Planeswalkerdom

You are a planeswalker. That’s right, we’re all planeswalkers, that’s what it says in the booklet once again: The player is a planeswalker.Dominaria was once the most important plane there was to magic, it was Dominaria this, Dominaria that. We’ve since been accustomed to leap around from plane to plane, from Dominaria to Rath, from Rath to Mercadia, but wait, that wasn’t us, we weren’t making the leap to all those planes, Gerrard and his crew were.

Well after the Phyrexian Invasion, and after we saw what happened to Dominaria afterwards (Odyssey block), that’s when the fun started, first stop: Mirrodin, then Kamigawa, Ravnica last stop before coming back to Dominaria. We are not following the will of puny mortals now, we’re planeswalking from plane to plane to gather all new spells and visit all new worlds.

Being a planeswalker is being a traveller, a teller of tales far beyond. So where do the formats fit that? How does playing in Standard, Extended or Vintage fit that?

If you were a planeswalker wouldn’t you want the best spells from whenever and duel with that?

Well, first of all, not all the planeswalkers ascended at the same time, so a planeswalker ascending earlier normally has access to earlier spells and a newer planeswalker only knows about what little he saw (i.e. latest block). It’s true that newer planeswalkers also have access to older spells, that’s because whenever planeswalkers meet they don’t necessarily have to duel, they can trade spells (trading cards).

Vintage

Well, if you’re a planeswalker for a long time you’ll probably have access to older spells, so maybe you’ll want to use all the raw power you’ve been collecting all these years. the downside is that many newer planeswalkers will run away from you because they can’t keep up with your more potent and arcane spells.

Elder planeswalkers have prohibited or restricted the use of some spells because they made the battle too unbalanced and being a planeswalker, well, that’s a matter of honor. This is reflected throughout the more recent formats.

Extended

Well, for older planeswalkers that don’t have access to the prior spells, there was an agreement: Planeswalkers couldn’t play spells from before the Invasion. This limit is temporary as more spells are added to the pool of known spells and planeswalkers slowly learn more and more spells (your library). From time to time this limit is pulled up to ensure newer planeswalkers can have a parte on these battles.

Standard

We’re all about travelling, so what’s the fun of using old spells from old grimoires and worlds we have never met? It’s the now that counts, but seeing so many spells are available at any time we keep spells from the previous plane just in case.

Also, the latest core Edition (take it has a compilation of basic spells planeswalkers deem neccessary for more interesting duels that get reviewed every 2 years) is also allowed.

Block

It’s where we are that matters, travelling is about being somewhere else, and that somewhere is here. The only spells allowed are spells from the current world. Life as a planeswalker is fleeting so why not get out with the old and duel with the new and unknown?

Where does limited play fit all of this?

Well, you can say limited play is a test on planeswalker skill, planeswalkers are forced to use spells for which they have limited time to pick (draft) or are forced to use only spells from a given book (sealed deck). That way even an elder planeswalker is on the level of a new planeswalker (on terms of available spells not skill).

I know I didn’t talk about other formats such as highlander or stuff, but you get the point. Basically planeswalkers have a code to ensure everyone gets a fair chance when dueling.