The 20 Best White Planeswalkers in Magic Ranked

Last updated on February 20, 2026

The Wandering Emperor | Illustration by Tommy Arnold

Planeswalkers are the most iconic card type in Magic, something wholly and uniquely its own, with strong ties to the lore; after all, the story generally revolves around planeswalkers. They’ve proven to be powerful, long-term value engines that can define formats.

While white has never gotten the broken, format-warping planeswalkers, it contains a solid assortment of powerful threats. These cards might be the perfect value engines for late-game dominance.

What Are White Planeswalkers in Magic?

Basri Ket | Illustration by Kieran Yanner

White planeswalkers in Magic have the planeswalker type and a mono-white color identity—no Ajani, Nacatl Pariahs here! These planeswalkers generally care about creating tokens and distributing +1/+1 counters. When they interact with your opponents, they often do so via exiling creatures, as you’d expect in white.

#20. Gideon, Champion of Justice

Gideon, Champion of Justice suffers from a mostly nonexistent uptick that only accelerates towards the expensive yet powerful ultimate. This one gets the nod mostly for being a funny Commander card, as your opponents can build wide enough board states to make the ultimate feasible.

#19. The Wanderer

The Wanderer is a simple removal stick, though the static ability randomly hoses opponents. If you play this in a red deck, you can set up neat turns with asymmetrical board wipes like Blasphemous Act.

#18. Teyo, Geometric Tactician

Teyo, Geometric Tactician is a Commander-designed planeswalker with a group hug card draw ability and a unique means to manage the board state. Though niche, Teyo works well in controlling EDH decks that want to buy time by limiting who can attack them. It’s also the only white planeswalker on this list that says “draw a card,” though planeswalkers inherently generate card advantage.

#17. Elspeth, Sun’s Nemesis

Though one of the lesser Elspeth planeswalkers, Elspeth, Sun's Nemesis nonetheless makes a mark when it comes down. Making tokens provides a solid board state and this planeswalker won’t stay down, which makes it a sticky threat for your opponents to keep up with.

#16. Ajani, Outland Chaperone

Ajani, Outland Chaperone would be a better planeswalker if its removal weren’t so limited, though 3-mana planeswalkers need limits—we wouldn’t want another Oko, Thief of Crowns. Still, 3 mana is cheap, as far as planeswalkers go. It won’t be easy to pressure a planeswalker that protects itself with tokens so early, which gives this Ajani teeth.

#15. Basri Ket

Basri Ket suffers from the awkwardness of needing a 2-drop. You really don’t want to play this without a creature to put the counter on. But it makes up for it with late-game pressure; drawing this when you have a couple of attackers and doubling your forces gives you a strong means to push for victory.

#14. Gideon, Ally of Zendikar

Gideon, Ally of Zendikar had a brief moment in Standard as part of a tokens deck, and it has largely faded into obscurity since. Which is a shame. Most white planeswalkers just make 1/1s, so the 2/2 Knight Ally tokens are a significant upgrade. A planeswalker that ultimates into an anthem is also pretty sick; it would be reasonable to consider this a wonderful riff on Glorious Anthem.

#13. Ajani, Adversary of Tyrants

Ajani, Adversary of Tyrants gets a bump because it distributes more counters than normal, much like Gideon AoZ making above-average tokens. Putting counters on two creatures rather than one is a significant buff, and it only takes a couple of turns to reach a strong ultimate.

#12. Elspeth Resplendent

Elspeth Resplendent has great flexibility with its keyword counters. Vigilance is often the choice to keep Elspeth safe, but flying gives you an aggressive slant and lifelink makes racing easy. It plays best in more midrangey decks that can take the time to cast a 5-drop, plus keep it alove a few turns to get the most from it.

#11. Gideon Jura

Gideon Jura could almost be a fog if you squint at its first ability. The trick to make it work is engineering situations where you can exploit that ability; perhaps you force an opponent to attack into a better board, or leave the way wide open for a Settle the Wreckage. It can also be a convincing win condition; all Gideon planeswalkers become creatures, but this one becomes the largest (with the acknowledgment that Gideon, Champion of Justice has variable power/toughness).

#10. Nahiri, the Lithomancer

Nahiri, the Lithomancer is pretty niche since you must play it with equipment, but it’s a perfect equipment planeswalker. Cheating equip costs is one of the most valuable effects a support card could have, and Nahiri even makes a body to put the equipment on! Between that and cheating the cost of the equipment itself, this planeswalker—and potential commander—slots well in equipment decks. Try playing it in decks with Skullclamp to turn Nahiri’s uptick into “draw 2 cards”!

#9. Elspeth, Sun’s Champion

Elspeth, Sun's Champion stood at the pinnacle of white planeswalkers for a while, but times have changed. Six mana is a lot for a planeswalker, and while three Soldier tokens is a formidable force, the games of Cube in which it once shined can end much faster. Make no mistake, it isn’t a bad planeswalker, and it’s still a great card for your EDH decks and Cubes! It just isn’t the peak.

#8. Kytheon, Hero of Akros / Gideon, Battle-Forged

White wants to hit hard and early, which Kytheon, Hero of Akros does extremely well. Who doesn’t love a 1-drop that levels up into a full, aggressive planeswalker? Gideon, Battle-Forged picks up where Kytheon left off by removing your opponent’s most important blocker, then attacking back as a sizeable creature. Attacking with three creatures is a tall ask, but it’s a goal aggro strives for anyway. This planeswalker is pretty niche since you won’t play it in a deck that wouldn’t run Savannah Lions.

#7. Elspeth, Knight-Errant

Elspeth, Knight-Errant appears as an aggro finisher in Cube. Granting a creature a surge of power and flying puts an immense clock on your opponents, assuming you don’t win outright, but it also provides long-term value by generating tokens. That makes it a remarkably flexible card depending on whether you’re the beatdown or not, which few aggro-aligned cards manage.

#6. Gideon of the Trials

Gideon of the Trials is another planeswalker well-suited to aggressive decks, as one would expect. A simple 3-mana 4/4 provides an uncomfortable amount of pressure. Even if your opponent attacks the planeswalker, that taps down blockers and gives you a head start in the race since you’re attacking their life total. You can also use this card as the centerpiece of extremely niche Gideon-tribal decks that lean on the emblem and spam Gideon variants.

#5. Serra the Benevolent

Baseline, this is a 4-mana Serra Angel. That’s a perfectly respectable card, and mostly responsible for Serra the Benevolent’s placement. It puts a significant amount of pressure on in a color that cares about pressure. If Serra sticks around to buff the angel, you get even more. While Serra works best in a deck with flying creatures for the +1, the play pattern is almost always cast Serra and make an angel token, so you shouldn’t feel restricted to a flying-themed deck.

#4. Archangel Elspeth

Archangel Elspeth is basically just Elspeth, Knight-Errant but better. Sure, buffing a creature the turn it comes down costs loyalty rather than adds it, but it also permanently buffs the creature. Your opponent can kill Elspeth, but you’ll still have an angel in play. The tokens are also better, and the ultimate is equally irrelevant; you’re dropping this planeswalker as the top-end of your aggro or midrange deck, and don’t expect the game to go long enough for the ultimate to matter.

#3. The Eternal Wanderer

The Eternal Wanderer makes the best tokens of any white planeswalker currently printed since they’re 2/2s with double strike, but that isn’t even the most remarkable part of the card. That honor goes to the board wipe that you can use the turn this planeswalker enters. You get to leave your opponent with their worst creature while retaining your best.

Board wipes and planeswalkers have always played well together because a timely Wrath of God prevents your opponents from pressuring a planeswalker. Slapping the board wipe on the planeswalker makes it an ugly finisher that’s hard to tangle with. Six-mana planeswalkers need to do a lot, and this one delivers.

#2. The Wandering Emperor

Planeswalkers and control decks often go together. There’s the aforementioned board wipe synergy, but control decks are thematically aligned with planeswalkers: They want to sit in play and accumulate value turn after turn, while the control deck wants the game to go as long as possible to flex their card advantage and removal suite.

The Wandering Emperor might be the planeswalker best suited to control decks because of flash. Control decks are most vulnerable when tapping out for a sorcery-speed threat or board wipe, but TWE lets you hold up card draw and countermagic. It often subs in for a removal spell, then generates tokens with which to overwhelm your opponent.

#1. Elspeth, Storm Slayer

Elspeth, Storm Slayer dominates games. The token doubler static is one of the most powerful planeswalker statics in the game and means the +1 floods the board faster than your opponents can keep up. It also has an immediacy many planeswalkers lack due to the mass-flying effect. It can win the turn it hits play, which few planeswalkers can claim. It lacks an ultimate, but that actually makes it even stronger; all three abilities are virtually always available.

Best White Planeswalker Payoffs

White has several planeswalker payoffs; it’s particularly good at tutoring them up. Ignite the Beacon, Djeru, With Eyes Open, and Call the Gatewatch all help find the perfect planeswalker for your needs.

It even cheats them into play easily, with cards like Deploy the Gatewatch, Academy Rector, and Urza Assembles the Titans that get planeswalkers into play.

More niche payoffs are Triumphant Reckoning, which serves as a planeswalker mass-reanimate, and Gatewatch Beacon, which casts your planeswalkers ahead of schedule and adds loyalty to them.

More generally, white has access to strong proliferate effects that add extra counters, like Grateful Apparition, Norn's Choirmaster, and Patrolling Peacemaker.

White also protects planeswalkers extremely well. Board wipes like Farewell and Sunfall clear the board to keep them safe, or you can weave in enchantments that make it harder to attack (though be aware that Ghostly Prison doesn't quite work).

Why Doesn’t The Wanderer Have a Planeswalker Type?

It’s a simple storytelling choice: The Wanderer’s name isn’t known. Before her identity as the emperor of Kamigawa was revealed, her origins were a mystery; even after, knowing the emperor’s name is a cultural taboo, so it’s still not known. Because “Wanderer” is simply an alias, it isn’t used as a planeswalker type.

Wrap Up

Elspeth, Sun's Nemesis | Illustration by Livia Prima

White’s planeswalkers have never reached the peaks of planeswalker like Minsc & Boo, Timeless Heroes or Oko, Thief of Crowns, but it still has solid options. White planeswalkers are generally best at being aggressive and making tokens, though there’s the occasional controlling one, like The Wandering Emperor. It has a good spread.

What’s your favorite white planeswalker? Do you like planeswalkers in Magic? Let me know in the comments below or on the Draftsim Discord!

Stay safe, and thanks for reading!