MTG’s controversial planeswalker Oko returns and fans finally love him

Oko was once one of MTG’s most hated, overpowered cards, but his reappearance in MTG’s upcoming gunslinging set – Outlaws of Thunder Junction – has many players reassessing the character.

Oko is one of the most controversial figures in MTG, both in and out of the story. This tricksy fae Planeswalker caused all manner of headaches for the plane of Eldraine, and the current Omenpath arc sees Kellan traveling the planes in search of Oko, his wayward father.

Instead of retiring Oko as a character, Wizards is leaning into this rogue’s rotten reputation, making him the leader of Thunder Junction’s gang of safe-cracking ne’er do wells. Whether this will rehabilitate the character’s real-world reputation while making him all the more notorious among MTG’s characters remains to be seen.

Oko, Thief of Crowns broke MTG

WOTC

While several cards featuring or referencing Oko have been printed, it’s Oko, Thief of Crowns that is most memorable among MTG players, and not for good reason.

Oko, Thief of Crowns was so incredibly powerful, versatile, and oppressive that the card utterly dominated MTG play at the time of release, and still regularly makes the rounds in fan discussion as one of Magic’s most salt-inducing cards. The elk ability not costing mana – and instead being a +1 – is a particular sore spot.

The card had to be banned in multiple formats to see some semblance of balance return to MTG, but by then the reputation of the Throne of Eldraine set as a game-breaker left a sour taste in many fans’ mouths.

While Oko, the Ringleader is being assessed on its own merits, some shade towards Oko, Thief of Crowns is being justly thrown. In reference to the new ‘crime’ mechanic on Oko, The Ringleader, Reddit commenter Narfidy said:

“Considering old Oko was a crime against magic this makes sense to me.”

Some wounds never heal in MTG, and the near-unplayable few weeks following Throne of Eldraine’s release have stuck in many players’ memories.

Oko, the Ringleader is a fair, fun, fae

WOTC

It appears that MTG’s designers have learned from Oko’s overwhelmingly powerful early showing. Oko, the Ringleader is debuting in Outlaws of Thunder Junction, and this version of Oko is already winning over many fans.

The excellent flavor and showmanship of the character remain – with a nod to his infamous elk-polymorphing abilities – but with the power dialed back to reasonable levels. Instead of endlessly repeatable removal, Oko now has shapeshifting, value-generating, and duplication abilities.

By making Oko elk-generating ability and -1 and limiting it from a removal ability to a simple token creator, the team at Wizards are doing their best to remove what people found so objectionable about Oko’s most notorious card.

All this isn’t to say that Oko has fully turned over a new leaf, however, as the rascally fae is still relying on some old tricks. As Reddit user 10vernothin pointed out:

“So, elks are not native to arid climates.

“This implies that Oko turned some poor bloke into an elk and is currently riding it.”

It appears that fans are digging this version of Oko far more, with many willing to let bygones be bygones. Still, with a short time left before Outlaws of Thunder Junctions’ April 19 debut, there’s plenty of time left for Oko and his gang to rustle up a whole heap of trouble.

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