Which MTG Planeswalkers Could Show Up In 2021 (& Where)
Which Magic: The Gathering planeswalkers deserve more love in 2021? The year has started off strong for fans of oft-ignored characters, as Tibalt is finally getting a new card - and it might even be playable, too. With so many planeswalker characters now decorating the lore of Magic: The Gathering and additional ones getting added in nearly every set, there's a huge roster of powerful figures vying for a very limited number of spots in each set release. As a result, some heroes and villains end up prioritized over others.
While that's no one's fault in particular, it still means Magic: The Gathering fans inevitably end up feeling like some characters are overexposed while others end up underexplored. The most well-known example of this is the concept of "Jace Fatigue," an affliction that some fans of the tabletop property began to give a name to after they felt Jace Beleren had been appearing on too many cards. Jace's ubiquity in premier storylines and powerful cards had fans growing weary of his snarky demeanor, and while he hasn't exactly been absent in recent years, he's undergone some drastic character changes coupled with less pervasive planeswalker iterations.
2021 is set to be a huge year for Magic: The Gathering, with a return to Innistrad, the debut of Kaldheim and Strixhaven, and competitive sets like Modern Horizons 2 all looking like exciting contributions to the game's greater lore. With that in mind, there are some Magic: The Gathering planeswalkers who deserve some more love in 2021 and would be great fits in some of the upcoming sets. Here's a list of which powerful Magic: The Gathering characters would be best-suited to making returns to the spotlight this year, and where they might show up.
Garruk might seem like an odd choice given he was a primary character in Throne of Eldraine, but the former face of green planeswalkers has taken a pronounced step back since the curse laid upon him by Liliana Vess. Since then, he's been a primarily Golgari character that has appeared infrequently, looming in the shadows of the game's lore as a potentially huge threat to other planeswalkers. His situation has improved dramatically as of Throne of Eldraine, however, and his interactions with Oko have left him free of his curse and on a mission to retrieve the Kenrith twins. That's resulted in a Core Set 2021 showing for the freshly mono-green hero, but there's still room for more in his character development.
That means Garruk is primed for a return to Magic: The Gathering, and he's intimately tied to Innistrad, where his curse worsened and slowly began his spiral into madness. It's also a plane full of forbidden magic and dark secrets, and the curiosity of the Kenrith twins may eventually lead them there. Even beyond story reasons, however, Garruk's new situation means he could potentially reinvent himself as a planeswalker, which opens up more design space for him again. Even if he isn't a mono-colored planeswalker, he's an old-school representation of green and Nissa, who supplanted him, has been present in a lot of sets recently - even picking up a Golgari version in Zendikar Rising herself. Now seems like a great time to bring Garruk back into the fold more meaningfully and give Nissa a well-deserved break.
Ugin the Spirit Dragon is one of the most powerful characters in Magic: The Gathering, an elder dragon on par with his twin brother Nicol Bolas. Ugin was last seen defeating his brother during the events of War of the Spark, finally bringing down the villainous dragon and trapping him within Ugin's Meditation Realm. While in-lore, Ugin has essentially trapped himself there with Nicol Bolas and fused himself with the environment to ensure his brother rots away until his death from natural causes thousands of years later, there remains hope he'll return. Head designer for Magic: The Gathering Mark Rosewater stated it's unlikely fans have seen the last of Ugin, and the wise, thoughtful planeswalker could serve a mentor role even if he's not as powerful as he once was following his long battle with Bolas.
If Ugin is going to return this year, the most likely set seems to be Strixhaven, which was described as the "most elite University in the Multiverse" when it was introduced during the Zendikar Adventuring Party. A set dedicated to learning and magic seems tailor-made for Ugin to be involved, whether it is unravelling a sinister plot underneath the rivalry between Strixhaven's colleges or as a mentor figure to a promising planeswalker. Ugin only really had small amount of time to shine as a planeswalker relative to his impact on the game's story, so a new Ugin Magic: The Gathering planeswalker card would be a nice boon to the Spirit Dragon's many fans.
Davriel Cane is a special case in Magic: The Gathering lore, having been built up by famous fantasy author Brandon Sanderson. Despite not having a huge impact on the game's lore compared to characters like Garruk and Ugin, Davriel is a deep, complex character who benefited greatly from Sanderson's role in designing him. His planeswalker card from War of the Spark, Davriel, Rogue Shadowmage, also occupies a niche in mono-black discard that is popular among some players. Truthfully, the biggest draw to Davriel getting more time in the spotlight is probably the fact it could get more of Brandon Sanderson's writing in the game as well, but given the author's legion of fans, that kind of appeal is one Wizards of the Coast would be wise not to ignore.
Davriel could also be the beneficiary of Magic: The Gathering's new Innistrad set in 2021. The planeswalker calls Innistrad home already and is heavily involved with demons and planeswalkers, with previous story developments suggesting he may have already come into contact with the Gatewatch. Brandon Sanderson stated once in a Reddit thread discussing his work on Davriel that he could see the planeswalker as a blue-black or even Esper card, which could help Davriel establish himself as the face of either of those two categories - though Esper is more likely, given Ashiok's recent presence in blue-black planeswalker design. Considering all these factors, Davriel seems like a safe bet for a character Wizards will invest more time into eventually, and Innistrad seems like the ideal place to do so in 2021.