Magic The Gathering has a lot of formats. Each of them offers a different pool of cards to play with, along with their own series of rules. Some are pretty similar to each other, and some are completely different, and Oathbreaker is one of the former. It’s a variant of Commander, using Planeswalkers instead of legendary creatures, a total of 20 life rather than 40, a sixty-card singleton deck, color identity restrictions based on the Planeswalker and every Planeswalker isn’t alone in the Command Zone, but is instead accompanied by a ‘signature spell.’
While Oathbreaker Planeswalkers follow exactly the same rules as Commander, the signature spells are slightly different. They can only be cast while the Oathbreaker is on the field, and they always return to the command zone once cast, ignoring anything like Rebound or Buyback.
All of that being said, there’s a lot of Planeswalkers in Magic The Gathering. So, what are the best Oathbreaker Planeswalkers?
Narset, Parter of Veils
Narset, Parter of Veils is a really powerful card in any format. As an inherent ability, the card can stop opponents from drawing more than one card each turn, completely shutting down any strategies that rely entirely on draw power, but allowing the controller to still draw away to their heart's desire. While the actual loyalty ability isn’t the best thing in the four, the ability to grab any noncreature nonland card and put it into your hand means that it’s really easy to grab counter spells to scare your opponent or artifacts with which you can ramp.
Ral, Storm Conduit
Ral, Storm Conduit is an incredible Izzet Oathbreaker Planeswalker, and easily one of the best in this specific color combination. As an inherent ability, Ral can deal one damage to any opponent or Planeswalker whenever its controller casts or copies an instant or sorcery spell. The +2 for this card allows a player to scry 1, which can set up better draws for the ultimate ability it has. For -2, you can make it so that the next instant or sorcery spell you cast this turn is copied, which can be used on anything from massive damage-dealing red spells to blue spells that give you an extra turn. Imagine copying a Time Stretch and seeing the despair on your opponent’s face.
Professor Onyx
Liliana takes on a new role as a professor at Strixhaven, all while still reeling from the events of the War of the Spark.
Professor Onyx (actually Liliana, but let’s not get into discussions of Magic The Gathering lore here, or we’ll be here forever) is a pretty incredible card for spell-slinging purposes. The inherent ability of the card causes your opponents to take two damage whenever you cast or copy an instant spell while giving its controller two life, which combined with cards such as Chain Of Smog can instantly win the game. In terms of actual loyalty abilities, however, Onyx is also really good. As a +1, she allows you to grab a card from the top three cards of your library and put it in your hand. As a -3, she causes every opponent to sacrifice whatever creature they control with the highest power, while her ultimate ability she causes opponents to discard seven cards or take three damage for each time they choose not to discard.
Nissa, Who Shakes The World
Nissa, Who Shakes The World is an incredible card for any mono-green strategy. If the inherent ability it has to double your green mana created by forests isn’t enough, it can also turn your lands into 3/3 creatures with vigilance and haste so that you can literally ramp your opponents to death. The ultimate ability, however, can REALLY help with any big spells that you want to cast. For eight loyalty, Nissa grabs any number of forest cards you want from your deck, puts them onto the battlefield tapped and also gives you an emblem that makes all of your lands indestructible. One of the best ways to play this card is to play it alongside a Doubling Season so that you can immediately use her ultimate ability to ramp.
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