Pointed Discussion

@ekann123

Garruk Wildspeaker disagrees with you. He's got Lorwyn, two Core Sets, a Duel Deck and was in one of the Commander pre-cons. All the other Lorwyn-walkers except Ajani have had four, as well (Ajani only has three because it was Vengeant who got the duel deck)

Speaking about Elspeth herself, I personally love this card. Chump blockers or a combat bonus as a +1, an ult that's almost impossible for any other player to recover from, plus she's not overcosted and has some pretty high starting loyalty. I think I'm finally going to go out and try to get myself a foil of her.

Its kinda strange seeing her and Sarkhan as the only two walkers in the set, such and odd discrepancy in PW power...

I hope I can get one of her before they are all gotten :/

4/5 stars

This card is so awesome. The evasion on the combat bonus makes this card.

Take away the Core Sets and Garruk ties with Elspeth.

Garruk is one of the "Original Five". If we take away Lorwyn instead on the basis of non-Mythicness, then count both of his Core Sets, he scrapes out one extra print than Elspeth.

Elspeth is fantastically better than Garruk, and the conversation ends there.

For the Lowryn 5, either take away their Core Set Appearances, or take away their Lorwyn Appearance. This subtracts either 1 or 2 from the count, depending on how tough you want to be on them.

None of the Lorwyn 5 were impressive in a -multitude- of formats, consistently, except Jace Beleren, I believe. They've each had their moments, but I think it's something like:

Chandra Sucks.
Liliana is Fantastic (in EDH only)
Ajani and Garruk are both Good.
Jace is Dumb.

Elspeth, Knight-Errant, of the Great Walkers, is reprinted more except for Jace Beleren. And Little Jace needs to re-apply for Greatness. He might still have it, but, you know, those Rules Changes...

Karn Liberated may yet get a Duel Deck and/or a Core Reprint. Or a Commander print. Karn has okay odds of getting printed as much as Elspeth.

But Karn Liberated, Jace, the Mind Sculptor, and Elspeth, Knight-Errant are only competing against each other really, not against the others. So far Elspeth is in the lead among them, and probably guaranteed to always be ahead of Darth Jace.

Ode to the 3rd best walker printed!! (Behind Liliana of the Veil and that annoying blue guy...) No one misses you, JTMS (AKA Jace the Modern Sculptor).

Either the second- or third-best planeswalker ever, depending on your opinion of Liliana of the Veil.

An ANNOYING planeswalker, no less. She can literally go in nearly any white deck and help it. Crazy.

She IS very powerful. Less limit break of ultra-doom like her other form, less hyper-controlling overpoweredness like Wallet Sculptor... she just has three good abilities that will always be useful. The second is evil in Exalted, for example.

"It is so unbelievably powerful... there are entire decks that can't beat this card ... Wizards will never make another one like this, they pushed too hard... " --Evan Erwin speaking truth, Complete Modern Masters Set Review - White

Probably one of the first planeswalkers to show us why the planeswalker type is so good. This card is paid for only once and then it proceeds to get out of hand. Every turn churning out another token or creating a new good attack while you're still playing other cards.

And if they don't deal with Elspeth, she'll deal with them. Her ultimate is really hard to deal with.

Elspeth is also a special case amongst planeswalkers: She's one of the very few who are almost always useful. If you're behind you'll generate chumps, if you're ahead or at parity she'll easily put your opponent under massive pressure. Even on curve this card is still pretty crazy.

I think this is the plansewalker with the most printings of the same version. Also, I think it should either have new art, or maybe the Duel Decks art. I like that one better. (But maybe thats just because its the only one I have) :)

Edit:
@JSSarfin

Oops, wasn't thinking when I wrote that.

Her soldiers aren't human.

Why aren't they human?

Why aren't they human?

What isn't WotC telling us about her?

@DarthParallax

lol Darth Jace, I like that, the Mind Sculptor is obnoxious and has the power to ruin your day for sure, power that should never have existed.

At last! I've found one! Bless Modern Masters for this!

So much better than liliana of the veil. I'm curious what the argument even is to say liliana is better. Elspeth gains loyalty while protecting herself, liliana loses it. Elspeth has a game winning ultimate, Liliana's is just meh. Liliana's +1 is weaker than both of Elspeth's because the opponent makes the decision on what to discard and it may even be beneficial to him. All liliana has over Elspeth is casting cost.

@Laguz: LOTV has reusable removal and will always 2 for 1 your opponent. She comes in, kills something and forces your opponent to attack her because if they don't, her +1 can really lock down the game and she threatens to kill more creatures. Liliana is great when you're behind on board position while Elspeth is better when you're ahead. Liliana's method of protecting herself is way stronger than Elspeth's even if she loses loyalty in the process. Plus costing 1 less is a big advantage, considering 4 drops are generally much better than 3 drops. Elspeth won't always 2 for 1 your opponent and Liliana always will.

Liliana dominates modern and legacy and Elspeth barely sees any play (and is much less expensive) so the argument is very much on Liliana's side.

I once made a very casual white weenie deck. One of my favourite moments was when i was on the play and this happened:
plains, memnite, memnite, elite vanguard
plains, porcelain legionnaire
plains, ajani caller of the pride
plains, elspeth knight errant

"LOTV has reusable removal and will always 2 for 1 your opponent. She comes in, kills something and forces your opponent to attack her because if they don't, her +1 can really lock down the game and she threatens to kill more creatures."

Interesting way to look at it... but that scenario makes her into an expensive Edict to cast with the added bonus that she wins you a turn if they feel forced to kill her.

It really comes down to the deck the planeswalkers are in, the format they're being played in, and meta...
LotV is good in specific decks. Especially so in decks where she was once a free Edict on a cascade trigger.
Elspeth is just generally good and could fit in just about any white deck.

I just realized how beautifully Geist of Saint Traft curves into her 2nd +1. I can't believe I didn't see that earlier. This could be the piece I need to swap out Restoration Angel to make UWx more midrange and less control. A boosted Geist puts 9 damage in the air on Turn 3 with an early Deathrite Shaman.