Magic: The Gathering reveals next Phyrexian planeswalker - Lukka, Bound to Ruin

It was recently confirmed that several of the planeswalkers in Magic: The Gathering are going to be Compleated, which means that they'll be joining the Phyrexians to fight against their former allies. The latest planeswalker to be revealed arrived, courtesy of Wizards of the Coast, in the form of Lukka, Bound to Ruin.

With an interesting design and incredible powers, Lukka, Bound to Ruin has now merged with his Coppercoat animal companion. While he still has the power to command beasts, he now uses his ability in the service of the Mother of Machines. Although it’s currently unclear if he'll be freed of his Compleation, he’s going to be an incredibly useful planeswalker to run in the future.

---

Lukka, Bound to Ruin is the latest Compleated planeswalker in Magic: The Gathering

Lukka, Bound to Ruin will feel similar in some ways to his previous card in Magic: The Gathering. Considering that he's Compleated now, you will have to use Phyrexian Mana to cast him, at least for a part of the casting cost. With a Mana Value of 5, you can choose to pay 2 life instead of one of the Red or Green mana on this card.

While he’s not overpowered in Magic: The Gathering, he certainly has the potential to do incredible work in the service of Elesh Norn. The card's details and Compleated abilities have been listed below:

Lukka, Bound to Ruin

• Mana Value: GR/G (Phyrexian)R2
• Type: Legendary Planeswalker - Lukka
• Rarity: Mythic Rare
• Keyword: Compleated (The R/G mana can be paid with Red, Green, or 2 life. If life was paid, this planeswalker enters play with 2 fewer loyalty counters)
• Base Loyalty: 5
• +1 Ability: Add RG to your mana pool. Spend this mana only to cast creature spells or activate creature abilities
• -1 Ability: Create a 3/3 green Phyrexian Beast creature token with Toxic 1
• -4 Ability: Lukka deals X damage divided as you choose among any number of target creatures and/or planeswalkers, where X is the greatest power among creatures you controlled as you activated this ability.

Clearly, there’s a whole lot to take in. In fact, his very first ability is incredibly useful as any deck with Lukka is likely going to be creature-heavy. You could probably use him effectively in a Control deck, if you need to use specific creature abilities.

You can then roll him down 1 point to get a creature with 3 power, 3 toughness, and Toxic 1. Players are being rewarded for using Poison Counters in Phyrexia: All Will Be One, if recent leaks are to be believed.

Perhaps the card's most interesting element is the -4 ability. Provided you don’t pay with Phyrexian Mana to put him into play, you can activate this ability upon doing so. Depending on what your biggest creature is, this ability can be truly devastating. He could be a powerful anti-planeswalker card for your Magic: The Gathering duels.

If you have powerful Magic: The Gathering creatures in play, but can’t get through to your opponent’s backline, simply pop his -4 ability. For instance, if you have a creature with 12 power under your control, you can deal 12 damage divided in any way that you choose amongst your opponent’s creatures and planeswalkers. This could be incredibly effective against someone trying to get their game-winning planewalker ability off.

Whether he’s as powerful as the previous version of Lukka remains to be seen. This particular card could be fairly useful in Commander decks, and even has potential in Standard. The only major drawback is that his mana value (at 5) is rather high. Although you can play him for less, it will make him an easy target. Coming into play with only 3 Loyalty would make direct damage attacks more viable to remove him from play.

It won’t be long before spoiler season begins for Magic: The Gathering’s Phyrexia: All Will Be One expansion. The physical release of this expansion will take place on February 10, 2023.