Dovin, Grand Arbiter 1WU
Legendary Planeswalker - Dovin (M)
+1: Until end of turn, whenever a creature you control deals combat damage to a player, put a loyalty counter on Dovin, Grand Arbiter.
-1: Create a 1/1 colorless Thopter artifact creature token with flying. You gain 1 life.
-7: Look at the top ten cards of your library. Put three of them into your hand and the rest on the bottom of your library in a random order.
3 loyalty
I really like this card. It starts at 4-5 loyalty, or makes a sword-carrier. Each Thopter it makes can help it add more loyalty with the +1, meaning it can then make more Thopters. Very easy to take over the game with, as Bitterblossom has taught us. This card is not Bitterblossom, but it will often play similarly. It's worth noting that the tokens are artifacts, for those who support the artifact.dec.
Cool design. I like how the first two abilities interact with each other, and super Dig Through Time is a cool ultimate. Overall this just seems like a worse Jace, Cunning Castaway, and not even the best 1UW card from this set.
I might be in the minority here, but this walker reminds me of jace beleren, who I still enjoy cubing with. Good -1, a plus one to restore loyalty to when low, and possibly in mistake just +1 for 4 and get an ult out of it? I think this is a sum of the parts card leaning on the -1, and I’ll be glad to test it out.
Heck -1 three times with the threat of +6ing is a good card.
He seems neat for white weenie splashing Blue. If you can go turn 1 one-drop, turn 2 two one-drops, turn 3 Dovin, that allows for a turn 4 ultimate. He also creates fliers that can carry equipment post-wrath. Works well with cards like Brimaz and Hero of Bladehold.
This is a 3-mana walker that produces ''able to attack'' tokens. It's a pretty rare effect, even on a [-] ability. The only barrier for cube I can see is the rough UW competition. Other than that, the card seems nuts. Also, I think must people underestimated the [+] ability. It can raise pretty fast and change the curse of the game, as the ultimate provide you the 3 best cards in your deck. In a fast UW tempo deck, I can see it ult as soon as turn 6 or 7 and not dying in the process. Pretty neat.
I don't hate this card but you have to be on the front foot for it to be good. If you can + right away and get in with even one creature that's a 5 loyalty pw for 3 mana but would another attacker have been a better play? If more than 1 creature was getting in, another beatstick would almost certainly have been better.
If you minus Dovin, he's at 2 loyalty and a bear takes him down because the thopter can't block profitably.
I think he can be powerful but I have no idea where he fits. Maybe when you're aggressive and want wrath protection?
I think this will play better than it looks, and it looks pretty decent. It always has the failsafe of just making 3 Thopters and gaining 3 life, which is a good use of 3 mana. But it can also randomly get a huge loyalty boost and threaten massive card draw out of nowhere.
I agree with simpygdog in this respect: Dovin, Grand Arbiter is to a card like Bitterblossom what Jace Beleren is to card draw.
I think this looks like the epitome of a card that needs testing before definitive judgement calls can be made. How good is a 3 mana pseudo-Bitterblossom in two colors? Probably at least ok. If you think this card is bad it's because you're looking at it with Teferi glasses on.
Cool design. I like how the first two abilities interact with each other, and super Dig Through Time is a cool ultimate. Overall this just seems like a worse Jace, Cunning Castaway, and not even the best 1UW card from this set.
I think this is way, way, WAYYY better than Jace, cunning castaway. That card was hot garbage, and I think -1 make a 1/1 flyer gain 1 is way better than -2 make a 2/2, AND his +1 feels more synergistic with evasive threats, AND the ult feels somewhat attainable and actually good, unlike Jace's.
That being said, I don't see what azorious decks that get made in my cube this fits in nor do I think it's a top 5 Azorious card, so it's a likely pass from me.
Although I am traditionally not great at evaluating PWs, so I could be wrong. Although I am 100% confident in my evaluation of the new Kaya as trash tier.
First of all, I just want to say how much I adore the design of this card. They managed to create a planeswalker that doesn’t act like a control card but conveys the atmosphere of control. All the abilities make sense and are a fantastic story fit, and all the while pulling off the trick of being a fair and fun 3 mana walker. Slam dunk.
As for cube, the best comp I can think of for this card would be something like Nissa, Voice of Zendikar. They both slowly take over the game when left to their own devices, pose a real threat when you’re ahead, and have attainable, powerful ultimates. Their bane is that they both support archetypes that aren’t the most popular in their color combinations and aren’t good at swinging a losing game back in your favor.
I think Nissa is a lot better than this card, even without considering the massive bonus of being mono-colored. Nissas +1 protects her and her -2 can win games on the spot. Nissa has been better than I thought she would be.
I did a quick look, and I have 7 3cmc PW in cube. I think Dovin would be 8th by a fair margin (and Nissa, who I think is better by a fair amount, is at best 6th if not 7th).
Think this card is excellent.. I'll probably test, but I'm hesitant.
Planeswalker saturation is a thing and there's absurd azorious competition.
Thopter tokens have lots of great cube interactions, from skull clamp to artifact synergies to anthems.
Dovin curves very nicely into opposition, and is a favorable color for that.
Not amazing without creatures, but still playable. Too slow for hyper white agro, so it is more of a midrange card with some cool synergies in other decks.
It should mostly be -1ing, as forgoing the opportunity of making a 1/1 thopter is a noteable opportunity cost. It will occasionally + as determined by combat math. IE When you are setting up for a two turn alpha strike, you may be able to gain enough loyalty to threaten an ultimate as a backup plan.. Or you just flashed back a lingering souls.. and then the + -> ultimate line is extremely powerful.
If it ends up being worse than I expect, it's probably because of the low loyalty.
This card has a very interesting design, as it provides a lot of tension in gameplay to attain the ultimate. Do I alpha for the +1 or leave a blocker? Will I make another thopter or attack with the current one to get more loyalty?. But unfortnately it does not work well with the control elements in WU that I currently have (mine is a fairly typical cube).
He is a good support for WU token/thopter/skies archtype so I want to test him in my artifact cube in replacement for Hannah, Ship's Navigator. They can go side by side if I ever decide to put in 2 cards per guild.
Wow, this is a fun PW and I would love to play it. But in a post Teferi world there is no chance this guy breaks into my uber tight 4 card Azorious section. Great option for large cubes that want to support interesting Azorious strategies though.
I agree with most thoughts here. The thing I like is the uniqueness of the walker and support or U/W aggro and for that reason I would like to hear how it turns out.
But there is no room for 2 walkers in my Azorious and no way it competes with Teferi. It the -1 was a 0 then we would really be talking.
If you have the room and want to push for a UW tempo archetype, I could see this replacing Reflector Mage at least for testing. I think it has potential as just a token factory, but it may be just outside the top 5 or so Azorius cards.
Venser, you're easily one of my faves, but I think it's time to hang up those sideburns.
This Dovin seems like a great control card. I think 3 mana is really key because his -1 will stall aggro, and you can follow up next turn with wrath and then another token. I think he looks like a really potent way to help stabilize the board. Not even to mention the various other things you can do with 1/1 artifact flyers. I can foresee his -7 actually getting used as well.
The more I think about this card the more I like it. I still have a hard time picturing exactly how it'll play out, but a wall of omens followed by Dovin and a thopter is a strong sequence. I really think with even a little protection Dovin can take over the game. Thopters have consistently over-performed for me and I can see it happening again. I guess it's more like I've been under-valuing them. I'll be cutting Geist of St. Traft to test.
I pulled one at the prerelease so I'm really wanting it to be good enough. It just doesn't look like it really does anything. All I see is a fancy Dig Through Time that's a lot harder to pull off. I hope to be proven wrong. But whatever, it's not as though we're lacking for options in the Azorius department.
Dovin, Grand Arbiter
1WU
Legendary Planeswalker - Dovin (M)
+1: Until end of turn, whenever a creature you control deals combat damage to a player, put a loyalty counter on Dovin, Grand Arbiter.
-1: Create a 1/1 colorless Thopter artifact creature token with flying. You gain 1 life.
-7: Look at the top ten cards of your library. Put three of them into your hand and the rest on the bottom of your library in a random order.
3 loyalty
I really like this card. It starts at 4-5 loyalty, or makes a sword-carrier. Each Thopter it makes can help it add more loyalty with the +1, meaning it can then make more Thopters. Very easy to take over the game with, as Bitterblossom has taught us. This card is not Bitterblossom, but it will often play similarly. It's worth noting that the tokens are artifacts, for those who support the artifact.dec.
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Heck -1 three times with the threat of +6ing is a good card.
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If you minus Dovin, he's at 2 loyalty and a bear takes him down because the thopter can't block profitably.
I think he can be powerful but I have no idea where he fits. Maybe when you're aggressive and want wrath protection?
I agree with simpygdog in this respect: Dovin, Grand Arbiter is to a card like Bitterblossom what Jace Beleren is to card draw.
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I think this is way, way, WAYYY better than Jace, cunning castaway. That card was hot garbage, and I think -1 make a 1/1 flyer gain 1 is way better than -2 make a 2/2, AND his +1 feels more synergistic with evasive threats, AND the ult feels somewhat attainable and actually good, unlike Jace's.
That being said, I don't see what azorious decks that get made in my cube this fits in nor do I think it's a top 5 Azorious card, so it's a likely pass from me.
Although I am traditionally not great at evaluating PWs, so I could be wrong. Although I am 100% confident in my evaluation of the new Kaya as trash tier.
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As for cube, the best comp I can think of for this card would be something like Nissa, Voice of Zendikar. They both slowly take over the game when left to their own devices, pose a real threat when you’re ahead, and have attainable, powerful ultimates. Their bane is that they both support archetypes that aren’t the most popular in their color combinations and aren’t good at swinging a losing game back in your favor.
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I did a quick look, and I have 7 3cmc PW in cube. I think Dovin would be 8th by a fair margin (and Nissa, who I think is better by a fair amount, is at best 6th if not 7th).
375 unpowered cube - https://cubecobra.com/cube/list/601ac624832cdf1039947588
Planeswalker saturation is a thing and there's absurd azorious competition.
Thopter tokens have lots of great cube interactions, from skull clamp to artifact synergies to anthems.
Dovin curves very nicely into opposition, and is a favorable color for that.
Not amazing without creatures, but still playable. Too slow for hyper white agro, so it is more of a midrange card with some cool synergies in other decks.
It should mostly be -1ing, as forgoing the opportunity of making a 1/1 thopter is a noteable opportunity cost. It will occasionally + as determined by combat math. IE When you are setting up for a two turn alpha strike, you may be able to gain enough loyalty to threaten an ultimate as a backup plan.. Or you just flashed back a lingering souls.. and then the + -> ultimate line is extremely powerful.
If it ends up being worse than I expect, it's probably because of the low loyalty.
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He is a good support for WU token/thopter/skies archtype so I want to test him in my artifact cube in replacement for Hannah, Ship's Navigator. They can go side by side if I ever decide to put in 2 cards per guild.
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This looks like a PW where you want to use the - ability a couple times, then the +. In the right deck, I could see this usage being pretty powerful.
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But there is no room for 2 walkers in my Azorious and no way it competes with Teferi. It the -1 was a 0 then we would really be talking.
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Venser, you're easily one of my faves, but I think it's time to hang up those sideburns.
This Dovin seems like a great control card. I think 3 mana is really key because his -1 will stall aggro, and you can follow up next turn with wrath and then another token. I think he looks like a really potent way to help stabilize the board. Not even to mention the various other things you can do with 1/1 artifact flyers. I can foresee his -7 actually getting used as well.
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@CubeEngineer: If you're talking about Azorius Charm, ya, that's an easy cut for Dovin.
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