Pattern Recognition #43 - Gideon Jura

Opinion Pattern Recognition

berryjon

7 September 2017

2266 views

Good day everyone! My name is berryjon, TappedOut.net's resident Old Fogey, and part-time Smart Ass. I write this series, Pattern Recognition in order to entertain, educate and perhaps even improve your appreciation for the past, present and future of Magic. I'll even shoehorn in a reference to the Time Spiral block if I can. Because I can!

Today's article comes because I was short on ideas and let my mind wander a bit. The idea occurred to me that while I dislike the Jacetus League, and the way the story goes around them, I'd only really talked about two of their members, Chandra and Jace. Chandra was framed as part of the larger design problems with Red, and as such the tone of it was one of disappointment, whereas my examination of Jace could only be described as one of slowly growing rage.

So, who to do next?

Well, White is the first colour on the colour wheel, so why don't I start with Gideon Jura?

edit: I wrote this article before the official change in the rules regarding Plansewalkers, and as such I will say some things that are not correct. However, I will include notation like this to show where I am changing my mind in the before and after to account for this. They will be in this nice shade of blue.

Gideon Jura is ...

Gideon is ...

I'm sorry. I need to get this out of the way. A certain running joke in Magic fiction needs to be addressed, and by Urza, I'm going to run it into the ground!

Gideon Jura is also Beat PunchBeef, Big, Brave Brick of Meat, Big McLargeHuge, Blast HardCheese, Blast ThickNeck, Bob Johnson, Bold BigFlank, Bulk VanderHuge, Brick HardMeat, Buck PlankChest, Buff DrinkLots, Buff HardBack, Butch DeadLift, ChunkHead, Chunky, Crud BoneMeal, Crunch, ButtSteak, Dirk HardPec, Fist RockBone, Flink, Flint IronStag, Fridge LargeMeat, Gristle McThornBody, Hack BlowFist, Hunk, Lump BeefBroth, Punch RockGroin, Punch Side-Iron, Punt SpeedChunk, Reef BlastBody, Roll Fizzlebeef, Rip, SteakFace, Slab BulkHead, Slab SquatThrust, Slam, Slate Fistcrunch, Slate SlabRock, Smash LampJaw, Smoke ManMuscle, Splint ChestHair, Stump BeefKnob, Stump Chunkman, Thick McRunFast, Touch RustRod, Trunk SlamChest, Whip SlagCheek!

There. That's done.

Gideon is represented in the game by 6 different versions of him. In rough order of printing, Gideon Jura, Gideon, Ally of Zendikar, Gideon, Champion of Justice, Gideon, Battle-Forged  ^Flip, Gideon, Martial Paragon, and Gideon of the Trials.

Looking at Gideon himself, there is something of a unique theme on him that doesn't show up on other 'walkers. Well, alright, Sarkhan Vol also does this as well, but he isn't as ubiquitous. Gideon Jura turns into a creature. While it has varied between 6/6, 5/5, 4/4 and X/X, he has always been able to take to the battlefield in a more direct form than other 'walkers do.

What this means is that you always have the option of using your activation of his ability for that turn to attack with a fairly large creature. Of course, due to timing, unless you have Teferi, Temporal Archmage's Emblem in play, you can only do this on your turn. Which means you can only attack with Gideon.

Another aspect to Gideon becoming a creature is that he also prevents all damage that would be done to him that turn. Which is a nice way for him to attack, and not lose any loyalty counters from creature-based damage. In addition, he also - save for his first version in Gideon Jura, he also earns "Indestructible" on his creature form, allowing him to avoid direct destruction that targets creatures.

Which makes the interaction with Hour of Devastation hilarious. If it hits him while he's a creature, then he still won't take any damage from it!

It's nice to see the ability of a 'walker to participate more directly in a duel than is traditionally described by the flavour. Sure, summoning a Planeswalker for help is a thing, but Gideon will get up in people's faces in the process, rather than hanging back and casting their own 'spells'.

The next thing about him that I like is that he likes to draw attention to himself. The +2 on Gideon Jura and on Gideon, Battle-Forged  ^Flip forces them to be the target of an opponent. This has a couple advantages. First, it is that it protects you, the player from being hit on that turn by that player. Gideon is drawing attention to himself, and because he simply activated the +2, he can take an extra two points of damage before leaving the battlefield!

I've described planeswalkers as, and used them specifically as ablative armour for your life total. People will take them on, even when they are not a threat at the moment. Back when Kaladesh was in pre-release, I cast Dovin Baan, and +1'd him on something or other. The opponent reacted like he was a mortal threat with only 4 Loyalty counters, and hit him with extreme prejudice on their turn.

Was it the best use of Dovin Baan? Probably not in retrospect, but it is what it is.

That's what those versions of Gideon do, writ large. The buy you time.

For maximum hilarity, with Teferi, Temporal Archmage's emblem, activate Gideon Jura's +2 on your turn, then on that opponent's turn, activate his 0 to turn him into a 6/6 that won't take any damage. Watch all your opponents creatures take 6 damage!

The third thing he does that I view as important is something found on Gideon, Ally of Zendikar, and Gideon, Martial Paragon. That being their ability to boost the entire team. While the Ally version of Gideon pushes out an Emblem version of Glorious Anthem, the Martial Paragon gives a more temporary bonus - A Call to Glory except not limited to a certain creature type.

I've talked about Crusade in the past, and this is just another aspect to it. Gideon, in addition to being on the front lines, also acts to help boost everyone on the team. Though not as much as Ajani Steadfast or Ajani Unyeilding. He's much better at the long-term group benefits.

Other than that, Gideon makes tokens, though if you're trying for that, I think Elspeth, Sun's Champion is a bit better in that regard. Go with her instead if you think you can afford the increased mana cost.

So, what does all this mean for Gideon? Well, while I hate to make sweeping statements (you can all stop laughing now), it means that this entire time I've been writing about Beefslab, I have been feeling nothing but ambivalence. I mean, I like . It's my favourite colour!

Yet, I don't really care for him, nor will I look into putting him into a deck?

Well, I think part of the problem is that his only real thing is becoming a creature. It's important enough that it occurs on all instances of him, yet is it really that great? No. Not really. It's just a big creature that's hard to kill. And over-costed for the power and toughness too. And you can't really attach Enchantments or Equipment because I'm sure those fall off once he stops being a Creature.

And so that leaves him with two abilities on each card, rather than the three or even four of other 'Walkers. And even those are remarkably mediocre in nature, often being cheaper to cast on an actual Enchantment, or Sorcery. Or even at Instant speed!

Like Chandra, Gideon is emblematic of the way is portrayed in the game. Not spectacular, but neither does it have the glaring weaknesses of everyone else. It's solid, reliable, dependable, and completely redundant. Gideon is all of these things. Even Gideon of the Trials, a ridiculously good card by himself, doesn't really change the game because he's only one 'walker, and he can still be removed when your opponent is ready to win.

So, yeah. The rules change. A major blow against him is that he, like all Planeswalkers, were affected badly by the Planeswalker Uniqueness Rule. When you couldn't have Gideon of the Trials and Gideon, Ally of Zendikar out like you could, say, Thalia, Heretic Cathar and Thalia, Guardian of Thraben, they suffered. Often I would see decks who would have a couple copies of a single 'walker, and sometimes they couldn't decide which copy to use!

I won't say how well it works, but I'm more interested in Gideon as a card in the future now that I know he can be helping you out multiple times.

So there you have it. Boring. Inoffensive. Vanilla even. That's White alright. And Gideon, like Chandra and Jace, is part of the problem with the 'Walkers. They rarely take chances with them, or push them into spaces that White can and has gone, but isn't a big deal anymore.

Now, I'm just kinda sad. So much potential as a character and card wasted on a bad joke.

Join me next week when I look at something that was an interesting confluence of flavour, background and design - and the times when it showed up without the first two.

Until then, I'm selling out! Or is that tapping out? Visit my Patreon page, and see if you want to help me out. Basic donors get a preview copy of the final article, while advanced donors get that as well as the opportunity to join me in a podcast version of the series where I talk and you respond.