Jaya Ballard, Task Mage

Legendary Creature — Human Spellshaper

{R}, {T}, Discard a card: Destroy target blue permanent.

{1}{R}, {T}, Discard a card: Jaya Ballard, Task Mage deals 3 damage to target creature, player or planeswalker. A creature dealt damage this way can't be regenerated this turn.

{5}{R}{R}, {T}, Discard a card: Jaya Ballard deals 6 damage to each creature and each player.

Legality

Format	Legality
1v1 Commander	Legal
Archenemy	Legal
Block Constructed	Legal
Canadian Highlander	Legal
Casual	Legal
Commander / EDH	Legal
Commander: Rule 0	Legal
Custom	Legal
Duel Commander	Legal
Highlander	Legal
Legacy	Legal
Leviathan	Legal
Limited	Legal
Modern	Legal
Modern Beyond Horizons	Legal
Oathbreaker	Legal
Planar Constructed	Legal
Planechase	Legal
Quest Magic	Legal
Tiny Leaders	Legal
Vanguard	Legal
Vintage	Legal

Discussion (51)

DreadKhan on Lucius, Champion of Slaanesh!

3 months ago

I feel like Transmogrifying Wand would do work in here (you both want a creature somewhere and want a specific body dead, and the 2/4 is ideal vs your Commander in a fight). Maybe Kiku, Night's Flower as removal on a stick? Royal Assassin is pretty good at getting your Commander back too, and has a different hoop to jump through. Not sure if it's too risky, but I love using Jaya Ballard, Task Mage as removal, her ping for 3 is big enough for most utility creatures, and she can just blow up any Blue permanent (such as Propaganda, and other annoying Blue Enchantments that are otherwise pretty sticky). Mask of Griselbrand is a repeatable 'big' draw effect, it also gives your Commander some useful abilities. Lyzolda, the Blood Witch can ping something if you want (to get your Commander back), and can also sacrifice your Commander if you need him dead (and want to draw a card and ping something). I think Lyzolda's ability would result in Lucius entering the graveyard with the ping ability still on the stack, meaning his death trigger would go on top and resolve first, so you could technically kill a creature with Lyzolda by sacrificing Lucius and get Lucius back right away (also a card I guess?), not sure if that's relevant in your meta. It might be hard to trigger, but Lagomos, Hand of Hatred can tutor up whatever you need situationally, and for no new mana. I'm not sure if it's enough of a buff, but Tenza, Godo's Maul is a is a nice equipment for a Red legend that likes to swing, and Equip 1 is pretty sweet for +3 and Trample.

I feel like Hellish Rebuke would be a neat trick to both wipe out some attackers and recur your Commander at the same time, nice dual purpose effect potentially. It's getting a bit pricey, but Make an Example is an incredible card for a Sorcery, since you pick the pile you'll always get at least the most problematic thing (for each player, unless you're being political) despite it not targeting and not being a destroy effect (so it gets around almost any protection yet printed).

I read some lore about this guy the other day, pretty crazy stuff!

DreadKhan on unthinkable apocalypse

2 years ago

I'm not certain the Commander has enough explosive power to consistently win vs 2 decks, but I have very good results in 1 v 1 with my Rakdos deck, and it often has spare cards by the end of the game, be it wipe or removal, because the deck just runs so much of those, with lots of the removal hitting more than 1 target (I love stuff like Phyrexian Purge, Fire Covenant, Make an Example, and Volcanic Offering can each be a terror of a card, and a deck running all of them has lots of pinpoint removal that will clear lots of stuff out. Ashes to Ashes and Reckless Spite also exist fwiw, and if you aren't certain you'll have creatures out, Tergrid's Shadow can do a bit of work, as can Plaguecrafter or Demon's Disciple, cards Sedris can recur for 2B even. Another value card is Dredge the Mire, which can cheat in the 3 worst creatures in people's graveyards, note certain creatures will kill you if you control them, so check before playing! Necromantic Selection not only clears the field, it also gives you back the best thing, this is extra juicy if you use some sort of Indestructible creature(s) that won't die. If you consistently have a fairly big creature, or one with Deathtouch and Lifelink, Chandra's Ignition is one sided by definition, one of many cards that shines brightly with Basilisk Collar (which is also very good with Jaya Ballard, Task Mage or even good old Banshee, Jaya's 6 damage wipe really is amazing if you've got Collar on her, though it'll kill her too). If you expect to have multiple opponents, Goad is a very strong effect, Karazikar, the Eye Tyrant is potentially pretty solid, lots of card draw. There is also Kardur, Doomscourge that will force everyone's hand. Spectacular Showdown is a great card if you've actually got a board of your own to finish people off, keep in mind that on your next turn, you not only won't have been attacked by any pre-existing creature, everyone else will have swung for the fences with Double Strike, and they will likely have nothing left to defend with, making your Double Strikers very effective. Another Goad source that is great with a creature heavy board is Agitator Ant, which is hilarious a lot of the time. If you're using Goad effects, War Tax can let an opponent have a way around them, if there is a tax to attack Goad fails, and War Cadence is absolutely devastating with Goad, even a tax of 1 to block can make blocking impossible for weenie decks, and you can use either on anyone's turn.

As you've got access to Blue, there are a few non-Rakdos tricks you can use, the most hilarious I know of is Mass Diminish, note that it lasts until your next turn and have a good laugh. There is also Sudden Spoiling, which is powerful but lasts for that turn, or Polymorphist's Jest, which is similarly a 1 turn solution. I use Mass Diminish more aggressively, to make a player hyper-vulnerable to attackers (and make them unable to counter attack), getting two casts is just savage. Visions of Duplicity can create some chaos with it's two casts, Cultural Exchange is obscene if someone else has better creatures. Bident of Thassa is glorious if you want both of it's effects, forcing people to attack is incredibly mean, and this doesn't require you to run a weenie like Goblin Diplomats, but that's also a fun card fwiw. If you're going to run Oriq Loremage, you might slip in a huge creature to Unearth, something like Dragon Tyrant can be huge and not break the bank, Double Strike and Firebreathing are really good together, and you won't have to pay the upkeep with Unearth, he's dead before that matters.

I was looking at your land count and average Mana Value and I think you probably are running too few lands at this point, it's very tempting to cut them, but 30 is probably too few for a MV that is over 2.5. You might get away with adding 2 mana ramp, but I'd still aim for at least 36 lands (or MDFCs that count as a land, you probably already have the best two MDFCs in those colours, but people also run Malakir Rebirth  ^Flip) to ensure you can consistently cast stuff. There is a smattering of ways you can run less lands/ramp, but these all come with downsides, but in Grixis you can run 4 solid Bounce Lands, Dimir Aqueduct and Guildless Commons should be in here as well if you want a lower land count, these let you hit another land drop when you draw them. You might also run stuff like Thran Dynamo or Worn Powerstone to help you hit higher MVs sooner, ramping by only 1 mana feels bad compared to hitting a land drop most of the time, there is also Gilded Lotus, but hitting 5 mana can be rough. Coalition Relic can charge for 1 turn, Skyclave Relic is super versatile/rugged, and Everflowing Chalice can be huge if you want, 6-10 mana is absurd but sometimes comes up. Cantrips like Ponder and Preordain are also good at digging for a land, but I know in Talrand it stings pretty bad when you Preordain and don't find a land and I needed one. As for some cards to remove, I'll take a look, but if I'm trying to build a deck that can handle attention, I look first at cards that will hurt only 1 player, unless that card will almost certainly end that player, either right away or in a few turns.

A few to consider removing (I may be missing why you have them in, so user discretion is advised or something): Archive Trap, Outpost Siege, Palace Siege, Ponder, Preordain, Haunting Echoes, Cruel Ultimatum (this seems insanely hard to cast, and hits only 1 player, unless you can copy it I'd run Captive Audience if I want to hose one player hard), Cranial Extraction, Cormela, Glamour Thief, Kess, Dissident Mage, Kroxa, Titan of Death's Hunger, Lobber Crew, Loyal Subordinate, Nekusar, the Mindrazer, Obeka, Brute Chronologist, Phenax, God of Deception, Runo Stromkirk  ^Flip, Spear Spewer, and Thermo-Alchemist.Some maybe cards include Angrath, Captain of Chaos, and Cryptolith Fragment  ^Flip (for another land, maybe a better rock, there is Thought Vessel, but fixing is sweet in Grixis).

Hope some of this is helpful!

DreadKhan on Wyleth, but testing couple proxies

2 years ago

I like using Devout Witness and Viashino Heretic to help deal with artifacts/enchantments, and Jaya Ballard, Task Mage is pretty hilarious if you're already using Basilisk Collar (she can also remove any Blue Commander, which is hilarious I find). Brass Knuckles might do nothing when you double it up on most Commanders, but Wyleth will draw 2 cards each swing for 6 mana, not too shabby, and you can throw it onto some other creature in a pinch. I know you come with Trample, but Unquestioned Authority is a nice budget card for Voltron, draws on ETB and makes your Commander unblockable.

A bit pricier, but Mother of Runes can do a lot of work in a Voltron deck, letting you protect Wyleth, or letting Wyleth get past blockers, which is a lot of work for a 1 drop. If you use Brash Taunter, which is cheap ATM but will go back up, you can also run Pariah and Guilty Conscience, both cards are just stupid with Taunter. If you run Pariah, you could run something like Shielded by Faith, then anyone can be a great Pariah. Pariah is also good with any Theros Gods, or otherwise indestructible creatures, but most are pricey. Pyrohemia is another nice card, it's especially good if people tend to have smaller creatures than Wyleth, and lots of them. As long as you don't kill Wyleth, the card stays around as well. Pyrohemia gets a lot better if your Fiendlash is on Wyleth, each R lets him wallop an opposing player. You can also use Resourceful Defense or Nesting Grounds to put a Lifelink counter on Pyrohemia, there are a few white sources of those counters.

Cool deck, Wyleth does good work on a budget.

Delphen7 on Is a color changing strategy …

2 years ago

I don't have the list, but I know someone who runs Jaya Ballard, Task Mage with color changing effects, and it's decently powerful.

It's usually a turn 1/2 Jaya into Painter's Servant (From tutors) with Red Elemental Blast style effects backing it up. They start blowing up multiple permanents a turn until they can just win though damage while we do nothing.

It definitely gets worse with more players though

Sorin_Markov_1947 on Hot Women Card Collection

3 years ago

Perilous Forays , Jaya Ballard, Task Mage , Realms Uncharted , Argothian Enchantress , Save Life , Reversal of Fortune , Essence Vortex .

You might also check out https://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/sexy-women-collection/, but there are 752 cards to look through and not a lot of them are any good.

xignited on Thunderbois

3 years ago

If this deck is all about the rule of cool what about Jaya Ballard, Task Mage . Baller is literally part of her name. Also Lightning Serpent is fireball on a stick.

alkymyst on The Hacker Known as Zedruu

4 years ago

This is an awesome deck and a really cool idea, good job! In the way of recommendations, Jaya Ballard, Task Mage seems like it would be a fun removal option in this deck.

rdean14 on Card creation challenge

4 years ago

Gideon!!!!!!!!

Gideon, Resurrected

Legendary Planeswalker - Gideon

When Gideon, Resurrected is put into a graveyard from anywhere, its owner shuffles it into their library.

+2:Until end of turn, Gideon Jura becomes a 6/6 Human Soldier creature that's still a planeswalker. Prevent all damage that would be dealt to him this turn.

-1: Until your next turn, during each combat you may destroy up to one attacking creature.

-5: Return target white creature in your graveyard to the battlefield tapped.

4

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I'd like to see a Chandra, but old card.

Jaya Ballard, Task Mage is her young, while Jaya Ballard and Jaya, Venerated Firemage.

I believe Teferi's progression was Disruptive Student, Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir, Teferi, Temporal Archmage, Teferi, Hero of Dominaria, Teferi, Time Raveler.

I'm pretty sure Chandra's Progression is Chandra, Novice Pyromancer, Chandra, Acolyte of Flame, Chandra, Roaring Flame, Chandra, Torch of Defiance, Chandra, Fire Artisan, Chandra, Heart of Fire.

Not 100% on the time lines of everyone, but pretty sure.