Overall, I think he leaves a lot to be desired. I see him like a worse Vraska the Unseen(and I'm not a huge fan of her either); at least for her she permanently answers a threat, while he only temporarily answers a threat. The +1 is a little better for him, but I think the -3 should really have been a -2. However, I do think he could be a solid role-player in standard, at least post-rotation. His -3 ability naturally lends itself to a strategy that rewards players for already having a decent field presence. As LSV showed in his article, Mono-Blue Devotion might like this card post-rotation as a tempo removal spell that still provides some utility and some devotion. Currently that slot is used by Rapid Hybridization, and with the presence of Pack Rat and other utility monsters running around, I think Rapid Hybridization is too good to replace right now. But after Rapid (and Pack Rat) rotate, having a permanent that bounces a creature, Planeswalker, or enchantment, provides 2 blue devotion, and can provide some additional utility may be exactly what the deck will need. Now, whether mono-blue will still be a thing is a different issue, but there may be some other similar roles that may pop up where this Jace can be a role player.
So, I will agree with the consensus that Jace, the Living Guildpact is terrible for control, but I will say that he may see play if an aggressive blue based deck shows up. While he might not permanently answer anything, he can buy enough time for you to provide adequate amounts of pressure.
Its the worse printed version of Jace, by far and period. The +1 is completely useless. Saying its good with Courser does not justify how much of a "do nothing" effect this is. Know what else it good with Courser? Domri for now and forever, and basically any scry effect from Theros. Justifying a card because its good with another card is bad evaluation. On its own this is a +1 that contributes nothing to the game state whatsoever.
Then lets see...Disperse on a -3?! Shockingly bad.
And even the ultimate...grrr. Ultimates are supposed to win you the game. Elspeth's ultimate ends the game. Kioras ends the game. Nissa? Well, they have one more turn but you get the idea. Jace, AoT gets you a wincon to...you guessed it, win the game. Domri's ultimate makes any dork win the game. See a pattern? Now read this ultimate. It does absolutely nothing to the board states whatsoever. Its basically just an elixer pop and a worse Sphinx's Rev.
Bad, bad, bad. And the overvaluing of this trash by people coming up just because it has the name "Jace" is gonna make me mad...and a little sad.
His +2 does jack to board state (he can't even mill cards with Flashback).
His -1 bounces creatures only (but it is a -1 on a 3-loyalty walker, so he can bounce stuff for 3 turns in a row).
His ult doesn't win the game (prima facie). It also doesn't affect board state at all. It does Mind Twist opponents, but it doesn't draw you cards. Your opponent will still have some cards left in his/her library afterwards, especially since the ult is telegraphed very far in advance.
...Of course, Jace TMS is only crushingly good because his +0 draws cards, his +2 screws over opponents' chances of answering him, and since your opponent has zillions of turns to keep him from ulting, if he ults, your opponent likely couldn't answer him (and therefore can't answer him with anything in hand-turned-library).
Jace LG's chances are hindered by his inability to draw cards and inability to infamously Fateseal, but I wouldn't discount him without testing. I have used Jace TMS's -1 on a Goyf to end the game in my favour, and that was the only thing Jace did all game. (Admittedly, most of the time I play Jace TMS, I spam his +0, then sparingly use his +2 on my opponent, and I sometimes watch Jace TMS die to creatures or Lightning Bolt before I get to untap with him.)
On other notes, Jace Beleren's and Liliana of the Veil's +X's don't affect board state (unless Liliana drops opposing Loxodon Smiters on the floor), Elspeth, Knight-Errant's ult doesn't win the game (but it does blank a lot of opposing cards), and Ajani Vengeant's ult doesn't win the game against opposing board presence. Heck, Baby Jace can't affect board state, and his ult usually doesn't win the game, even in decks dedicated to using him as a win con (he often has to ult twice in those decks).
I should probably ask this in Storyline, but what does "Living Guildpact" mean? I'm not too familiar with Ravnica terms.
The Guildpact was a magical contract that set rules for each of the guilds. It was destroyed during the first Ravnica block, then restored (in the form of Jace) during the RTR block.
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Also known as Blitzer or Romanoff Blitzer. WIXOSS wiki admin.
The only possible place this guy could end up is MUD for his UU cost and -3. Even then, I just don't see it. His +1 is almost entirely useless; it does not provide card advantage, it does not put cards in the graveyard fast enough, and it isn't even good scry. His -3 is okay in tempo situations, but it is overcosted and useless for any deck that needs permanent removal (control). So his first two abilities are only useful in a tempo based MUD deck, but that type of deck can't really capitalize on his ultimate, which is built for control decks that will have sweepers.
He is too slow, barely affects most deck archetypes, isn't synergistic at all, is overcosted, and doesn't fit in any current deck well. The only place I can see him fitting in a MUD deck with Whelming Wave, and that is pushing it. I wouldn't play him in an aggro deck; he does nothing for them. I wouldn't play him in a midrange deck; he doesn't have enough impact. I wouldn't play him in a control deck; he would just be a wasted turn and a bunch of durdles.
This jace is not unplayable, you can say it's pretty bad since it is your opinion. But this jace isn't for every deck. We could see BUG dredge with this card no problem, sets up creatures in the grave. you also don't randomly mill your reanimation spells.
This jace is not unplayable, you can say it's pretty bad since it is your opinion. But this jace isn't for every deck. We could see BUG dredge with this card no problem, sets up creatures in the grave. you also don't randomly mill your reanimation spells.
Putting one card a turn in the graveyard for 4 mana is not nearly fast enough for dredge decks. There are much better ways to put cards in the graveyard that are in color (G/B, not 2UU). His casting cost is hard to hit in any reanimation deck, and he doesn't do nearly enough. Compare to Nyx Weaver, which is cheaper, twice as effective, and can also get any card you need even if it came from the battlefield. Or virtually any of the sorcery/instant cards like Commune of the Gods. To be truly useful for a dredge deck, he'd have needed an easier casting cost (1UB or 2U) and his +1 would probably need to have been a 0 that looked at 3.
This jace is not unplayable, you can say it's pretty bad since it is your opinion. But this jace isn't for every deck. We could see BUG dredge with this card no problem, sets up creatures in the grave. you also don't randomly mill your reanimation spells.
Putting one card a turn in the graveyard for 4 mana is not nearly fast enough for dredge decks. There are much better ways to put cards in the graveyard that are in color (G/B, not 2UU). His casting cost is hard to hit in any reanimation deck, and he doesn't do nearly enough. Compare to Nyx Weaver, which is cheaper, twice as effective, and can also get any card you need even if it came from the battlefield. Or virtually any of the sorcery/instant cards like Commune of the Gods. To be truly useful for a dredge deck, he'd have needed an easier casting cost (1UB or 2U) and his +1 would probably need to have been a 0 that looked at 3.
We never know, we could always try different things. That's the best thing about planeswalkers, we say how good they are or how bad they are. They either go through the hype test and fail, or somehow get used in some inconceivable deck. Even lill of dark realms, no matter how of a joke the card it is conjoined with the mono black mutilate deck. 5/6 is usable planeswalkers is still good number for this set if you think jace will possibly never be used in any deck.
OK. Here's my attempt at justifying its use. If we get a good black reaninator spell then UB reanimate could work with whip,program sphinx, and maybe a tech one of this guy. But still. So much could have made it better. The plus 1 could have allowed u to hit the opponents deck for a fate seal like form of control.
So since this card is so bad I'm going to attempt to discover it's uses.
In standard, he interacts with the Souls of cards and also very poorly with "dredge". Control based decks could run him sb for control matchups, this card is dead against an empty handed turn 4 aggro matchup so keep it in the sb. Function in mono-blue is pretty much non-existant, Thassa's static is strong enough to not need to run this card if you know that one of the cards you are getting is good enough. Probably might end up being the first planeswalker people will actually not end up using any ability if it sees midrange play.
In modern, putting Think Twice or Lingering souls into the graveyard seems neat at first, but I would prefer to play Cryptic Command any day over this in any blue related shell. Other decks beside control would find this card far far too slow, coming out to bounce a single Tarmogoyf for 4 with no other effect is card disadvantage. Speaking of the devil, the +1 would have interesting utility with Tarmy, however once again it fails to be more useful than a Dakmor Salvage in your graveyard. In some sort of black you could be putting a Bloodghast into the graveyard, however the fact that you don't draw a card means this barely passes as card advantage.
In EDH, I can see the uses of him. Soothsaying and Sensei's Divining Top could be used interestingly, and with Blue Black reanimator control he could possibly shine. The -8 would be super high tier in commander, if it affected board state! Why wasn't it a onesided Sway of the Stars -esque? It would have been JtMS's best friend in EDH. I would've definitely try my hardest to play it.
While I can see Jace being decent in Standard after rotation, I cannot see him being good in Modern when even Architect of Thought sees very little play.
While I can see Jace being decent in Standard after rotation, I cannot see him being good in Modern when even Architect of Thought sees very little play.
Jace AoT can barely protect himself (he stalls 2/X's like Bob/Tiago/Leonin Arbiter, but bites it to Goyf/Scavenging Ooze/V. Clique), and he kicks himself when he tries to produce CA. At least Jace LG can protect himself, and his +1 is likely better against Goyf + Bob than Jace AoT's +1 is (it buffs Goyf, but at least he "scryed", when the other Jace can't even prevent his own death).
Admittedly, in the decks I am trying out Jace LG in (Blue Moon, Tempo Twin), part of me wonders why I'm not using Ral Zarek instead--then I wonder why Ral sees basically no Modern play. Then I wonder why Xenagos, the Reveler sees basically no Modern play. They can protect themselves, so did they just come in the wrong place at the wrong time? And has Jace LG arrived in the wrong place at the wrong time?
While I can see Jace being decent in Standard after rotation, I cannot see him being good in Modern when even Architect of Thought sees very little play.
Jace AoT can barely protect himself (he stalls 2/X's like Bob/Tiago/Leonin Arbiter, but bites it to Goyf/Scavenging Ooze/V. Clique), and he kicks himself when he tries to produce CA. At least Jace LG can protect himself, and his +1 is likely better against Goyf + Bob than Jace AoT's +1 is (it buffs Goyf, but at least he "scryed", when the other Jace can't even prevent his own death).
Admittedly, in the decks I am trying out Jace LG in (Blue Moon, Tempo Twin), part of me wonders why I'm not using Ral Zarek instead--then I wonder why Ral sees basically no Modern play. Then I wonder why Xenagos, the Reveler sees basically no Modern play. They can protect themselves, so did they just come in the wrong place at the wrong time? And has Jace LG arrived in the wrong place at the wrong time?
While I can see Jace being decent in Standard after rotation, I cannot see him being good in Modern when even Architect of Thought sees very little play.
Jace AoT can barely protect himself (he stalls 2/X's like Bob/Tiago/Leonin Arbiter, but bites it to Goyf/Scavenging Ooze/V. Clique), and he kicks himself when he tries to produce CA. At least Jace LG can protect himself, and his +1 is likely better against Goyf + Bob than Jace AoT's +1 is (it buffs Goyf, but at least he "scryed", when the other Jace can't even prevent his own death).
While Jace 4 is weak to attackers, you can usually get enough value out of his -2 that it doesn't matter. Also, Jace 5 still dies to multiple attackers. And even if you do bounce your opponent's threats, they just don't need to worry that much about Jace because he isn't all that strong.
Admittedly, in the decks I am trying out Jace LG in (Blue Moon, Tempo Twin), part of me wonders why I'm not using Ral Zarek instead--then I wonder why Ral sees basically no Modern play. Then I wonder why Xenagos, the Reveler sees basically no Modern play. They can protect themselves, so did they just come in the wrong place at the wrong time? And has Jace LG arrived in the wrong place at the wrong time?
Ral sees no play because his +1 is weak in the controlling UR decks, the WUR decks can just run Ajani Vengeant instead, and the aggressive UR decks like UR Delver don't want to be casting 4 mana planeswalkers. Xenagos sees no play because he requires a lot of small creatures to work, wants to be casting large creatures with his +1, and is generally worse than Garruk Wildspeaker.
He seems like he demands a graveyard-matters deck to truly be worth more than any of the other Jaces. I think I'll be fiddling with him in a casual UB Reanimator build but he seems lackluster.
He could easily have been a 3 CMC.
I noticed the JtMS-reference as well and found the missing CA disproportional to other Jaces and wondered why this one didn't manage it.
he basically does the same thing(drop him on a controlled board n ult) but his ult dosent mean u autowin. now if they were to print a card that made counterbalance good...
just like ashiok ill buy him for 20 n hell drop to 6 but at least i got them just incase
EDIT yes i understand he cant brainstorm but like i said its modern version u know we cant have something that good in modern
The one thought in my head when I first saw this revealed was this -
Wizards have finally succeeded in making Jace boring.
I'm not even talking about power levels here (which is admittedly low) but even in terms of niche usefulness or cool factor this Jace is severely lacking.
Jace 1.0 - inoffensive, cheap, provides card advantage and works/worked well in turbo draw strategies like turbo fog.
Jace TMS - ubergod of all planeswalkers, broken powerful synergistic abilities for a reasonable cost.
Jace MA - a little expensive but a powerful card in a mill deck and a strong sideboard option for control mirrors, it can easily win on it's own.
Jace AOT - what I consider the best made Jace, well balanced abilities providing protection and card advantage and a usually game winning ultimate all on an affordable body and all without being in any way over powered. Wizards really should have just brought this back.
Jace TLGP - extremely meh, good stats but the abilities are all overcosted and/or subpar, the +1 is ok but nothing special (if it provided draw, could target your opponent or had the option of getting rid of both cards it would be much better), the -3 is a good ability but way too expensive (-2 would have been decent or at the least let it be a full Boomerang and hit lands) and the ultimate while very nice (opponent loses their hand and graveyard, you draw a new hand) isn't necessarily game winning and doesn't feel like enough of a payoff for protecting Jace TLGP and charging 3 times/waiting 4 turns.
I think wizards did a big swing and a miss this time, with the concept of being "the living guildpact" they could have easily justified a 6 mana Jace and given him cool semi degenerate abilities that would be balanced out by the high cost but would give him an awesome cool factor that would have made people want to chase after him for casual if nothing else.
As it is between the 6 card Soul cycle, Jace the mediocre and Liliana the overly reprinted sideboard card we have an extremely depressing lineup of mythics so far (only Ajani and Nissa seem worthwhile new mythics and Chandra is a solid reprint), the remaining unspoiled mythics including Garruk will have to be pretty insane to motivate any sales of M15 (particularly given the lands are only the 5 enemy painlands) and even if they are all that will happen is that we'll have a M10 Baneslayer Angel situation where a single card drives nearly all the value in the set and becomes stupidly expensive compared to everything else (M13 with Thragtusk and Thundermaw Hellkite also springs to mind)
If Jace, the Living Guildpact sees play, my guess is it'll be because he acts as a tempo/bounce spell that can threaten to destroy control decks and provides two devotion. As far as his -3 being just Disperse, an important thing to remember is that repeatable bounce (which any planeswalker with a non ult bounce is) is always going to be costed way over any single use bounce spells. Look at Capsize, Reality Strobe and such.
All the complaints can essentially boil down to "I don't think this Jace is as broken as other Jace's!". I'm actually happy with the design of this Jace. He's seemingly not too threatening to your opponent, so chances are he can get out of hand fast against some players. I think his biggest non-ult ability is his bounce as it can hit anything outside of lands that's troublesome or even save one of your other PWs. His +1 isn't too shabby either when you just need to filter your draw. Is he an auto-include in all control decks? No, but that's another thing I like, hopefully it'll stimulate the meta enough so each control deck isn't just the same cookie-cutter deck you always see. This may not be the Jace you guys want, but it's the Jace you deserve.
I definitely agree with you on all this! And you helped me find a good way to describe how I see this card... Subtle. It's subtlety makes for an elegant design and complex gameplay also.
Is he an auto-include in all control decks? No, but that's another thing I like, hopefully it'll stimulate the meta enough so each control deck isn't just the same cookie-cutter deck you always see. This may not be the Jace you guys want, but it's the Jace you deserve.
i think you're giving wotc too much credit, here. i'm betting that a sphinx's revelation analog that dictates which control decks are viable will show up in the next set. that said, the new artifact sweeper and jace's ingenuity are serious steps in the right direction.
For a +1 I don't think they could have gone as strong as Sleight of Hand (a choice draw as a plus ability?), but I'm not impressed with this almost-scry. -3 is expensive for a bounce spell, but I guess it's not really to help you control too much; it looks like a panic button for someone else going crazy with their own PW or something. I'd like to see something flashier, or have it at lower cost. The ultimate is clearly very powerful. I think all the abilities are "fair", but they strike me as kind of bland. I wish they would have just designed things differently.
I wouldn't call this guy Tibalt but you can't really get Card Advantage with him. He's an Almost-Wincon, because his ult clearly does a lot, but doesn't quite win. It just puts you into a strong position to win. But, technically you'll mill out before your opponent does, so you do need another PW or a creature or something to seal the deal. Might not be hard, but it just seems to limit the role of this card.
I wish they would have just designed things differently.
Me too. No reason whatsoever why you couldn't have the option of doing the +1 on the opponents deck. Not overpowered. No reason why you couldn't do top 3. Or maybe opt to put the second card on bottom. None of those are overpowered at all but put the card at a slightly less poopy state in my eyes.
No reason you couldn't have 4 starting loyalty and a minus ability of -2. Puts it equal to Jace AoT and makes the play slightly less stinky. No reason the ultimate couldnt give you a somewhat better approach to wincon. Not sure how. Maybe...shuffle the nonland permanents in play and the grave in...and leave the hand alone. Now it would be a real reset and would be much more desirable in control - as an aggro player spamming their hand before this ultimates would now be a bad thing...instead of a good thing.
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Standard
UR Control
Modern
Merfolk
Burn
Avacyn did nothing wrong!
Purify Innistrad!
#Purge
So, I will agree with the consensus that Jace, the Living Guildpact is terrible for control, but I will say that he may see play if an aggressive blue based deck shows up. While he might not permanently answer anything, he can buy enough time for you to provide adequate amounts of pressure.
Edit: But that art is awesome, imo.
Careful out there. Jace, the Mind Sculptor can be described in similar ways.
His +2 does jack to board state (he can't even mill cards with Flashback).
His -1 bounces creatures only (but it is a -1 on a 3-loyalty walker, so he can bounce stuff for 3 turns in a row).
His ult doesn't win the game (prima facie). It also doesn't affect board state at all. It does Mind Twist opponents, but it doesn't draw you cards. Your opponent will still have some cards left in his/her library afterwards, especially since the ult is telegraphed very far in advance.
...Of course, Jace TMS is only crushingly good because his +0 draws cards, his +2 screws over opponents' chances of answering him, and since your opponent has zillions of turns to keep him from ulting, if he ults, your opponent likely couldn't answer him (and therefore can't answer him with anything in hand-turned-library).
Jace LG's chances are hindered by his inability to draw cards and inability to infamously Fateseal, but I wouldn't discount him without testing. I have used Jace TMS's -1 on a Goyf to end the game in my favour, and that was the only thing Jace did all game. (Admittedly, most of the time I play Jace TMS, I spam his +0, then sparingly use his +2 on my opponent, and I sometimes watch Jace TMS die to creatures or Lightning Bolt before I get to untap with him.)
On other notes, Jace Beleren's and Liliana of the Veil's +X's don't affect board state (unless Liliana drops opposing Loxodon Smiters on the floor), Elspeth, Knight-Errant's ult doesn't win the game (but it does blank a lot of opposing cards), and Ajani Vengeant's ult doesn't win the game against opposing board presence. Heck, Baby Jace can't affect board state, and his ult usually doesn't win the game, even in decks dedicated to using him as a win con (he often has to ult twice in those decks).
The Guildpact was a magical contract that set rules for each of the guilds. It was destroyed during the first Ravnica block, then restored (in the form of Jace) during the RTR block.
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He is too slow, barely affects most deck archetypes, isn't synergistic at all, is overcosted, and doesn't fit in any current deck well. The only place I can see him fitting in a MUD deck with Whelming Wave, and that is pushing it. I wouldn't play him in an aggro deck; he does nothing for them. I wouldn't play him in a midrange deck; he doesn't have enough impact. I wouldn't play him in a control deck; he would just be a wasted turn and a bunch of durdles.
Putting one card a turn in the graveyard for 4 mana is not nearly fast enough for dredge decks. There are much better ways to put cards in the graveyard that are in color (G/B, not 2UU). His casting cost is hard to hit in any reanimation deck, and he doesn't do nearly enough. Compare to Nyx Weaver, which is cheaper, twice as effective, and can also get any card you need even if it came from the battlefield. Or virtually any of the sorcery/instant cards like Commune of the Gods. To be truly useful for a dredge deck, he'd have needed an easier casting cost (1UB or 2U) and his +1 would probably need to have been a 0 that looked at 3.
We never know, we could always try different things. That's the best thing about planeswalkers, we say how good they are or how bad they are. They either go through the hype test and fail, or somehow get used in some inconceivable deck. Even lill of dark realms, no matter how of a joke the card it is conjoined with the mono black mutilate deck. 5/6 is usable planeswalkers is still good number for this set if you think jace will possibly never be used in any deck.
In standard, he interacts with the Souls of cards and also very poorly with "dredge". Control based decks could run him sb for control matchups, this card is dead against an empty handed turn 4 aggro matchup so keep it in the sb. Function in mono-blue is pretty much non-existant, Thassa's static is strong enough to not need to run this card if you know that one of the cards you are getting is good enough. Probably might end up being the first planeswalker people will actually not end up using any ability if it sees midrange play.
In modern, putting Think Twice or Lingering souls into the graveyard seems neat at first, but I would prefer to play Cryptic Command any day over this in any blue related shell. Other decks beside control would find this card far far too slow, coming out to bounce a single Tarmogoyf for 4 with no other effect is card disadvantage. Speaking of the devil, the +1 would have interesting utility with Tarmy, however once again it fails to be more useful than a Dakmor Salvage in your graveyard. In some sort of black you could be putting a Bloodghast into the graveyard, however the fact that you don't draw a card means this barely passes as card advantage.
In EDH, I can see the uses of him. Soothsaying and Sensei's Divining Top could be used interestingly, and with Blue Black reanimator control he could possibly shine. The -8 would be super high tier in commander, if it affected board state! Why wasn't it a onesided Sway of the Stars -esque? It would have been JtMS's best friend in EDH. I would've definitely try my hardest to play it.
An enigma as vexing as life itself.
Storm Crow is strictly worse than Seacoast Drake.
Jace AoT can barely protect himself (he stalls 2/X's like Bob/Tiago/Leonin Arbiter, but bites it to Goyf/Scavenging Ooze/V. Clique), and he kicks himself when he tries to produce CA. At least Jace LG can protect himself, and his +1 is likely better against Goyf + Bob than Jace AoT's +1 is (it buffs Goyf, but at least he "scryed", when the other Jace can't even prevent his own death).
Admittedly, in the decks I am trying out Jace LG in (Blue Moon, Tempo Twin), part of me wonders why I'm not using Ral Zarek instead--then I wonder why Ral sees basically no Modern play. Then I wonder why Xenagos, the Reveler sees basically no Modern play. They can protect themselves, so did they just come in the wrong place at the wrong time? And has Jace LG arrived in the wrong place at the wrong time?
Or is it because people don't try them?
While Jace 4 is weak to attackers, you can usually get enough value out of his -2 that it doesn't matter. Also, Jace 5 still dies to multiple attackers. And even if you do bounce your opponent's threats, they just don't need to worry that much about Jace because he isn't all that strong.
Ral sees no play because his +1 is weak in the controlling UR decks, the WUR decks can just run Ajani Vengeant instead, and the aggressive UR decks like UR Delver don't want to be casting 4 mana planeswalkers. Xenagos sees no play because he requires a lot of small creatures to work, wants to be casting large creatures with his +1, and is generally worse than Garruk Wildspeaker.
Storm Crow is strictly worse than Seacoast Drake.
He could easily have been a 3 CMC.
I noticed the JtMS-reference as well and found the missing CA disproportional to other Jaces and wondered why this one didn't manage it.
he basically does the same thing(drop him on a controlled board n ult) but his ult dosent mean u autowin. now if they were to print a card that made counterbalance good...
just like ashiok ill buy him for 20 n hell drop to 6 but at least i got them just incase
EDIT yes i understand he cant brainstorm but like i said its modern version u know we cant have something that good in modern
Wizards have finally succeeded in making Jace boring.
I'm not even talking about power levels here (which is admittedly low) but even in terms of niche usefulness or cool factor this Jace is severely lacking.
Jace 1.0 - inoffensive, cheap, provides card advantage and works/worked well in turbo draw strategies like turbo fog.
Jace TMS - ubergod of all planeswalkers, broken powerful synergistic abilities for a reasonable cost.
Jace MA - a little expensive but a powerful card in a mill deck and a strong sideboard option for control mirrors, it can easily win on it's own.
Jace AOT - what I consider the best made Jace, well balanced abilities providing protection and card advantage and a usually game winning ultimate all on an affordable body and all without being in any way over powered. Wizards really should have just brought this back.
Jace TLGP - extremely meh, good stats but the abilities are all overcosted and/or subpar, the +1 is ok but nothing special (if it provided draw, could target your opponent or had the option of getting rid of both cards it would be much better), the -3 is a good ability but way too expensive (-2 would have been decent or at the least let it be a full Boomerang and hit lands) and the ultimate while very nice (opponent loses their hand and graveyard, you draw a new hand) isn't necessarily game winning and doesn't feel like enough of a payoff for protecting Jace TLGP and charging 3 times/waiting 4 turns.
I think wizards did a big swing and a miss this time, with the concept of being "the living guildpact" they could have easily justified a 6 mana Jace and given him cool semi degenerate abilities that would be balanced out by the high cost but would give him an awesome cool factor that would have made people want to chase after him for casual if nothing else.
As it is between the 6 card Soul cycle, Jace the mediocre and Liliana the overly reprinted sideboard card we have an extremely depressing lineup of mythics so far (only Ajani and Nissa seem worthwhile new mythics and Chandra is a solid reprint), the remaining unspoiled mythics including Garruk will have to be pretty insane to motivate any sales of M15 (particularly given the lands are only the 5 enemy painlands) and even if they are all that will happen is that we'll have a M10 Baneslayer Angel situation where a single card drives nearly all the value in the set and becomes stupidly expensive compared to everything else (M13 with Thragtusk and Thundermaw Hellkite also springs to mind)
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i think you're giving wotc too much credit, here. i'm betting that a sphinx's revelation analog that dictates which control decks are viable will show up in the next set. that said, the new artifact sweeper and jace's ingenuity are serious steps in the right direction.
I wouldn't call this guy Tibalt but you can't really get Card Advantage with him. He's an Almost-Wincon, because his ult clearly does a lot, but doesn't quite win. It just puts you into a strong position to win. But, technically you'll mill out before your opponent does, so you do need another PW or a creature or something to seal the deal. Might not be hard, but it just seems to limit the role of this card.
Me too. No reason whatsoever why you couldn't have the option of doing the +1 on the opponents deck. Not overpowered. No reason why you couldn't do top 3. Or maybe opt to put the second card on bottom. None of those are overpowered at all but put the card at a slightly less poopy state in my eyes.
No reason you couldn't have 4 starting loyalty and a minus ability of -2. Puts it equal to Jace AoT and makes the play slightly less stinky. No reason the ultimate couldnt give you a somewhat better approach to wincon. Not sure how. Maybe...shuffle the nonland permanents in play and the grave in...and leave the hand alone. Now it would be a real reset and would be much more desirable in control - as an aggro player spamming their hand before this ultimates would now be a bad thing...instead of a good thing.