Magic is entering a wildly turbulent period right now. Much that players used to take for granted is now changing, from Standard rotation to the legality of Universes Beyond products. It’s a brave new world to be sure, and many are unhappy about it. While not quite on the same level as the other big changes, another major shift is Jace being replaced by Kaito as the ‘default blue planeswalker’ in Foundations. Given that he’s such a huge part of MTG, the idea of Jace being abandoned is a scary one for many. Thankfully, according to Mark Rosewater, things aren’t quite as dramatic as all that.
New Kid On The Block
It certainly is true that Kaito has been seizing a lot of Jace’s spotlight lately. He made his second-ever appearance in Phyrexia: All Will Be One last year, and he’s already made two more since. Once in Duskmourn, and now again in Foundations.
From Wizards’ perspective, it makes a lot of sense to center Kaito like this. Magic is moving into a more modern era, and Kaito hails from the now-cyberpunk plane of Kamigawa. Wheeling him out more often presents more opportunities to show off that high-tech aesthetic.
With all this reasoning taken into account it’s easy to see why Wizards went with Kaito in Foundations rather than Jace. It’s still a major deal, however. Jace was the first-ever blue planeswalker, and the one chosen to represent blue in most previous core sets. Beyond that, he’s also one of the game’s most popular characters. He’s played a central role in much of Magic’s story over the past decade, including last year’s Phyrexian Invasion arc.
Jace, the face of MTG, being abandoned for someone new is a bold move. Granted, it feels fitting in an era where so much about Magic is being radically reworked. But it’s still a significant change, and one that many players are concerned about. In a recent Blogatog post, Mark Rosewater addressed these concerns directly.
Swinging For Stardom
“For Foundations. At one of the panels at MagicCon, it was revealed Jace is in the Netflix show.”
Mark Rosewater
This came in response to a question from magicwithclass on Blogatog, about whether Kaito was the new default blue planeswalker or not. Based on this, it’s clear that MTG isn’t leaving Jace abandoned just yet. Let’s break it down.
For starters, the “For Foundations” part of the answer implies that Jace’s new behind-the-scenes status is temporary. He may be taking a step back for now, but he’ll definitely be back again in the future. While this is an unusual situation for Jace, it’s actually not uncommon for the ‘default’ planeswalker for each color to change from core set to core set. Green has had Nissa, Garruk, and Vivien, white has had Ajani and Gideon, red has had Chandra and Sarkhan, and black has had Liliana and Sorin.
Card appearances aside, the fact that Jace is going to be part of the upcoming MTG Netflix series is big news. While the project has now become notorious for being canceled and resurrected multiple times, it is still in the works. It will almost definitely be a massive boost for the game when it arrives, too. You need only look at the success of Arcane and Cyberpunk: Edgerunners to see how much impact a quality tie-in series can have on a game’s popularity.
Rosewater doesn’t specify whether Jace will be the show’s lead or not, but I’d say a small role is unlikely. As one of the game’s most iconic characters, he’ll almost certainly be the lead or a co-lead. While not being in Foundations is a bummer, being part of a Netflix series will be a much bigger deal for Jace. Fans of our beloved moody mind mage needn’t worry; it looks like there’ll be plenty more Jace to come soon.
