Jaya Ballard

Legendary Planeswalker — Jaya

+1: Gain {R}{R}{R}. Spend this mana only to cast instant or sorcery spells.

+1: Discard up to three cards, then draw that many cards.

-8: You get an emblem with "You may cast instant and sorcery cards from your graveyard. If a card cast this way would be put into your graveyard, exile it instead."

Tokens

• Emblem Jaya Ballard

Legality

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

Discussion (42)

Chaospyke on Lier and Adventure Spells

5 months ago

I guess I would need to know the exact steps for casting a spell. It appears like you are saying, that a player decides to cast an adventure from their graveyard that doesn't have flashback since its a creature card in the graveyard, but then it gains flashback on the stack.

My issue with this is "To propose the casting of a spell, a player first moves that card (or that copy of a card) from where it is to the stack." from

601.2a To propose the casting of a spell, a player first moves that card (or that copy of a card) from where it is to the stack. It becomes the topmost object on the stack. It has all the characteristics of the card (or the copy of a card) associated with it, and that player becomes its controller. Any continuous effects that modify the characteristics of the spell as you start casting it begin as it is put on the stack (see rule 611.2f). Any one-shot effects that cause the spell to gain abilities as you cast it apply as it is put on the stack (see rule 610.5). The spell remains on the stack until it resolves, it’s countered, or a rule or effect moves it elsewhere.

So the first part in proposing the casting of a spell is to move it from where its at. Adventure cards are creatures in the graveyard, but then instant/sorceries on the stack i.e. not the graveyard. Where in that process did the card gain flashback? Or where in that process was the card an instant or sorcery in the graveyard for Lier to give it flashback?

As for 601.3e, that should not apply to Lier, because Lier does not grant a player the ability to cast spells from the graveyard. It gives cards in the graveyard a keyword ability. 601.3e would matter for Jaya Ballard whose wording is "You may cast instant and sorcery spells from your graveyard. If a spell cast this way would be put into your graveyard, exile it instead."

Chaospyke on Lier and Adventure Spells

5 months ago

Lier explicitly affects cards in the graveyard.

Its not like Jaya Ballard 's ult which changes where you can cast spells from. Lier grants a keyword ability to cards

And the flash back rules state that its a keyword with two parts; one of which is present in the graveyard.

702.34a Flashback appears on some instants and sorceries. It represents two static abilities: one that functions while the card is in a player’s graveyard and another that functions while the card is on the stack. “Flashback [cost]” means “You may cast this card from your graveyard if the resulting spell is an instant or sorcery spell by paying [cost] rather than paying its mana cost” and “If the flashback cost was paid, exile this card instead of putting it anywhere else any time it would leave the stack.” Casting a spell using its flashback ability follows the rules for paying alternative costs in rules 601.2b and 601.2f–h.

By the ruling of adventures, Lier can't give them Flashback in the graveyard. And without having flashback in the graveyard, how can they legally be put on to the stack?

treeforcorvus on Melek, Spellcaster Extraordinaire

3 years ago

Really cool concept! I have a few ideas.

Blitz of the Thunder-Raptor helps deal with planeswalkers, and might perform better than Chaos Warp. Run Brittle Blast over Thunderous Wrath.

Not sure about Dismiss into Dream. How many single-target spells or effects are you running? I count 6.

Mana Drain over Dissipate: Having resources for damage later is almost always going to serve you more. Plus, it's a great target for Isochron Scepter.

Speaking of walkers, definitely replace Cloud Key with Rowan, Scholar of Sparks  ^Flip. It's straight up better. Strongly consider Ral, Storm Conduit, if only that it ramps up damage with your commander out. Consider Koth, Fire of Resistance as a decent land-fixer (which means you'll draw less lands and have more mana), and Jaya Ballard for simple acceleration.

If your pool is competitive, you could run Back to Basics or at least Blood Moon. This will slow down many decks and give you more time. Adding fetches in your colors (should be 5) means that you can take out 2 islands and 3 mountains and still hit your curve.

Not sure about Breaking Point and Curse of the Swine. Instead, consider Puppet's Verdict and either Winter's Chill or Cyclonic Rift.

Reins of Power and Insurrection could replace Chain Reaction and Incite Rebellion, allowing you to use those resources against opponents and kill them, which would have the added benefit of removing their creatures.

I know you don't want to run any creatures, but Stuffy Doll is a decent deterrent and is too funny not to leave out.

Sleepysherlock on Spell-Slinging Mardu Copies

3 years ago

Lot of my suggestions are leaning into tokens because Blood Avatar clearly wants that, and if i can find a spell that makes tokens than Extus will be happy too. Thats my idea.

Big Score, Unexpected Windfall, Blood for Bones, Rakdos Charm, Fiery Confluence, Crackle with Power, Storm King's Thunder, Bonus Round, Sram's Expertise, Electrodominance, Jaya Ballard, Liliana, Dreadhorde General, Elspeth, Sun's Champion, Assemble the Legion, Secure the Wastes, Call the Coppercoats, Fury Storm, Ashnod's Altar, Prosperous Partnership, Divine Visitation

Let's take a short break here, because you need better creatures. Creatures that have VALUE as you recast them over and over, maybe even discard outlets. I hate to say it (and i'm not going to list them) but Aristocrat creatures are ideal here because they are cheap, and gain life which can then be used to cast wild stuff like Bolas's Citadel.

Dragonmaster Outcast, Viscera Seer, Cathar Commando, Leonin Relic-Warder, Mondrak, Glory Dominus, Lagomos, Hand of Hatred, Pitiless Plunderer, Mahadi, Emporium Master, Woe Strider, Ophiomancer, Mayhem Devil, Children of Korlis, Insolent Neonate, Elenda, the Dusk Rose, Sengir Autocrat, Syr Konrad, the Grim, Sun Titan

Also if this just ins't the direction you wanna go thats ight

mada-mada on Bombardier Gold

3 years ago

Also, if you need mana, another Jaya could be your friend - Jaya Ballard

KBK7101 on I'm looking to build a …

3 years ago

Thoughts on just running Garruk Relentless  ^Flip as the commander as a Rule 0 thing? I doubt the deck would end up being anything terribly competitive (not a knock on your deckbuilding skills but just more because of the narrow theme), so why not just have some fun with it and make it a Rule 0 deck? If not, or if people give your grief over it, Carth the Lion is probably the best choice.

I'd say Garruk, Apex Predator but that one seems like it might be a bit too strong to have in the command zone with his emblem ability and all.

I've been debating doing the same thing with Ajani, probably with Ajani, Mentor of Heroes or Ajani, the Greathearted. Possibly another one with Jaya Ballard (RIP).

TypicalTimmy on Why did Oathbreaker die?

4 years ago

Caerwyn, funny that you use the phrase "by storm" because both decks I played last night had Storm in them lol

Jaya Ballard went somewhat infinite with Runaway Steam-Kin and a graveyard fully loaded with 1mv and 2mv burn spells. Cast a Past in Flames into Pyretic Ritual into a Seething Song and dump the mana into Lightning Bolt, Shock and other similar spells. Then finish with Grapeshot. Dealt like 39 damage in one turn haha.

TypicalTimmy on Why did Oathbreaker die?

4 years ago

I did, and still do when I have the chance. I have several Oathbreaker decks IRL and a few online.

• Consistency: Because each deck is only 60 cards, and you have 2 removed for the Commander and Signature Spell, each library is only 58 cards. It makes for extremely fast-paced games because there is a lot less "clutter" to get through. As a consequence, it is also far more honed. It's very easy to make a cEDH-style Oathbreaker deck with minimal effort

• Flexibility: There are hundreds of Planeswalkers. 257 at the time of this post, excluding the four (Wanderer, Tezzeret, Tamiyo and Kaito) from Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty. With the addition of Signature Spells, there are thousands of deck possibilities and directions to go.

• Far more emphasis on the Commander: Signature Spells can't be cast unless your chosen Planeswalker Commander is in play, which makes the game feel far more dynamic and interactive.

• Fun, casual format: Because Oathbreaker doesn't have a competitive meta (Despite easily making cOB decks), it feels a lot less hostile. What I mean is, I have had far more negative experience playing EDH than I have had playing Oathbreaker. People feel more relaxed and casual and joyous when playing it, and I think it is because the Competitive feel isn't there as strongly.

But there are cons, which I suspect is part of the reason why it died.

• Some colored combinations are not possible as not all colored combinations are printed in Planeswalkers.

• While all Planeswalkers are usable, some are more valued than others. As a result, when choosing Jace or Liliana or Chandra, you'd be at a huge disadvantage choosing some over others.

• Not all styles of play are available: Because your deck is largely tied to your Planeswalker, some deck archetypes aren't viable. (But others open up or become more viable as a result).

I just sort of feel like most people focus on the negatives over the positives. It's a supremely fun format and very budget friendly. Everyone I play the format with seems to absolutely enjoy it, even if they have reservations at first.

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The whole reason I bring up this thread is because I just got back from playing several games between Jaya Ballard with Collective Defiance and Jace, Wielder of Mysteries and Brain Freeze. Those decks bounced off each other in hilarious and spectacular manners, being burn and mill alike.