Straightforward and powerful. Three cards for
the cost of one, at instant speed. More useful
than it looks, since you get to wait and see if
you need to play a counterspell. If you turn out
to not need the Counterspell, then at your
opponent's EOT, play this and refill your hand.
I think Jace is a pretty cool guy - casts
Brainstorm for free, mills people, and now draws
lots of cards. And doesn't afraid of anything.
Jace's Ingenuity is a godsend to blue mages
everywhere, giving them the flexibility and
speed they thrive on. And it's going to be a lot
of fun making theme decks with the planeswalkers'
"signature spells." (Did anyone else think of
Tenser's Transformation and Mordenkainen's
Magnificent Mansion when they saw these?)
Today's 2011 card of the day is Jace's
Ingenuity which draws three cards at a cost of
five mana. Back in Eighth edition this
effect cost four with Concentrate, but was a
Sorcery and way back in Unlimited the infamous
Ancestral Recall was just one mana at Instant
speed and could target any player. There
have been many variations on the draw three
theme with some kind of condition or penalty
attached over the years, but this is the
simplest at Instant speed. The high cost
and not being able to use it offensively are
drawbacks, but being able to cast it when no
counterspell is needed on your opponent's turn
to gain additional card advantage is a solid
play. It will see some play, but isn't
likely to be a major presence in any constructed
format.
For Limited this is a decent uncommon that can
fit into a Blue deck to gain card advantage and
should be included in most Sealed builds.
For Booster this can be picked up fairly early
depending on the pack, but be sure to draft
enough creatures to play on your turn after
using this at the end of the opponent's turn.
UU3 for a +3 draw? 5 mana. Nahhhhhh! You
can do so much better with Blue! I mean, we can
all agree that the overpriced and utterly
awesome Jace, The Mind Sculptor does this but
100x better. If you're running Blue and can
afford to play casual to Pro Level Magic there's
really no need for this card to ever be
considered in your deck or even "notable
spares". I guess if you're playing Pauper Magic
then feel free to use this card as a +3 draw.
Again, maybe cool in Draft but mostly junk.
Competitive: lol/5, duh.
Casual: 1/5, as I said, Pauper Magic...?
Sealed/Draft: 1.5/5, +3 draws are
cool... 5 mana isn't...you be the judge
