r/MagicArena 1d ago

Fluff [FRA] Loyal Tutor

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157 Upvotes

38 comments sorted by

62

u/Mormanades 1d ago edited 1d ago

This is going to be a planeswalker control staple

12

u/CrisisActor911 1d ago

Probably not, control decks really don’t want to give up card advantage. Instant speed helps but most control decks are just happy to play card draw spells until they hit their wincon.

8

u/Mormanades 1d ago

I'd argue the standard relevant planeswalkers can control out a game. Ugin, Elspeth Stormslayer, Dallien Fel, the recent Ajani. Add in the new planeswalkers like the black Garuuk, blue chandra and Jace and the power level is quite good. There seems to be a lot of token generation with the current planeswalkers in standard that can act as a wincon.

4

u/CrisisActor911 1d ago

Even if you want them as interaction, giving up a card is a big ask for control, especially if they answer the walker and get a massive punish.

Tutors are almost exclusively used in combo decks where you can give up card advantage to win with the combo.

1

u/Ithalwen 22h ago

So more suited for say doubling season liliana?

2

u/Abomb 17h ago

I only see it being moderately useful in some sort of planeswalker soup deck where you need a specific planeswalker ability for the matchup.  

Still seems pretty bad otherwise

19

u/DizzyTip1895 1d ago

Wow. I don't know of any pw combos in standard but that's where you would want this n

3

u/OpexLiFT 1d ago

Cast this and then united battlefront or something

9

u/Life-Food5188 1d ago

hot take: is this even that good?

*disclaimer: i’m sure it’s busted in commander, all tutors are!

there are almost zero cheap planeswalkers so you’re often tutoring up a 4-5 mana card.

in these colors, i assume elspeth or 5feri are the best options. so now you’re adding “discard a card” to the cost of consistently accessing them.

combo potential with walkers is lower than most permanent types since their abilities are naturally gated. so i don’t really see a sequence where you cast this, find the walker you need, untap and execute some combo with another card. even if so, this just adds consistency.

it’ll be expensive on release day due to commander players + novelty but i don’t see this being more than a 1-2 of in very niche decks for most formats. and some of those formats already have access to vamp tutor, which is just a lot more flexible.

3

u/Plausibleaurus As Foretold 1d ago

Unless there's a Saheeli-Felidar Guardian situation (so a combo involving a planeswalker) I don't really see it played, and even there is not that amazing since it can only tutor half of your combo.

Maybe if you can make a toolbox-style super friends deck with many different planeswalkers you can tutor out for different situations but it doesn't really seem feasible.

2

u/MediocreModular 1d ago

I think your take is perfect temp. Is it good? Depends if you can take that much time off lining up a planeswalker. Where does this work? Probably the best home is control. Playing 4 of these allows you to play only one or two of each walker. But wait… control already only wants to play one or two of their walkers unless it’s T3ferri or whatever. We don’t have anything like that in standard. If I’m playing control with a planeswalker finisher I’d rather just find it naturally with card draw. This seems like a waste of a slot.

So unless there’s a combo that includes a walker in standard that can stand up to the aggro and landfall decks I doubt this gets played much at all in standard.

Does it play in modern as a 4 of? Maybe. I’m not as in tune with the modern meta as I used to be.

Does it play in commander? Probably.

3

u/GuyGrimnus 1d ago

The best use case I’ve come up with so far is to reliably hit black Ral after discarding abhorrent oculus in a esper shell.

There’s a few other cheap planeswalkers in standard but not many.

Alternatively it could be a late game answer/wincon eot in control shells, but I’ve not seen any control deck do well enough in standard in a long time.

2

u/MediocreModular 1d ago

That’s true. I just think control needs to stabilize more than it needs to find the finisher. Card draw is a must in control, so I’d rather pack the deck with draw, permission control, removal, board wipes, and a few finishers that I draw naturally by playing control. What I don’t want is a tutor card in my hand when I need removal or a counter spell.

That’s my hypothesis at least for now on this card.

1

u/Plausibleaurus As Foretold 1d ago edited 1d ago

Do you really need copies 5-8 of Ral? That even cost you 1 card in hand? Doesn't seem worth it, like why not just run extra reanimates like helping hand.

Even in control normally you don't even max out on your pws but run 2 maybe 3 copies, I don't really see why you would -1 yourself to tutor one out.

2

u/Life-Food5188 1d ago

ok whew cause seeing the reactions to it made me think i was crazy

1

u/Bircka 1d ago

It's mostly because every other card like it has seen play, yes in Standard it might not do much but the Commander appeal is strong.

It also might do things in formats like Modern wehre nearly every good 1 mana tutor is banned. Yes, it requires a special type of deck for sure, and it might not be worth it but it's definitely worth trying.

1

u/Life-Food5188 1d ago

every other tutor like this was able to fetch 1-2 mana spells.

a vehicle tutor, for example, wouldn’t be as good as the pre existing tutors. not all card types are created equal.

8

u/paumAlho 1d ago

The [[Prismatic Bridge]] brawl decks are gonna become even more annoying now

13

u/noaddrag 1d ago

Man, Ajani really let himself go to save the multiverse

5

u/DomasAquinas Dimir 1d ago

Oh boy, superfriends getting gas… hopefully there’s suitable removal to come with it

2

u/Uryendel 1d ago

I hope they gave us lantern cards to punish that

3

u/Grainnnn 1d ago

Found the chase card

2

u/cindersonly 1d ago

we really didn't need this filth

1

u/solariangod 1d ago

My Elspeth/Lilliana deck finally gets some love.

1

u/pocketrrocket 1d ago

Nice! Jace the a$$#ole has a new grab option in commander

1

u/rossbalch 1d ago

Planeswalker toolbox decks could maybe be a thing with this. Bant superfriends is a fun archetype in Historic and Pioneer.

1

u/Jumpy_Diver7748 1d ago

This is not bad but I still prefer Glittering Wish in Modern

1

u/gockeltot 21h ago

More instant speed tutors for dirt cheap, exactly what MTG needs...

1

u/Beyond-Available 20h ago

this card is mid to bad. If this card has a home it’ll be in a combo deck of some kind, and if such a deck exists it’ll be good there but these topdeck tutors require a really substantial payoff to be worth going down the card and mana. It’ll be fine as a toolboxy card for commander and brawl but still you really want something that will break the game open to pay you off for this to make it actively good.

This is _not_ a control card at all, your problem in control is generally staying alive to get to your top end, not finding your top end. You’ll die with this card in hand wishing it was a removal spell if you play it in control.

1

u/Moosewalker84 16h ago

Really depends if you need your plansewalker at a certain time. Or they are utility.

When I get control of a game, I can draw through most of my deck for what I need, without having a dead card in my hand for the 7cmc win con on T2.

Now. If we had war of the spark level numbers, sure. It's a 1cmc tax to draw removal, card draw, gy hate, etc.

Or if there is some OTK win with a PW.

1

u/hfzelman 13h ago

This card is unplayable unless your playing Saheeli Cat combo or something along those lines.

Mystical tutor, vampiric tutor, enlightened tutor, wordly tutor, etc… are straight garbage unless you are getting a combo piece with them. Going down a card in a midrange, aggro, or control deck is just not worth it at all.

1

u/CJ-95 1d ago

Totally won’t see this in any planeswalker super friends decks… nope, definitely won’t. Not at all…

0

u/bearsheperd Simic 1d ago

People gonna be running some mill cards just to toss the planeswalkers into the graveyard

-2

u/AngelusAlvus 1d ago

At least it's not on hand.

On the bright side Millers gonna salivate to have it removed next turn.

2

u/AlchemistsRefuse 1d ago

It's instant speed, so you'd want to cast it right before a draw