When I walked over to see how Magic Show host Evan Erwin was doing in his Round Two match there were three Planeswalkers in play. Evan had Jace and the Ajani update on his side while his Kithkin opponent had Elspeth.

There have actually been a ton of Planeswalkers kicking around the top tables so far and not a Fellowship of the Ring deck to be found. Planewalkers have just risen to a place of prominence in the current Standard. I have seen both versions of Ajani, plenty of Garrack, a couple of Lilliannas, Jace, Chandra, and Elspeth — no sign of the Tezzerator to this point.

“As soon as I saw those cards I was like, ‘now I have to play creatures in my deck,’” said Gabe Carlton-Barnes when we were discussing the impact the new card type was having on the current Standard format.

It should make Kithkin a good choice but watching Evan dismantle his opponent’s team with Wrath, spot removal, and his Ajani Vengeant — to polish off the pesky Elspeth — I was not so sure about that.

But then in game two a combination of frustrating creatures — Kinsbaile Borderguard and Reveillark — were able to fight their way through Ajani’s vengeful personality and force a game three that there was no time remaining in the round to even start.