For years, MTG has had a fairly consistent cast of core characters. The Gatewatch crew, composed of Jace, Chandra, Nissa, Ajani, Liliana, and more, were essentially the Avengers. They showed up in every set, in one wild adventure or another. 2024 is a year of big change for Magic, however, and those old standards are being shaken up. If you were hoping to see Jace in MTG Foundations, then I’m afraid you’re in for some disappointment. A new, up-and-coming blue planeswalker has swooped in to take his place.
The Blue Switcheroo
That planeswalker is none other than Kaito Shizuki, a character who made their cardboard debut just two years ago in Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty. This change was confirmed by WotC Director of Product Management Max McCall, in an interview with Japanese gaming site 4Gamer.
During the interview, McCall listed the five core planeswalkers of the set as Ajani, Kaito, Liliana, Chandra, and Vivian. While Vivian is also a bit of a curveball, the fact that Nissa has now been desparked in the story easily justifies her absence. The lack of Jace in a core product like this is a much bigger deal.
Jace has consistently been one of the most popular planeswalkers in Magic. His legendary reputation was solidified through the printing of Jace, the Mind Sculptor, one of the most powerful planeswalker cards of all time. Even before that, though, fans were drawn to the character.
The interviewer even remarks upon this themselves, noting that Jace is “beloved by Japanese players,” and that “it’s a shame to see him go.” In response to this line of inquiry, McCall explained the reasoning behind Jace’s removal from this set.
“Jace became a bit too complicated a character in the past series. So, to make way for more heroic characters that Magic needs in the future, we asked him to step back from this image visual.”
Max McCall, Principal Product Designer, Wizards of the Coast
This reasoning ultimately makes a lot of sense. Jace’s recent arc, of becoming compleated during the Phyrexian invasion and then returning to his usual self, is quite complex. It’s also necessary to refresh the cast of characters every so often, especially in an ongoing story like that of Magic.
Kaito is a great choice for this. He’s essentially a blank slate, having only two in-set appearances to date, so there’s plenty of scope for his storyline. He also brings a distinctly modern flavor, which gives another angle of appeal for players just starting out in Foundations. The only question is his color, and whether he’ll stay Dimir or move to being mono-blue.
Grander Plans
While this swap makes sense in isolation, it also appears to be part of a larger strategy on WotC’s part. Over the past few years, there’s been a noticeable ramping up of the company’s effort to appeal to players in Japan. We’ve seen exclusive events, like the Wanderer’s Summer Festival, and an increase in the number of anime art cards in the game. In fact, it appears that starting with Bloomburrow, every mainline set is going to have some number of these going forward.
This subject, naturally, came up during the 4Gamer interview too. The interviewer mentions that Bloomburrow Value Boosters are now available at convenience stores in Japan. McCall, in response, notes that:
“Bloomburrow has just been released, so we don’t know yet how the Value Booster has been received by people. However, the Japanese market is also important to us, so we will continue to work to make it available for purchase in more locations.”
Max McCall, Principal Product Designer, Wizards of the Coast
Value Boosters are not a Japan-exclusive product by any means. Based on this interview, however, it’s clear that they were at least partially developed with Japanese convenience store culture in mind. Another solid tactical play by WotC.
In the context of pushing Magic harder in Japan, the decision to switch out Jace for Kaito makes even more sense. Kaito is a character from Kamigawa, a plane with a decidedly modern Japanese aesthetic. His design, that of a cybernetic ninja, also leans into tropes popular in anime, and Japanese media in general.
As an extra prong in the Japanese expansion strategy, his inclusion is a masterstroke. Jace will be missed in MTG Foundations, of course, but seeing more of Kaito is also more than welcome. Whether the broader Japanese expansion strategy works out remains to be seen, but so far signs are encouraging.
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