Only One Jace, Vryn's Prodigy...
Standard Deck Help forum
Posted on Jan. 6, 2016, 3:22 p.m. by xavrr
Since a couple of weeks after the origins release, I have had one Jace, Telepath Unbound... What good standard decks are there that you don't need multiples for? I'm thinking Jeskai, or maybe esper, but I don't know which way to take it. I have a fairly low budget though...
Sell it. It's gonna bottom out hard when it rotates and fall under $30 but it will slowly rise.
January 6, 2016 3:55 p.m.
It's got a ways to go before it rotates. It won't rotate until the currently codename "Lock" set releases at the end of this year.
January 6, 2016 3:58 p.m.
I ran babeh Jace as a one-of in my Jeskai midrange list when my friend wasn't using his. The whole thing was built on budget, so it wasn't anything amazing. The dude felt ok, but I never felt like I desperately needed him or anything. If you build around him, he becomes much better.
January 6, 2016 4:02 p.m.
ComputerizedMTG says... #6
Not sure I completely agree with DrFunk27, in that I doubt he will fall of hard. That's what everyone thought about Snapcaster Mage when he was gonna rotate out. How long did that last? He went from $50ish down to $35ish and is now back up to over $60. Considering that Jace, Vryn's Prodigy Flip instantly saw play through all formats I would highly doubt he will drop to $30 or less and stay that way.
Now what I do agree with is that you should sell him. Again as a one of he isn't great, and you are better of running another card instead. You said you are tight on budget? Well consider him as a 60-75$ addition to your budget. You need fetch lands? a few playsets missing from your deck that almost makes it? Go for it! Sell it, trade it, and make your current deck better. Unless you play EDH and want to run him in a deck you have, you are better off getting a few fetchlands to throw in your deck rather than 1 Jace.
January 6, 2016 4:24 p.m.
to be fair, snapcaster was a $20 card for its entire standard shelf life, and then managed to stay $20 for about a year after the innistrad block rotated. By then people realised it was good and it rose to $35, where it sat til it had its most massive spike up to +$60, where it currently is.
There was no snapcaster before snapcaster, which is why it didn't rise in price until long after it rotated.
Using actual snapcaster as a bar of measurement, we can look at flip-jace and see him for the value play that he is through the lens of the same effect on snap with a current price tag of over +$60.
if there was no snapcaster, flip jace would probably be $20-$30, and not the ridiculous +$60 it currently is.
January 6, 2016 4:32 p.m.
UpperDeckerTaco says... #8
Here's my personal opinion on the best deck that can benefit from utilizing only 1 Jace, 4 Color Rally. 4 Jace isn't necessary because Jace isn't completely vital to the deck. In the 4 Color Rally Deck I rather like Fleshbag Marauder in the main as a 3 of. It enables Liliana, if you utilize her. And it's just also great as an extra sac trigger while keeping decks in check. And Fleshbag is really good against Abzan.
January 6, 2016 7:45 p.m.
PreZchoICE1 says... #9
Why would it bottom out hard? it's already a staple in Modern and seeing play in Vintage and Legacy.
January 6, 2016 11:10 p.m.
Fleetwood-Mat says... #10
It's a very narrow-minded prediction to think Jace is going to bottom out hard. In some ways, people are trying to justify unloading their Jaces for 30-40$ when they thought he reached his peak, but they were of the impression that he wasn't as good as snappy. It's easy to overlook the kinds of interactions with modern staples that Jace has if your only perception of modern prices is based on pre-existing tier 1 decks. A lot of people don't consider that top tier modern decks evolve with the release of new standard cards, and other decks find missing pieces to move them from tier 2 decks to tier 1 decks.
I played with 1 Jace in standard for a couple weeks in U/B based decks. Esper control might be a good deck to slot him in as a one-of, and if you can get a full playset, I would suggest building Jeskai.
January 8, 2016 3:34 p.m.
Fleetwood-Mat Hardly narrow minded. His price is highly inflated because of Standard. Is he used in Modern? Yes, but absolutely not to the extent that he is in Standard. I think $30-$40 is a very fair price for him, even when/if he is used in Modern. $60 is completely unsustainable after it rotates.
January 8, 2016 3:43 p.m.
Fleetwood-Mat says... #12
No no, it's VERY narrow-minded. You don't see the same kind of impact Jace has on Modern YET because a lot of people are still using him in their standard decks. You can argue all you want, but you're completely wrong if you think that Jace is going to drop THAT much after rotation. He might drop like 10$, but it won't be for very long, and you won't see the best players sell theirs if/when it happens. I already know which deck I'm going to slot mine into after rotation, so good luck if you think he's going to be plentiful and easy-to-find, because I'm sure many people have plans for this card after rotation already brewing.
January 8, 2016 3:57 p.m.
Fleetwood-Mat People who want to use him in Modern are already doing so.....for the last 6+ months. He's not going to have some great revival. People already know how good he is, and frankly, they knew when he came out, it just took time for him to climb to $60. I'm not sure you quite understand how standard rotation works, because there are tons of players who only play standard, and just sell out when the time comes. Maybe I'm wrong, maybe I'm right, but he's not going to stay anywhere near $60. Also, as I said, those that want to use him in modern are already doing so.
January 8, 2016 4:09 p.m.
Just for reference...
Jace, Vryn's Prodigy Flip relevance at Competitive REL sanctioned events and up in all major formats (Mainboard Use - according to MTGOTOP8):
Standard = 220 Matching Decks
Modern = 21 Matching Decks
Legacy = 13 Matching Decks
Vintage = 11 Matching Decks
January 8, 2016 4:23 p.m.
TMBRLZ Thank you. I rest my case. Those 21 Modern decks will not substantially rise. I will say 10-15 but that's it. He's just simply not a substitute for Snapcaster Mage. He is very good, but it's not gonna change.
ComputerizedMTG says... #2
In all honesty if you have Jace in the deck you want to draw him and play him as soon as you can. That's my opinion anyways. He offers so much value that the later the game goes the more you feel like you want to play something else.
If all you have is a 1 of, you are honestly better off running something else in my opinion. In Jeskai he has to be at least a 2-3 of, that deck is filled with value and Jace gives you all of it both in the form of card advantage and "flashback" as many of those sickening good spells you get.
In Esper, the same argument goes. The problem here is that Jace is such a high value card that you want to draw it. He isn't on the level of Ob Nixilis where you can get away with running one and if you draw it good, if not it won't make a difference. Jace has the potential to win you the game, I think so anyways.
Granted Jace is probably still good at any stage of the game, but in decks like Esper and Jeskai which often run multiple Delve spells the later you wait the more awkward it may be to play Jace.
I could be completely wrong, but I really feel he has to be at least a 2 of. Every deck I am looking at runs the full playset of him.
January 6, 2016 3:50 p.m.