Yeahhhhhhhhhh, 4 Jaces in just over a year. RTR, Core, FTV 20, and now this. Can't say I'm happy about that. Well, at least next year I can look forward to Elspeth vs Xenagos....
don't worry, after Theros, at the war on Khanar, jace will become the advisor of WAR
Jace is Mario and Zelda (Link) so at least thrice a year he have to show up
Wizards print good rares, players complain about cash grab. They print underwhelming rares, players complain that the cards suck. They spoil the best cards first, players complain about the insane prices of preorders. They spoil the meh cards first, players complain that this is the worst set ever.
So. I think I understand now.
As far as these forums are concerned, WotC can never do anything good because:
Card that is new and probably good = "pushed"
Card that is new and probably bad = "EDH/casual fodder"
Card that is a reprint = "lazy"
Card that is a better version of an older card = "power creep"
Card that is a weaker version of an older card = "worthless"
I like to think that this Duel Deck captures something far more fascinating than its description suggests.
See, Jace Beleren is out for his daily morning jog around the Implicit Maze. He's waving to Teysa stringing freshly laundered Orzhov robes along the clotheslines tied across her church's spires, throws Niv-Mizzet a high-five as the dragon flies off to tell yet another group of impressionable Izzet novices about that time he totally killed all the Nephilim by himself, a nice, normal day on the new Ravnica.
Meanwhile, deep in the shadows of the Undercity, is Vraska, and she's unhappy. Vraska finds it horribly unfair that nobody takes her seriously. She cornered Gideon that once, but he was all, "You think you know from tentacles? Let me tell you about Zendikar...", and on Theros? Vraska's got better things to do than attend yet another of Xenagos's "Gorgons Drink Free" orgies. Moreover, Visara the Dreadful filed that lawsuit against her, claiming a "plagarism of patented gorgon mannerisms", and Vraska's lawyer is begging her to settle. It's times like this she wishes she really was unseen.
So Vraska's sulking in the darkness, when Jace Beleren goes trotting by, and she figures "Hey, this guy's pretty popular. Maybe he can help me out." So she emerges from beneath the walkway, but Jace spots her before she can get close and he is majorly pissed. I mean, you don't just step up on the Living Guildpact like you know the man. And now Vraska realizes Jace thinks she's just another violent Golgari monster, and it gets to her deep because she knows she's not a bad person. She may have snakes for hair, trail thick, poisonous smoke when she walks and kill people for money, but Vraska doesn't think that makes her bad.
And they go at it across Jace's jogging route, churning up ancient cobblestones, knocking over pillars and all because of a simple misunderstanding. This is what the artist and accompanying Duel Deck has captured; two planeswalkers in the midst of a heated battle on a bright, sunny morning.
But if they just stopped to listen to each other, see things through a different lens, perhaps Jace and Vraska could instead share a table at a Rakdos living-puppet theater, throwing back glasses of thrull milk and laughing at life's little mishaps.
Personally though, I would've prefered Duel Decks: Tamiyo vs. Nissa: Lingerie Pillow Fight Across the Multiverse.
Not to mention having recently left the setting of Ravnica. This product feels disappointingly redundant.
The going trend is that spring Duel Decks are conflicts between two planeswalkers of the previous block--see Venser vs. Koth coming between Dark Ascension and Avacyn Restored and Sorin vs. Tibalt coming between Gatecrash and Dragon's Maze--and the fall Duel Decks are conflicts between two factions of the upcoming block--see Izzet vs. Golgari coming before Return to Ravnica and Heroes vs. Monsters coming before Theros.
don't worry, after Theros, at the war on Khanar, jace will become the advisor of WAR
Jace is Mario and Zelda (Link) so at least thrice a year he have to show up
PLEASE NO!
I mean, if they were going to do this, I would expect him to at least take a break from core... but no such luck. I get the whole "Planeswalkers are our mascots" thing, but when 1 is clearly being pushed so much more than the others, it burns you out. Blue needs to take a cue from white - which has given pretty fair treatment to Ajani (most frequent in core), Elspeth (most frequent in non-core), and Gideon (most attention given when present).
No, blue mages CAN be cold, analytical, and detached. It's specifically given as their worst traits on the color wheel. That doesn't preclude them from experiencing a fuller range of emotions and is in fact supposed to be their negative aspects.
They say it's negative, I say it's positive. Distancing yourself emotionally allows you to be more objective, see the bigger picture. Which, of course, is what politics is all about - seeing the bigger picture. But instead of working towards the goal for the sake of itself, he's having to work towards it for the sake of others. He's being turned into something he doesn't want, and he can't stop it. If I were Jace, I'd be so mad I could spit. Here I am, this brilliant mage and Planeswalker and I've been pushed into a situation that I can't get out of. It's like clipping a bird's wings, that's what it's like.
But I digress. I'll be interested to see what the Golgari deck turns out to be like. I imagine Jace's deck will be U/W, of course.
I mean, if they were going to do this, I would expect him to at least take a break from core... but no such luck. I get the whole "Planeswalkers are our mascots" thing, but when 1 is clearly being pushed so much more than the others, it burns you out. Blue needs to take a cue from white - which has given pretty fair treatment to Ajani (most frequent in core), Elspeth (most frequent in non-core), and Gideon (most attention given when present).
In fairness, last core set they pushed the hell out of Chandra so...
i hope they put *cough* *cough* force of will on the product *fingers crossed*
or at least a lot of other good counter spell (counterspell, remand, hinder, etc etc)
Wizards print good rares, players complain about cash grab. They print underwhelming rares, players complain that the cards suck. They spoil the best cards first, players complain about the insane prices of preorders. They spoil the meh cards first, players complain that this is the worst set ever.
So. I think I understand now.
As far as these forums are concerned, WotC can never do anything good because:
Card that is new and probably good = "pushed"
Card that is new and probably bad = "EDH/casual fodder"
Card that is a reprint = "lazy"
Card that is a better version of an older card = "power creep"
Card that is a weaker version of an older card = "worthless"
But instead of working towards the goal for the sake of itself, he's having to work towards it for the sake of others. He's being turned into something he doesn't want, and he can't stop it. If I were Jace, I'd be so mad I could spit. Here I am, this brilliant mage and Planeswalker and I've been pushed into a situation that I can't get out of. It's like clipping a bird's wings, that's what it's like.
Except that a great deal of Jace's character arc has dealt with his relationship to others. He's not being "turned into something he doesn't want"--he's growing and developing as a person. Why would he be angry when he's learning more about the world--and himself--every day?
They say it's negative, I say it's positive. Distancing yourself emotionally allows you to be more objective, see the bigger picture.
The largest problem with remaining disconnected is that it's an extremely lonely way to live, which is one of the primary things Jace is grappling with now that his emotional arc about temptation is done.
He IS feeling disconnected, and he'd started to have something of an existential crisis because of it. The more he did, the more he believed it didn't matter.
Which is why it's actually as much a blessing that he's been made the guildpact as it is a horrible thing. It's given him purpose, which is something he's been desperately seeking. I mean, it DEFINITELY isn't what he would have chosen but...
But I digress. I'll be interested to see what the Golgari deck turns out to be like. I imagine Jace's deck will be U/W, of course.
I strongly suspect Jace's deck to be mono-blue again, though it'll be interesting to see how they make it reflect his card this time around.
I strongly suspect Jace's deck to be mono-blue again, though it'll be interesting to see how they make it reflect his card this time around.
It'll either have to be U/W or U/B. Tibalt's deck was B/R, even though he's a mono-Red PW.
Come to think of it, has there ever been a PW DD that was mono-colored? I don't think there was. Oh wait, I forgot: Elspeth and Tezzeret. How boring that would be, though - a mono-Blue deck with either no counters or a lone Cancel thrown in, with new art.
Wizards print good rares, players complain about cash grab. They print underwhelming rares, players complain that the cards suck. They spoil the best cards first, players complain about the insane prices of preorders. They spoil the meh cards first, players complain that this is the worst set ever.
So. I think I understand now.
As far as these forums are concerned, WotC can never do anything good because:
Card that is new and probably good = "pushed"
Card that is new and probably bad = "EDH/casual fodder"
Card that is a reprint = "lazy"
Card that is a better version of an older card = "power creep"
Card that is a weaker version of an older card = "worthless"
The reason I say there won't be counter magic in it is because all control spells we have in Standard are conditional. Cancel technically doesn't count because you can counter whatever you want with it, but it comes down a turn later than any of the other conditional counterspells, and so nobody runs it.
You know how stingy they are when it comes to giving Blue what it needs, even when they're non-Standard reprints.
The reason I say there won't be counter magic in it is because all control spells we have in Standard are conditional. Cancel technically doesn't count because you can counter whatever you want with it, but it comes down a turn later than any of the other conditional counterspells, and so nobody runs it.
You know how stingy they are when it comes to giving Blue what it needs, even when they're non-Standard reprints.
You do realize that they reprinted Counterspell in the last Jace deck right?
They also reprinted Daze and I'm trying to remember if there were any others. Condescend as well.
You do realize that they reprinted Counterspell in the last Jace deck right?
They also reprinted Daze and I'm trying to remember if there were any others. Condescend as well.
Yes, I'm fully aware they reprinted these cards.
I also can't help but notice how few non-creature spells there are in Jace's last deck. It was very much a creature-based deck with good Blue synergy - a rarity.
It also makes me think that they want to take this new Jace deck in an entirely different direction than the last one. They are very fond of doing that, or so they claim - never do the same thing twice, keeping a sharp edge and not resting on your laurels and all that nonsense. I imagine they'd cut off their own heads if someone told them it was the most radical, exciting thing ever.
It's mostly me being pessimistic, but I don't have any reason to hope for anything good out of Jace's deck.
Yeah, not digging this one. They could have picked literally anyone in RTR block other than Jace and it would have been more interesting. Also, from what little I remember of the bare-bones storyline, it would have made more sense. He's now the only planeswalker to be in two Duel Decks, and I honestly wouldn't be shocked if he ended up in a third before anyone else appeared in a second. Also, his art here...yeesh. He's got a weird "Mads Mikkelson in Hannibal" meets "Gary Oldman in The Fifth Element" vibe going on here which is quite unpleasant. In contrast, Vraska looks quite nice; the look and locale of this one portrays "assassin" better than the original, which has more of a "I'm going to wreck up all the everything" look (good, but not particularly assassin-y, you know?).
This will have to have some very solid reprints for me to consider it over just getting a single of Vraska and calling it a day.
It's mostly me being pessimistic, but I don't have any reason to hope for anything good out of Jace's deck.
I won't lie to say they don't have a WILDLY inconsistent quality in the decks.
So long as it isn't as wretched as the Koth vs Venser deck, it'll at least be at a baseline.
That being said, I am utterly fine if they don't do anything at all in terms of counterspells being in the deck. I'm not of the opinion that blue decks need them.
Any time I've run counterspells, it's ruined my curve or not been in hand when I've actually needed them.
Misdirection is almost but not quite Force of Will and it's more fun card, so it has a high chance of being in, specially accounting for Jace's + ability that can be called a (preventive) combat trick.
Blue can be fun for both players if it uses trickery to try and better it's board prescence rather than just saying NO! to everything the opponent plays.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Yes sir, I take fantasy art and character design commissions, PM me for rates.
Buu for Jace... Buu for this fat Jace
I wish Vraska kills Jace in the historyline
don't worry, after Theros, at the war on Khanar, jace will become the advisor of WAR
Jace is Mario and Zelda (Link) so at least thrice a year he have to show up
because we just get Izzet vs Golgari last year, right???
See, Jace Beleren is out for his daily morning jog around the Implicit Maze. He's waving to Teysa stringing freshly laundered Orzhov robes along the clotheslines tied across her church's spires, throws Niv-Mizzet a high-five as the dragon flies off to tell yet another group of impressionable Izzet novices about that time he totally killed all the Nephilim by himself, a nice, normal day on the new Ravnica.
Meanwhile, deep in the shadows of the Undercity, is Vraska, and she's unhappy. Vraska finds it horribly unfair that nobody takes her seriously. She cornered Gideon that once, but he was all, "You think you know from tentacles? Let me tell you about Zendikar...", and on Theros? Vraska's got better things to do than attend yet another of Xenagos's "Gorgons Drink Free" orgies. Moreover, Visara the Dreadful filed that lawsuit against her, claiming a "plagarism of patented gorgon mannerisms", and Vraska's lawyer is begging her to settle. It's times like this she wishes she really was unseen.
So Vraska's sulking in the darkness, when Jace Beleren goes trotting by, and she figures "Hey, this guy's pretty popular. Maybe he can help me out." So she emerges from beneath the walkway, but Jace spots her before she can get close and he is majorly pissed. I mean, you don't just step up on the Living Guildpact like you know the man. And now Vraska realizes Jace thinks she's just another violent Golgari monster, and it gets to her deep because she knows she's not a bad person. She may have snakes for hair, trail thick, poisonous smoke when she walks and kill people for money, but Vraska doesn't think that makes her bad.
And they go at it across Jace's jogging route, churning up ancient cobblestones, knocking over pillars and all because of a simple misunderstanding. This is what the artist and accompanying Duel Deck has captured; two planeswalkers in the midst of a heated battle on a bright, sunny morning.
But if they just stopped to listen to each other, see things through a different lens, perhaps Jace and Vraska could instead share a table at a Rakdos living-puppet theater, throwing back glasses of thrull milk and laughing at life's little mishaps.
Personally though, I would've prefered Duel Decks: Tamiyo vs. Nissa: Lingerie Pillow Fight Across the Multiverse.
So, Anything vs Anything EXCEPT Jace.... :/
The going trend is that spring Duel Decks are conflicts between two planeswalkers of the previous block--see Venser vs. Koth coming between Dark Ascension and Avacyn Restored and Sorin vs. Tibalt coming between Gatecrash and Dragon's Maze--and the fall Duel Decks are conflicts between two factions of the upcoming block--see Izzet vs. Golgari coming before Return to Ravnica and Heroes vs. Monsters coming before Theros.
PLEASE NO!
I mean, if they were going to do this, I would expect him to at least take a break from core... but no such luck. I get the whole "Planeswalkers are our mascots" thing, but when 1 is clearly being pushed so much more than the others, it burns you out. Blue needs to take a cue from white - which has given pretty fair treatment to Ajani (most frequent in core), Elspeth (most frequent in non-core), and Gideon (most attention given when present).
They say it's negative, I say it's positive. Distancing yourself emotionally allows you to be more objective, see the bigger picture. Which, of course, is what politics is all about - seeing the bigger picture. But instead of working towards the goal for the sake of itself, he's having to work towards it for the sake of others. He's being turned into something he doesn't want, and he can't stop it. If I were Jace, I'd be so mad I could spit. Here I am, this brilliant mage and Planeswalker and I've been pushed into a situation that I can't get out of. It's like clipping a bird's wings, that's what it's like.
But I digress. I'll be interested to see what the Golgari deck turns out to be like. I imagine Jace's deck will be U/W, of course.
In fairness, last core set they pushed the hell out of Chandra so...
or at least a lot of other good counter spell (counterspell, remand, hinder, etc etc)
THEN i will buy the product
Except that a great deal of Jace's character arc has dealt with his relationship to others. He's not being "turned into something he doesn't want"--he's growing and developing as a person. Why would he be angry when he's learning more about the world--and himself--every day?
No, it'll be detain, tap effects, some draw, maybe some -X/-0 spells/enchantments. Anything but counters.
The largest problem with remaining disconnected is that it's an extremely lonely way to live, which is one of the primary things Jace is grappling with now that his emotional arc about temptation is done.
He IS feeling disconnected, and he'd started to have something of an existential crisis because of it. The more he did, the more he believed it didn't matter.
Which is why it's actually as much a blessing that he's been made the guildpact as it is a horrible thing. It's given him purpose, which is something he's been desperately seeking. I mean, it DEFINITELY isn't what he would have chosen but...
I strongly suspect Jace's deck to be mono-blue again, though it'll be interesting to see how they make it reflect his card this time around.
It'll either have to be U/W or U/B. Tibalt's deck was B/R, even though he's a mono-Red PW.
Come to think of it, has there ever been a PW DD that was mono-colored? I don't think there was. Oh wait, I forgot: Elspeth and Tezzeret. How boring that would be, though - a mono-Blue deck with either no counters or a lone Cancel thrown in, with new art.
Um, yeah. Quite a few.
Yeah.
Jace vs Chandra
Garruk vs Liliana
Elspeth vs Tezzeret
Koth, though Venser was UW
are you sure ?
what's your argument ?
because in Theros there's still plenty of counter (dissolve, annul, gainsay, swan song)
You know how stingy they are when it comes to giving Blue what it needs, even when they're non-Standard reprints.
You do realize that they reprinted Counterspell in the last Jace deck right?
They also reprinted Daze and I'm trying to remember if there were any others.
Condescend as well.
Yes, I'm fully aware they reprinted these cards.
I also can't help but notice how few non-creature spells there are in Jace's last deck. It was very much a creature-based deck with good Blue synergy - a rarity.
It also makes me think that they want to take this new Jace deck in an entirely different direction than the last one. They are very fond of doing that, or so they claim - never do the same thing twice, keeping a sharp edge and not resting on your laurels and all that nonsense. I imagine they'd cut off their own heads if someone told them it was the most radical, exciting thing ever.
It's mostly me being pessimistic, but I don't have any reason to hope for anything good out of Jace's deck.
This will have to have some very solid reprints for me to consider it over just getting a single of Vraska and calling it a day.
UBDragonlord Silumgar WGKarametra, God of Harvests
BRUNekusar, the Mindrazer BGMazirek, Kraul Death Priest
URMelek, Izzet Paragon UGPrime Speaker Zegana
WUHanna, Ship's Navigator BWUSydri, Galvanic Genius
WUBRGSliver Queen RBBladewing the Risen
WBKarlov of the Ghost Council RGXenagos, God of Revels
GFreyalise, Llanowar's Fury RWAurelia, the Warleader
RIb Halfheart, Goblin Tactician BDrana, Liberator of Malakir
UAzami, Lady of Scrolls WNahiri, the Lithomancer
WBGDoran, the Siege Tower CEmrakul, the Promised End
Post edited to remove inflammatory remarks directed at the artist. -Wildfire393
Rancored Elf will cancel your order if prices go up. Read about him and other shady vendors here.
My Trade Thread!
I won't lie to say they don't have a WILDLY inconsistent quality in the decks.
So long as it isn't as wretched as the Koth vs Venser deck, it'll at least be at a baseline.
That being said, I am utterly fine if they don't do anything at all in terms of counterspells being in the deck. I'm not of the opinion that blue decks need them.
Any time I've run counterspells, it's ruined my curve or not been in hand when I've actually needed them.
Blue can be fun for both players if it uses trickery to try and better it's board prescence rather than just saying NO! to everything the opponent plays.
At least it's not Vraska vs Ral Zarek