I don't get the complaints about Jace being in Masters 25 and that somehow meaning they are using this unban to sell packs. They reprinted him FTV 20 and did not unban him. They reprinted him in EMA and did not unban him. I would argue that since they said in the article they talk about Jace every so often, they have been increasing supply of Jace for this reason. Are people suggesting that they can never unban a card in Modern because it is being printed in a set to generate more supply?
Reprinting JTMS to meet supply caused by a well-founded unban that would happen anyway to make a format better? Good. Unbanning JTMS with the main intention being to make a reprint set sell, not make a format better? Not good. Which one is this?
I dunno, we don't have access to that information, so whichever one fits your bias, I guess.
We will learn the real answer in about 6 months, if Jace proves fine in the format or if Wizards have to go through the humiliation of rebanning him
And if Jace does get rebanned within the next year they will never live down the fact that they messed up Modern just to try a push a few more packs of Masters 25
Jace is fine. Look at the top decks of both the PT and the GP. Most of those decks do not care about Jace.
Then why didn't they unban it during eternal masters?
Because, as I said, Eternal Masters wasn't preceded by the first good Modern Pro Tour in a long time. Also Eternal Masters was released before consume fatigue had set in, as it was the first Masters set not explicitly targeted at Modern and thus was more than capable of selling itself on it's own merits.
I would disagree with that. 100%.
Although M25 may have factored in to the decision (reprint would make it more accessible for unbanning)
JTMS has been on the list of potential unbans for years. Every single modern ban announcement JTMS has been speculated.
Also - you can't unban BBE without JTMS. Those two cards are very much yin-and-yang.
Also, you cannot have it both ways. If they unbanned Jace with no reprint then people will say there was not enough supply and the cost of entry barrier would be unfair.
Reprinted at mytic in a Masters set? Oh yes, that'll sure balance the price out to a reasonable level. /sarcasm
Wizards is generating hype for Modern with the first "real" Modern PT in a long time (the last one was PT "Oops we printed too many Eldrazi") and then multiple high-profile unbannings, all in the month leading up to the release of their most hyped Masters set -- the "this one is nothing but the best cards from Magic's history you guys, for real this time" Masters set. It's really hard to see this as anything but another way to boost sluggish Masters sales after releasing 3 sets within 12 months.
Then why didn't they unban it during eternal masters?
Also, you cannot have it both ways. If they unbanned Jace with no reprint then people will say there was not enough supply and the cost of entry barrier would be unfair. WOTC does make mistakes but these unbannings will not be one of them. And before some one makes the argument, GGT was rebanned because of the printing of Cathartic Reunion combined with Prized Amalgam. Yet, Modern is so powerful Dredge was not seen very much at the PT. Personally, this makes me excited about Modern even more, and I hope that Dominaria brings back an era of more Powerful answers instead of just creature value.
This. Grave-troll unban actually didn't do anything until Cathartic Reunion was reprinted.
I think they chose Jace over SFM as they were looking for 4 mana main fase cards, requiring you to tap 4 lands unlike TKS. Also, M25 is a huge incentive to unban him. After the last Masters set they need something to create a hype. Don't forget they are a company, and companies need to make money.
Myself I don't like the unban at all. There already was a recent rise in blue control, so I don't feel it needed such help. I think it would actually reduce diversity. Also, people were already complaining about Lantern, and now they can enjoy being fatesealed. Anyway, we will see...
Don't get it twisted. Jace got unbanned for 1 reason. Hasbro told wizards 'Jump'. Wotc replied 'How High?' and Hasbro said Jace TMS please. And thus a card unbanning was born.
I think people are over-estimating the power of Jace.
It has nothing to do with M25.
Considering they had these cards ready to print months ago, that means these unbannings were happening basically no matter what in order to help sell this product.
And even if that's an incorrect take, it feels wrong that it doesn't take much to come to that conclusion.
When Worldwake came out, they didn't ban Jace till the end of rotation because Worldwake was selling too well, so yeah, while balancing allow Jace to return, it probably has more to do with the sells.
They never banned it until the end of rotation for packs... They didn't ban it until the end of rotation because it wasn't OP until caw-blade became a thing. Which didn't happen till battle-skull, sword of fire + sword of fire and ice joined the format.
You can actually make the logistic argument if those two cards (as well as SFM) were never printed JTMS would have avoided a ban at all.
It didn't really become too oppressive until after BBE rotated and other broken cards entered the format.
I don't get the complaints about Jace being in Masters 25 and that somehow meaning they are using this unban to sell packs. They reprinted him FTV 20 and did not unban him. They reprinted him in EMA and did not unban him. I would argue that since they said in the article they talk about Jace every so often, they have been increasing supply of Jace for this reason. Are people suggesting that they can never unban a card in Modern because it is being printed in a set to generate more supply?
Reprinting JTMS to meet supply caused by a well-founded unban that would happen anyway? Good. Unbanning JTMS with the main intention being to make a reprint set sell? Not good. Which one is this?
I am fairly certain they did not unban him just to sell M25.
1) A 4 drop mill rock at sorcery speed is not what you want. Ever. Play another mill rock. If you don't have their library locked already, Jace won't really help you.
2) Your hand is empty by this point. You don't want to leave ANY cards in hand once you have bridge out. Lantern is on such a tight race to close the window for the opponent, that every turn has to get you significantly closer. A 4 drop brainstorm is not where we want to be.
3) If you have lantern and mill rocks, what are you doing drawing discard late instead of milling it? If you don't have lantern and mill rocks by the time you play jace, you probably already lost.
You are misunderstanding the role of Tezzeret. He is played almost always when you have given up being able to lantern lock an opponent. Tron and Grixis shadow being the 2 most important examples. He creates a 5/5 that attacks that very turn, and presents a new angle in the match. Jace does not provide any new angles in those matches.
In matchups where you bring in Tez, you also leave in bridge. In fact I don't think there is any deck you bring out bridges against entirely. You may cut some... but you still leave it in.
Unless I am missing something tez is often used for its search capabilities and ultimate to quickly close the game. Especially against decks where lock is less effective or when they play stony silence (non-artifact way to close the game).
Tez - ability, for example, won't help vs Grixis Shadow when they have DS.... unless I am completely missing something.
I must confess... I am surprised people are talking about the unban like the sky is falling.
1) BBE + JTMS has been on the "probable" unban list for a very long time. It was always speculated that these cards were a package deal (you couldn't unban one without unbanning the other).
2) M25 is not the reason why JTMS is unbanned. If it was: why didn't they unban it during eternal masters? Or any other time they reprinted JTMS?
3) JTMS is not great vs fast linear decks. I don't think it will skew the meta as much as people are fearing. Control decks under-performed at the PT (in terms of conversion rates).
They unbanned JtMS and not SFM which makes me very unhappy. This card is not just really powerful but wicked unfun to play against, not excited to lose to this guy. Time to play more Pauper.
Also this unbanning right before Masters 25 is mega sketchy, not a good move Wizards.
\
Eh. BBE + JTMS have been on the "probable" list for years.
Also, look at JTMS' price movement for the last few days and tell me that some people don't get inside info.
To be fair though, JTMS and Bloodbraid have been speculation targets for unbanning for a while now. They always see some movement in the days prior to B&R announcements.
People have been talking about that for many months, but the price movement started very suddenly and sharply a few days ago, as if by the flick of a switch. You can see from the price curve exactly when the info was passed on or leaked. Compare it to the SFM speculation movement from some time ago and observe the difference.
Like I said before: a few days ago a fake MTGO screen shot with JTMS getting unbanned surfaced.
Spike happened around that time.
Jace may be sideboard material, but it seems very unlikely he is better than Tezzeret in the slot. He doesn't fit in what Lantern is trying to do.
Worse then Tez? I'm not sure I agree.
1) the +2 is another fate seal effect. In someways it's actually better (allows us to target ourself without milling silver bullets we may need to fetch later). The +2 effect is actually what fits into lantern control.
2) The brainstorm effect is arguably it's less powerful feature; however, it would allow us to stack the top of the deck with usless cards we can then self-mill away. Not the most effective use... but its not completely dead.
3) bounce a creature: this is actually more relevant than you would think. It gives us game against trouble creatures like tireless tracker if you draw a discard spell late.
4) It's ultimate might as well be "you win the game". Especially when you are playing mill-rocks.
I do think this could be far more powerful than Tez... but time will tell.
Well I suppose it depends on what you want. AKA would you rather play x3 whirs and x2 jaces, or x4 whirs and x1 jace. We could probably go up to 2 jaces with modification to the rest of the deck. The question becomes is that worth it.
I think I'd be safe in saying it would not be worth it
I'm not so sure. JTMS is a very powerful fate-steal effect. Plus it's an insanely effective way to win the game with it's ultimate.
I might just really like that card <3
Jace is alot worse without fetches. But... I may still try main-decking two.
I agree, Jace is worse without Fetches. However we do have Whir to shuffle our library as well, so we are in a way still able to make full use of the Brainstorm + shuffle. We just have to pay mana for it is all.
And personally, I'd stick with just 1 Jace, maybe 1 in the sideboard if you really want 2. It is 4 mana after all, and if you get stuck on 3 mana it will make it hard to enable your Ensnaring Bridges.
Well I suppose it depends on what you want. AKA would you rather play x3 whirs and x2 jaces, or x4 whirs and x1 jace. We could probably go up to 2 jaces with modification to the rest of the deck. The question becomes is that worth it.
- "Meeting adjourned. Bob, how's the modern format?"
- "Oh, it's the best it has been for many years. There is no clear best deck. The pros didn't even manage to break anything, the Pro Tour was incredibly diverse. It truly is a play what you want format right now."
- "Oh... Ok. Well, screw it, let's shake it up anyway."
- "Uh... But boss, if it's not broken..."
- "Shut your mouth, Bob. We have $10 booster packs to sell, and shakeups make people buy more cards becsuse they have to switch decks. Format health is secondary to profit. Alright people, good talk. "
Truly unbelievable.
Also, look at JTMS' price movement for the last few days and tell me that some people don't get inside info.
There was a "fake" redit post in which they said MTGO unbanned jace early in beta.
Jace is fine. Look at the top decks of both the PT and the GP. Most of those decks do not care about Jace.
I would disagree with that. 100%.
Although M25 may have factored in to the decision (reprint would make it more accessible for unbanning)
JTMS has been on the list of potential unbans for years. Every single modern ban announcement JTMS has been speculated.
Also - you can't unban BBE without JTMS. Those two cards are very much yin-and-yang.
Then why didn't they unban it during eternal masters?
This. Grave-troll unban actually didn't do anything until Cathartic Reunion was reprinted.
I think people are over-estimating the power of Jace.
It has nothing to do with M25.
They never banned it until the end of rotation for packs... They didn't ban it until the end of rotation because it wasn't OP until caw-blade became a thing. Which didn't happen till battle-skull, sword of fire + sword of fire and ice joined the format.
You can actually make the logistic argument if those two cards (as well as SFM) were never printed JTMS would have avoided a ban at all.
It didn't really become too oppressive until after BBE rotated and other broken cards entered the format.
I am fairly certain they did not unban him just to sell M25.
In matchups where you bring in Tez, you also leave in bridge. In fact I don't think there is any deck you bring out bridges against entirely. You may cut some... but you still leave it in.
Unless I am missing something tez is often used for its search capabilities and ultimate to quickly close the game. Especially against decks where lock is less effective or when they play stony silence (non-artifact way to close the game).
Tez - ability, for example, won't help vs Grixis Shadow when they have DS.... unless I am completely missing something.
1) BBE + JTMS has been on the "probable" unban list for a very long time. It was always speculated that these cards were a package deal (you couldn't unban one without unbanning the other).
2) M25 is not the reason why JTMS is unbanned. If it was: why didn't they unban it during eternal masters? Or any other time they reprinted JTMS?
3) JTMS is not great vs fast linear decks. I don't think it will skew the meta as much as people are fearing. Control decks under-performed at the PT (in terms of conversion rates).
Eh. BBE + JTMS have been on the "probable" list for years.
Like I said before: a few days ago a fake MTGO screen shot with JTMS getting unbanned surfaced.
Spike happened around that time.
Worse then Tez? I'm not sure I agree.
1) the +2 is another fate seal effect. In someways it's actually better (allows us to target ourself without milling silver bullets we may need to fetch later). The +2 effect is actually what fits into lantern control.
2) The brainstorm effect is arguably it's less powerful feature; however, it would allow us to stack the top of the deck with usless cards we can then self-mill away. Not the most effective use... but its not completely dead.
3) bounce a creature: this is actually more relevant than you would think. It gives us game against trouble creatures like tireless tracker if you draw a discard spell late.
4) It's ultimate might as well be "you win the game". Especially when you are playing mill-rocks.
I do think this could be far more powerful than Tez... but time will tell.
I'm not so sure. JTMS is a very powerful fate-steal effect. Plus it's an insanely effective way to win the game with it's ultimate.
I might just really like that card <3
Well I suppose it depends on what you want. AKA would you rather play x3 whirs and x2 jaces, or x4 whirs and x1 jace. We could probably go up to 2 jaces with modification to the rest of the deck. The question becomes is that worth it.
There was a "fake" redit post in which they said MTGO unbanned jace early in beta.