Magic: The Gathering Ikoria: Lair of Behemoths spoilers continue, this time in the form of two immensely powerful Planeswalkers: Lukka, Coppercoat Outcast and Vivien, Monsters’ Advocate (Vivien Reid). Let’s take a look at both Planeswalkers and see why Ikoria is the perfect plane for those two hunters.
Ikoria‘s newest Planeswalker Lukka, Coppercoat Outcast
Right out the gate, Lukka, Coppercoast Outcast feels powerful in the slower Ikoria meta. Lukka is a five-mana Planeswalker that enters the battlefield with five counters. Pretty solid start, perfect for a Standard format that is dependent on late-game bombs.
His first ability is pretty standard for a red Planeswalker. Just exile the top three cards of your deck and any creatures there can be cast from exile so long as you control a Lukka Planeswalker. This ability is nice as the creatures exiled are not tied to that specific Lukka. Being repeatable, this ability allows for a strong setup early-game and potentially powerful creatures later in the game.
Lukka’s second ability is where the power is, -2 to exile a creature you control to reveal cards from your library until you find something bigger. When that new creature goes into play, you could have a radically different board state. Depending on what cards are revealed as more of Ikoria: Lair of Behemoths releases, there could be some powerful chains for players to set up. Anyone familiar with decks based around Birthing Pod or Fauna Shaman know how powerful these types of toolbox decks can be.
There can be some potentially funny setup when combined with Scheming Symmetry. Cast Scheming Symmetry, put something huge on top of your library, and then activate Lukka’s ability to get something much, much bigger. Sure, your opponent gets something too, but the trade-off might just be worth it.
Lukka’s ultimate ability then is straightforward. Just add up the total power of all creatures on the board and send it straight to your opponent.
Returning to Magic is Vivien, Monsters’ Advocate
We got our first look at green Planeswalker Vivien Reid in the Ikoria trailer. Now we have the Vivien, Monsters’ Advocate Planeswalker card.
Vivien comes with both two passive abilities and two active abilities. Her passives are extremely powerful and synergistic, fitting her connection to nature. Players can look at the top card of their library whenever they want and can cast the top card of their library if it’s a creature.
Vivien’s first active ability is a +1 to make a 3/3 beast token. This ability is great; Vivien is another five-mana walker but only has three loyalty counters to start. This ability puts her to 4 loyalty counters and gives players a creature to protect themselves with.
Vivien’s second ability is -2 and isn’t exactly an ultimate. Similar to some of the War of the Spark Planeswalkers, Vivien is extremely good but not at the cost of an ultimate ability. The next time Vivien’s controller would cast a creature, they go get another one, just this time it’s a little weaker. In a set where there are so many powerful, high-cost creatures, getting another free, slightly weaker creature is great. Everything is a 2-for-1 with Vivien in play.
In Ikoria‘s creature-heavy meta, these two Planeswalkers will be extremely influential in creature-based decks. For more Magic: The Gathering Ikoria: Lair of Behemoths spoilers, news, and more, make sure to follow Daily Esports.
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