“Jace, Architect of Thought” is a Planeswalker from “Return
to Ravnica.” This is our fourth variation of Jace, making him the walker with
the most incarnations so far. Having a cost of 4 and, he automatically gets
compared to Jace, the Mind Sculptor; even his name is a bit reminiscent.
In keeping with the RtR theme of +1 abilities that
discourage attacking, Jace 4.0 gives all of your opponents’ attacking creatures
-1/-0 until your next turn. This is a decent defensive ability that screws with
your opponents’ combat math and makes it harder for them to punch damage
through and hurt Jace if you’ve got a decent lineup prepared. Jace’s -2 is a
mini Fact or Fiction effect, which is some solid card advantage, even though
providing your opponent with a choice is rarely optimal. Finally, Jace’s -8
will allow you to search your opponents’ library for any card and remove it
from the game; you can then cast it without paying any mana.
Much like Vraska, Jace has a solid +1 ability, but his –
abilities are less impressive. The “gamebreaker” effect of any given
Planeswalker is likely to be decisive, and Jace’s is likely to both mess up
your opponent’s game plan while giving you some advantage, but the likelihood
of it ending a game seems low (unless you’re playing against a reanimator deck
or something). Jace’s -2 provides card advantage, and is certainly worth using
when he’s at a safe number, as digging for your own game-winner is more likely
to steal your opponent’s that you may not be able to use entirely effectively.
Good:
-[+1] is very good at slowing opponent down
-[-2] is solid card advantage
-[-8] is not awful
Bad:
-[-] abilities are only okay
-[-8] is not super great
-Doesn’t take over a game on his own
-Is not Jace, the Mind Sculptor :p
Projected Settled Value: 15-20$ (09/22/12)
Scully Rating: 7.2
out of 10