Jace's Mindseeker MTG Card

Jace’s Mindseeker offers both disruption and card advantage by utilizing opponent’s spells against them. Despite its high mana cost, it brings versatility and combo potential to blue-centric decks. Understanding how to leverage and counter its abilities is crucial for strategic MTG play.

Magic 2014 (M14)
2013-07-19 - Number 61

Jace's Mindseeker - Duel Decks: Jace vs. Vraska (DDM)

Duel Decks: Jace vs. Vraska (DDM)
2014-03-14 - Number 19

Card sets	Released in 2 setsSee all
Mana cost
Converted mana cost	6
Rarity	Rare
Type	Creature — Fish Illusion
Abilities	Flying,Mill
Power	4
Toughness	4

Text of card

Flying When Jace's Mindseeker enters the battlefield, target opponent puts the top five cards of his or her library into his or her graveyard. You may cast an instant or sorcery card from among them without paying its mana cost.

Cards like Jace's Mindseeker

Jace’s Mindseeker is a unique creature card in the realm of Magic: The Gathering, but it shares some strategic similarities with other cards. In the world of MTG, it’s always useful to identify cards with similar effects to enhance your deck-building strategies. Jace’s Mindseeker stands out for its ability to potentially cast a spell directly from an opponent’s library when it enters the battlefield—a powerful effect not commonly seen.

Comparable cards include Diluvian Primordial and Nightveil Specter. Diluvian Primordial also allows you to cast a spell from an opponent’s graveyard when it comes into play, providing a similar disruptive advantage. Nightveil Specter, while having a significantly different ability in exiling the top card of an opponent’s library when it deals combat damage, shares the theme of utilizing opponents’ cards against them. However, Jace’s Mindseeker’s unique blend of flying, a substantial body, and a free spell cast creates a distinctive value proposition within blue creature cards.

When considering cards like Jace’s Mindseeker in MTG, it is clear that this card provides a strong combination of board presence and potential card advantage. It serves as a testament to the diversity of strategies available to players seeking to control the game with clever manipulations of their opponent’s deck.

Cards similar to Jace's Mindseeker by color, type and mana cost

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Card Pros

Card Advantage: Jace’s Mindseeker provides a pivotal edge by potentially milling the best spells from your opponent’s library and then allowing you to cast one without paying its mana cost. This not only disrupts your opponent’s strategy but also claims an additional resource for yourself, multiplying your options in play.

Resource Acceleration: Although Jace’s Mindseeker doesn’t directly accelerate resources in the form of mana or tokens, its ability to cast an opponent’s spell can effectively negate your need to expend resources from your own hand. It’s like having access to additional spells without tapping into your own mana or card pool, which in the right circumstances, is a powerful form of acceleration.

Instant Speed: Being a creature, Jace’s Mindseeker may not have an instant speed ability inherently, but it can be brought into play during your opponent’s turn by means of Flash enablers. This can catch an opponent off-guard and maximize the impact of its entrancing, game-altering ability, especially during the late-game phases when opponents are less prepared for surprises.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Jace’s Mindseeker requires players to engage in a forced discard, which can backfire, particularly when you’ve crafted your hand for a decisive late-game strategy.

Specific Mana Cost: Summoning Jace’s Mindseeker demands a particular combination of mana types, inclusive of blue mana, which might not effortlessly align with the mana bases of all deck archetypes.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: With a requirement of six mana for its deployment, the Mindseeker’s cost is substantial, and in fast-paced games it’s possible that more agile threats or answers might be preferable.

Reasons to Include in Your Collection

Versatility: Jace’s Mindseeker can be a dynamic addition to blue-based control or mill decks, bringing a dual threat as both a sizable flyer and a way to disrupt your opponent’s strategy with its spell-casting ability.

Combo Potential: The card’s ability to potentially cast an instant or sorcery from an opponent’s library for free opens up numerous combo opportunities, especially in formats with powerful spells that can turn the tide of the game.

Meta-Relevance: In a game environment where large creatures and game-changing spells are prevalent, the Mindseeker offers a potent answer, providing both a threat and a way to tilt the balance in your favor with the right cast from the top of an opponent’s deck.

How to beat Jace’s Mindseeker

Jace’s Mindseeker presents a fascinating strategic challenge for players in Magic: The Gathering. Upon entering the battlefield, this creature card allows you to target an opponent, dig through their library for an instant or sorcery card, and cast it without paying its mana cost. This potent ability not only provides you with additional resources but can also disrupt your opponent’s plans.

Counteracting Jace’s Mindseeker requires thoughtful play. One effective strategy is to maintain a hand with counter spells ready to neutralize the Mindseeker’s ability. Additionally, cards with the ability to exile from the graveyard can eliminate the value gained after the Mindseeker’s trigger. Graveyard hate cards, such as Relic of Progenitus or Rest in Peace, prevent opponents from utilizing the most out of their graveyard, rendering Jace’s Mindseeker’s ability less effective.

Lastly, it’s crucial to manage the battlefield. Creatures with flash allow you to wait until the opponent casts Jace’s Mindseeker to bring your own creature onto the field, potentially with an enter-the-battlefield effect that can remove or counter the Mindseeker upon its arrival. Staying one step ahead with these tactics can significantly diminish the impact of Jace’s Mindseeker in a game.

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Jace's Mindseeker MTG card by a specific set like Magic 2014 and Duel Decks: Jace vs. Vraska, there are several reliable options to consider. One of the primary sources is your local game store, where you can often find booster packs, individual cards, and preconstructed decks from current and some past sets. They often offer the added benefit of a community where you can trade with other players.

For a broader inventory, particularly of older sets, online marketplaces like TCGPlayer, Card Kingdom and Card Market offer extensive selections and allow you to search for cards from specific sets. Larger e-commerce platforms like eBay and Amazon also have listings from various sellers, which can be a good place to look for sealed product and rare finds.

Additionally, Magic’s official site often has a store locator and retailer lists for finding Wizards of the Coast licensed products. Remember to check for authenticity and the condition of the cards when purchasing, especially from individual sellers on larger marketplaces.

Below is a list of some store websites where you can buy the Jace's Mindseeker and other MTG cards:

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Printings

The Jace's Mindseeker Magic the Gathering card was released in 2 different sets between 2013-07-19 and 2014-03-14. Illustrated by Greg Staples.

#	Released	Name	Code	Symbol	Number	Frame	Layout	Border	Artist
1	2013-07-19	Magic 2014	M14		61	2003	Normal	Black	Greg Staples
2	2014-03-14	Duel Decks: Jace vs. Vraska	DDM		19	2003	Normal	Black	Greg Staples

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Jace's Mindseeker has restrictions

Format	Legality
Commander	Legal
Legacy	Legal
Modern	Legal
Oathbreaker	Legal
Vintage	Legal
Duel	Legal
Pioneer	Legal
Penny	Legal

Rules and information

The reference guide for Magic: The Gathering Jace's Mindseeker card rulings provides official rulings, any errata issued, as well as a record of all the functional modifications that have occurred.

Date	Text
2013-07-01	If a card has in its mana cost, you must choose 0 as its value.
2013-07-01	If the five cards are put into a public zone such as exile instead of a graveyard (perhaps due to the ability of Rest in Peace), you can cast one of those instant or sorcery cards from that zone.
2013-07-01	If you cast a card “without paying its mana cost,” you can’t pay alternative costs such as overload costs. You can pay additional costs such as kicker costs. If the card has mandatory additional costs, you must pay those.
2013-07-01	If you cast an instant or sorcery card this way, you do so while the ability of Jace’s Mindseeker is resolving. If you choose not to (or can’t), you won’t get a chance to cast one later.
2013-07-01	When casting an instant or sorcery card this way, ignore timing restrictions based on the card’s type. Other timing restrictions, such as “Cast -his spell] only during combat,” must be followed.
2013-07-01	“From among them” means the five cards put into the graveyard, not all cards in that graveyard.