MTG Secrets of Strixhaven features two new planeswalker cards, and if you prefer the evil slice of the color pie, you're in luck, because both of them are black. We've got an alternate universe version of Ral Zerek doing his best Liliana of the Veil impression, and a new Golgari (or should that be Witherbloom?) planeswalker with a very familiar ultimate ability.
Let's start off with the new guy. Our first brand new MTG planeswalker character in four years, Dellian Fel is described as "mysterious, macabre, debonair"… and he's also Sanguine Bond on a 'walker.
Whoops, I skipped ahead a bit there, but that is definitely the most exciting thing about Professor Dellian Fel. If you can bear to use his uptick ability to just gain three life and then defend your planeswalker for a turn, you can get an emblem which forces an opponent to lose life whenever you gain it.
That's pretty exciting and dangerous stuff, as it gives Golgari lifegain decks a win condition that cannot be taken away. Since lifegain is the black/green theme in Draft, this is an absolute slamdunk Limited bomb. In Standard, I think it'll have a tougher time, but I can imagine this being a fun card to try and use in EDH.
As for Professor Fel's other abilities, they're all pretty ordinary. One lets you draw cards, another destroys a creature, and as mentioned before, the +2 ability is life gain. All useful stuff, though, and a pretty good card in general.
Then over to Ral Zarek, Guest Lecturer, a sinister black version of Ral, and the first alternate universe character on a card - something we're expecting to see more of later on in the MTG release schedule.
Superficially, Ral reminds me of Liliana of the Veil. He has the exact same casting cost, same starting loyalty, and also has an ability that can make everyone at the table discard a card - though notably it's a -1 rather than a +1 loyalty ability.
That's about where the similarities end though. Ral's +1 seems pretty mediocre, merely letting you surveil. And rather than removal, he has a reanimate effect on his -2, bringing back a weaker creature.
But then we have this ultimate ability, which I think might be the meanest thing I've ever seen printed on a planeswalker. You flip five coins, and one target opponent skips the number of turns that come up heads. That is just disgusting! To lay my cards on the table: if you use this against me in Commander, I'm going straight home.
There are tons more spoilers dropping for Secrets of Strixhaven over the coming days, and we'll be reporting on as many of them as we possibly can - to stay up to date and share your own takes, join our free Wargamer Discord community. I promise it's educational - but, unlike in Strixhaven, the lectures are strictly optional.