What killed the Planeswalker? OK, I'll admit that's a bit of a dramatic statement to open with, but there is no denying that this once iconic face of Magic: the Gathering is being phased out as the focus of the game, its lore and its marketing, in favor of Legendary creatures like Kellan. With the Omenpaths facilitating the one thing that made the Planeswalkers special, there is no more need to focus on a cast of characters whose one strength is the traversal of the multiverse.
This change is a significant one, marked by the announcement last year that there will be only one Planeswalker per set going forward. A shift in focus whose ramifications signal a new era in Magic's philosophy regarding this game. With each era carrying its own tonal, story, marketing and design focus. But perhaps we are getting to ahead of ourselves, let’s start at the beginning, back to the year 2007, to understand why the fall of the Planeswalker was inevitable.
The world is buzzing with the launch of the iPhone, audiences are laughing through Superbad in theatres, and Magic: The Gathering unveils its new set, Lorwyn, which introduced the game to its first Planeswalker cards. Up until Lorwyn, Planeswalkers had been a vital part of Magic's story, known but never truly represented in the game. But with this set, players finally got their hands on them for the first time, not realizing then that this card type, and these five characters, would become the cornerstone of Magic’s storytelling and marketing for the next fifteen years.
Now, let’s fast forward to 2023 at MagicCon Barcelona. On stage, Head Designer Mark Rosewater and Principal Magic Designer Gavin Verhey stood ready to discuss the future of Magic: The Gathering. In what seemed like a casual aside, they dropped a bombshell: beginning with the set Wilds of Eldraine, the number of Planeswalkers per set would be significantly reduced—to just one. A shift that would mark a new era in Magic: the Gathering.
And it's this move away from Planeswalkers as the central focus that marks the dawn of the post-planeswalker era, a shift in how the game will approach storytelling, marketing and design going forward. And this isn’t the first time we’ve seen Magic undergo such a tonal shift, either. We can look back to when Planeswalkers were first introduced as cards, moving us out of the pre-Planeswalker era of 1994 – 2006, into the intra period of 2007 – 2023. The arrival of this card type and most notably the five characters that represented one of each of Magics colors, the Lorwyn five as they were called then, would bring with them a new approach to selling this game. Becoming the core cast of characters within the multiverse, in essence becoming the brand itself.
Players were cautiously excited to see what this would bring with it. I have read articles from that time both lamenting and cheering on their introduction, but the general feeling seemed to be that of optimism. What they didn't know at the time was how big of a role this card type would play for years to come, a role I believe that served the game well, at least for a time. As with all things, time has a way of inevitably dulling even the most dazzling lights.
You see with the sheer number of Planeswalkers introduced and released over a decade and half, it has led to an over saturation of the card type, or Planeswalker fatigue as its been coined, where their presence in a set has become less of a special event and more of an expectation. Thus the excitement that once accompanied the unveiling of a new Planeswalker would begin to wane, and the novelty wore off as their appearances became routine.
Considering the events of the story in the previous arch being a reset button that resulted in most Planeswalkers losing their spark, the announcement at Magiccon Barcelona wasn't a huge surprise, it just made sense, but more importantly I believe that this announcement, that of the phasing out of Planeswalkers, was an inevitable, and furthermore it had to happen to help make way for the future of the game. But why was it inevitable, well the truth is there were many factors that played into the death of the Planeswalker as Magic's core focus, and as it turns out the case against Planeswalkers was to strong and too numerous to overcome.
At it's core Magic is a game, and part of making a compelling game is interesting and engaging design, the problem being in this case is that the Planeswalker card type is limited in its own design space. What I mean by this is that Planeswalkers have to fulfill certain requirements to be considered playable, before we can even consider if it's fun or interesting. Requirement one is that for a Planeswalker to even be playable it needs to have a minus ability that removes a creature or creates a blocker, so it doesn't just die the next turn. It has to have a builder which is underwhelming by its nature, then it has an ultimate, an ability that is amazing but is rarely hit.
Because of these requirements in their design, it becomes hard to craft something unique that isn't either just broken or boring. Two walls a designer never wants to be stuck between. Even when asked about the design space of Planewalkers in 2013 on his blogatg, Maro remarked on how they are the most limited of all card types as far as design space. Sure we have seen them stretch the limited formula by adding passives to this card type, but where can they really go from here. Whereas a regular magic card has endless possibilities, there is nothing it has to be or anything it has to do just to function as a playable card, it's merely a blank canvas in which to add any ideas.
So then imagine you have to make 3-4 of these Planeswalkers per set, and sometimes many many more, each of which has to meet the playablility requirements while somehow feeling unique enough to be interesting, all while playing on the expectations of the character itself and the previous iterations of it. Its like working with one hand bound, it's no wonder that the designers might want to step away from this over saturated expectation. With all of that in mind, then perhaps this initiative to lowering the number of Planeswalker per set could feasibly give R&D enough breathing room to craft something special and unexpected, at least Gavin seems to say as much. I tend to see that there is some truth that designing upwards of four Planeswalkers per set, with the limitations that come with them, just isn't sustainable from a design standpoint, and was bound to drain the well dry.
But design is only one part of it, the Magic team is capable of creating unique cards and crafting interesting mechanics, and if given the chance I think they could give us a new spin on our expectations of the card type. The other issue comes down to the reality selling cards, right. It's no secret that commander sells, its been all over your game store and YouTube feed for the past couple years. And what's important to Commander... legendary creatures. So why make the focal point of your game a card type that cannot even sit in the command zone.
Thus logically it makes sense to focus on legendary creatures, not just as powerful game pieces, but as major parts of Magic's storytelling, by doing so Wizards of the Coast then deepens the emotional investment players have in the game. Imagine your favorite commander not only piloting your deck but also playing a pivotal role in Magic's overarching story. In this way Legendary creatures, as the faces of the game, have the potential to become even greater selling points all their own. Sure we see their faces in commander pre-cons, but what about main set boosters, trailers and promotional art. Really its just replacing the role that Planeswalkers held but doing so for a card type that is currently driving engagement in the game.
This may sound like a decision handed down from some higher up suits, and maybe that's true, but ask yourself how much longer could we have gone with the old way of marketing the game, it just makes sense. But this isn't a article on the case for Legendary creatures, I just wanted to point this out as just another nail in the coffin for Planeswalkers. The truth is that the bloated corpse of the Planeswalker has washed ashore because of the incremental damage to its importance through their over reliance in this game.
Think about it this way, when a Planeswalker is placed into a set, their presence has to be justified within the confines of the world it takes place in. The result is a world whose story must bend itself to make the Planeswalker either a focus, or at a minimum have their presence rationalized. This can be averted by igniting the spark of a character who is from that Plane, but then this issue trades off for another one, an unsustainable task. If you introduce one new Planeswalker every other set, its only a matter of time before you have so many you begin to ask yourself, if they are just handing out sparks in the bargain bin of Walmart. And like the movies that share the fate of that steel cage, they are nothing more than throw away content.
How about some stats to really drive it home: at the time of writing this article, there are currently 292 Planeswalker cards, and of those there are over 80 different Planeswalker characters. At that point how do you even keep track of these supposedly important characters to the greater multiverse, like be honest, how many of you remember Basri Ket, Jared Carthalion, or Calix? There is simply so many Planeswalker characters that it begins to mean nothing, but the inverse is true as well when it comes to bloat.
How many times do we need to rehash Chandra who has 19 different cards for one single character. How many times can you re-write a similar set of abilities until it just becomes redundant. Seeing one of these vital characters just becomes an exercise in asking what Jace variant are we getting in this set, what slightly different graveyard ability are they going to give Liliana this time. Making it a tough buy in for the creative team to even include the character one more time.
It's then time to face the truth, with so many Planeswalkers in total, and so many per set for over a decade and a half, the impact of seeing a Planeswalker in a set is non existent, and this move to one per set ends up turning this idea on its head. Because it then becomes a case of “less is more”. By limiting their appearances, each Planeswalker regains that air of mystery and importance that once made them so captivating. When you know there’s only one Planeswalker in a set, their presence feels intentional, like they’ve been chosen for a reason, rather than just being part of the expected roster.
This scarcity not only piques curiosity but also invites deeper engagement. Players start speculating about the story implications, about what’s happening on that particular plane that warrants the involvement of this specific Planeswalker. And as time passes from the bloat of the Planeswalker era, these characters will begin to feel like the demigods they once were in the beginning of Magic, before their cards were even introduced. When the only Planeswalker in the set is Ashiok you wonder what the character is up to, because it must be significant, and yet it doesn't shoehorn the story around itself.
The same goes for game-play, with only one card per set, that one cards can be tightly designed to leave an impact, meaning that players are then more excited to try and fit that card into their deck. You see by de-sparking many of the Planeswalkers and limiting their appearance, Magic reclaims what made them special in the first place. It’s a return to the idea that these characters are rare, powerful, and central to the stories they inhabit. This shift has the potential to breath new life into the game, making each Planeswalker’s appearance feel like an event—something to look forward to, speculate about, and ultimately, treasure.
So let's just embrace this new era and see where it takes us. I don't think this shift is something to mourn its just that Magic is changing once again for a new generation, like it has done before when Planeswalkers were first brought into this game those years ago.
Thanks for reading I hope this at least sparked a conversation, and if you like this sort of deeper dive into Magic then consider becoming a site member that way you can be notified when the next article goes live. And with that friends, I will catch you in the multiverse, bye!
Comments