Ajani vengeant is an over all good card and can be used as an effective substitute to lightning helix i advise waiting till you can defend him to play him.
Shoe2
★★☆☆☆ (2.1/5.0)(10 votes)
I still have a huge beef with plainwalers as a card type. Having played since 1994, I was the plainswalker, and plainswalkers specifically did NOT get to be on cards. They represented players and nothing more. Since my reviews are all for casual, I wont have much to say positively for Ajani, His 3rd ability makes everyone hate and fear you. People attack what they hate and fear. Look for this to make you a bullseye for everyone else at the multiplayer table. If he didnt have ability 3, this card would be alot more fun.
also its funny that the word Substitute hits the censor here :P
Eclir
★★☆☆☆ (2.1/5.0)(7 votes)
The problem with Ajani isn his effects, if not his loyati counters, if you play the second ability in the same turn it's pratically dead. On the other hand we have the firt abylity that certanly, is good al take out one dagerous thing for us, the second is very efective, and he can kill another Planeswalker, that is really cool, the third is broken, you do and win the game, of course he have the bad point, come into ply with 3 and need 7, that is really sad, but still be a good Planeswalker.
El probema con Ajani no son sus efectos, si no la dificultad para jugar con sus contadores de lealtad, si entra en juego y se usa si segunda abilidad esta practicamente muerto, pero claro con la 3 habilidad que es totalmente mortal se compensa un poco la balanza, lo malo en todo esto es que entra con 3 contadores y requiere 7, pero aun asi tiene lo suyo que lo hace un buen caminate.
Hello to everybody.
Saludos a todos.
Eclir.7
Dilleux_Lepaire
★★★☆☆ (3.1/5.0)(9 votes)
Ajani... Ajani... Play it, build it, kill creatures, then kill their lands. If you protect him long enough, there's someone who gets killed. One of my favorites.
PlaytpusPlatoon
★★★★☆ (4.6/5.0)(19 votes)
Beware the young, angry version of Ajani. At first glance, he may not look like much on paper, but is an absolute house in play.
The great thing about Ajani is that all 3 of his abilities are useful and powerful. (Most planeswalkers can't say the same.) His +1 is a perpetual Icy Manipulator, either locking down an opponent's biggest, baddest creature, or locking out a crucial colour splash from a land. His -2 is a flexible removal ability for a reasonable cost (compare with Chandra Nalaar's -X ability) that ups your life total at the same time. His ultimate speaks for itself - if it goes off, the game is very well in hand.
Versatility is Ajani's strongest suit. In the worst case scenario, you're losing the game, and plop down Ajani as an expensive Lightning Helix before he gets attacked and dies. Even in this worst case, it's an even one-for-one trade. In a neutral or winning scenario, you'll likely use Ajani's +1 ability several times in the early game. From there, you can either fire off multiple Lightning Helixes, wiping the opponent's board of threats, or go for the one-sided Armageddon. Both bring you out way, way ahead.
It's a testament to how strong Ajani is that while his abilities seem naturally suited for a control deck, he kicks major ass in aggro decks, too. Any red-white deck gets a major jolt from this dominating planeswalker. An accelerated turn 3 Ajani, by means of a Mind Stone or such, is nearly always an assured victory.
Smoked_Peasant
★★☆☆☆ (2.3/5.0)(3 votes)
Ajani's a solid play; icy manipulator without an activation cost, lighting helix , and a near-game ender for the last ability... he's to dangerous to be ignored, at that the worst he will divert damage from you.
Kind of weird why he taps a permanent... Iit feels like it would fit better on a B/U guy, but planeswalkers if anything should break the color-pie mold.
Marrion
★★☆☆☆ (2.0/5.0)(4 votes)
This card would be perfect if it entered with 5 or atleast 4 counters... like this, he is a 4-mana lightning helix and probably dead on 2nd turn. If you can manage to play ulti tho, you are ought to win the game, but I think that with 3 counters, it's virtually impossible.
BenKHS
★☆☆☆☆ (1.6/5.0)(5 votes)
This card, Ajani, has been the topic of much debate in our circle of friends. I think anyone would be hard pressed to argue that Ajani's new form is easily the Weakest Plainswalker ever. Coming in close second is of course Tezzeret; but Tez is good in an Esper deck (which makes sense...). Ajani is not worth it in a Naya deck. The goal in Naya is to pull out power 5 or greater creatures. Ajani doesn't help that goal whatsoever! If you're going to play some direct damage in a naya deck, and you want some life gain, go with the classic lightning helix. its cheaper, more versitile, and doesn't make you public enemy number one. However, playing any plainswalker will always make you the biggest threat.
What could make Ajani Better? maybe more loyalty counters.... but how about a better set of abilities instead? Ajani Goldmane was one of the best plainswalkers you could get for a white deck. life gain, creature production, it was great! now there is no life gain, and the only plain that focuses on attacking with the only creature they've got is in fact NAYA! Bant has an army of attacking creatures, Grixis doesn't need to worry about a tapped creature it'll unearth an army, Esper is an army of artifacts and only a bad esper deck hinges on one card, and on jund if you tap a creature a dragon can still devour it. I would encourage anyone to replace Ajani's new form with his old one at least, or better yet replace him with Elspeth, Knight-Errant. There you have creature production, biggification, and the best; making all your big power 5 or greater creatures indestructible.
You would need a very specific deck to make Ajani Vengeant worth while.
stygimoloch
★★☆☆☆ (2.8/5.0)(3 votes)
Okay so my initial assessment of Ajani was unfair, he's more than just a weaker Lightning Helix. I still don't think he's some amazing, unstoppable house - rather, that he'll ultimately go down in history as one of those good cards which became great for a brief time by being in the right place at the right time - and I doubt I'd ever want to make room for him in any of my current decks. But the first ability is a hell of a lot more subtle powerful than I'd ever really seen it used for a long time.
Dingo777
★★☆☆☆ (2.0/5.0)(1 vote)
overall good, but not a shards cards, he only fits into naya shard and even then he lacks the shards flavor
one more loyalty counter, and the -2 ability, have target creature deal damage equal to its power to target player or creature, no life gain though to make it fair
trancebam
★★★★☆ (4.0/5.0)(3 votes)
*cough* He's not an Icy Manipulator. Not by a long shot. He prevents one thing from untapping. He doesn't tap it, so you'll need something else in play to do that. So to all of you who keep calling him an icy manipulator, recognize. What his first ability does that manipulator doesn't is it prevents things like Master Transmuter's bouncing ability from being able to activate. So unless it's already tapped, or you have something else in play to tap it, the best his ability can do is be a slightly off-color Plumes of Peace. Although I must say, if you're playing him in a red white deck, or a red white blue deck, his ability will have a ton of synergy with most of your other spells, filling out the little piece that's missing, or reinforcing whatever the rest of your spells are already pushing for. And using him as a versatile Plumes of Peace for 4 or 5 turns in order to activate his ultimate ability is still quite good. And it's always nice to have a Lightning Helix.
I've seen some questions about his first ability. Here's a possible explanation: The "target permanenet doesn't untap during it's controller's next untap step" is an effect that sits right between white and blue. I'm sure the red threw you guys off, but Ajani Vengeant does have white in him, which makes the first ability perfectly viable. The second ability has an extremely red/white feel, and his final ability is very red, with a little bit of white tied into it, considering the fact that it's reserved enough to target only one player. Consequently, if you take into consideration the Planar Chaos version of the color pie, even the first ability has a very slight hint of red in it.
Elven_planeswalker
★★☆☆☆ (2.6/5.0)(4 votes)
although ajani vegent is pretty good once he gets going, and can help destroy planeswalkers, his last ability isnt likely to be used. by the time its your 5th turn having him out, your opponents can have some pretty tough creatures out, and ajani would be toast. his +1 ability of keeping permanents tapped helps at the begining of the game, but once a creature with vigilance is out... well, there goes that ability. If you get to use ajani's last ability, your opponent should be close to dead, but they have had time to get some pretty nasty creatures out. Ajani vegeant is good, but he requires a lot of protection for him to do much good. Personally, i think goldmane was better.
Westin
★☆☆☆☆ (1.6/5.0)(4 votes)
What's the earliest his 3rd ability can be used? Turn 4? By turn 4 my opponents usually have out all the mana they need to play the what with all these mana accellerators. I can see some good uses for his first ability, but the 2nd one seems just a bit too pricey, if they would have offset it by raising his loyalty counter it might have been worth it.
Still... A nice card to have in a collection if for no other reason that to find someone that really really wants him and is willing to trade you the world for him.
The_Somnambulist
★☆☆☆☆ (1.5/5.0)(1 vote)
I just like the thought of heavily crippling a multi colored deck by wiping out all of their lands in play, or anyone else's lands for that matter, it's just too good.
I have used his ultimate once before just recently, and when I did, my opponent conceded.
@ Westin: You must be kinda unlucky to be playing everyone with fast decks, either that or the card just doesn't fit your style of play.
Vorthosian
★★★★☆ (4.2/5.0)(10 votes)
Most of the posters here have entirely missed what this card is good at. Primarily, Ajani Vengeant is a control card, because it is two things at the same time: a threat and an answer. Luckily, these are the two things that control decks need.
I use Ajani in my Cascade Control deck, and he works wonders. His best possible use is played in the early game to keep an attacker tapped down, then hiding behind Wall of Denial and Kathari Remnant, along with killing most other threats. Once Ajani has built up a critical mass of loyalty counters, you can either set off his ultimate or start Helixing your opponent's creatures. If you're ahead on the board, just use the -7 because there's absolutely no way your opponent can come back from that without getting about 17 amazing topdecks in a row. If you're struggling on the board, it's best to start killing your opponent's guys.
I mean, the worst case scenario for this guy is an expensive Lightning Helix, and that certainly isn't terrible. The best case scenario is that he kills all your opponent's lands and prevents 12+ points of damage. I'll frequently play him, tap a guy, kill a guy, then he gets run over. That's not fantastic, but it's solid. It's a 1 for 1 trade along with more than 5 life points saved.
Basically, Ajani is a control player's fantasy. He is able to tap down a blocker every turn, then blow up all your opponent's lands. Or he'll just do a solid 1 for 1 trade. He's even pretty good in aggro decks.
LordZogar
★★★★☆ (4.0/5.0)(6 votes)
Ajani is an Isochron Scepter with a complementary Lightning Helix, and considering the fact his abilities don't cost any mana, it would have been overpowered to let him start with four or more loyalty counters for only . He is a house, and three loyalty counters is fair because it means you need to wait three turns for your second Lightning Helix, and six turns for the third and so on.
Ajani's other great ability is the Icy Manipulator / Amber Prison ability, which since it has a +1 cost, you can use it every turn. This means you can still be productive while you are waiting for your Lightning Helixes.
I don't like Ajani's third ability. It is powerful, and I think seven is plenty fair, but most games you really don't need it. It takes a minimum of five turns to go off, and you are just asking for an Oblivion Ring to hit Ajani during that time.
Brenius
★★★★☆ (4.3/5.0)(3 votes)
Despite the only weakness bieng 3 loyalty counters, Ajani Vengeant is a powerhouse, His first two abilities do wonders for keeping himself alive. Afterall Planeswalkers need to be in play in order for you to win with them. The Icy manipulator ability locks your opponents down, so you can have one less blocker than your opponents have potential attackers, and still make sure Ajani doesnt take anything. The Lightning Helix ability is equally as good seeing how you can kill off a creatue, and gain life too. Of course first turn hes in play it might be a tough decision to helix and drop him down to 1 loyalty, but thats why its fun to drop another one once he dies. I dont think i need to explain why a one sided armaggedon is good. plus there is alot of fun white and red removal in standard to support him including: o ring, lightning bolt, path to exile, hallowed burial, volcanic fallout, lash out, incinerate, and the list goes on and on. My biggest regret in the game of magic is trading 2 of my 4 Ajani Vengeants to fix my mana base in my R/G Aggro deck.
Iiory
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.7/5.0)(6 votes)
it`s just not so powerful .ok i know it`s a ... planeswalker but come on 2rw and only 3 counters....chandra costs 3rr and have moreeeee much more plus she is as deadly as... i don`t know ..welll she is much better than him and the ather planeswalkers are also more powerful...so he is the weakest
PaladinOfSunhome
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
This card is awesome. Shame his 3 damage and 3 life abity puts you down two counters. but on it's own that is enought. Play it right, you won't need his -7, but if you do and you do it right, you should win the game.
4.0
darkfury
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(5 votes)
color wise, the abilities of this version of ajani's abilities are white/black/red, not just red/white
land destruction is red his -2 ability is black permission/protection is white
adamphetamine
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
i use ajani v in a lot of my planeswalker 4 or 5cc decks
Donovan_Fabian
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
It seems interesting to me that every planeswalker has a 50/50 number of comments for pro and con. Everyone either loves, or hates the planeswalkers. Ajani vengeant is perfectly good, and everything it does is helpful. The card that really needs a reprint in my opinion is jace beleren. I love blue, but jace just gives repetitive card draw, which can be done in other ways (thought reflection, sensei's top, ocular halo). A one card draw per turn is a lack luster ability compared to doing damage and gaining life, tapping a permanent for an extra turn, or destroying all lands. Even jace's mill ability, while a nice touch, wont win you the game by any standard. Personally, I hope they reprint a new jace with a time walk like ability, or maybe gain control of all opponents creatures, (in the same way they reprinted chandra) in the next world wake set.
Alex123321
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
destroy all lands, speechless. wow talk bout game winner
Ajani_is_da_man
★☆☆☆☆ (1.0/5.0)(1 vote)
This is me IN A RAGE! (otherwise I'm Ajani Goldmaine)
hippoman23
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Why did they not go with the Jason Chan art?
Diachronos
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
His final ability is just brutal. There's not a lot you can do to bring lands out of the graveyard...
redknite
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
i think they should make a new verison of this card with a different planeswalker type so that the white planeswalker with the same name doesent kill it
Gezus82
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
probably the best or one of the best final abilities yet getting there is difficult. the tap doesn't seem that bad when people are throwing sleep's around it's not that bad. and his second is good, yet as lighting helix is 2 cmc and he can't even use it twice for his starting loyalty the 1 card advantage on something that might be instantly lightning bolted or lightning helixed himself it isn't a good trade. it's decent but only great in a deck devoted to getting his final off
HairlessThoctar
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Getting hit by that ultimate is excruciating.
Kurhan
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(3 votes)
@darkfury
how is his -2 black?
he's a red / white planeswalker. lightning bolt - Red - 3 damage to target creature or player healing salve - White - gain 3 life
2 cards, 2 mana, 2 counters.
Sounds right to me.
OMFGrhombus
★★☆☆☆ (2.2/5.0)(2 votes)
I felt like being silly today and bought a Japanese booster. I opened up Ajani and could not have been more pleased. The only thing better than a cat wielding an axe is a cat wielding an axe in Japanese.
Also, @darkfury, Lightning Helix would like to have a word with you.
faisjdas
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I want to punch the person who said Chandra is better than this.
Second best planeswalker, behind new Jace.
Youipt
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I use his -7 ability all the time. It's hillarious just to watch your opponent's face when you say all your lands are destroyed. priceless.
10/10, incredable.
MagicFellow
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Simply an amazing card..
Pwnsaw
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Ramping into a turn 3 Ajani Vengent is very brutal. Keeping your opponent down a land is more powerful than it feels when your playing him. His ultimate is really good, but I often use him as a rechargable lightning helix. This guy puts some serious pressure on your opponent, since all of his abilities are threatening.
Fun interaction with naya charm; he can even keep emrakul oppressed .
Shiduba
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
A very good planeswalker, first ability holds your opponents nastiest creatures still while you power yourself up to destroy all his lands and absorb his life. If this card isn't destroyed quickly it will win the game pretty easily.
Kamidii
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(1 vote)
this would totally screw up summoning emakrul with the -7
SorianSadaskan
★★☆☆☆ (2.8/5.0)(2 votes)
You know, once in a while you got to have a look at this card and realise the ferocity it brings. The fear of having him in play can literally lock down anyone in play. Baneslayer Angel loves him on hersid but absolutely hates him when he's not.
i wish i never traded this for 10 liches mirrors...
divine_exodus
★★★☆☆ (3.2/5.0)(4 votes)
It takes a bit to get that -7 ability, but man is it worth it!
NoobOfLore
★★★★☆ (4.0/5.0)(3 votes)
Everyone, please remember that his +1 ability doesn't actually tap things, it just keeps them from untapping later.
He's a great card, don't get me wrong, but don't overestimate the versatility of that first ability.
MasterOfEtherium
★☆☆☆☆ (1.7/5.0)(12 votes)
The BEAST. Wayne Reynolds Is The Bomb Too. Helix Tap Down Armageddon Just For U
Asmodi0000
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(5 votes)
He's a tricky card to play, because he's rather fragile and his final ability makes him a threat that needs to be answered. While his lightning Helix isn't bad, I usually end up using his +1 ability to keep an opponent's land tapped more often than anything else. Like Pwnsaw said, getting him out on turn 3 can be particularly hard on your opponent, especially if they're running multiple colors.
I've never actually managed to pull off his ultimate, though the closest time I came to doing it was when I had both Ajani and Elspeth, Knight-Errant out at the same time. With her creating blockers and Ajani keeping things tapped, I managed to build them both up until my opponent had to choose which one would have to eat a lightning bolt.
Between having all your lands destroyed and all of your opponent's permanents being indestructible, he decided to bolt Ajani.
Arkh36
★★★☆☆ (3.2/5.0)(2 votes)
Having a native R/W in your deck is usually uncommon, but if you can get him out without removal ruining your life, then he is an absolute beast from a tactical standpoint. I managed to launch his final ability in a multiplayer, as one of my opponents didn't really notice how high Ajani was at. To this day he refers to this card as "That dirty Ajani".
Ninjazilla
★★★★☆ (4.0/5.0)(5 votes)
oh, a green mana rampage deck? oh dear. Ajani Vengeant plus some white damage protection spells. What happened to your mass of lands? adorable
Axelle
★★★★☆ (4.4/5.0)(8 votes)
He is a Johnny, vengeant.
kiseki
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
He can be a lightning helix in a pinch, but mostly he quietly shuts down your opponent's best permanent and draws hate off of you. People playing against him for the first time underestimate this Ajani, while the experienced players know that he needs to die immediately.
Dominator42
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Did anyone notice he is the only 2-color planeswalker with enemy colors?
Dr.Pingas
★☆☆☆☆ (1.4/5.0)(4 votes)
as a casual person playing Multiplayer almost strictly, I really never saw him as useful. Keeping one thing tapped down never really slowed anyone down, and at best, he's two sorcery-speed lightning helix on a single card, so that's almost card advantage? And his ultimate is just extraneous. He lacks any form of synergy outside of "well, these abilites seem pretty I guess"
When I ran him, I never saw anything worth keeping tapped other than maybe a nonbasic land, his lightning helix never did enough damage/gained enough life at sorcery speed to be of much use, and his ultimate never went off, and even if it did, I play multiplayer, so it's not "win target game", it's "target player has to wait until next game to play again".
I still have mine from the pre-release and have never felt the urge to run it outside of a RWG cat deck, and only because him being a cat sorta seemed to fit, so why not.
phyrexiantrygon
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
@BenKHS
WAIT.... "the only plain that focuses on attacking with the only creature they've got is in fact NAYA! Bant has an army of attacking creatures..."
You have those two mixed up. I'm pretty sure THIS is Bant's theme...
@Donovan_Fabian
so DO you like the reprinted Jace in the Worldwake set?
Cybertronian
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
@ Kurhan, in response to darkfury: Lightning Bolt + Healing Salve? Maybe. What you really have here is Lightning Helix. One two-mana ({R}{W}) card for the price of 2 loyalty counters. That's my kind of Planeswalker.
Silver-Paladin
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I hate him for the simple reason that his ultimate isn't fun. It would secure an incredible advantage, yes, but so would physically and literally beating my opponent, but neither i want to do in a GAME.
rogelio
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I remember watching a game of 5 color control decks against each other. Take Charles Gindy v. Adam Yurchick in '09. Draw-go for a ridiculous amount of turns, building up lands, casting this guy and slowly but surely building him up, tapping lands and flashing Plumeveils for quick and reliable defense, continuous Cryptic Command on Broken Ambition on more Cryptic Commands, all to activate a single land destruction ability. And when that ability hit, lord have mercy, because that ability hit.
Nowadays, control that slow isn't much of a threat to all the ridiculously fast decks out there that kill before Ajani can even come out. I kinda miss it.
NickDay
★★★☆☆ (3.8/5.0)(2 votes)
I like this art better than the other version. Look at that bod! I'm no furry, but DAMM!
Comments (55)
also its funny that the word Substitute hits the censor here :P
El probema con Ajani no son sus efectos, si no la dificultad para jugar con sus contadores de lealtad, si entra en juego y se usa si segunda abilidad esta practicamente muerto, pero claro con la 3 habilidad que es totalmente mortal se compensa un poco la balanza, lo malo en todo esto es que entra con 3 contadores y requiere 7, pero aun asi tiene lo suyo que lo hace un buen caminate.
Hello to everybody.
Saludos a todos.
Eclir.7
The great thing about Ajani is that all 3 of his abilities are useful and powerful. (Most planeswalkers can't say the same.) His +1 is a perpetual Icy Manipulator, either locking down an opponent's biggest, baddest creature, or locking out a crucial colour splash from a land. His -2 is a flexible removal ability for a reasonable cost (compare with Chandra Nalaar's -X ability) that ups your life total at the same time. His ultimate speaks for itself - if it goes off, the game is very well in hand.
Versatility is Ajani's strongest suit. In the worst case scenario, you're losing the game, and plop down Ajani as an expensive Lightning Helix before he gets attacked and dies. Even in this worst case, it's an even one-for-one trade. In a neutral or winning scenario, you'll likely use Ajani's +1 ability several times in the early game. From there, you can either fire off multiple Lightning Helixes, wiping the opponent's board of threats, or go for the one-sided Armageddon. Both bring you out way, way ahead.
It's a testament to how strong Ajani is that while his abilities seem naturally suited for a control deck, he kicks major ass in aggro decks, too. Any red-white deck gets a major jolt from this dominating planeswalker. An accelerated turn 3 Ajani, by means of a Mind Stone or such, is nearly always an assured victory.
Kind of weird why he taps a permanent... Iit feels like it would fit better on a B/U guy, but planeswalkers if anything should break the color-pie mold.
What could make Ajani Better? maybe more loyalty counters.... but how about a better set of abilities instead? Ajani Goldmane was one of the best plainswalkers you could get for a white deck. life gain, creature production, it was great! now there is no life gain, and the only plain that focuses on attacking with the only creature they've got is in fact NAYA! Bant has an army of attacking creatures, Grixis doesn't need to worry about a tapped creature it'll unearth an army, Esper is an army of artifacts and only a bad esper deck hinges on one card, and on jund if you tap a creature a dragon can still devour it. I would encourage anyone to replace Ajani's new form with his old one at least, or better yet replace him with Elspeth, Knight-Errant. There you have creature production, biggification, and the best; making all your big power 5 or greater creatures indestructible.
You would need a very specific deck to make Ajani Vengeant worth while.
one more loyalty counter, and the -2 ability, have target creature deal damage equal to its power to target player or creature, no life gain though to make it fair
I've seen some questions about his first ability. Here's a possible explanation:
The "target permanenet doesn't untap during it's controller's next untap step" is an effect that sits right between white and blue. I'm sure the red threw you guys off, but Ajani Vengeant does have white in him, which makes the first ability perfectly viable. The second ability has an extremely red/white feel, and his final ability is very red, with a little bit of white tied into it, considering the fact that it's reserved enough to target only one player. Consequently, if you take into consideration the Planar Chaos version of the color pie, even the first ability has a very slight hint of red in it.
Still... A nice card to have in a collection if for no other reason that to find someone that really really wants him and is willing to trade you the world for him.
I have used his ultimate once before just recently, and when I did, my opponent conceded.
@ Westin: You must be kinda unlucky to be playing everyone with fast decks, either that or the card just doesn't fit your style of play.
I use Ajani in my Cascade Control deck, and he works wonders. His best possible use is played in the early game to keep an attacker tapped down, then hiding behind Wall of Denial and Kathari Remnant, along with killing most other threats. Once Ajani has built up a critical mass of loyalty counters, you can either set off his ultimate or start Helixing your opponent's creatures. If you're ahead on the board, just use the -7 because there's absolutely no way your opponent can come back from that without getting about 17 amazing topdecks in a row. If you're struggling on the board, it's best to start killing your opponent's guys.
I mean, the worst case scenario for this guy is an expensive Lightning Helix, and that certainly isn't terrible. The best case scenario is that he kills all your opponent's lands and prevents 12+ points of damage. I'll frequently play him, tap a guy, kill a guy, then he gets run over. That's not fantastic, but it's solid. It's a 1 for 1 trade along with more than 5 life points saved.
Basically, Ajani is a control player's fantasy. He is able to tap down a blocker every turn, then blow up all your opponent's lands. Or he'll just do a solid 1 for 1 trade. He's even pretty good in aggro decks.
Ajani's other great ability is the Icy Manipulator / Amber Prison ability, which since it has a +1 cost, you can use it every turn. This means you can still be productive while you are waiting for your Lightning Helixes.
I don't like Ajani's third ability. It is powerful, and I think seven is plenty fair, but most games you really don't need it. It takes a minimum of five turns to go off, and you are just asking for an Oblivion Ring to hit Ajani during that time.
4.0
land destruction is red
his -2 ability is black
permission/protection is white
the tap doesn't seem that bad when people are throwing sleep's around it's not that bad. and his second is good, yet as lighting helix is 2 cmc and he can't even use it twice for his starting loyalty the 1 card advantage on something that might be instantly lightning bolted or lightning helixed himself it isn't a good trade.
it's decent but only great in a deck devoted to getting his final off
how is his -2 black?
he's a red / white planeswalker.
lightning bolt - Red - 3 damage to target creature or player
healing salve - White - gain 3 life
2 cards, 2 mana, 2 counters.
Sounds right to me.
Also, @darkfury, Lightning Helix would like to have a word with you.
Second best planeswalker, behind new Jace.
10/10, incredable.
Fun interaction with naya charm; he can even keep emrakul oppressed .
He's a great card, don't get me wrong, but don't overestimate the versatility of that first ability.
I've never actually managed to pull off his ultimate, though the closest time I came to doing it was when I had both Ajani and Elspeth, Knight-Errant out at the same time. With her creating blockers and Ajani keeping things tapped, I managed to build them both up until my opponent had to choose which one would have to eat a lightning bolt.
Between having all your lands destroyed and all of your opponent's permanents being indestructible, he decided to bolt Ajani.
To this day he refers to this card as "That dirty Ajani".
When I ran him, I never saw anything worth keeping tapped other than maybe a nonbasic land, his lightning helix never did enough damage/gained enough life at sorcery speed to be of much use, and his ultimate never went off, and even if it did, I play multiplayer, so it's not "win target game", it's "target player has to wait until next game to play again".
I still have mine from the pre-release and have never felt the urge to run it outside of a RWG cat deck, and only because him being a cat sorta seemed to fit, so why not.
WAIT.... "the only plain that focuses on attacking with the only creature they've got is in fact NAYA! Bant has an army of attacking creatures..."
You have those two mixed up. I'm pretty sure THIS is Bant's theme...
@Donovan_Fabian
so DO you like the reprinted Jace in the Worldwake set?
Lightning Bolt + Healing Salve? Maybe.
What you really have here is Lightning Helix. One two-mana ({R}{W}) card for the price of 2 loyalty counters.
That's my kind of Planeswalker.
Nowadays, control that slow isn't much of a threat to all the ridiculously fast decks out there that kill before Ajani can even come out. I kinda miss it.