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  3. Ajani, Nacatl Pariah // Ajani, Nacatl Avenger

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Ajani, Nacatl Pariah // Ajani, Nacatl Avenger

Ajani, Nacatl Pariah // Ajani, Nacatl Avenger

Legendary Creature — Cat Warrior // Legendary Planeswalker — Ajani

Ajani wants a deck that is built around one creature type, like Elves or Dragons. It also suits a deck that keeps making its creatures bigger turn after turn.

  • Mana cost1 genericwhite
  • White, Red ()
  • Power / toughness1 / 2
  • RarityMythic

When Ajani enters, create a 2/1 white Cat Warrior creature token.

Whenever one or more other Cats you control die, you may exile Ajani, then return him to the battlefield transformed under his owner's control.

//

+2: Put a +1/+1 counter on each Cat you control.

0: Create a 2/1 white Cat Warrior creature token. When you do, if you control a red permanent other than Ajani, he deals damage equal to the number of creatures you control to any target.

−4: Each opponent chooses an artifact, a creature, an enchantment, and a planeswalker from among the nonland permanents they control, then sacrifices the rest.

Build a deck with Ajani Find it in the app

Themes

Cards That Fit Ajani, Nacatl Pariah

Picked for what they do in Ajani's deck. When two cards do the same job, the one with the lower comes first. All of them fit Ajani's color identity.Mana ValueThe total amount of mana a card costs, all added up. A card costing two generic and one green has a mana value of three. Wizards renamed this from "converted mana cost" in 2021, so older cards and articles may still use the old name.Sol RingOpen the full glossary

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The 6 Cards

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The 6 Cards

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The 6 Cards

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The 6 Cards

Rulings for Ajani, Nacatl Pariah

explain how Ajani works in tricky situations. They come from Wizards of the Coast, the company that makes Magic.RulingThe official answer to how a card works in a tricky situation. Most rulings are written by Wizards of the Coast, the company that makes Magic, and a few are notes from Scryfall, the card database Magic players use. A ruling explains a card. It does not change what the card says.Open the full glossary

Wizards of the Coast 7 Jun 2024

A permanent with more than one type may be chosen as any of its types. For example, an artifact creature may be chosen as the artifact, the creature, or both. Choosing the same permanent twice this way has the same result as choosing it once.

Wizards of the Coast 7 Jun 2024

A transforming double-faced card enters the battlefield with its front face up by default, unless a spell or ability instructs you to put it onto the battlefield transformed or allows you to cast it transformed, in which case it enters with its back face up.

Wizards of the Coast 7 Jun 2024

Each face of a transforming double-faced card has its own set of characteristics: name, types, subtypes, abilities, and so on. While a transforming double-faced permanent is on the battlefield, consider only the characteristics of the face that's currently up. The other set of characteristics is ignored.

Wizards of the Coast 7 Jun 2024

Each transforming double-faced card in this set is cast with its front face up. In every zone other than the battlefield, consider only the characteristics of its front face. If it is on the battlefield, consider only the characteristics of the face that's up; the other face's characteristics are ignored.

Wizards of the Coast 7 Jun 2024

If an opponent doesn't control any permanents of one of the types, they'll still choose the permanents of the types they do control.

Wizards of the Coast 7 Jun 2024

If you are instructed to put a card that isn't a double-faced card onto the battlefield transformed, it will not enter the battlefield at all. In that case, it stays in the zone it was previously in. For example, if a single-faced card is a copy of Ral, Monsoon Mage, choosing to exile that permanent during the resolution of its triggered ability will cause it to remain in exile.

Wizards of the Coast 7 Jun 2024

In a case where you create more than one Cat Warrior creature token with Ajani, Nacatl Avenger's second ability (for example, because of the effect of Doubling Season), the reflexive ability will trigger once for each Cat Warrior you made this way. If a replacement effect causes you to create different tokens instead (for example, the effect of Divine Visitation), the creation of those tokens won't cause the reflexive ability to trigger.

Wizards of the Coast 7 Jun 2024

In some rare cases, a spell or ability may cause Ajani, Nacatl Pariah to transform while it's a creature (front face up) on the battlefield. If this happens, Ajani, Nacatl Avenger won't have any loyalty counters on him and will subsequently be put into his owner's graveyard.

Wizards of the Coast 7 Jun 2024

In the Commander variant, a double-faced card's color identity is determined by the mana costs and mana symbols in the rules text of both faces combined. If either face has a color indicator or basic land type, those are also considered. For example, Ral, Monsoon Mage's color identity is blue and red, since its front face is red and its back face has a blue and red color indicator.

Wizards of the Coast 7 Jun 2024

Lands can't be chosen and won't be sacrificed, even if they have any of the types referenced by Ajani, Nacatl Avenger's last ability.

Wizards of the Coast 7 Jun 2024

The back face of a transforming double-faced card usually has a color indicator that defines its color. Colorless back faces, such as lands, do not.

Wizards of the Coast 7 Jun 2024

The mana value of a transforming double-faced card is the mana value of its front face, no matter which face is up.

Wizards of the Coast 7 Jun 2024

When Ajani, Nacatl Avenger's last ability resolves, starting with the next opponent in turn order, each opponent in turn order chooses permanents they control. Each opponent will know the choices made by players who chose before them. They then sacrifice all of their unchosen nonland permanents simultaneously.

Wizards of the Coast 7 Jun 2024

You can activate one of Ajani, Nacatl Avenger's loyalty abilities the turn he enters the battlefield. However, you may do so only during one of your main phases when the stack is empty. For example, if Ajani, Nacatl Avenger enters the battlefield during combat, there will be an opportunity for your opponent to remove him before you can activate one of his abilities.

Wizards of the Coast 7 Jun 2024

You don't choose a target for Ajani, Nacatl Avenger's second ability when you activate it. Rather, if you control a red permanent other than Ajani, Nacatl Avenger, a second "reflexive" ability triggers when you create a Cat Warrior creature token this way. You choose a target for that ability as it goes on the stack. Each player may respond to this triggered ability as normal.

15 rulings, all written by Wizards of the Coast. Read the originals on Gatherer ↗

Similar Commanders

Commanders that share the most with Ajani, and what they share.

Color identityEvery color of mana symbol on a card, in its cost and in its rules text. Your commander's color identity sets the limit for your whole deck: every other card has to fit inside it. A deck led by a green and white commander cannot play a card with any blue in its color identity.Open the full glossaryWRPlayers write colors as letters: W for white, R for red.Typal/KindredTypal decks are built around one creature type, like Elves, Dragons or Zombies, with cards that make that type stronger. The type is printed after the dash on the card's type line, and the strategy is also called kindred or tribal.Open the Typal/Kindred pageTypal PayoffRewards you for playing lots of one kind of creature. That includes "lords" that make every other Goblin or Merfolk you control bigger, and cards that ask you to choose a creature type and then pay you off for it. A creature type is the word on the middle line of the card, like Goblin, Elf or Zombie.Open the Typal Payoff pageToken EngineMakes tokens again and again rather than once. A token is a creature or other permanent created by a card, with no card of its own. Something that makes one token gives you a body; something that makes them every turn gives you a board you can keep rebuilding after it is cleared. Grave Titan, Bitterblossom, OphiomancerOpen the Token Engine pageDamage RemovalRemoves creatures by dealing damage to them rather than by destroying them outright. This includes fight cards, where your creature deals the damage. Damage only kills a creature if it at least equals its toughness, so it can miss the biggest ones, and it does not kill a creature that cannot be destroyed. Lightning Bolt, Rabid Bite, PyroclasmOpen the Damage Removal pageCounter EngineAdds +1/+1 counters over and over rather than once. A counter here is a small permanent marker that raises a creature's power and toughness for good. It is not a counterspell, which is a different thing entirely. Something that adds them every turn makes your whole board bigger and keeps it that way. Hardened Scales, Corpsejack MenaceOpen the Counter Engine page+1/+1 Counters+1/+1 counter decks put small markers on their creatures that make each one permanently bigger, and keep adding more every turn. Each +1/+1 counter adds one to a creature's power (the damage it deals) and toughness (the damage it can take).Open the +1/+1 Counters pageBurnDeals damage directly, to creatures or to players. Because it can hit a player as easily as a creature, the same card can remove a blocker or finish off an opponent. Lightning Bolt, Blasphemous ActOpen the Burn page+1/+1 CountersPuts +1/+1 counters on creatures, permanently raising their power and toughness. Unlike a temporary boost that wears off at end of turn, these markers stay put and stack up over a long game. Hardened Scales, The Great HengeOpen the +1/+1 Counters pageBurnBurn decks win by dealing damage straight to opponents with spells and abilities, rather than by attacking with creatures. Damage that hits every opponent at once counts three times over at a four-player table.Open the Burn pageETB ValueDoes something useful the moment it arrives: an enter the battlefield ability, which players shorten to ETB. You keep that effect even if the card is removed straight afterwards, which is why these pair so well with flicker cards that make them enter again. Solemn Simulacrum, The One RingOpen the ETB Value pageToken MakerCreates one or more tokens. Different cards make very different ones: creatures Grave Titan, Treasures Smothering Tithe, Clues Tireless Tracker or Food Gilded Goose. This is one of our largest tags, so pair it with an archetype or theme when you are hunting a specific kind.Open the Token Maker pageCatsCats are mostly white and green creatures, from house cats to great lions.Open the Cats page