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Pojo's Magic The Gathering
Card of the Day

Daily Since November 2001!

Ajani, Caller of the Pride
Image from Wizards.com

Ajani, Caller of the Pride
Magic 2013

Reviewed July 10, 2012

Constructed: 4.20
Casual: 4.20
Limited: 4.30
Multiplayer: 3.90

Ratings are based on a 1 to 5 scale
1 being the worst.  3 ... average.  
5 is the highest rating

Click here to see all of our 
Card of the Day Reviews 

BMoor

Ajani, Caller of the Pride

Last year, Jace, Chandra, and Garruk got new versions, all of which were mediocre. This year, Liliana and Ajani got new versions, both of which are absolutely amazing. Ajani can drop as early as turn three, and put a +1/+1 counter on your two-drop. That's better than it looks at first glance, because even if your opponent attacks and kills Ajani, you've still got the counters. And one +1/+1 counter each turn means your early drop can steadily grow and outclass your opponent's early drop as it keeps pace with your opponent's later drops, even as you continue to play more creatures. Thus, on turn six, your opponent might have a 2/2 and a 6/6 whereas you've got a 2/2 with four +1/+1 counters on it and a 6/6.

Ajani's second ability can be what wins you the game by itself. Flying and double strike on a creature of any respectable size will mean an incredible life swing that can decide the game, especially if the creature you use it on has lifelink-- which a white deck could easily have-- or numerous +1/+1 counters on it-- which Ajani himself probably gave it. What makes it especially powerful is that Ajani's starting loyalty is just high enough to use this the turn he hits play and not quite lose Ajani. That makes Ajani an amazing topdeck for when you're at a stalemate, or at any point in the late game.

The ultimate ability here is incredibly nice as well. Not only does it put twice the power's worth of tokens into play as Ajani 1.0 would have in the same situation, but it spreads it out into numerous tokens. That means your opponent can't stave it off with one blocker or deal with it with one kill spell. A Pyroclasm will still wipe it out, but since White is the color of mass creature pump and lots of tokens benefit from that better than one big token, it's a worthy trade-off.

Constructed- 4.5
Casual- 4.5
Limited- 4.75
Multiplayer- 4


David Fanany

Player since 1995

Ajani, Caller of the Pride
 
If you read his profile in Duels of the Planeswalkers, you learned that Ajani's magic involves bringing out the strength of others and his approach is rather self-effacing, making him Magic's equivalent of a Synergist in Final Fantasy XIII. I admit that I didn't realize that before then, despite having been around for his original incarnation in Lorwyn. In many ways, his Caller of the Pride incarnation is a callback to his first appearance in Dominaria: as the Caller brings three spells, one of which is a small bonus that adds up over many turns, a second that makes a single combat step extremely difficult for an opponent, and an ultimate that creatures a nearly unbeatable board state, he is useable in many of the same situations and decks. Having said that, neither obsoletes the other, as Goldmane works better in decks that generate lots of creatures before he is cast and the Caller of the Pride enhances one creature at a time, as abilities like exalted require more. Overall, I find this to be a worthy inclusion to the gallery of planeswalker cards, and one who is likely to join the high-impact tier thereof.
 
Now, when are we getting a card for Kiora Atua? 
 
Constructed: 4/5
Casual: 4/5
Limited: 4/5
Multiplayer: 3/5

Paul

Magic The Gathering Card of The Day: Ajani, Caller of The Pride

Welcome back readers todays card of the day is a powerful three mana planeswalker, the only downside is it does not have a powerful way to protect itself but it is offensively powerful. In standard I can foresee this card seeing quite an amount of play as it provides a boon for aggressive decks the ability to add a +1/+1 counter makes even 1/1’s into somewhat of a threat and the flying and double strike ability can really allow you to beat down with something such as Wolfir Silverheart. The ultimate will rarely be used but it can provide an I Win button for a player, this card will see a plethora of play in aggressive decks most notably white/green style decks I feel is where it fits well. In modern it is almost as powerful providing a boon for aggressive decks but has heavier competition from other planeswalkers. In legacy and vintage it could see a fringe amount of play providing a tool for powerful aggressive decks and at three mana it is also costed right. In casual and multiplayer using the ultimate after gaining a significant amount of life should be fun and entertaining, the other two abilities are highly relevant as pumping your army and flying over ground forces to deal double strike damage could definitely put the hurt on players, and at three mana you can get this out early enough some players may not put pressure on you allowing you to gain advantage off Ajani. In limited it’s a bomb the flying and double strike allows you to win in short order and the other abilities are gravy. Overall a card with powerful constructed and casual applications.

Constructed: 3.5
Casual: 3.5
Limited: 3.5
Multiplayer: 3.5

Michael "Maikeruu" Pierno

Today's card of the day is Ajani, Caller of the Pride which is a three mana planeswalker with four loyalty that has a +1 of placing a +1/+1 counter on target creature. This is not a bad effect for a +1 as the only drawback is it requires something to target. The -3 of giving a target Flying and Double Strike can be very impressive, particularly when used the turn it comes into play on a large creature or one with a deals damage to opponent trigger. The -8 can be fun in a life gain theme or whenever you have a similar or higher life point total than an opponent. Overall this is a fun and effective planeswalker that isn't really overly powerful due to all of his effects being creature based, which can commonly be responded to.

For Limited this is much like nearly any planeswalker by being an excellent first pick and the creature theme is ideally suited to the format. Tokens win games and the swarm Ajani can call into play should win almost every time if the evasion and Double Strike effect doesn't have a worthwhile target sooner. The double White in the cost makes it slightly harder to manage in Sealed, but even if this comes into play later on it can and will make an impact.

Constructed: 4.0
Casual: 4.0
Limited: 4.5
Multiplayer: 4.0

John
Shultis
Phoenix
Gaming

Welcome to the Pojo.com card of the day. Today we are looking at Ajani, Caller of the Pride. Ajani is a mythic rare planeswalker Ajani that costs one generic and two white mana. Ajani enters with four loyalty and has three abilities. Ajani has a +1 ability that puts a +1/+1 counter on up to one target creature. He has a -3 ability that says target creature gains flying and double strike until end of turn. Ajani’s ultimate is a -8 that says put X 2/2 white cat creature tokens onto the battlefield, where X is your life total.

Ajani, Caller of the Pride is simply amazing. Newer planeswalkers are becoming so much more powerfull than anything from older sets. And Ajani may be one of the best I have seen. Putting +1/+1 counters on your creatures is an amazing ability, building up your creatures faster than your opponents may be ready for.

Then, his second ability could send a pumped creature, or even just a decent sized creature over your opponents defenses and score a critical hit.

But of course, planeswalkers are more known for their Ultimates, and none are quite as impressive as Ajani’s. Putting X 2/2 creatures on the board, where X is your life total is a game changer, and more than likely a game ender. And there are a ton of ways that you can break the combo even farther. You could be running Healer of the Pride, which then gains you another 2 life as the cat tokens enter the battlefield. Then, you could always go red and white and run a Warstorm Surge, dealing 2 damage per token to different sources, but likely killing your opponent. In older formats, running Raksha Golden Cub equipped would turn them all into 4/4 double strikers. And if we still are running red, Fervor means they will all also have haste. So there are tons of ways that you can fully exploit Ajani, and all of his abilities.

Limited: 5/5
Constructed: 5/5
Casual: 5/5
Multiplayer: 5/5


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