Kaito, Dancing Shadow is the latest Magic: The Gathering planeswalker to be revealed for upcoming expansion

Magic: The Gathering’s next expansion is on the way, so the reveals and leaks are slowly coming to light. It’s already been confirmed that Phyrexia: All Will Be One will feature 10 planeswalkers, and another has been revealed, hailing from the Kamigawa setting - Kaito Shizuki!

Kaito Shizuki, now known as Kaito, Dancing Shadow, is coming as one of the ten planeswalkers to appear in the upcoming Magic: The Gathering expansion and appears to be on the side of good. While not an unbalanced card, it brings some exciting mechanics into the next expansion.

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Magic: The Gathering’s Kaito, Dancing Shadow is an exciting but not overpowered planeswalker

Kaito, Dancing Shadow is an exciting card, for sure. While this particular Magic: The Gathering planeswalker isn’t overpowered, I like what it offers. Because it isn’t as strong as some other planeswalkers, I worry that it will be overlooked, but I see quite a few users for it right out of the gate.

What can this new planeswalker do in Magic: The Gathering, though? Here is the list of its confirmed loyalty abilities available on Kaito, Dancing Shadow in Phyrexia: All Will Be One.

Kaito, Dancing Shadow

• Mana Value: 2UB
• Base Loyalty: 3
• Rarity: Rare
• Passive Ability: Whenever one or more creatures you control deal combat damage to a player, you may return one of them to its owner’s hand. If you do, you may activate the loyalty abilities of Kaito twice this turn rather than only once.
• First Ability: +1: Up to one target creature can’t attack or block until your next turn.
• Second Ability: +0: Draw a card.
• Third Ability: -2: Create a 2/2 colorless Drone artifact creature token with deathtouch and “When this creature leaves the battlefield, each opponent loses two life, and you gain two life.”

This card synergizes incredibly well with Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty’s Ninjutsu cards. Since those cards are rewarded for attacking unimpeded, you can use Kaito, Dancing Shadow’s +1 ability, to make a creature unable to be blocked and then attack freely. Then you trigger a Ninjutsu ability and swap it out for something stronger.

Conversely, you can also attack a weak creature, make it unblockable, and then bounce it back to your hand. That way, you can use another one of his abilities. You could use his +1 again to build him up or draw another card. You can draw two cards for free if you have a creature that isn’t blocked without it.

Another excellent use for this card is to attack safely with the +1, and use the +1 again, to lock down an opponent’s big attacking creature. Making it impossible to attack until your next turn is invaluable. You can also pop its -2, and play aggressively with the creature token until it dies, while also popping the +1 to build Kaito back up in Magic: The Gathering.

This will be a fun card for tempo decks, especially Black/Blue. If those token creatures die, your opponents lose two lives, and you gain two lives, making them a threat. They can destroy any creatures - other than indestructible creatures - thanks to Deathtouch.

Kaito, Dancing Shadow isn’t going to change the game when it hits Magic completely: The Gathering, but I see quite a few decks that will love this card as a mid-game way to turn the tide and lock down the victory. It would be far more dangerous if you could cheat it into play faster as well.

I’m a big fan of this planeswalker, and I look forward to seeing what it can do in Phyrexia: All Will Be One.