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Parade of Planeswalkers   |   Gundeh the Revolutionary

It was cold in the old planeswalker's room. No one has fires going in the fireplaces for fear of discovery by raven familiars that roam the deep cliffs of the eastern Boughs. He is a native of Keneba, a plane of little particular interest to other planeswalkers besides as a waypoint: it has known portals to Rabiah, Dominaria, Moag, Kinshala, and Kephalai. "Some folks think planeswalkers can just up and leave if they don't like something." Gundeh spoke, gurgling through a recent cold. "If it were that way, I'd stay somewhere warmer."

Gundeh was never in a hurry. He couldn't be at his age. Those gifted with the Spark tend to live unusually long lives. No one knows how old Gundeh is. "To walk, that is, to go from world to world, it hurts. You feel it in your bones as though a great ache goes through your entire body." He paced while he walked, which would hint at worry if his manner wasn't so carefree.

Gundeh walked back to his table and his spiced tea infused with inferno vine pollen. Next to his cup was a wooden bowl with stonefruit some days too ripe. He picked one up and rolled it across the table. "See this?" He spoke to a young revolutionary; a starry-eyed youngster who took off from Coven lands with the rest of the veteran revolutionaries from Southwinding. His blade had yet need of sharpening. "This is me, and this table is Keneba. Everything you love is here, your home, your family, friends..." The stonefruit rolled off the table and fell to the dusty concrete with a fleshy slap. "When I go somewhere else, that's what happens. It hurts. Maybe were I not so ripe it wouldn't be that way. But now it is. You get there and you hardly know your north from your nose. There's no sense of the land, no sense of where you are."

"Have you been to many places, lord Gundeh? Many worlds?" Gundeh bristled at the words.

"I've been to a few. I was the new guy. Thought I'd introduce myself to the neighborhood. You can imagine, it wasn't what I had in mind."

"Were it me, I would go away from this place. Away from the fighting."

"You're a bit dense, son. There's fights everywhere. Our fight just happens to be in our hometown. And don't call me lord, son. I'm your friend. Or your dad, you never know." He said, smiling. He picking up the stonefruit and bit into it, scrunching his face. "Hmm, this one's old as me."

"There must be places free of fighting! There must be a place where people don't fear the Last Revelation and where people treat each other as equals."

Keneba has long lived in the shadow of Armageddon; an event that the shanes of the Coven kingdom of Bhile call 'The Last Revelation'. It's shadow covers the hearts and minds of everyone in Bhile, indeed everyone in all of Keneba. This fear predates the Coven of gorgons who rule Bhile, but it has grown exponentially since they've roosted over the kingdom.

"There may be, son. But our home is here so our mess is here. It doesn't matter if some magical place exists where everyone is happy if we live here." Gundeh sat at the table and reclined, nursing his tea. "The few who know what a planeswalker is, they think we blink our eyes and we've changed the world we live in. You see what I said?" The man's face was blank.

"A planeswalker changes the place he's in, all right. He does it by dissapearing and winding up on the floor somewhere else. Me? Us? Well, we're changing the place we're in too. Except instead of disappearing, we're appearing. Showing up at each home where we're needed. Being a friend to those that have heart but fear the fight. We're changing where we live one life at a time. Here. Now. Not by running but staying in our lands." A deep rumble in the distance broke his thoughts. The sound was soon echoed by the calls of sentries.

"The fight draws near. Come lor...er, Gundeh. Let us away to the troops." The young revolutionary paused as he helped Gundeh gather his belongings. He was so nervous that his reinments, two fingers two big across the chest and still smelling like it's previous owner, visibly shook on his small frame as he moved. Gundeh slowly stood and tacitly picked up his deep red cloak and his shillelagh. He moved calmly, never breaking his sly grin, even if his eyes took the focus of a raptor about to dive into a rodent. "Are you not nervous?" the young man asked. "Are you not scared of what awaits?"

Gundeh put a hand on the young man's shoulder, his face warming. "Why be? As long as folks with heart like yours keep fighting with me, I'm sure it'll turn up peaches."

Gundeh the Revolutionary Show

Comments and critiques welcome!

May 24, 2012 -- 4:44PM, TEA_DEMON wrote:

this seems crazy good. a 2-for-1, potential 3-for-1 for 4 mana in three colours... i really like it.

Thanks! He's one of the planeswalkers I've designed that I'm very excited about. I debate putting his last ability at -4, but something about keeping them symmetrical is appealing. Thoughts?

May 27, 2012 -- 8:05PM, magicpablo666 wrote:

I can see it as a -4. Reversal of Fortune costs six, and that's only instants and sorceries. Plus with Red and Blue you have lots of ways to make sure your opponent has a full hand.

I like him, because he requires thought. Are you just going to use him as a sorcery for one of the latter effects, or do you want to use him multiple times by using the first? Plus at -4, it puts pressure on your opponent to get rid of whatever you would want from his or her hand, and you could turn 5 hardcast Reforge the Soul to fill him or her up.

Nice analysis. I can see it as -4 mostly because it's a totally new ability in magic. You are using your opponent's stuff to cast your opponent's stuff. You don't gain control of his permanents, but you suddenly can tap his City of Brass for value, drain his Pentad Prism and Gemstone Array , and make it so he doesn't have his Tectonic Edge untapped. I'm just a bit scared of what can happen, but looks. so. cool. to. me. !!!

Hm, something tells me that there's major rules problems with that last ability but I don't know why... because, er, I kinda suck at rules.

The card also seems potentially a little overpowered, since you can get all the loyalty from your own attacks and any attacks your opponent makes. That's rather substantial, considering that one of his abilities also lets you take out your opponent's creatures and draw cards at the same time. Again, I don't really know much of anything about balancing, but it seems a little bit overwhelming. And that's without the last ability there.

More importantly:

HNNNNGGG WHY U NO SUBMIT THESE CHARACTERS TO THE EXPANDED MULTIVERSE?! Seriously, your story ideas and your characters are really compelling. I would love to see some of them make it into the archives.

May 27, 2012 -- 9:20PM, magicpablo666 wrote:

Well, okay. Wouldn't your opponent just tap out at the end of his or her turn? I mean my friends still do mana burn, but even then, taking 1 or 2 damage so that you couldn't play the card I want to save, seems pretty fine to me. Maybe it should be -3. I dunno. Could Gundeh be more?

That's true that your opponent would just tap out. Hmm...