The Unpopular MTG Report: A weekly journey into the forgotten corners of Magic the Gathering.
I’ve Never Seen Anybody Else Play This Planeswalker
This week, I’ll be releasing a video covering unpopular planeswalkers, but I wanted to share one of my favorites exclusively in this newsletter that I won’t cover on YouTube. That planeswalker is Kaya, Spirits’ Justice from Murders at Karlov Manor, who appears in just 5,330 decks.
There’s a lot to unpack here. The first and primary reason I play her is for the static ability at the top. Whenever one or more of your creatures on the battlefield or in your graveyard are exiled, you can turn one of your tokens into that creature for a turn, and it gains flying! Here’s what I love about this ability:
It can turn your clue, blood, treasure, or role tokens into massive threats. Granted, it only lasts for one turn, but transforming a Clue into a Cityscape Leveler, Zopandrel, Hunger Dominus, or Hullbreaker Horror until end of turn can completely change a game.
It’s not limited to once each turn. Many players hesitate to exile their creatures permanently, but if I don’t have mass reanimation in hand, I appreciate the flexibility this offers without a “once per turn” clause.
It applies to creatures on the battlefield or in your graveyard. I have won games by casting a huge creature without haste, using Kaya’s -2 ability, and turning an artifact token that has been on the field for several turns (and therefore doesn’t have summoning sickness) into a flying version of that creature to swing for the win.
It doesn’t specify only on your turn. If you play cards like Ghost Vacuum or Unlicensed Hearse, you can catch attackers off guard by exiling a creature from your graveyard at instant speed. This can create a surprise blocker or enable instant-speed interaction.
Outside of the static ability, I think all of Kaya’s + abilities are relevant:
+2: Surveil 2 fills your graveyard to fuel her static ability or lets you filter through your library while also benefiting from the incidental graveyard hate.
+1: Sometimes you just need a blocker, or you can create a token to use later as exile fodder.
-2: You can use this the turn Kaya comes down by exiling a 1/1 token to exile the biggest threat from each of your opponents. A 3-for-1 removal at the cost of a single token is a great deal if you ask me!
That’s my two cents on this unloved card. I’d love to hear what you think. Have you ever used Kaya, Spirits’ Justice before or seen her in action? Feel free to reply to this email, I will read your messages 🙂
This Week’s Reader Pet Card Highlight
This week’s Reader Pet Card / Unpopular Card Highlight comes from Saffire, who shared Marina Vendrell’s Grimoire ($0.23) as a favorite underrated card that not enough people play, and Rootpath Purifier ($5.68) as their pet card.
Nice callouts, Saffire, I love it! They mention that Marina Vendrell’s Grimoire offers an incredible lich effect in blue that can also synergize with cards like Monument to Endurance. As a budget player, Saffire also points out that Rootpath Purifier can turn the 150+ cards that fetch basics into absurd value engines. I might need to pick one up myself!
Get highlighted: Each week, I’ll feature one reader’s favorite underrated card and/or pet card. Want to share yours?It only takes a minute 👉 Submit your favorite card here
Collector Booster Giveaway
I’ve selected and emailed our two winners of the Commander Masters Collector Booster giveaway. Thank you so much to everyone who participated and for being here. Your support means more than you know.
Question of the Week
How many decks do you own that you have played in the last year?
I’m a serial brewer. I build and dismantle decks constantly, but in the last year, I think I’ve played 13 decks that I currently own. I have more, but I haven’t revisited them in a while, so it might be time to take them apart and brew something new. What about you?
As I said earlier, I’d love to hear your thoughts! Did you enjoy this first edition, and what kind of content would you like to see next?
Thanks for being here. I look forward to sharing more unpopular ideas next week!
Stay Unpopular,
Unpopular MTG
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