonus albeit in different places). Most of the people I have spoken to feel that Bolas 2 is stronger -- I disagree. That discussion will be saved for when I talk about Bolas 2. As for Bolas 1, he needs to be nerfed just as badly as ever.

OVERPOWERED

Elspeth, Sun's Champion (Elspeth): Elspeth's 1st ability synergizes well with both of the white mechanics in Guilds of Ravnica (Convoke and Mentor) and her 3rd ability synergizes well with many of the strongest white cards in Standard. Similar to last time though, I think Elspeth is close to being 'Broken' but not quite at that level. The new land supports in Guilds of Ravnica definitely make her already ridiculous mana bonuses even better, but mono-white still doesn't have cheap ways to get more mana (Fall of the Thran is really good with Elspeth but costs 18 mana) and her 1st ability has several ways of being shut down. If the cheap mana situation ever changes, I will instantly move Elspeth back to the 'Broken' tier.

Huatli, Radiant Champion (Huatli 2): I actually debated moving Huatli 2 down a tier. Although she gained access to more great cards that synergize with her ability, the majority of them (especially the Convoke cards) help her do what she was already good at to begin with (aka snowball a board lead). There weren't that many cards added to Standard to help Huatli 2 ensure that her creatures stick to the board. I still think Huatli 2 is better overall than Ajani 2, but Ajani 2 is definitely the more versatile option since he doesn't need to rely on creatures to win. It should also be noted that every color has received stronger creature removal tools in the last two sets to help shut down creature-heavy strategies. If future sets continue that trend, Huatli 2 will eventually be demoted. 

Jace, Unraveler of Secrets (Jace 2): With the addition of Djinn of Wishes from the M19 set, Storm the Vault decks became even stronger than before thanks to the high amounts of synergy between these two cards. Jace 2 in particular utilizes Djinn of Wishes better than any other planeswalker because the Djinn's Wish tokens add to the support count for his 1st ability. Surveil-based strategies also work well with Jace 2 with cards such as Disinformation Campaign and Enhanced Surveillance. As if that wasn't enough already, Beacon Bolt can also be utilized to great effect since his 1st ability helps get mana to cast alot of spells (let's not forget Beacon Bolt has Jump-start) and his 2nd ability helps to both discard spells to the graveyard and draw new ones on later turns. I decided not to move Jace 2 up a tier because he requires supports to stick to the board for his 1st ability to work, which is dependent on him drawing supports at the start of the game and getting the mana to play them. But in any game where he gets enough supports to stick, he is just as good as any of the planeswalkers that I've listed as 'Broken'.

Jaya Ballard: In patch 3.1, Jaya Ballard's 3rd ability was nerfed in order to limit her spell looping capabilities. In my opinion, she really did not deserve to receive this nerf because infinite looping required very specific deckbuilding choices and was not easy to pull off in the first place. The red spells added in M19 and Guilds of Ravnica definitely made her alot better than before but her looping ability wasn't nearly as problematic as the abilities of the 'Broken' planeswalkers listed above. It is my personal opinion that Jaya Ballard belonged in the 'Overpowered' tier before the nerf and still deserves to be in it after the nerf because her 1st ability is really good and her 3rd ability is still pretty solid (she's also arguably one of the best planeswalkers to make  Beacon Bolt decks with). 

Liliana, Death's Majesty (Liliana 3): Liliana 3 received the support removal she desperately needed from the two newest sets thanks to Meteor Golem and Assassin's trophy. She also received a bunch of other solid creatures to pair with her 1st ability (and some decent zombies to pair with her 2nd ability though I still wouldn't consider the tribe strong enough to be viable in Standard). Although I don't think she will ever be 'Broken', she is definitely stronger than ever and will remain in the 'Overpowered' tier so long as black has access to good support removal and creatures that do things when they enter the battlefield or die.

Nicol Bolas, the Ravager (Bolas 2): There are many people I've talked to who feel that Bolas 2 is far more 'Broken' than Bolas 1. Not only do I disagree with this notion but I don't even think Bolas 2 is 'Broken' at all. If this ranking system were based solely on his abilities after transformation, then yes he would absolutely be 'Broken'. His 1st two abilities before transformation are solid abilities for sure but they have zero board impact which can be a problem against alot of other planeswalkers. It should also be noted that his 3rd ability only works if the opponent has a creature or if you have a creature you're willing to sacrifice to transform him (along with taking the 5 damage which could matter if you're low on HP). Bolas 2 is definitely 'Overpowered' thanks to having 3-color card access and solid overall abilities, but against any opponent who doesn't give him enough time to get to his 3rd ability safely he is going to struggle.

Nissa, Worldwaker (Nissa 4): Nissa 4 was one of the two planeswalkers released as part of the duel decks set which unfortunately cannot be used in Standard (thus she loses out on most of the cards that synergize the best with her). Despite not having access to the duel decks set, the newest Nissa planeswalker is still the strongest Nissa planeswalker. Her abilities are actually pretty good despite only having some synergy with the green cards currently in Standard. Her +9 mana bonus (+4 on green in particular) is augmented by the fact that her 1st ability converts 6 gems which is usually enough to get a match (and more loyalty to use more abilities). It also gives her creature tokens which means she doesn't need as many creatures in a deck. Her 2nd ability is also pretty good because it draws her cards and allows her to convert excess mana into even more creature tokens. Her 3rd ability tends to be best for snowballing a board lead, but it does pair well with Zendikar's Roil (which should be an auto-include in Nissa 4 decks along with Path of Discovery). All in all, Nissa 4 is the best mono-green planeswalker in the game and is very strong in general even without using cards from the Zendikar block.

Ral, Izzet Viceroy (Ral): As of writing this article, Ral is the one of the last two planeswalkers that has not been added to the vault yet and as such most players don't have access to him and/or don't have him fully leveled. As soon as he is released, I presume most people will agree with me that he is overpowered. He is in my opinion a slightly better version of Jaya Ballard (whether or not that was true before her nerf is debatable) since he does very similar things but has access to two colors and has an ability that impacts the board -- something Jaya Ballard doesn't have. He does have a slightly weaker mana bonus (1 more mana from blue matches in exchange for -2 green mana bonus) and he has a support maximum that is one lower than her (which can sometimes matter in spell-oriented decks). Although Ral was practically tailor-made for Beacon Bolt decks, he can also utilize an endless array of other deckbuilding strategies thanks to all of the powerful cards the blue/red color combination has to offer. At the moment, I think he is a bit better than Saheel Rai. When vehicles finally rotate out of standard, I predict Ral will be the clear cut better planeswalker between the two of t

Saheeli Rai: Despite the upcoming release of Ral, Saheeli Rai remains in the 'Overpowered' Tier for two main reasons. First, M19 introduced Weatherlight which is a much better option for her 3rd ability than the other vehicles in Standard. Second, although Ral is the better choice for Beacon Bolt decks, Saheeli Rai can still run the archetype very effectively thanks to her high spell/support maximums (7 each) and she is better than Ral for running support-oriented strategies (ie. Storm the Vault decks) due to his support maximum being only 5. It should also be noted that M19 introduced Sai, Master Thopterist, which is a fantastic card to pair with Saheeli Rai's 1st ability. Despite having to compete with three other planeswalkers who share her colors (Bolas 1, Bolas 2, and Ral), she is definitely very viable and very strong right now.

Samut, the Tested (Samut): Samut received a lot of really good cards in both M19 and Guilds of Ravnica. Although hyper-aggressive decks aren't as viable an option as they used to be now that most cheap creatures are bad, Samut decks can still do a lot of damage very quickly thanks to the midrange creatures available in the format (Etali, Runaway Steam-Kin, etc). She is going to get even better once the next set is released which since it's the green/red color combination will be featured in it. Samut will probably never be 'Broken' due to her extremely low spell/support maximums (4 each) and her reliance on having creatures on the board to do anything. Nevertheless, she is one of the most explosive planeswalkers in the game and that will always make her a force to be reckoned with.

Teferi, Hero of Dominaria (Teferi): Nothing much has really changed here other than the card pool. Teferi is still a very good planeswalker and should always be considered the superior blue/white planeswalker over Dovin Baan. He didn't gain any noteworthy synergies in M19 or Guilds of Ravnica, but he doesn't need them because was so strong to begin with.

Tezzeret the Schemer (Tezz 2): Despite the nerf to Blightcaster awhile back, Tezz 2 is still 'Overpowered' because he is still the best user of Storm the Vault. But even with that aside, he does actually make decent use of the new cards introduced in Guilds of Ravnica. The fact that he is blue/black means he has access to all of the Surveil cards (Surveil is in my opinion the strongest mechanic of the five due to the cards that use it and the ridiculous consistency of the mechanic itself). His 3rd ability is quite useful with Beacon decks because it can provide the extra damage needed to close out games reasonably fast. He even gained the support removal he desperately needed thanks to the aforementioned Meteor Golem and Assassin's Trophy. As soon as Storm the Vault rotates out, Tezz 2 will probably be demoted a tier because none of his abilities help him control the board or have much of an impact at all in the early game. In the meantime, Tezz 2 does have enough viable deckbuilding strategies now that he can no longer be considered a one-trick pony.

Tezzeret, Artifice Master (Tezz 3): Tezz 3 is the one of the only two planeswalkers in the game (Vivien Reid being the other... technically) to have an ability with the newly added artifact keyword. When Dominaria was release, many cards from previous sets were changed into artifact cards so that artifact synergies could be more properly utilized. Some of thes cards that were changed were very strong with very high mana costs, so the fact that Tezz 3 can cheat them out for free with his second ability is extremely powerful. Ironically there really haven't been many new artifact cards since his release in M19. He didn't really need new artifacts anyway since some of the most powerful cards in the game before M19 were artifacts such as Thran Temporal Gateway, Pyromancer's Glasses, and Hangarback Walker. If that wasn't enough, Tezz 3 can also use his 3rd ability to cheat out a creature and a support for free every turn (please take the time to re-read that because that is practically broken). His +9 mana bonuses is also really good. I opted not to immediately classify him as 'Broken' because his 1st ability is lackluster and he is very comparable in both power level and deckbuilding options to Jace 2. There's a decent chance that I change my mind before my next set of power rankings (whenever that happens to be).

Vraska, Relic Seeker (Vraska 1): Out of the five new mechanics released in Guilds of Ravnica, the mechanic created specifically for green/black (Undergrowth) is in my opinion the weakest. The mechanic takes time to ramp up to be effective and 7 out of the 11 cards that have it are terrible anyway. Luckily for Vraska 1, she has so many other superior deckbuilding options because green/black is a really strong 2-color combination. Although the last two sets haven't introduced too many threatening supports that need to be answered, they did introduce a bunch of cards that make creatureless decks viable. Vraska 1 is a great solution to deal with these decks since they almost always require supports to stick to the board to be effective, which she can shut down easily. Although her final two abilities are still pretty meh (no new pirates in the last two sets), I will probably promote Vraska 1 to 'Broken' tier when the Ixalan block rotates out provided no new cards replace Immortal Sun and Sorcerous Spyglass to disable planeswalker abilities (it's kind of ironic given that she was released during that block).

BALANCED 

Ajani Unyielding (Ajani 2): Ajani 2 actually received some pretty good synergistic cards in the last two sets such as Ajani Pridemate, Dawn of Hope, and Resplendent Angel. While he is still not strong enough where he can be considered the superior option to Huatli 2 (or even overpowered in general), he definitely feels stronger than before in large part because green/white control is a more viable strategy now thanks to all of the good control cards released in the last two sets.

Ajani Vengeant (Ajani 1): Ajani 1 actually gained enough red/white control cards in the last two sets for me to say that he has surpassed the other two red/white planeswalkers in terms of overall power. I will discuss Huatli 1 and Nahiri later, but for now the case can be made that Ajani 1 received the most help from Guilds of Ravnica because the set provided enough cards for creatureless decks to become viable again (all you really need to win as a control deck these days is Beacon Bolt).

Angrath, the Flame-Chained (Angrath): The red/black color combination was not one of the five that was featured in Guilds of Ravnica. For this reason, it is assumed Angrath will be much stronger in the next set. For the time being, he will remain in the 'Balanced' tier because although red/black can make good use of the new graveyard synergies in Guilds of Ravnica, his 1st ability is bad to use against graveyard-based strategies, ie. any deck based around three of the five new mechanics in Guilds of Ravnica(Jump-start, Undergrowth, and Surveil). 

Dovin Baan: Dovin Baan does work well with a few of the new cards that get more power with more cards drawn (such as the Niv-Mizzet creatures and Psychic Corrosion). His high spell maximum is also useful for Beacon Bolt decks that want to run a lot of spells. Neither of these things make him good enough to be considered as good as Teferi (I tend to run three or four spells at most in my Beacon Bolt decks and white has arguably the least amount of synergy with the archetype out of all five colors). His abilities are still very solid and it's possible he receives better synergies in the next set than Teferi. Personally I think the chance of that is very unlikely and I think as long as Teferi remains unchanged, Dovin Baan will remain in the 'Balanced' tier.

Garruk Wildspeaker (Garruk): Before the release of M19, mono-green was a terrible choice Standard regardless of planeswalker choice. That is no longer the case now that green has access to a 7 mana card that can destroy both creatures and supports (thanks Assassin's Trophy) as well as a whole host of other much-needed tools. This means that most of the mono-green planeswalkers are now relatively viable. In my opinion, Garruk is the mono-green planeswalker who benefitted the most from this because he relies more on non-creature cards than creature cards thanks to his abilities providing him all the creatures he needs. Unfortunately for Garruk though, the introduction of Nissa 4 means that he no longer the best mono-green token-based planeswalker (man this paragraph has a lot of hyphens in it).

Gideon of the Trials (Gideon 3): Out of all of the white planeswalkers in the game, it is my belief that Gideon 3 makes the best use of the new Mentor mechanic and is also pretty decent with Convoke. While this still doesn't make Gideon 3 comparable in power to Elspeth, it does make him a little bit better than before.

Huatli, Warrior Poet (Huatli 1): I find it ironic that the only dinosaurs that have been introduced in the last two sets are both green and thus cannot be used by the only planeswalker in the game who specializes in dinosaurs. Huatli 1 is still a solid planeswalker which is why she hasn't been moved to another tier. With that being said, the lack of new dinosaurs really hurts here because non-dinosaur creatures don't pair well with her last two abilities thus making them awkward to use. And as I briefly mentioned earlier, the control cards added to the red/white card pool tend to be best utilized by Ajani 1. This is because Huatli 1 and Nahiri require creatures to be effective whereas he doesn't. It is safe to say Huatli 1 will be demoted once dinosaurs rotate out of Standard because she will probably not be nearly as good as Nahiri at that point.

Jace, Cunning Castaway (Jace 3): There still haven't been any new illusion creatures added to Standard. Yet Jace 3 moves up a tier solely based on the fact that his 1st ability helps get cards in the graveyard for Beacon Bolt decks. Jace 3 is still one of the weaker blue planeswalkers in the game, but blue is so powerful as a color right now that any planeswalker with the color can automatically be considered viable if it can effectively utilize any of the strategies revolving around broken blue cards (Beacon Bolt, Storm the Vault, etc).

Karn, Scion of Urza (Karn): In my previous article, I opted not to rank Karn because it didn't feel correct to rank a planeswalker who's power level varies depending on the event. At the time of writing this there are no PvP events where Karn can use all five colors at once. Despite this limitation, Karn is still a very solid planeswalker since his abilities are good on their own and he does become very strong the longer a game goes. If future PvP events start to have five color nodes, Karn will be moved up a tier (maybe even two). 

Liliana, Defiant Necromancer (Liliana 1): The prevalence of graveyard strategies in Guilds of Ravnica is both a blessing and a curse for the 1st ability of Liliana 1. On the one hand, she can use it to discard her own cards to make good use of the new graveyard-based mechanics (I would recommend Surveil in particular since it's much stronger than Undergrowth and since she can discard Blood Operatives to be resurrected later). On the other hand, this could backfire if she causes an opponent's graveyard-based deck to discard cards. Non-graveyard decks also still work well with Liliana 1 since all of her abilities are good for winning a war of attrition. Right now she is probably the strongest and most versatile of the original five planeswalkers. Unfortunately, none of these five planeswalkers will likely ever be strong enough to go in the 'Overpowered' tier since their mana bonuses are so weak and their abilities are mediocre.

Nahiri, the Harbinger (Nahiri): Both M19 and Guilds of Ravnica did introduce a bunch good red/white cards for Nahiri to use. The Mentor mechanic works well with her 1st ability and her 2nd ability is great with Jump-start mechanic (and other graveyard-oriented strategies in general). As discussed before, however, the best new cards released for red/white in the last two sets were to be the control cards that work better with Ajani 1 Additionally, the cheaper creatures in the Standard format are so weak now that hyper-aggressive strategies with Nahiri and Samut aren't really viable anymore (that used to be one of her main edges). Nahiri definitely feels solid as a planeswalker and can still be used to great effect, but Ajani 1 feels like the better red/white planeswalker, Samut feels better for winning games quickly, and Huatli 2 does a better job snowballing a lead. 

Nissa, Steward of Elements (Nissa 3): Nissa 3 actually got better since my last article for pretty much the same reasons as Kiora. Although she didn't gain any new unique synergies and although cycling has fully rotated out of Standard, her 1st two abilities both work really well with the Jump-start cards (especially Beacon Bolt). I'd recommend using Nissa 3 in events where Kiora is already being used for another node since green/blue is just that broken of a color combination right now.

Ob Nixilis, Reignited (Ob Nixilis): Ob Nixilis has always had the ability to run all sorts of deckbuilding strategies because his 1st two abilities are solid standalone abilities that can work with any deck. There are enough good general black cards in Standard right now such that Ob Nixilis can make pretty much any mono-black strategy work. With that being said, most players use Ob Nixilis strictly for his 3rd ability because it can win games by itself. While this archetype did get an indirect buff because of the various new control cards released, I'm not ready to move Ob Nixilis up a tier because this strategy also received an indirect nerf due to how much support removal has been added to Standard (every color can use Meteor Golem after all). Assassin's trophy in particular can punish any Ob Nixilis deck that doesn't run creatures since it only costs 7 mana and will automatically destroy a support if no creatures are present. For this reason, I highly recommend adding at least a few creatures and/or an alternate win condition so as not to get shutdown easily by support removal (or Vraska).

Sarkhan the Mad (Sarkhan 1): Similar to Dominaria, M19 introduced some really powerful dragons to the Standard format (it also introduced Dragon's Hoard which is a great card to use in decks with a lot of dragons in it). Unfortunately, Angrath is still the better choice for every other archetype with the exception of graveyard-based strategies because Sarkhan 1 can draw cards faster to unload them and he can use his 2nd ability to get creatures into the graveyard faster. One thing that particularly hurts Sarkhan 1 is that his lack of any abilities that have board impact is made worse by the fact that his last two abilities require creatures to stick to the board to be used. Given that the best dragons always have high mana costs and given that Sarkhan 1 has a very poor mana bonus, he is probably never going to be strong enough to be 'Overpowered'. What's worse is that the release of Sarkhan 2 means that Sarkhan 1 is now going to always have competition as far as dragon-based planeswalkers go.

Sarkhan, Fireblood (Sarkhan 2): Both Sarkhan 1 and Sarkhan 2 are planeswalkers that were created with dragons in mind. Their abilities are different enough though where the deckbuilding choices don't feel the exact same (yes Sarkhan 2 has one less color but that's not the point I'm trying to make). While the former has a bigger card pool to work with and more flexible options for its creature choices, the latter has a better mana base and has three abilities that help get dragons onto the board  quickly. I personally feel that Sarkhan 2 is a little weaker because he has one less color to use and because he is forced to at least use creatures with power 6 or higher in order to make his 1st ability good. I also feel that Sarkhan 1 has a stronger 3rd ability since it helps close out games quickly whereas Sarkhan 2's 3rd ability can get shut down with a single piece of creature removal. Nevertheless, Sarkhan 2 is a very solid planeswalker so long as there are powerful big creatures (and dragons) in Standard.

Sorin, Grim Nemesis (Sorin): Honestly not much has really changed for Sorin. He did receive some good options that synergize with his lifegain theme but he still has the same issue as before where he doesn't do anything without creatures on the board. Even the good creatureless white/black win conditions require creatures to be on the board to be effective. Fortunately the next set will feature white/black as one of its main color combination so perhaps Sorin will receive the alternate win conditions he needs. If that happens, I will promote Sorin to a higher tier.

Tezzeret, the Seeker (Tezz 1): Tezz 1 is basically in the same spot as he was before the new sets. He got a little bit better because of the new supports he has access to, but he also got a little worse because Tezz 3 almost completely outclasses him.

Vraska, Golgari Queen (Vraska 2): Vraska 2 is the second of the two planeswalkers that have not been added to the vault yet. Whereas my opinion of Ral is pretty high, my opinion of Vraska 2 is lukewarm. Her +8 mana bonus is good and her 3rd ability is a great way to inevitably force a game to end since the support can't be removed. My first problem with her is that all of her abilities have pre-requisites of some sort to be effective. My second problem with her is that her last two abilities require some time to ramp up in order to be impactful. Vraska 2 can definitely be effecitve since she does have access to one of the stronger 2-color combinations in the game and her abilities are versatile. With that being said, Vraska 1 is in my opinion the superior green/black planeswalker.

WEAK

Ajani, Adversary of Tyrants (Ajani 3): The newest Ajani planeswalker is also the weakest of the three. His mana bonus is +9 which sounds pretty good except none of his colors get higher than +3 (which limits his ability to have explosive mana turns). Additionally, his 1st ability is a weaker version of Nahiri's 1st and his 2nd ability is not particularly powerful either (he doesn't even have access to many ways to discard creatures to cheat them out from the graveyard because he is mono-white). The 3rd ability can be utilized to create a solid cat-based deck, but even that can be done with other planeswalkers to similar effect. Ajani 3 is not terrible by any means but there's no reason to pick him over most of the other mono-white planeswalkers.

Chandra, Roaring Flame (Chandra 1): Chandra 1 works well with the aforementioned control cards in Standard, but even that doesn't make her strong enough to hide her various deficiencies.

Gideon, Ally of Zendikar (Gideon 2): I almost moved Gideon 2 up to 'Balanced' instead of 'weak because of how many new cards synergize well with his 1st two abilities. Unfortunately, these abilities are still subpar when compared to other white planeswalkers (and other token-based planeswalkers in general) and his 3rd ability is still terrible in Standard.

Jace, Telepath Unbound (Jace 1): Remember what I said earlier about blue planeswalkers being viable as long as they synergize with a broken archetype? That statement can be disregarded only for Jace 1. He synergizes well with Jump-start and Surveil (his 1st ability can even combo with Connive to steal creatures for cheap), but other blue planeswalkers tend to have more success with these mechanics because they are overall stronger. As for Beacon Bolt decks, his 2nd ability can fetch copies of the card from the graveyard but taking Beacon Bolts out of the graveyard ironically reduce their effectiveness (if only slightly but it can still matter in a game). In a nutshell, Jace 1 is the weakest blue planeswalker in standard at the moment.

Liliana, Untouched by Death (Liliana 4): The newest addition to the Liliana family has a stronger affinity for zombies than even previous two Lilianas. Although there are some decent standalone zombies in standard such as Fleshbag Marauder and Josu Vess, Lich Knight, the zombie synergies aren't very good at the moment. Liliana 4 has insanely strong mana bonuses but that's the only thing she's got going for her since her abilities don't work well without zombies and even with zombies the abilities are outclassed by other planeswalkers. I particularly find her 3rd ability to be odd since there are no Zombies in Standard that cost 7 mana (of the three zombies that cost less than 7, only Sticher's Supplier is a decent card). In my opinion, Liliana 4 outclasses Liliana 2 and as such I've opted to place Liliana 4 in the 'Weak' tier while demoting Liliana 2. 

Nissa, Sage Animist (Nissa 1): The indirect buff that Nissa 1 received via the strength of new green cards is unfortunately overshadowed by the fact that Nissa 4 outclasses her. 

Nissa, Vital Force (Nissa 2): Nissa 2 is still not a terrible planeswalker but I'd say she is the worst of the four Nissa planeswalkers and one of the worst mono-green planeswalkers in the game.

The Eldrazi Devastation (TED): TED is the other planeswalker that was released as part of the duel decks set. He is also the second colorless planeswalker to be released in the game(Karn being the first). If Karn didn't exist then maybe TED would be a viable planeswalker, but even then its debatable at best. TED has too many issues that aren't even color related. First, his mana bonus is poor and isn't adaptable like Karn's so using green/white is very suboptimal. Second, his abilities rely heavily on having synergies with cards only found in the Zendikar block (unlike Nissa 4). Third, even if he had access to the aforementioned cards, his abilities still aren't very good. His 1st ability can't kill too many creatures and the token it creates is more impactful for the mana it gives after dying than the stats. His 3rd ability requires that either his 2nd ability be used many times beforehand or that he uses cards to ingest a lot of gems and/or exile a lot of cards from hand. I didn't put TED in the 'Bad' tier because he can still work if the right deck is used with him. I don't recommend ever choosing him over Karn unless colorless strategies return to Standard in a future set.

Vivien Reid: The newest mono-green planeswalker is also one of the worst. Her mana bonuses are good but her abilities are all subpar. Her 1st ability is outclassed by Kiora's 2nd, her 2nd ability is difficult to use because it targets only very specific things, and her 3rd ability is lackluster when compared to other green planeswalkers (even Nissa 2 has a better 3rd ability). 

BAD

Arlinn Kord: There are still no wolves/werewolves in Standard. Use Arlinn Kord over Samut only if you want to play a creatureless deck, and even then I wouldn't advise using her.

Chandra, Torch of Defiance (Chandra 2): Energize is still not a Standard mechanic and Chandra 2 still has terrible abilities.

Gideon, Battle Forged (Gideon 1): Arcades, the Strategist and Tajic, Legion's Edge work nicely with the 1st ability, but that isn't enough to move Gideon 1 out of the 'Bad' tier.

Liliana, the Last Hope (Liliana 2): See: Liliana 4... I actually tried using Liliana 2 with zombies in Standard and it was terrible.



There's a chance that I switch to a more brief format in the future where I don't go over each planeswalker in depth. If you have any opinions about a potential format shift or about the article in general, please feel free to share below. Thanks for reading!

Mburn7

This is awesome (as usual).  I disagree about Vivien; that green mana bonus shouldn't be understated and her ultimate is a pretty solid Insta-Win if you have some creatures out since it is a permanent effect.  

Every new player should read through this, its a great resource for deciding which walkers to buy!

Laeuftbeidir

It's really interesting seeing a tier list that I disagree with on so many levels. There are few things that feel right for me.. But since this is a subjective list, I won't challenge it x and only add some additional point of view where I think you're far off.

Koth - he's good, but he's hit or miss ;there is a reason he's not that often used in competitive events in platinum. People think he's so strong mostly because the usual koth deck is very ai friendly.

Huatli 1 - she's just bad. Putting her anywhere but the lowest tier might lead to someone buying her!.

Ajani 3 - he has 8 support slots. Your reason why he could be interesting over all other mono whites.. Plus you can do a lot of funny stuff with his tokens.

Lili 4 - do you actually have one of the new walkers, or a finished collection? I somehow doubt it. Firstly, her ultimate does not do what you explain in detail that she does. Secondly, you completely ignore the use of her first ability with the current graveyard abuse mechanics. Not a top tier, sure, but your argumentation is far off.

Ted has higher initial mana gains and a spell slot more than karn, which allows for some (few) strategies working better for him than for karn.

Vivien - at this point I was sure you haven't played her. She's on par with nissa 4, and should be way higher ranked. 

Gideon 1 is not a walker i like, so is arlinn.. But compared to chandra 2, Jace 1 and Huatli 1,they should be one tier above anyway

mrhibachi

thanks for your feedback. quite a bunch to dissect here. where to begin:

koth: the only instance where koth doesn't work is when the board has no red gems or no ways to get enough loyalty to get his 1st ability. that is a very rare thing especially since there are enough ways to create red gems in standard via various supports and what not

huatli1: her kit is poor but her mana gains are strong and even when dinosaurs rotate out of standard, her abilities are useful unlike arlinn kord who actually has dead abilities

ajani 3: you're right about the 8 support slots being a nice niche but you shouldn't ever be running 8 even in a starfield deck and his kit isn't all that strong on its own. the token thing can be powerful if left alone for enough turns but why would i bother when i can just snowball faster (and better imo) with huatli 2 or nahiri

liliana 4: i actually own every walker (only a few aren't yet 60 but close) and i have almost every non-mp in standard. my explanation of her ultimate wasn't good ill admit but i was mainly trying to illustrate that you can't use it to "cheat out" creatures from the graveyard for free like you can with liliana 1 for instance. her 1st ability is nice for graveyard stuff but i'd say there are enough other black pw's are better for that (including the aforementioned liliana 1)

ted: initial mana gains are higher for a little while but its not as if ted is built for fast decks so 99 times out of 100 karn's mana bonuses will be superior overall. i will concede that you're right about his 2 extra spell slots being useful but that's about the only niche i see for him. since neither green nor white has many uniquely powerful cards in standard (except maybe vivien's invocation), id say its usually better to run bolas 1 who happens to have one more spell slot than ted

vivien: i played a few games with her and thought she was terrible. nissa 4 ramps and draws and creates her own board presence to snowball. vivien's 1st fetches lands (it's a shame that lands aren't all that good but that's prolly for the best) and only gives them half mana which is underwhelming; her 2nd doesn't give you control of what you destroy and if you're only using it to draw, nissa 4 does the same thing better. her 3rd is great for close games but it's not as much damage as other pw's with similar abilities (nissa 1, nissa 2, etc)

gideon 1: not sure if i understand who youre saying is better than who here. jace 1, and huatli 1 i maintain are better because they can do stuff without creatures (huatli 1 can make a dinosaur and do aoe dmg which isn't much but still). 

well i hope that covers it. stop me if i missed anything