Planeswalker's Decree Cycle

## Summary

The Planeswalker's Decree cycle is a five-card cycle of sorceries from Argentum.

Each card in the cycle is a 10 mana sorcery, each depicting a planeswalker of that card's color. They present four options, or "modes" for the user to pick between four times, with the option to choose any mode more than once.

## Lore

These five cards represent the efforts of Elspeth, Jace, Liliana, Chandra and Nissa to scourge any last corruption from Memnite, Urtet or the Phyrexian Invasion from the plane of Argentum.

## Elspeth's Decree

Elspeth's Decree, the White card of the cycle, gives the user four choices:

* Create five 1/1 white soldier creature tokens
* Exile up to two target creatures
* Creatures you control get +2/+2 and gain flying until end of turn.
* Permanents you control gain indestructible until end of turn.

While the card saw a moderate degree of play in Selesnya spell based token decks, which could use green's ramp into the spell and take advantage of its board saving, board pumping or simply creating up to 20 tokens, it failed to see significant play anywhere else, for its lack of unique effects. In essence, every one of the effects could be obtained with its own spell, and the 10 mana price was too much to pay for theoretically superior card advantage.

## Jace's Decree

Jace's Decree, the Blue card of the cycle, gives the user four choices:

* Counter the next noncreature spell target player would cast.
* Counter the next creature spell target player would cast.
* Scry 7.
* Draw three cards.

Jace's Decree, while acknowledged as a theoretically powerful card, failed to find a format that it would fit in. The high cost and need for color fixing made it hard to justify in anything but a commander deck, while it's first two abilities are absolutely game ending... In a two player game. Still, it was used in spell-cheat decks as a game ending piece, being able to completely shut a player out of the game, or effectively dig through most of your library and get the perfect combo pieces with 7-28 scrys and 3-12 draws.

## Liliana's Decree

Liliana's Decree, the Black card of the cycle gives you four choices:

* Target player discards four cards.
* Return target up to two target creature cards from a graveyard to the battlefield under your control.
* Return up to three target cards from your graveyard to your hand.
* Amass 5.

Liliana's Decree faced some competition from Rise of the Dark Realms for ridiculous graveyard-based sorcery, but ultimately won out due to a resistance to graveyard removal, the ability to effectively make each opponent discard their hand, or even create a 20/20 zombie. It would go on to become a staple in mono-black zombie commander decks that had sufficient ramp to play it.

## Chandra's Decree

Chandra's Decree, the Red card of the cycle gives you four choices:

* Add four red to your mana pool.
* Exile the top three cards of your library, you may play them this turn.
* Deal 5 damage to any target.
* Target instant or sorcery card in your graveyard gains Flashback 0 until end of turn.

Chandra's Decree, being a self-synergistic card, which can reimburse mana and pull out more cards for you to use, or simply win games on the spot by dealing 20 damage, saw a decent degree of play in legacy ritual and storm decks. Unlike the other decrees, however, it didn't have nearly the same kick in commander, where a 20 damage threat isn't the same game win.

## Nissa's Decree

Nissa's Decree, the Green card of the cycle gives you four options:

* Search your library for a land card and put it onto the battlefield, then shuffle.
* Put three +1/+1 counters on each land you control.
* Create a 1/1 elf druid creature token that taps for green mana.
* You gain 2 life for each creature you control.

Nissa's Decree became a popular wincon in green tokens decks. Green decks had the ramp to bring it out, while the decree activated manlands to backup your tokens for an overwhelming push to win, or just gaining 8 life for each of your thousand saprolings often led to scoopings.