Following its reveal, the Multiverse Reforged precon from Reality Fracture has been consistently moving the secondary MTG markets. Thanks to new, bizarrely included legends like The Ur-Sphinx, for instance, we’ve seen tons of Sphinxes spiking in price. On top of these, multiple Jace cards have been climbing, thanks to the deck’s face Commander leading a bizarre typal deck.
MTG Jace, Unraveler of Secrets
First released as part of Shadows over Innistrad in 2016, Jace, Unraveler of Secrets has long been just okay. For five mana, this Planeswalker really doesn’t do a lot, even if it does have high starting loyalty. Even with this, however, you’ll need three turns of scrying and drawing a card till you can really have some fun.
If you can ultimate Jace, Unraveler of Secrets, countering each opponent’s first spell is, unsurprisingly, rather devastating. Since it doesn’t care whose turn it is, counterplay is practically shut down in an instant, and casting anything becomes significantly more costly. With this effect being an emblem, too, you can’t even get rid of it by removing Jace.
As powerful as this ultimate ability is, getting there is really the struggle, as Jace is a massive removal magnet. Despite this damning downside, many
Jace, Multiverse Architect
Jace, Multiverse Architect
At the beginning of combat on each opponent's turn, they may pay {2}. If they don't, creatures they control can't attack Jaces you control this turn.
+1: Draw two cards, then put a card from your hand on the bottom of your library.
−3: Exile another target planeswalker or creature you control. Reveal cards from the top of your library until you reveal a creature or planeswalker card. Put that card onto the battlefield and the rest on the bottom of your library in a random order.
Jace, Multiverse Architect can be your commander.
decks are playing this card anyway, but not as part of the Multiverse Reforged precon. Instead, Jace, Multiverse Architect has become the go-to Commander for a Jace Typal deck, running all of the Jace’s under one roof.
Within this strategy, not only is Jace, Unraveler of Secrets improved by plenty of Proliferate cards being used, but raw power is secondary. Rather than gunning for a win with raw effectiveness, you’re just after the charm of having tons of Jace’s in play. While this might seem a bit silly, it’s already led Jace, Unraveler of Secrets being included in over 1,500 Jace, Multiverse Architect decks.
If you want Jace’s ultimate to be even more consistent, however, you can build around
Tam, the Possibility
Tam, the Possibility
Planeswalker spells you cast cost {1} less to cast.
{W}{U}{B}{R}{G}, {T}: Proliferate X times, where X is the number of planeswalker types among planeswalkers you control. (To proliferate, choose any number of permanents and/or players, then give each another counter of each kind already there.)
instead. According to EDHREC, Tam isn’t Jace’s most popular home; however, her Proliferate ability is undeniably powerful. Ideally, after you land Jace, activating this ability once gives it enough loyalty to really pop off.
A Steady Spike
Given the dual demand from two Reality Fracture Commanders, it’s little wonder that the price of Jace, Unraveler of Secrets has increased. That being said, this Jace has been reprinted before, in Innistrad Remastered of all places, but that didn’t massively increase supply. With every printing of Jace, Unraveler of Secrets being at mythic, it hasn’t taken tons of sales to increase prices.
In the past month, for instance, there have been fewer than 95 near-mint sales for this card’s original printing. Despite this, prices have increased by over 200%, climbing from $1.10 to $3.39, including shipping. With supply already low at this price point, near-mint prices might not be long before creep even higher.
Unfortunately, despite being the more recent printing and having the same art, the Innistrad Remastered variant is currently more expensive. With near-mint non-foil examples starting at $3.72, your only cheaper option is a worse-condition copy. Thankfully, so long as you don’t mind some wear and tear, moderately played Shadows over Innistrad examples are just $2.73.
Fun But Flawed
As much as we can’t predict the future, the long-term potential of Jace, Unraveler of Secrets doesn’t look very exciting. Realistically, while it does have some fans, this planeswalker is just not very good. You can make it work in some specific scenarios, sure, but most of the time this Jace won’t achieve much.
With this in mind, it does feel like Jace, Unraveler of Secrets is just a temporary fad that’ll fade in popularity over time. Admittedly, there’s no guarantee of this, especially since new Commanders like Tam could be rather popular long-term. Even with that in mind, however, the current level of demand is likely to be unsustainable since Jace isn’t that good.
As much as a price decrease in the coming months feels likely, exactly how far Jace, Unraveler of Secrets will fall is unclear. Even post-spike, this card isn’t hugely expensive, so the few who want this Jace might not mind paying that. Equally, having the price fall back down to $2 or even below wouldn’t be that surprising.
Ultimately, as is often the case, we can only really wait and see what happens in the future. Considering MTG Star Trek isn’t too far away now, interest may shift sooner rather than later, causing faster market movements.
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