<a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="The Theorist, Jace Beleren|FRA|363" href="#" target="_blank">The Theorist, Jace Beleren</a> | Art by <a href="https://scryfall.com/search?q=a%3A%E2%80%9CMiles+Johnston%E2%80%9D&amp;unique=art">Miles Johnston</a>
It's no secret that I'm a planeswalker fan. I have a deck built around them, and I started my writing career in the Magic space with my thoughts on them. However, we haven't gotten a large enough number of them in quite a few sets for a variety of reasons, so I've been missing out on my chance to muse about them. That all changed thanks to Reality Fracture, the set I have been most excited for all year, even before I knew I would be getting new planeswalkers to discuss.
The main set features three groups of mirrored planeswalker pairs. Five of them are brand-new, never-before-seen cards. Along with that, we also received two new Jace planeswalkers in the main set and a third leading the single commander deck. But it wouldn't be a set or story focused on everyone's favorite mind sculptor if there wasn't a surprise in store. Enough burying of the lede; let's get down to it—time to talk about the best planeswalkers in Reality Fracture.
<h2>Main Set</h2>
<a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Ajani Resolute" href="#" target="_blank">Ajani Resolute</a>
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The first card on the list is the brand-new card, <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Ajani Resolute" href="#" target="_blank">Ajani Resolute</a>. Ajani is all about gaining life, and if you play a creature deck with a life-gain theme to it, then this is the card for you. Every time you gain life, you get to put a loyalty counter on this card, so getting from the 2 starting loyalty all the way up to 10 for the ultimate should happen very quickly. If you don't have a way to gain life, don't worry; Ajani does it for you. The -4 might not be open to you right away. Still, once you can activate it, if Ajani sticks around, you get an <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Ajani&#039;s Pridemate" href="#" target="_blank">Ajani&#039;s Pridemate</a> token that should trigger cards like <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Soul Warden" href="#" target="_blank">Soul Warden</a> and <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Ajani&#039;s Welcome" href="#" target="_blank">Ajani&#039;s Welcome</a> to start adding loyalty back.
At a mana cost of , this card in the right deck is incredibly strong. Unfortunately, it's easy to kill with its low starting loyalty.
<a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Ajani Unrelenting" href="#" target="_blank">Ajani Unrelenting</a>
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In the Echoverse, the opposite-day-style world, we find the mirrored versions of these planeswalkers; Ajani didn't do so well. Ajani Unrelenting is a whopping to cast for a five-loyalty planeswalker. The passive of getting a 2/2 colorless Wizard Soldier every time you activate a loyalty ability can get you an army inside of a Superfriends deck. If this is your only planeswalker, getting a free body isn't the worst thing you could do.
The best part of this card is the plus one granting creatures +1/0 and haste. While a six-mana haste enabler might not be the best, it can still win the game. The rest of this card reads like most of the Chandra planeswalkers made since the dawn of time. We get a -2 that wheels our hand and a -3 to deal four to all creatures other than our tokens. Ajani isn't bad; he's just situational. Compared to the mono-white version above, where, if you wanted, it could be played outside of an all-in lifegain deck, this Ajani thrives inside of a Superfriends deck wanting to win the game with tokens. Outside of that, it acts closer to a dead draw most games.
<a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Chandra, Chill of Compliance" href="#" target="_blank">Chandra, Chill of Compliance</a>
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Only a single Chandra will make the cut on this list. Not due to power level, but for some odd reason, the opposite of the brand-new <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Chandra, Chill of Compliance" href="#" target="_blank">Chandra, Chill of Compliance</a> is a reprint of <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Chandra, Torch of Defiance" href="#" target="_blank">Chandra, Torch of Defiance</a>. The chill brings with it a there-starting-loyalty planeswalker with four abilities. Two different plus-one abilities that give card filtering and mana ramp for noncreature spells—a variable minus ability to stun creatures, and an ultimate that can assist in winning the game.
While this new Chandra is good, I do struggle a bit with where exactly I'd want to play her. She would work in a <a href="https://edhrec.com/tags/planeswalkers">Superfriends</a> deck, but there're better options. The -6 ultimate is good, but decks it would thrive in, such as <a href="https://edhrec.com/tags/storm">Storm</a> or <a href="https://edhrec.com/tags/spellslinger">Spellslinger</a>, have this ability on many other cards without ticking up a planeswalker for multiple turns. The low starting loyalty and the stun ability being single-target don't allow Chandra to protect herself well either.
<a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Garruk, Curse Breaker" href="#" target="_blank">Garruk, Curse Breaker</a>
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Welcoming back a fan favorite character now cured of <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="The Chain Veil" href="#" target="_blank">The Chain Veil</a> curse, the appropriately named <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Garruk, Curse Breaker" href="#" target="_blank">Garruk, Curse Breaker</a>. This is a classic Garruk planeswalker in terms of abilities, coming in at for a five-loyalty planeswalker. We get to untap lands, make Beast tokens, and the ultimate (that can be activated immediately) works as an overrun. Outside of the norm, this Garruk comes with a passive that draws us cards when creatures with power four or greater enter.
The most interesting thing about this card is the wording on the negative four ultimate ability. Base level: your creatures get +2/+2 and trample when attacking your opponents. This effect works for any creature attacking any of your opponents till your next turn. It's nice to see a classic-looking Garruk with a new twist.
<a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Garruk, Veiled Butcher" href="#" target="_blank">Garruk, Veiled Butcher</a>
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Onto the Echoverse version of Garruk who never escaped the curse: <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Garruk, Veiled Butcher" href="#" target="_blank">Garruk, Veiled Butcher</a>. Depending on where you stand, you are either glad this card is worse than its mono-green counterpart or ecstatic about it. For , we get a five-loyalty planeswalker with some interesting abilities. The passive acts as graveyard hate for the opponents' creatures, and all of Garruk's abilities are removal of some kind.
However, a plus two that gives a creature -4/-1 isn't going to kill many things. It can deter attacks, but other planeswalkers do that better. The minus two isn't terrible as an edict effect that can allow you to cash in a creature and turn it into a 4/4. The negative three can, in a perfect world, net you three cards, but people are going to be ditching lands more often than not unless they truly can't part with them.
<a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="The Theorist, Jace Beleren" href="#" target="_blank">The Theorist, Jace Beleren</a>
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Now that all these other lesser planeswalkers are out of the way, the star of the show can arrive. Welcome in <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="The Theorist, Jace Beleren" href="#" target="_blank">The Theorist, Jace Beleren</a>. This card is incredible. First up, they're for a three-loyalty planeswalker with three abilities. The passive lets us draw a card at the start of everyone else's turn, which is amazing. The worst part is the +1 ability, which only makes a single 1/1 blue Illusion token. The -2 lets you bounce a creature or artifact to each opponent's hand, and the -6 ultimate draws three cards, then puts +1/+1 counters on each creature equal to the number of cards in your hand.
This card can keep itself alive, get you card advantage, and win you the game. You do need to build around it since the biggest downside to playing a planeswalker in Commander is that you have to defend it against three other players. If you can pull it off, not only will this Jace win you the game, it will win you the game with cards to spare.
<a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Jace, Reality Sculptor" href="#" target="_blank">Jace, Reality Sculptor</a>
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If The Theorist was the strongest of the bunch, then <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Jace, Reality Sculptor" href="#" target="_blank">Jace, Reality Sculptor</a> is the most annoying. Inside the Superfriends archetype, there are the Opps (insert name of planeswalker here). The idea is to play all of the planeswalkers with the same planeswalker type, in this case Jace. As a planeswalker with five starting loyalty, it has one of the best protection abilities on its negative three. Giving all creatures that attack you or a planeswalker you control -5/0 till end of turn is great for keeping both yourself and planeswalkers alive.
The zero ability on this card is straight-up game-winning if you can activate it. Similar to the ability on <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Jace, the Mind Sculptor" href="#" target="_blank">Jace, the Mind Sculptor</a>, but built for Commander. Exiling all the cards but the literal last one in each opponent's library is game-winning in almost every single scenario that can be reasonably concocted during a game of Commander. The key part about this card and getting to the zero ability is the plus one, allowing you to empower Jace X.
Empower Jace X is a new mechanic found on many cards from the main set in Reality Fracture. It lets you make a planeswalker token, Jace, with loyalty equal to whatever X is. That token comes with two abilities: a negative one Surveil 1 and a negative 3 Draw a card. You will most likely be playing this Jace in a mono-blue or blue-heavy deck, so getting the 25 loyalty counters will be easier than you think. Throw in all the cards from the set with Empower Jace on it, and the deck builds itself more or less.
<h2>Commander Deck</h2>
<a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Jace, Multiverse Architect" href="#" target="_blank">Jace, Multiverse Architect</a>
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The only planeswalker from the Commander deck just so happens to be yet another Jace. Specifically, <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Jace, Multiverse Architect" href="#" target="_blank">Jace, Multiverse Architect</a>. If the protection ability on Jace, Reality Sculptor, wasn't good enough, then the passive causing each opponent to pay at the start of their combat, or they cannot attack you or Jaces you control, should be more than good enough.
Now, this Jace is specifically built around the <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Polymorph" href="#" target="_blank">Polymorph</a> ability, which doesn't play the best with other Jace planeswalkers. Still, at a minimum, this planeswalker can keep itself alive. Finally, the +1 draws you two cards and lets you tuck a card back on the bottom of your library, ostensibly to get it later via this card's effect or another similar one.
<h2>So Which One Is the Best?</h2>
If you are playing a generic deck that doesn't focus heavily on a theme and wants to use creature combat to win the game, then the best one is going to be <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Garruk, Curse Breaker" href="#" target="_blank">Garruk, Curse Breaker</a>. With an ultimate ability that can be used immediately and causes every player to get the bonus as long as they don't attack, you will dish out so much damage even a single time around the table.
This card also fits best in a generic green deck. They want big creatures and love to ramp, and that is what Garruk is all about.
If we are talking about who works the best when you are trying to maximize the abilities to a dedicated mechanic, to me it is a tie between <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Ajani Resolute" href="#" target="_blank">Ajani Resolute</a> in a lifegain deck and <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Jace, Reality Sculptor" href="#" target="_blank">Jace, Reality Sculptor</a> in an Oops All-Jace Superfriends deck. Ajani works almost too well in a dedicated life-gain deck, and the ability to come down as early as turn two makes this card a threat very early in the game, even with low starting loyalty.
Jace, on the other hand, can stall out a game long enough and use all the other mono-blue Jace planeswalkers, proliferate effects, and Empower Jace cards to race to the ultimate faster than anyone can do anything about it to win the game.
If I am forced to pick one single planeswalker to crown the best in Reality Fracture, then I would give it to Jace, Reality Sculptor. From the ability to protect itself and fuel its way to a game-winning ability, all while being in a color that can make sure the table isn't able to stop it, gives it the number one spot.
But which one do you think is the best? Which one is your favorite? Why do you think Chandra was only given one new card in Reality Fracture? Let me know in the comments below or over on Bluesky and Instagram @nicnax96.

echoverse

The Best Planeswalkers in Reality Fracture