All 7 Vivien Planeswalkers in Magic Ranked

Vivien Reid | Illustration by Zara Alfonso

Once a planeswalker gets a few different cards to compare, it’s always fun to start to rank them to see where the designers both hit and miss. With anywhere from two to four loyalty abilities to compare, plus mana values and starting loyalty, there’re so many different variables to weigh. What can I say? Sometimes it’s just fun to nerd out.

Today’s planeswalker would probably scoff at all these calculations and tell us to go outside. But… she’d also be the one to save us from getting mauled by whatever lurks in the wilds of the multiverse. Time to shine a spotlight on one of the most aggressive green-based planeswalkers in Magic: Vivien Reid.

What Are Vivien Planeswalkers in MTG?

Vivien, Champion of the Wilds | Illustration by Magali Villeneuve

Vivien planeswalkers are permanent cards in Magic that represent the planeswalker character Vivien Reid; they’re planeswalkers with a “Vivien” subtype.

As of Secrets of Strixhaven, all Vivien planeswalker cards are mono-green. They have a mix of creature-focused abilities, including token generation, +1/+1 counter distribution, punch abilities, mass pump abilities, and more.

#7. Vivien of the Arkbow

Planeswalker Decks. All I can do is sigh and shake my head. Vivien of the Arkbow has all the trademark issues of these kinds of planeswalkers: The mana value is too high, it takes too long to reach the ultimate, and all the abilities are overcosted compared to other Vivien planeswalkers.

#6. Vivien, Nature’s Avenger

The Core Set 2020 Planeswalker Deck Vivien is eerily comparable to its Core Set 2019 counterpart. Same mana value, uptick is almost the same, and the ultimate pumps up one creature a lot rather than moderately pump all of them. The difference is that middle ability: Vivien, Nature's Avenger trades in the punch spell for an ability that grabs a creature from your deck. There’s one place where I don’t hate that, and it’s a Slime Against Humanity Commander deck that uses the ability to grab its Craterhoof Behemoth or something. Other Viviens have similar abilities that don’t reveal the contents of your deck to your opponent, and that knowledge can be valuable depending on the match-up and power level.

#5. Vivien, Arkbow Ranger

Three green pips is a little color intensive for most multicolor decks, which keeps Vivien, Arkbow Ranger mostly in mono-green builds. The abilities are all standard Vivien, but that mana cost holds it back from being the most efficient way to use its slot. You can’t cast this on 2 with a pair of Forests and a Sol Ring, which defeats the purpose of ramp and fast mana.

#4. Vivien on the Hunt

Now this Vivien does creatures differently. Six mana is a lot, but you get a pod effect, a self-mill ability that stuffs creatures into your hand, and… 4/4 Rhino Warriors. Yup. That’s how you spend your loyalty. Don’t get me wrong: This Vivien is a massive improvement over the others so far, especially because Birthing Pod decks are a thing. I just wish that there were a better way to spend the loyalty that you accumulate with the other abilities, although I get that if that were the case, it would make Vivien on the Hunt that much more of a target itself. As is, this Vivien is fair and playable.

#3. Vivien, Monsters’ Advocate

Vivien, Monsters' Advocate is a Realmwalker that isn’t locked to a typal strategy, though the beast tokens fit in nicely with Slinza, the Spiked Stampede. Most of the value comes from the static abilities, but this Vivien is also a source of different counter types for commanders like Perrie, the Pulverizer. The ability to turn some of your creature spells into a two-for-one is a good payoff, especially with creaturefall triggers.

#2. Vivien Reid

Sometimes you just hit a home run the first time. Vivien Reid checks a lot of different boxes for a creature deck’s utility package: You have card advantage, a potentially repeatable Naturalize, and an anthemic emblem that hits like the Final Lap fanfare in Mario Kart. Sure, the emblem requires lots of investment, but many green+ creature decks that would play Vivien Reid might also feature some proliferation somewhere. Or, you know, a Vorinclex, Monstrous Raider.

#1. Vivien, Champion of the Wilds

This one holds a nostalgic place in my heart because this art is one of the murals and illustrations that adorn the exterior of my Local Game Store. But it’s hard to argue with the power of a 3-mana flash enabler. It helps a deck like Fynn, the Fangbearer become that much deadlier on defense: Your opponents have to wonder whether you’re holding up creatures the moment you pass the turn with mana open. Flash also allows aggro decks to use fewer haste enablers or to load up on abilities that untap their mana sources.

The loyalty abilities aren’t anything mind-blowing; you can keep your best creature back on defense most turns, then filter the top of your library essentially to add an extra card to your hand.

Vivien Payoffs

As with many planeswalkers that have been the headliner of a Planeswalker Deck, Vivien has a few specific payoffs. Ethereal Elk fetches one of the least effective Viviens, so… no thanks. Vivien's Crocodile and Vivien's Jaguar at least care about any Vivien, but they don’t really do much.

Vivien planeswalkers benefit from all your usual planeswalker payoffs like proliferation and the ability to move counters around. The “Oath” cycle of legendary enchantments are all payoffs for planeswalkers that reward you when you play many of them; Oath of Nissa and Oath of Ajani are the most relevant in terms of color identity.

Who Is Vivien Reid?

Vivien Reid | Illustration by Anna Steinbauer

Vivien Reid is a planeswalker from Skalla whose spark ignited as her plane was destroyed by (who else?) Nicol Bolas. She possesses the Arkbow, an artifact co-created by the Smaragdi (people who lived in the forest and vowed to protect its wildlife) and the Nura (the advanced civilization that had been slowly choking out the woodlands prior to Bolas’s arrival). The Arkbow allows Vivien to summon spirits of any creature that lived on her home plane, plus many that she has since encountered in her travels as a planeswalker.

In the story, we first meet Vivien on Ixalan in Core Set 2019, during a story in which she finds and liberates a menagerie of mistreated creatures. She’s present during War of the Spark, where she’s motivated to defeat Nicol Bolas to avenge Skalla. She’s part of the team that’s tasked to assassinate Liliana, and they almost succeed.

Once Bolas is defeated, Vivien does some planeswalking and some soul-searching until she decides to travel the multiverse and try to prevent other planes from breaking the balance between nature and progress. Vivien makes a few more sporadic appearances from Ikoria through March of the Machine, and she’s notably both the character who introduces us to Lukka and one of the ones that kill him after his compleation.

Is Vivien Alive? Is She Desparked?

Yes, Vivien is alive. We last saw her during March of the Machine when she and Vadrok killed Lukka. She’s not the type of character that would be killed off-page, so she’s alive until proven otherwise.

As for her spark, that’s unknown. She hasn’t had a new planeswalker card since Streets of New Capenna; while Vivien Reid was reprinted in Foundations, it’s a core set with cards that are essentially snapshots of moments from across Magic’s timeline, so this reprint isn’t confirmation that Vivien still has her spark. We’ll have to wait until she reappears in the story or is mentioned by another character to have confirmation.

What Other Vivien Cards Are There?

• Vivien's Arkbow
• Vivien's Crocodile
• Vivien's Grizzly
• Vivien's Invocation
• Vivien's Jaguar
• Vivien's Stampede
• Vivien's Talent

Wrap Up

Vivien's Arkbow | Illustration by Zack Stella

Despite not having as deep a history as Elspeth or Chandra, Vivien has a surprisingly good hit-to-miss ratio among her planeswalker cards. Vivien Reid was a great planeswalker out of the gate, and it’s only topped by a flash enabling static ability. I’m curious to see where Vivien will pop up next. The safe bet would be Ikoria given that she may feel she has unfinished business there, but she could appear anywhere that the preservation of nature and the development of civilization are at odds, whether that’s a new plane or an old favorite.

Where do you want to see Vivien next? Should she keep her spark? Do you want her to dip into other colors of Magic or stick to mono-green? Let me know anything Vivien-related that’s on your mind in the comments below, or continue the discussion on the Draftsim Discord.

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Until next time, go take a walk on the wild side!