Summary
Magic Origins released in 2015 and introduced a new type of card: double-faced planeswalkers, nicknamed ‘flip-walkers’ by players. This set took some ofMagic: The Gathering’s favorite and most well-known planeswalker characters, and useddouble-faced card technologyto show their origin stories, and how they came to be planeswalkers.
Magic revisited this concept with Nicol Bolas, the Ravager in Core Set 2019, and again with a new cast of characters in Modern Horizons 3. Legendary creatures on one side and powerful planeswalkers on the other, the flip-walkers are Magic storytelling at its best, uniting flavor and function in easy-to-understand card form.
This list will only cover cards that transform, not double-faced cards in general. That excludes planeswalkers like Tibalt, Cosmic Impostor and Lukka, Wayward Bonder.
15Chandra, Fire Of Kaladesh//Chandra, Roaring Flame
One Of Chandra’s Weakest Flames
Chandra’s often considered the worst of the five flip-walkers from Magic Origins. In fact, the transform condition works to Chandra’s detriment. More often than not you’d prefer to keep Chandra on its front face to continue pinging players, but the third activation in a turn will force-flip Chandra into the planeswalker side.
Chandra, Roaring Flame is in an unfortunate position of having an extremely threatening ultimate ability but very lackluster alternate abilities. It does a very poor job of protecting itself, but your opponents are still incentivized to attack it down to avoid the minus-seven from ever happening.
14Arlinn Kord//Arlinn, Embraced By The Moon
Poor First Showing For Arlinn
Arlinn Kord isn’t considered a ‘flip-walker’ in the same vein as the rest, but it is indeed a planeswalker that transforms. This one’s a planeswalker on both sides, and its loyalty abilities control when it transforms, allowing it to flip back and forth each turn.
The issue with Arlinn Kord is that it’s just not that exciting of a card. It can pick off small creatures, create Wolf tokens, and pump your board, but it does all these things in small doses. It’s best toleave this one for Werewolf decks, the home it was originally intended for.
When a planewalker transforms into a different planeswalker, it’s still considered the same card, so it can’t use another loyalty ability that turn, even on its other side.
13Garruk Relentless//Garruk, The Veil-Cursed
A Dated Trendsetter
Garruk Relentless was the original transforming planeswalker, showcasing the then-new double-faced technology Magic came up with for Innistrad. On top of being a meta-defining card at the time, it also captured the character’s transformation perfectly, illustrating the effects of the Chain Veil on Garruk.
This version of Garrukdoesn’t see any relevant play in modern Magic. The game has become more hostile towards planeswalkers in general, and four mana to simply put a 2/2 into play isn’t cutting it in any semi-competitive setting. That means you rarely get to use the abilities on the Veil-Cursed side.
12Kytheon, Hero Of Akros//Gideon, Battle-Forged
An Outclassed Hero
There was a time when a 2/1 for one mana with an upside was unheard of, which made Kytheon a mainstay of white aggro decksanywhere white aggro was viable. It even had a long run in the Magic Online Vintage Cube, though it’s since fallen by the wayside.
Unfortunately, 2/1s for one with upside are commonplace in recent sets, and offer much more utility than the jumbled mess of abilities found on Gideon, Battle-Forged. The planeswalker half of this card rarely matters, and it’s not exactly trivial to get it flipped over in the first place.
11Sorin Of House Markov//Sorin, Ravenous Neonate
Lacks Innovation, But Still Quite Good
Sorin’s a lifegain commander in an endless sea of lifegain commanders, which means it’s filling less of an important niche than other flip-walkers. The stats are good though, and a 1/4 lifelinker can stall out a game early on.
Transforming Sorin’s trivial, made all the easier by lifelink and extort, the latter of which sticks around on Ravenous Neonate. The reward for flipping Sorin? More lifegain. That’s enough to slot into existing black-white lifegain decks, but Sorin doesn’t offer much to the archetype that it didn’t already have.
10Arlinn, The Pack’s Hope//Arlinn, The Moon’s Fury
Arlinn’s Redemption, Marred By An Awful Mechanic
Midnight Hunt’s Arlinn is a step up for the planeswalker, but only by so much. Its minus-three protects Alrinn with two bodies, and once you’re stabilized you can rely on the plus-one to keep your opponents on their toes. The back half is fine, but not much of a reward for getting Arlinn flipped.
Where Arlinn goes wrong is the use ofthe daybound/nightbound mechanic, one of the most frustrating mechanics in all of Magic. It requires you to track information across every turn of the game, and doesn’t gel with the existing Werewolf creaturesfrom prior Innistrad sets.
9Liliana, Heretical Healer//Liliana, Defiant Necromancer
Encapsulating One Of Magic’s Best Planeswalkers
Liliana hasone of the best story arcsof the original five Magic Origins flip-walkers, starting off as a healing cleric who dabbles in dark magic and eventually becomes a necromantic, demon-bound planeswalker. The card conveys all of this, from lifelink on its front side, to the 2/2 token representing Liliana’s zombified brother.
The card itself is solid from a gameplay perspective. Solid on the front, decent value on the back, but ultimately right down the middle in terms of overall power. Liliana has a place in lifegain decks, discard decks, or the occasional reanimator deck.
8Invasion Of New Phyrexia//Teferi Akosa Of Zhalfir
A Battle Worth Fighting
A planeswalker strapped tothe back half of a battleis a very strange proposition, especially as the only design of this kind. It takes you on a unique journey from the role of defeating a battle to defending a planeswalker.
Teferi’s mostlya Knight payoff, bolstered by the fact that Invasion of New Phyrexia is just a very powerful card. Teferi’s basically the bonus you can aim for if a field full of 2/2 Knights isn’t good enough for you, but you can also just ignore Teferi altogether and beat down with your Knight army.
7Jace, Vryn’s Prodigy//Jace, Telepath Unbound
A Former Standard Juggernaut
Two-mana Jace earned itself the title of being one of the most expensive cards in Standard during its duration in the format, peaking above $100 for a while. The mighty have certainly fallen, but little Jace had its well-deserved time in the spotlight.
Jace is a looter that transforms intoa control-based planeswalker. It’s usually good for an extra spell out of your graveyard and can minimize the impact of an attacker each turn, but the card’s age has caught up to it and it’s no longer a must-play in any format where it’s legal.
6Tamiyo, Inquisitive Student//Tamiyo, Seasoned Scholar
A Non-Combatant Planeswalker
Tamiyo’s a bit of a pacifist, hence the attack trigger on a zero-power creature. It makes sense, since it’s basically Tamiyo’s way of avoiding combat for the sake of studying, flavorfully illustrated by creating Clues. A Clue a turn is a fine reward for a one-drop that blocks well if necessary.
All that learning nets you Tamiyo, Seasoned Scholar, a planeswalker that nerfs attackers and builds up to amass card drawultimate. You’ll note the minus-three can’t be used immediately, so you’ll have to ensure Tamiyo stays alive long enough to use her other abilities.
