Jace, Unraveler of Secrets Deck help

TCL911

Topic locked. To discuss Jace, head to the official thread: https://d3go.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=37&t=56861 // Alve

Hello, I want some feedback on my Jace 2.0 Deck. I've been liking my deck so far but I find that I don't really use Skaab Goliath or Helm of the Gods but I'm not sure what I should replace them with. Any ideas? Thanks

Creatures (4)
Sphinx of the Final Word
Soulblade Djinn
Nephalia Moondrakes
Skaab Goliath

Spells (2)
Turn to Frog
Helm of the Gods

Supports (4)
Choked Estuary
Tamiyo's Journal
Thopter Spy Network
Ongoing Investigration

Some Cards that I have:
Creatures
Noyan Dar
Sire of Stagnation
Alhammerret
Willbreaker
Forgotton Creation
Jori En
Mizzium Meddler
Daring Sleuth/Bearer of Overwhelming Truths

Spells
Displacement Wave
Welcome to the Fold
Talent of the Telepath
Ugin's Insight
Gone Missing

Supports
Orbs of Warding
Jace's Sanctum
Prism Array
Sphinx's Tuteluge
Trail of Evidence
Magnifying Glass
Shrine of the Forsaken Gods

Shadow-Mage

In general I'm missing a lot of the cards you have and my Jace 2.0 is only level 30 but this is what I run (with explanation):

Creatures
Tower Geist: basic draw upon summon
Sigiled Starfish: extra draw power
Jhessian Their: Extra draw upon damage dealt and power boost per spell or support cast
Forgotten Creation: dump and redraw for lots of draw power.
Geralf's Masterpiece: feeds on FC's full hand dump

Spells
Talent of the Telepath: Draw and possibly auto cast

Supports
Tamoyo's journal: More draw
Fevered Visions: more draw for you and opponent and 4 damage to opponent per turn for a full hand
Sphinx tutelage: feed off all the draw and increase the opponents first card cost.
Mirror Pool: strength boost for low power creatures

My deck is meant to focus on the 33rd ability but tends to end it before I even get there. There is so much draw that if you can't get what you need with a few discards or random casts I would be surprised.

I think your deck is good but this Jade seems very draw oriented so maybe roll in that direction.

HomeRn

Jace, at least the latest version, relies a lot on efficient cards - especially creatures so that he can capitalize heavily on all those clues to always have "leads" on how to even further mess up his opponent's day.

For starters, drop all of the creatures from your deck - except for Moondrakes. Most of the creatures in your current deck aren't fast enough to reliably play in 1-2 turns (assuming you aren't mana locked by a poor grid) or have a more efficient option that costs less. Moondrakes' ability to give all of your creatures flying is huge - even more so than passive +2/+2 buffers from the Djinn since this will allow you to bypass most non-flying blockers when you aren't playing against any green decks. You do NOT want to have a full hand when you have a fair number of clues out on the board!

Creatures I would consider to use that you mentioned having access to are Daring Sleuth, Jori En, Mizzium Meddler, and the aforementioned Nephalia Moondrakes. Daring Sleuth pairs AMAZINGLY well with the new Jace, as he is almost guaranteed to transform and provides a reliable source of clues, card draw, and secondary mana battery through Jace's first skill. Jori En is just amazing in any deck, plus a decent stat line for the mana cost. Mizzium Meddler, while a shell of his former - albeit highly annoying self, still provides a great stat line for 9 mana (4/7) and can still disrupt your opponent's mana stockpile with some lucky cascades.

You do have the critical supports for Jace: Ongoing Investigation, Tamiyo's Journal and Cloaked Estuary. Personally, I would keep it at that. Thopter Spy Network is great on paper... especially considering the number of clues that are going to be thrown out over the course of a game... but I would rather have another spell for Jace here. Especially since there is this thing called a "carriage" and you'll probably want to have something to deal with it should it show up...! By Sphinx's Revelation, don't you mean "Sphinx's Tutelage?" For 6 mana, this stinker will literally put your opponent on a mana treadmill as long as you can keep playing out your hand.

For spells, Turn to Frog is one I use (and why not - it's amazing!) - however I never considered using Helm of the Gods. Could be a good way to boost my team to keep certain creatures alive, especially after I use Haunted Cloak to get them blocking "carriages." You'll also want to add some form of a mass-bounce spell as an insurance policy in case things go really bad!



The deck I run right now is as follows:

Creatures:
Nephalia Moondrakes
Mizzium Meddler
Daring Sleuth

Spells:
Haunted Cloak
Engulf the Shore
Turn to Frog

Supports:
Sphinx's Tutelage
Tamiyo's Journal
Choked Esuary
Ongoing Investigation

Lots of efficient cards and spells to keep my hand moving while keeping pressure on my opponent to keep up - while the spells are ready to provide contingency plans in case of something annoying showing up at inconvenient times. Engulf the Shore is the only mythic in the deck as I would prefer to not bounce my creatures in order to preserve my flow of cards being drawn/played.

ridfrenzy

Ongoing Investigation + Forgotten Creation are really two cards you need for J2. Days undoing as well if you have it (I Don't )

I am currently running the following:

Creatures
Harbinger of the tides
Stitchwing Skaab
Forgotten Creation

Spells
Scour from Existence
Welcome to the fold

Supports
Corrupted Grafstone
Sunken Hollow
True-Faith Censer
Ongoing Investigation

I am currently trying out Prism Array as my 10th, but I have taken it out before as card drawing really isn't an issue, it is there for the disable currently.

Bazingaconnor

ridfrenzy wrote:

Ongoing Investigation + Forgotten Creation are really two cards you need for J2. Days undoing as well if you have it (I Don't )

I feel that forgotten creation is overrated for Jace 2.0. It doesn't do enough for its cost. All it does is draw you some cards now, when you could be dumping your hand on the field, and filling your hand from clues. I am on the fence about day's undoing for a similar reason, though the small ramp it provides does help get you going on your next orb match. Also, the main reason to run these is to benefit from the ult immediately, but i almost never get to that as I am quickly playing my hand while denying the opponent mana with sphinx's tutelage.

Right now I am running a deck similar to HomeRn.

Creatures
Nephalia Moondrakes
Daring Sleuth
Oracle of Dust

Spells
Scour from Existence
Talent of the Telepath

Supports
Tamiyo's Journal
Ongoing Investigation
Sphinx's Tutelage
Choked Estuary
True-Faith Censer

My deck is fairly fast, but it definitely is a glass cannon deck, thanks to the lack of lifegain in blue, and my lack of Engulf the Shore and Haunted Cloak.
I am currently running Scour over Turn to Frog only because i have had bad experiences with TtF and tokens. TtF is probably okay after the update, and it looks like it would be great in the deck, I am just not willing to try it right now.
I definitely love getting 20+ mana from Jace's first ability, and I seem to only use that except in rare cases, such as when I get ridiculous cascades.

Mainloop25

For card draw decks ive replaced forgotten creation with pore over the pages and am way happier for it.

Xakarath

What I Play What I wish it was

Creatures - 1
Incubator Drone (Drowner of Hope or Startled Awake)

Spells - 5
Scatter to the Winds
Turn to frog
Pore Over the Pages
Talent of the Telepath
Displacement Wave (Engulf the Shore)

Supports - 4
Sphinx's Tutelage
Jace's Sanctum
Drownyard Temple (Shine of the Forsaken God)
Fevered Visions (Thopter Spy Network)

The Drone is pound for pound the most effient creature Jace 2.0 has to offer. If I had Drowner of Hope, I'd try it but for now I use this. Before you ult, drop him when needed to chump block for 2 turns while you wait for your removal to finish. Overall cost 4 mana for a double blocker and a cantrip which is not bad, however after your Ult, The drone enters play as a 5/6 Defender with a 5/5 scion because it cantrips when it comes into play. Fevered Visions pushes them to 9/10 and 9/9 defenders before my opponent even gets to attack. On my next turn the scion is a 13/13 after my draw phase to which I will Turn to frog my own scion for a gain of 39 mana. I arrange my hand so that I drop another Drone, procing the draw again now with a 18/20 drone Defender, a 5/5 frog and a 5/5 Scion Defender. I use the rest of the 39 mana to alternate between TotT and POtP. Pour gives 6 mana to Talent, then Talent fetches Pour, brings it's cost down to 3, and the cycle just repeats. Can net me 6 to 9 cards in a turn.

Until this point, I work to setup a Sphinx Control. Sphinx + Fevered Visions(Thopter Spy Network) + Sanctum is reliably a 7 mana sink for your opponent. Without a Cascade they will just lose that whatever mana they can accumulate due to Scatter the Winds.

Rogan_Josh

Here's what i'm running at the moment.

Creatures
Rattelchains
Towergeist

Spells
Crush of Tentacles
Exert influence
Talent of the Telepath
Scatter to the winds

Supports
Tamiyo's journal
Prism Array
Mirrorpool
Drownyard Temple (going to swap in Shrine as support destruction isn't really an issue and the extra 4 mana isn't worth it in this deck)

Jace v2's star ability is his first one hands down. Rattlechains is an excellent body with evasion and hexproof and towergeist is old school quality, cheap 4/4 that replaces itself in your hand. Really you can have whichever creatures you think are the most efficient.

Along with Tentacles and exert influence you've got all the punch you need. Talent is there to fish out your supports so you can use his first ability and dig for answers if needed.

scatter to the Winds is the odd one out though, i just added it in for some fun but it's paying it's way at the moment. It can be replaced with whatever you think useful though.

TCL911

Thanks for all the feedback!!! Here's what I'm currently running with reasons!!!

Creatures (3)
Sphinx of the Final Word (Gives all my creatures Hexproof which helps to protect them from spot removal especially with the creature that has the Haunted Cloak and Helm of the Gods on them)
Nephalia Moondrakes (Gives creatures flying but its mainly use as 6/6 body for 11 mana)
Daring Sleuth // Bearer of Overwhelming Truths (Cheap creature, can transform easily with this deck and gives clue supports)

Spells (3)
Turn to Frog (Good Blue Removal)
Helm of the Gods (Combining this with Haunted Cloak to make a blocker especially with Thopters!!!)
Haunted Cloak (See Helm of the Gods)

Supports (4)
Tamiyo's Journal (Gives clue supports each turn which helps draw and Jace's first ability)
Thopter Spy Network (Gives Thopters each turn which I love lol)
Ongoing Investigation (See Tamiyo's Journal)
Prism Array (Can help stall in order to get the "Haunted Helm" combo and for draw)

What I really like with this deck is the "Haunted Helm" combo (Helm of the Gods+Haunted Cloak+creature) which has saved me many times from the brink of death. What I'm not sure with this deck is the creatures. I considered Thopter Spy Network as a creature too. So I was thinking on replacing either Moondrakes or Daring Sleuth with Shrine of the Forsaken Gods which I just got couple of days ago.

So any thoughts? I'm still open to other suggestions too and see my original post for cards that I have that might help

Thanks

Rogan_Josh

It's a totally acceptable deck you got there. Personally there are a couple of cards i wouldn't run but we have different card pulls to work from.

Ongoing investigation is top of the list for things to replace, along with thopter spy network. The first looks largely redundant and the second with far to expensive for it's purpose, even with Jace's first ability. then again if you don't have anything better to run either of them are bad cards.

TCL911

So I got a Corrupted Grafstone from a Basic Booster and I was wondering if I should use that instead of Shrine?

Shadow-Mage

TCL911 wrote:

So I got a Corrupted Grafstone from a Basic Booster and I was wondering if I should use that instead of Shrine?

While I don't have Shrine I know it is a more stable mana flow than using grafstone or any other gem transforming card.

Hope this helps

HomeRn

TCL911 wrote:

So I got a Corrupted Grafstone from a Basic Booster and I was wondering if I should use that instead of Shrine?

Debatable. While Shrine is consistent in terms of mana gains, Grafstone can provide bigger benefits through not being mana locked. However, Shrine has more shields than Grafstone - but you also need to consider Jade's first ability as well to consider which one to use.

Steeme

Xakarath wrote:

What I Play What I wish it was
Creatures - 1
Incubator Drone (Drowner of Hope or Startled Awake)

Spells - 5
Scatter to the Winds
Turn to frog
Pore Over the Pages
Talent of the Telepath
Displacement Wave (Engulf the Shore)

Supports - 4
Sphinx's Tutelage
Jace's Sanctum
Drownyard Temple (Shine of the Forsaken God)
Fevered Visions (Thopter Spy Network)

I have my Jace II in the mid 50's right now. I re-jigged my deck to match yours. Only substitute was Shrine for the Drownyard (since I don't have it).

This is a brilliant deck. It's not the fastest, but I can definitely see myself trying it in the next nodes of power (I usually put Kiora on Blue, but I want her to go on Green so I can get rid of Nissa).

Ciotog

I just got Jace II earlier this week when he hit the vault but I put the below deck together for him and it works pretty well, not super quick but I like it:

Creatures:
Prized Amalgam (rarely pay for this card, see Forgotten Creation)
Forgotten Creation (Refills my hand and will play any Prized Amalgam it discards / has been killed already. If your 3rd ability is on the board this also equals +24/+24 for all your creatures)

Spells:
Talent of the Telepath (will play must of the supports for free)
Turn to Frog
Crush of Tentacles

Supports:
Tamiyo's Journal (more draw equals more options / more stall for the other PW)
Sphinx's Tutelage
Oath of Jace (more draw and some extra mana drain)
Trail of Evidence (more supports to increase your 1st ability, gotten 36 mana with it once after chaining a couple of Talents together)
Choked Estuary (really want to replace this card with something, just haven't decided on what yet, it is too expensive if drawn early in the match, I don't have the graftstone or shrine)

The plan is obviously to stall the enemy PW until you win. With the supports on the field I can get +24-28 mana using the first ability which will usually empty my hand/refill it with the Forgotten Creation or it will play Crush of Tentacles in one turn. Not always quick, and I usually use Crush of Tentacles on my own creature if I shut down the other PW before they play a creature.

spookfish

Steeme wrote:

Xakarath wrote:

What I Play What I wish it was
Creatures - 1
Incubator Drone (Drowner of Hope or Startled Awake)

Spells - 5
Scatter to the Winds
Turn to frog
Pore Over the Pages
Talent of the Telepath
Displacement Wave (Engulf the Shore)

Supports - 4
Sphinx's Tutelage
Jace's Sanctum
Drownyard Temple (Shine of the Forsaken God)
Fevered Visions (Thopter Spy Network)

I have my Jace II in the mid 50's right now. I re-jigged my deck to match yours. Only substitute was Shrine for the Drownyard (since I don't have it).

This is a brilliant deck. It's not the fastest, but I can definitely see myself trying it in the next nodes of power (I usually put Kiora on Blue, but I want her to go on Green so I can get rid of Nissa).

First off, try and snag Garruk for your green, if possible. Minimum creature needs means you can load up on spells and the like. I personally like him much more than Kiora.

Anyway, I wanted an opinion on my build.

Creatures:
Deepfathom Skulker (16)
Tower Geist (9)
Sigiled Starfish (8)

Spells
Disperse (4)
Artificers Ephiphany (2)
Pore over the Pages (9)

Supports
Tamiyo's Journal (5)
Vessel of Paramnesia (3)
Ongoing Investigation (12)
Sphinx's Tutelage (6)

runs a little slow, but everything you do generates multiple cards. Thanks guys!

MISTERMOIST

I've had a lot of fun with the new Jace, and my deck has worked much better than I ever anticipated. It's a work in progress but as of right now I am currently running:

Creatures:
Startled Awake
Drowner of Hope
Hangarback Walker

Spells:
Talent of the Telepath
Bring to Light

Supports:
Jaces Sanctum
Fevered Visions
Oath to Jace
Sphinxs Tutelage
Tamiyo's Journal

The oath to Jace and fevered visions work well at pumping up the mana cost through tutelage while at the same time stealing that extra mana each time. With the clue supports makes getting the large amount of mana necessary for casting the creatures simple, especially with help from startled awake; while keeping their creatures frozen. If anyone had any helpful input, I would appreciate it.

WiLDRAGE

This is what I've been using to beat Avacyn during her event:

Creatures

• Eldrazy Skyspawner
• Incubator Drone

Spells

• Imprisoned on the Moon
• Adverse Conditions
• Artificer's Epiphany

Supports

• Tamiyo's Journal
• Shrine of the Forsaken God
• Prism Array
• Corruped Grafstone
• Drownyard Temple

The idea is to stall with Adverse Condition and Incubator Drone (and the Eldrazy Scion both produce) as well as Imprisoned on the Moon until 21 loyalty is amassed to activate Unravel. Once that is done, just focus on trying to get landfalls for Prism Array and try to keep your hand at 2 or 3 cards by exiling stuf you won't manage to cast. This is because the AI will almost always go for a landfall, if available, even if off-colour. I typically will destroy creatures that I won't have mana to play immediately because the potential of drawing a card is better than reinforcing as that point.

Reaganstorme

Met a mean Jace2 deck yesterday (4 Mythics, 5 Rares, 1 Common):

Creatures (3)
Startled awake (M)
Rattlechains (M)
Niblis of frost (R)

Spells (4)
Days undoing (M)
Engulf the shore (M)
Altered ego (R)
Tezzeret's ambition (C)!

Supports (3)
Insidious will (R)
Jace's sanctum (R)
Aetherflux reservoir (R)

I made a mistake when I stole a Startled Awake, and Persistent Nightmare bounced back to my full hand... straight into my graveyard. I was one turn short to win after quite a protracted battle.

Mainloop25

My current Jace2 relies on Gisa&Geralf and and 3 zombies to cycle through. Prized Amalgam, Scrapskin Drake, and Forgotten Creation. I use Forgotten Creation for card draw, Sphinx's Tutelage to make it near impossible to cast anything, and Madness cards with great effects on them. Because of all the discard, they are almost free to cast: Broken Concentration and Chilling Grasp. Imprisoned in the Moon for anything that is able to get through, and Prism Array for extra card draw and disable. The whole point of Jace2 is to stall for the ultimate support to come out. It's slow but quite effective.