It’s hard not to notice the growing Japanese influence in Magic in recent years. We’ve seen an increase in anime art treatments, with both Bloomburrow and Duskmourn being recent examples. We’ve also seen a large number of Japan-exclusive events and promos. This week, another such event was announced. The Planeswalker Friendly Match event will run at Japanese stores between October 1st and December 31st this year, with some spicy new promos up for grabs if you can attend.
These events follow a very interesting structure. As they’re casual-focused, just participating will get you a promo. Another is available to the winner of a rock-paper-scissors tournament held at the event. This is not the most conventional means of distributing promos, but ultimately fair I suppose. Both promos chosen are playable in the current Standard and get stunning new artwork from a Japanese artist to boot.
Lightning Helix
- Mana Value: RW
- Rarity: Promo
- Card Text: Lightning Helix deals 3 damage to any target and you gain 3 life.
The first of the Planeswalker Friendly Match promos is an absolute classic. Lightning Helix is one of the most consistently played burn spells in Magic, seeing use in Standard, Pioneer, Modern, and Commander. It’s a card that always has a home, and therefore a card well worth owning in a special treatment like the one offered here.
This card is the participation promo for the latest Planeswalker Friendly Match events. This means that if you attend one of these events, which are exclusive to Japanese game stores, you’ll receive this promo no matter how you do. This is great news considering the art by Shiyu is absolutely gorgeous, and is reminiscent of the hyper-popular Hatsune Miku Secret Lairs.
This is a great promo to see for a few reasons. Firstly, because the card is playable in current Standard. It was just printed in Murders at Karlov Manor back in February. This means you’ll be able to run it in Standard for a few years yet. Secondly, this card is a true multi-format staple. Cards like this that can find homes beyond Standard too are perfect picks for promos.
Finance-wise, I could easily see this being a $10 card. The most expensive versions of Lightning Helix right now are the textless Player Rewards one from 2006, and the Japanese Mystical Archive one from Strixhaven. This new version combines elements of both, as well as the scarcity of being a regional exclusive. This is a participation promo, so it won’t be as rare as the next card we’re discussing. That said, I could still see a price between $8-10 when all is said and done.
Kaya, Spirits’ Justice
- Mana Value: 2WB
- Rarity: Promo
- Starting Loyalty: 3
- Card Text: Whenever one or more creatures you control and/or creature cards in your graveyard are put into exile, you may choose a creature card from among them. Until end of turn, target token you control becomes a copy of it, except it has flying. +2: Surveil 2, then exile a card from a graveyard. +1: Create a 1/1 white and black Spirit creature token with flying. −2: Exile target creature you control. For each other player, exile up to one target creature that player controls.
The second of the Planeswalker Friendly Match promos is simultaneously more and less interesting than Helix. Kaya, Spirits’ Justice is a very new planeswalker, debuting in Murders at Karlov Manor earlier this year. Her abilities are certainly flavorful and interesting, but the card still hasn’t seen much play since release. This is even true in Commander, the format of ‘anything goes.’
For that reason, Kaya is a much weaker pick overall than Lightning Helix. You might find a spot for her in your deck, but chances are she’ll be going in the trade binder never to be seen again. Then again, you could always sell it off. Kaya is the prize promo for the winner of the rock-paper-scissors tournament at the Planeswalker Friendly Match events, which gives her a much higher ceiling than the participation promo.
Looking at past precedent, the summer promos for this event were Glimpse the Core (Participation) and Saheeli, the Sun’s Brilliance (Rock-paper-scissors). Glimpse currently goes for around $10, which is where I predict Helix will end up. Saheeli, on the other hand, goes for around $40. This is a beefy price tag and the fact that the card only costs around $1 normally doesn’t seem to factor in much. If we assume a similar trajectory for Kaya, which I think is fair given her similar base price, then this could be a promo that excels financially if not mechanically. Her new art isn’t quite as flashy as Saheeli’s, however, so we’ll see.
Overall, these promos are very solid indeed. Continuing the trend of picking Standard-legal cards is great, and the new art, especially on Lightning Helix, is top-notch.
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