"Gideon , Ally of Zendikar: Masaheng Barako"

"Gideon , Ally of Zendikar: Masaheng Barako"

by;

Virgilio F. De leon Jr. MD

I talked to my brother AJ last night and he told me that he could not sleep. When I asked why , he simply answered:

"Binaboy ako ni Gideon tol."

Of course he was referring to the planeswalker Gideon , Ally of Zendikar who has been in the ban list speculation rumor mill for awhile now because of his power in Standard. As my brother's story goes he met with an opponent who was able to use Tamiyo, Field Researcher's ultimate ability which is  Draw 3 cards and then you may cast non-land cards from your hand for free. Apparently his opponent already had 3 Gideon's in his hand or was able to draw them.Let me tell you about how Gideon is freakishly strong and why my brother hated this particular encounter.

For those currently playing standard the latest reincarnation of Gideon costs 4 mana , 2 Colorless and 2 White. And his starting loyalty is 4. He is unique since he is probably the only planeswalker that players could ultimate the moment he arrives on the battlefield.You can get an emblem that reads: give +1/+1 to all of your creatures. Basically an Anthem emblem that lets your little guys get bigger.

You don't have any little guys to make big you say? No problem. For 0 cost Gideon could make a 2/2 White Knight for you. That is his second skill after all.

As for Good old Gideon himself , his first skill  , gives him a +1 Loyalty counter and turns him into a 5/5 creature that is still a planeswalker  , Indestructible and prevent damage that would be dealt to him this turn.

The only draw back is that he cannot attack the turn he comes in as compared to Sarkhan Dragonspeaker who could. None of this matters though as the 5/5 Gideon could just stand around all day blocking bigger creatures , shrugging off burn and removal spells like they were nothing and still attack later on for the win.

I mean in Aether revolt he was able to get inside a gearhulk ,he got churned by the cogs inside and do you know what happened to that Gearhulk? The gearhulk was destroyed and Gideon emerged relatively unscathed with some slight discomfort. Only with some slight discomfort!

So going back to my brothers story. His opponent used Tamiyo , field researchers ultimate , plopped in 3 Gideons in succession. Use the ultimate of the first 2 and left the last Gideon so that he can be a 7/7 Human creature on the next turn.

Damn it Gideon. It was hard enough to deal with you when you were a 6/6 , now you have to be mana efficient and pump creatures too!

Needless to say my probably got some sleep but I bet in his dreams he was still being pummeled by Gideon , Masaheng Barako style.