Jace, Unraveler of Secrets Emblem MTG Card
| Type | Emblem — Jace |
| Released | 2016-04-08 |
| Set symbol | |
| Set name | Shadows over Innistrad |
| Set code | SOI |
| Number | 17 |
| Frame | 2015 |
| Layout | Emblem |
| Border | Black |
| Illustred by | Tyler Jacobson |
Key Takeaways
- The emblem offers card advantage, enhancing momentum with additional draws for each spell cast.
- Instant speed interaction from the emblem augments strategic play across your opponent’s turn.
- Mana cost and setup of Jace’s emblem require foresight but yield high control once active.
Text of card
Whenever an opponent casts their first spell each turn, counter that spell.
Card Pros
Card Advantage: The emblem produced by Jace, Unraveler of Secrets enables a consistent draw mechanism, allowing you to pull an additional card every time you cast a spell. This constant flow of cards helps to maintain pressure and momentum against your opponent.
Resource Acceleration: Although the emblem itself doesn’t directly produce mana, the increased card draw rate significantly boosts your chances of hitting land drops and accessing more spells, indirectly speeding up your resource accumulation.
Instant Speed: The emblem’s effect applies to all spells cast, not just those at sorcery speed. This grants you the advantage of drawing cards off instants during your opponent’s turn, bolstering your hand and setting you up for more strategic plays on your own turn.
Card Cons
Discard Requirement: Jace, Unraveler of Secrets requires a strategic approach to hand management, specifically when leveraging his emblem. Achieving the emblem necessitates a diligent setup, as it comes into play only after a series of loyalty abilities have been activated, potentially depleting valuable card resources.
Specific Mana Cost: The mana cost for Jace at two colorless and three blue means he is tailored for blue-centric or blue-heavy decks. This specific color dependency can restrict deck-building options, making it less versatile across the broad spectrum of MTG gameplay.
Comparatively High Mana Cost: With a five-mana investment needed to summon Jace, it’s important to evaluate opportunity costs. In formats where board presence and tempo heavily dictate the match, the deployment of a five-cost planeswalker may be overshadowed by more immediate threats or answers provided by lower-cost cards.
Reasons to Include in Your Collection
Versatility: Jace, Unraveler of Secrets Emblem offers a unique ability that can seamlessly integrate into various control strategies. Its effect of negating the opponent’s first spell each turn grants a persistent advantage, making it a staple in blue-based control decks.
Combo Potential: The emblem can be combined with counterspells and other disruption tools to lock opponents out of meaningful plays. It elevates strategies that capitalize on denying critical spells, fortifying the effectiveness of permission decks.
Meta-Relevance: In a meta where spells and combos dictate the pace of the game, having Jace’s emblem in play puts you a step ahead by limiting your adversary’s options. This continual suppression often translates to a controlled match where your game plan prevails.
How to beat
Jace, Unraveler of Secrets is an intriguing Planeswalker card that presents a significant challenge once its emblem enters the game. The emblem’s ability offers an undeniably strong advantage — counter the first spell an opponent plays each turn. This can lock out opponents from their most important plays, tipping the match in your favor. However, defeating this card requires a flexible strategy and carefully chosen tactics.
To effectively overcome Jace’s Emblem, players should consider overwhelming it with numerous spells in a single turn, forcing the emblem’s owner to choose only one to counter. Playing cards with the “can’t be countered” clause can also help bypass the emblem’s effect. Additionally, focus on building a board presence that doesn’t rely heavily on casting spells, opting instead for abilities that don’t use the stack or generating threats that must be answered with the emblem’s controller’s resources.
Removing Jace, Unraveler of Secrets before the emblem’s activation is ideal. Direct damage, creature attacks, and sacrificial effects can pressure and remove Jace from the board. By keeping these strategies in mind, players can navigate around the emblem’s constraints and maintain a competitive edge in their matches.
Cards like Jace, Unraveler of Secrets Emblem
Jace, Unraveler of Secrets, within the vast library of planeswalker cards in Magic: The Gathering, bears quite the mark with its ability to create a formidable emblem. It’s comparable to other emblems created by planeswalkers such as Teferi, Hero of Dominaria. While Teferi’s emblem has the upside of exiling a permanent with each draw, Jace’s emblem perpetually untouchable negates the enemy spells, putting the player in an ultimate position of control.
Another analog is Narset Transcendent, whose emblem restricts opponents to casting only one spell each turn, an effective strategy to limit opposing plays. However, Jace’s emblem is unmatched in locking opponents out entirely, elevating Jace, Unraveler of Secrets to a distinctive spot among control archetypes. Lastly, we can draw parallels with Tamiyo, Field Researcher, who offers a diverse emblem granting an omniscient ability to cast nonland cards from your hand without paying their mana costs, yet, even with such power, the total spell negation from Jace’s emblem is a rare feature.
In perspective, Jace, Unraveler of Secrets stands unique in the emblem department, providing a level of control that others planeswalker emblems do not, affirming its position as a key asset in the hands of control players around the world.
Cards similar to Jace, Unraveler of Secrets Emblem by color, type and mana cost
Where to buy
If you're looking to purchase Jace, Unraveler of Secrets Emblem MTG card by a specific set like Shadows over Innistrad, 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, Unraveler of Secrets Emblem and other MTG cards:
- eBay
- TCG Player
- Card Kingdom
- Card Market
- Star City Games
- CoolStuffInc
- MTG Mint Card
- Hareruya
- Troll and Toad
- ABU Games
- Card Hoarder Magic Online
- MTGO Traders Magic Online
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