Welcome all to the Daily Dose of Core Set 2021! Today I’m going to be talking about the return of two planeswalker favourites. To be honest, though, they really haven’t been gone for that long. That’s right, it is the return of Teferi and Liliana. Every Core Set they usually print 5 mono-coloured planeswalkers, one for each colour. This continues in Core Set 2021, with Teferi replacing last year’s Mu Yanling and Liliana coming back to a Core Set where she belongs, replacing last year’s Sorin. The two of them in Core Set 2021 have a similar set of planeswalker abilities. One that involves card manipulation, one removal ability, and one ultimate that if used will most likely win you the game. Teferi though has a little something extra up his sleeve.
Before we get to Teferi, it’s time to look at the return of Liliana. Here is Liliana, Waker of the Dead.
Liliana, Waker of the Dead
This has 4 starting loyalty for four mana which is solid and has an average mana cost involving 2 black mana making it slightly harder to splash into other decks. Let’s have a look at their planeswalker abilities:
[+1]: Each player discards a card. Each opponent who can't loses 3 life. – Black has enough ways to make your opponent discard cards already, that this could cause them to lose 3 life every turn. It will also force your opponent to perhaps not cast spells or play out lands so they can have something to discard each turn. You can even build a deck around some cards that will work well in your own graveyard as well.
[-3]: Target creature gets -X/-X until end of turn, where X is the number of cards in your graveyard. – Speaking of filling your graveyard, this is an ability you want to make sure that you have enough cards in your graveyard so you can kill any creature. There are times where this will be a dead ability unless you are able to play into its ability.
[-7]: You get an emblem with "At the beginning of combat on your turn, put target creature card from a graveyard onto the battlefield under your control. It gains haste." – If this can survive for 4 turns, this ultimate ability is surely going to win you the game. Being able to pick out the best creature each turn and having it attack will put constant pressure on your opponent.
Liliana, Waker of the Dead is a very synergistic planeswalker where each ability helps another one with the end goal of getting some sweet creatures into your graveyard in hopes of bringing them back later. When in doubt though, you can just force your opponent out of cards.
It’s finally time to look at the new Teferi. Here is Teferi, Master of Time.
Teferi, Master of Time
The three-starting loyalty of Teferi, Master of Time is a little bit tricky as you will find out soon, it’s loyalty can rise quickly. Let’s have a look at their planeswalker abilities:
You may activate loyalty abilities of Teferi, Master of Time on any player's turn any time you could cast an instant. – That’s right, this means you can use planeswalker abilities during both your turn and your opponent’s turn. Not only that, but you can use it during combat if you need to or any other instant appropriate time.
[+1]: Draw a card, then discard a card. – This is a solid ability and great that you can draw first before discarding. This should help you with card selection throughout the game. It becomes much better once you can use this ability during your opponent’s turn as well.
[-3]: Target creature you don't control phases out. (Treat it and anything attached to it as though they don't exist until its controller's next turn.) – It’s interesting that phasing is back on this card in what looks like a one-off ability only for this card. Being able to use it at instant speed means you can save this ability for combat to make sure you don’t get destroyed by an attack you weren’t suspecting or by a pump spell that would otherwise ruin combat.
[-10]: Take two extra turns after this one. – Like most ultimate abilities, even though it’s a -10. You can use it on the 4th turn after casting Teferi, Master of Time if you are able to keep it alive for long enough. Taking two extra turns would most certainly put you in a position to win the game. Since you can use this as an instant ability, you can even set it up where you +1 during your turn, and -10 during their turn to start taking a few extra turns!
Being able to use planeswalker abilities as instants seems a little busted, but none of the first two planeswalker abilities seem overly strong. I’m sure ready to be wrong on this one though.
There you have it, two amazing new planeswalker cards ready to make an impact. Will Teferi, Master of Time’s static ability changes the way we have to deal with planeswalkers? Thanks again for reading another edition of the Daily Dose. Join me again tomorrow as I talk about more new cards from the upcoming July release!
