Having a 1/6 chance of sacrifice and not being
able to control that color mana it produces
sounds like it would balance the traditionally
overpowered Moxen that have haunted the early
days of Magic, and the fact that this card has
failed to show up in Vintage and Legacy
tournaments attests that this is indeed not
quite up to the bar that its progenitors set for
it. It does do one thing that the other Moxen
can't, however-- it gets the song "Pop Goes the
Weasel" stuck in your head.
Since its original release, Jack-in-the-Mox has
become a staple in various deck archetypes,
including Ire of Kaminari combo, Joker Stompy,
and 1-Land Permission. Some opponents have even
begun packing Engineered Explosives so they can
set it off at zero and in effect get a two-mana
Armageddon, or even Persecute Artist (especially
since Sligh now plays other Dan Frazier
masterpieces like Gray Ogre and Aladdin's Ring).
These developments have prevented Jack-in-the-Mox
from completely warping Legacy. People who cheat
at dice, on the other hand . . .
Today's card of the day is Jack-in-the-Mox from
Unglued in honor of April Fool's day and is a
zero mana artifact with a random chance of
producing any color of mana or being sacrificed
and costing the controller five life. In
an Un-setting this is actually a pretty powerful
card as an homage to the ever-powerful Mox
quintet from Alpha, but of course can't really
be played anywhere else.
For Casual (Constructed or Multiplayer) this is
a risky, but useful card if playing multiple
colors especially Red as it opens up the combo
with Goblin Bookie to reroll the one if it
happens. Even without that it is mana
acceleration with only a one in six chance of a
drawback and works well with anything using
colorless mana.
If you happen to get into a Limited match with
Unglued this might be a good first pick if to
leave open the choice for any color or colors
later, but overall other cards may be a better
or more entertaining choice. In Sealed
this is a bit better as you are more likely to
play several colors and this can somewhat
support that.
Magic the Gathering Card of the day: Jack in
the Mox
Welcome back readers April fools! Today’s card
of the day is an interesting one, Jack in the
Mox acts as a combination of each individual mox
card and randomly grants you a mana boost. Early
in the game regardless of the color this card
can accelerate you. The downside of sacrificing
it and losing life is a one in six chance not
very good, meaning this card can stick around
and boost your mana. This card is hard to rate
as it won’t see play much except in casual
environments. Cheaper money wise then any of the
Power nine, Jack in the Mox could be added to
everyone’s multiplayer deck and provide mana.
Unglued and Unhinged sets are popular with the
casual crowd, and having played with them a
little bit myself they guarantee a fun time for
every player involved. Happy April Fool’s Day
everyone!
