The charms, as I am calling them, are cards which allow for one of series of abilities to be played from them. Funeral Charm can either force an opponent to discard a card, boost a creature, shrink a creature or give swampwalk. I originally threw this card in a mono-black discard deck I was making for its cheap instant discard ability. I quickly realized that its other abilities could and would serve me quite well. Getting rid of that Llanowar Elf on a land-weak green deck or forcing a creature exchange helped me win more games than I otherwise would have. And so my appreciation of charms grew.
When you analyze the charms by themselves, you see nothing really extraordinary about them: the abilities are minor at best. But what makes the charms interesting is their versatility. The ability to have a choice of effects to choose from during the game allows for a quasi-sideboard. Funeral Charm allows me to remove a troublesome creature before an equipment can be placed on it, allowing me to adapt during game one (1) instead of having to wait after sideboarding.
Being versatile means that I do not have to waste valuable slots just for situational situations. I do not have to waste a few slots for a disenchantment effect if I have a charm with that ability already written on the card. It is also not a wasted card against decks without enchantments in them, thereby being much more versatile and allowing me to win more consistently by devoting more slots to other troublesome effects.
Part of the reason Planewalker cards are so strong is that each one has a multitude of effects written on it, allowing for said versatility. This is not to be lost: even if one uses a Planewalker card not as the creator intended, but rather as an afterthought, it allows for more consistent play.
We'll continue this discussion next time.
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