Elspeth Tirel was first seen as Elspeth, Knight-Errant. This new version of Elspeth is still a creature-focused Planeswalker, but works in a very different way.
Elspeth Tirel costs five mana to cast, two of which must be white. She enters the battlefield with four loyalty counters and has three abilities.
The first ability adds two loyalty counters and gives you two life for each creature you control. This ability can net you a fair chunk of life, however if you are in dire straights it may do nothing other than add the counters.
The second ability works well with the first. For the cost of two loyalty counters, you put three 1/1 white soldier creature tokens onto the battlefield. They won’t be the strongest cards around, but three creatures means three separate blockers, and there are cards that improve the performance of soldiers, or tokens, or white creatures, and you’ll probably have one or more such card in a deck with Elspeth Tirel.
The third ability is the big one. It costs five loyalty counters, so you can use it the turn after you cast Elspeth Tirel, assuming you use her first ability after doing so. Also, because it costs five counters you will still have Elspeth under your control after using the ability so soon.
This ability destroys all permanents other than lands, tokens, and Elspeth Tirel herself. This is a powerful effect, made more powerful where you are using Elspeth Tirel in a token deck, which is where she realistically belongs.
Verdict: Marginal. Elspeth Tirel belongs in a token deck, and has limited uses outside such a deck, as her third ability works against you using artifacts, enchantments or non-token creatures. This kind of deck featuring Elspeth should do well, but this Planeswalker has limited uses elsewhere.
Connections: Like Elspeth Tirel? You may also like [Ajani Goldmane] [Elspeth, Knight-Errant] [Nissa Revane]
Don’t like Elspeth Tirel? You may prefer [Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker] [Sorin Markov] [Liliana of the Veil]
