All 15 Azorius Planeswalkers in Magic Ranked

Elminster | Illustration by Viktor Titov

Every color combination does planeswalkers differently, but the different Ravnican guilds have a knack for planeswalkers that fit into what their color pairs do. Gruul planeswalkers () help cast beefy creatures and make them bigger, Golgari planeswalkers () often mess with your graveyard, and Selesnya planeswalkers () usually play well with either tokens or enchantments.

As for Azorius planeswalkers (), they occupy the most controlling of the color pairs, but how is that reflected in their abilities, and are they actually any good? Not if Planeswalker Decks have anything to say about it….

What Are Azorius Planeswalkers?

Dovin, Grand Arbiter | Illustration by Kieran Yanner

Azorius planeswalkers are permanents with planeswalker in their type line and a strict Azorius color identity. Their abilities tend to follow what the Azorius Senate stands for: order and control. You’ll find abilities that draw cards, scry, bounce creatures, tap permanents, and even gain life. Some Azorius planeswalkers also have abilities that revolve around artifacts.

The most represented planeswalker types and characters among Azorius ‘walkers are Dovin planeswalkers and Teferi planeswalkers.

#15. Dovin, Architect of Law

Woah. A 6-mana Planeswalker Deck headliner. Call me Dipper Pines, because this is worthless!

Okay, I’m being a bit facetious. But you see what I mean, right? Dovin, Architect of Law is expensive, comes in with 5 loyalty, and only upticks in +1 increments on the way to an ultimate ability that’s like an extra turn spell, if you squint (or, like me, really need to go to the optometrist).

#14. Teferi, Timebender

In my mind, the only reasons to play Teferi, Timebender are:

• You’re going all-in on the character, in which case, more power to you;
• It was in your collection and you just wanted to give it a home;
• You aren’t actually going to play it, but rather trade it in for 6 Faerie Dragon tokens with Elminster or something.

#13. Space Beleren

This is pure Unfinity fun. Which for some of you means pure hell. Space Beleren kicks off a mini-game that fractures reality on the battlefield thanks to its space sculptor ability. It takes a while to access the ultimate sectorial sweeper, though.

Is this card good? Nah; it might even be among the worst Jace planeswalkers. But I’m absolutely here for campy silliness, and I like this thing. Doesn’t mean I didn’t upgrade its slot in my Atraxa superfriends deck as soon as I could, though….

#12. Dovin, Grand Arbiter

I want to like this one more than I do. Dovin, Grand Arbiter has a neat way to gain loyalty that rewards your unblockable-matters decks. While I understand the controlling and calculating nature of the ultimate ability, I just want a different payoff for the types of decks in which I’d consider playing Dovin for the other abilities, you know? Like Splinter, Radical Rat: Your ninjas could help you get Dovin to at least 7 loyalty quickly, but the payoff is the best three cards among the top 10 in your deck. Normally that’s a good payoff, but blue saboteur decks draw cards like crazy anyway.

#11. Niko Aris

Poor Niko, one of many one-and-done planeswalkers thanks to the events of March of the Machine and The Aftermath. Niko Aris at least does something interesting with the unique Shard tokens, plus its unblockable enabling uptick has odd interactions with the likes of ninjutsu and sneak.

It’s what I’d call a durdle-walker though: There’s no clear ultimate ability that pays you off for stacking loyalty counters onto it. Instead, it rewards the rest of your setup. Cast a Windfall before you activate the -1 ability that burns a tapped creature, maybe filter it through a Stuffy Doll or a Phyrexian Vindicator…. You have to build around it, which is part of why it’s far from the best, but I definitely like Niko Aris more than I did when I first saw it in a Kaldheim booster.

#10. Dovin Baan

Azorius is a control color pair, you say? How about a +1 loyalty ability that shuts off activated abilities? The rest of Dovin Baan’s abilities are useful too, though an opponent that runs enough removal in their deck won’t let this live close to long enough to activate that ultimate. I’d count myself lucky if I could activate this twice before it bites the dust.

#9. Invasion of New Phyrexia / Teferi Akosa of Zhalfir

My go-wide tendencies want to focus on using this battle as an outlet for infinite mana to give you a quick, wide board. But we care about the planeswalkers here, and Teferi Akosa of Zhalfir starts off well since you can activate any of its abilities the turn you flip it. The abilities are interesting, but not “wow” material. There’s card draw, but you have to discard. The knight typal emblems stack if Teferi sticks around long enough to get them. And you can use a board of tokens to tuck something back into your opponent’s library and maybe disrupt a topdecker’s plans. You have to get there, though, and 6 damage to a battle isn’t trivial in Azorius.

#8. Dovin, Hand of Control

Dovin, Hand of Control brings tax to a stax build, and on a budget, too. You can’t give it more loyalty without outside help, but that isn’t always what you need. It also drops little targeted Fog-bombs if you need it to, but that’s less likely to come up than just the plain ol’ static. It’s kind of absurd that Grand Arbiter Augustin IV can cast this for just or .

#7. Elminster

Scrying and topdeck manipulation are the name of the game when you run Elminster in your command zone. Every scry gives you cost reduction for the big spells you want to cast, while the -3 loyalty ability turns the cards you set up into a board of flying Faerie Dragons.

You aren’t as likely to play Elminster in the 99 just because its combination of abilities make it a square peg in some decks. Something like Yennett, Cryptic Sovereign is probably the closest fit.

#6. Urza, Planeswalker

Your ability to assemble Urza, Planeswalker hinges on some luck, though you need less of it if Urza, Lord Protector is in your command zone. But let’s not get lost in the weeds of tutors and cost reducers and assume you can consistently meld the planeswalker. While all of its abilities have neat impacts on the board in various combinations, my dream is to +2 this bad boy, proliferate with an Experimental Augury or something, then pop off with the ultimate. With a critical mass of artifact creatures, that’s a win condition. Although, Krang, Utrom Warlord has a similar impact, minus the sweeper….

#5. Narset Transcendent

That ultimate ability is a control player’s dream: Narset Transcendent can turn everyone’s decks into Nikya of the Old Ways, which for some players is an auto-concede. As with Dovin Baan, you have to get there.

#4. Venser, the Sojourner

At a glance, blink and planeswalker decks are the primary homes for Venser, the Sojourner. It’s pricy at 5 mana, but I wouldn’t be embarrassed to play it there. Heck, a deck that brings creatures back from the graveyard with finality counters could benefit from that uptick, too.

Other decks that can use this Venser planeswalker include Zedruu the Greathearted, where Venser can return something you’ve donated to your control, and Arcades, the Strategist, where Venser’s blink gives you card draw and the unblockable enabler can be a win condition.

#3. Teferi, Hero of Dominaria

While not the most oppressively controlling Teferi planeswalker, Teferi, Hero of Dominaria is solid in its role. Uptick for card draw that also opens up the mana for a Negate, downtick to tuck away something problematic, and then go for an emblem that turns mass card draw into sweepers. It isn’t limit to nonlands either, so you can disrupt a lot of things, including someone’s access to their colors, a Voltron player’s Rogue's Passage, an opposing Reliquary Tower, etc.

#2. Teferi, Who Slows the Sunset

I’ll give Teferi, Who Slows the Sunset a slight edge over the Dominaria Teferi because it combos with The Chain Veil and The Peregrine Dynamo, among others. The uptick has modality since you get different effects depending on whether you target your opponents’ or your own permanents. The -2 loyalty ability is a fair trade for the amount of topdeck manipulation you get here. The mass untap you get from the emblem has great synergy with cards that care about when you cast spells during your opponents’ turns, but it also means you can activate certain abilities over and over.

#1. Teferi, Time Raveler

Teferi, Time Raveler ate a ban in Pioneer, and you shouldn’t be surprised because it’s absurdly powerful. The static ability alone slows your opponents to sorcery speed, just another brick in a potential stax wall. The uptick doesn’t even limit its flash enabling to just the next spell you cast, which becomes absurd in Commander when you also have the ability to untap some or all of your mana sources and draw cards on your opponents’ turns. It’s got plenty of Displacer Kitten combos, but this Teferi also has some nasty lock or lock adjacent combos like Knowledge Pool, Omen Machine, and Possibility Storm.

Best Azorius Planeswalker Payoffs

All planeswalkers are legendary permanents, so legends matter and historic payoffs can all take advantage of your Azorius planeswalkers. Oath of Teferi is a natural fit too as an enchantment that lets you activate your ‘walkers’ abilities twice as often.

Azorius planeswalkers benefit from proliferation, which you can find on creatures like Dreamtide Whale and Thrummingbird. Azorius planeswalkers slot nicely alongside commanders that already do this, regardless of whether they’re superfriends decks. Kilo, Apogee Mind, Commodore Guff, and Atraxa, Praetors' Voice come to mind.

The more controlling Azorius planeswalkers help out your Grand Arbiter Augustin IV deck and benefit from its cost reduction. Displacer Kitten, Ghostly Flicker, and other cards that blink or flicker your permanents allow you to reset a nearly dead planeswalker to its original loyalty and use their abilities more than once in the same turn.

You can find other payoffs for your Azorius planeswalkers depending on their individual abilities. For example, tapping abilities have Hylda of the Icy Crown, an Azorius commander with a modal trigger each time you tap your opponents’ creatures, while Elminster’s Faerie Dragon tokens are a good payoff for abilities that manipulate the top of your library.

Wrap Up

Venser, the Sojourner | Illustration by Eric Deschamps

Azorius planeswalkers don’t do much to break the mold of what you’d expect from the color pair. The best among them are controlling game pieces that your opponents must answer, but the worst of them suffer from the same issues that so, so many others do. Seriously, Planeswalker Decks were a fine introductory product, but they’re like tutorial levels that you only replay because you’re achievement hunting.

Which Azorius planeswalkers do you run, and in which decks and formats? Did I over- or underrate some of these cards? Let me know in the comments below or over on the Draftsim Discord.

Until next time, keep that game plan locked in!