Inside the Reality Fracture Multiverse Reforged commander deck - Inquirer Technology

MANILA, Philippines — Jace Beleren is finally back in the spotlight of Magic: The Gathering (MTG) with the upcoming Reality Fracture expansion. While Jace plays a major role in the set’s Standard environment, the blue planeswalker is also set to make waves in Commander.

Normally a mono-blue planeswalker in Magic: The Gathering, Reality Fracture’s Commander deck has Jace picking up three more colors in red, white, and black, widening his skillset. Sick and tired of what happened across the multiverse, the planeswalker shifted the status quo, swapping everyone and everything along the way.

With major changes across the multiverse creating “what-if” scenarios, including one where Liliana’s brother does not perish, the Commander deck explores what happened elsewhere. Similar to Planar Chaos back in 2007, major characters return in big ways, but not necessarily in the ways you’d expect.

Here are some of the more interesting cards to come out of this deck.

The face card of the deck, or rather THE Jace card of the deck, Jace, Multiverse Architect is a solid representation of what he does in the story. He’s essentially morphing, or in this case polymorphing, one being into another. What it lacks in inherent speed, being unable to ramp as often without the presence of green, it makes up for with its color identity and the deckbuilding potential that comes along with it.

While it has no conventional ultimate, its built-in protection that requires mana to attack it, card advantage from its plus ability that cycles uncastable cards, and a minus ability that brings out a nasty surprise for your opponents ensure that this card will definitely see play at multiplayer tables. 

Standing in as the alternate commander of the deck, Nissa, Leyline Tamer ditches green in favor of every other color. In a way, it’s similar to Jace, giving players a means of getting usually uncastable creatures onto the battlefield, but its higher mana cost makes it a bit worrisome.

At a mana value of seven, you get a beater that guarantees advantage just by playing lands and, unlike Jace, a means of winning via commander damage. It does come with the caveat of not having the same benefit for planeswalker builds, but it does give its future owner another direction to take the deck.

The first of many alternate takes on MTG where the character does not perish, this alternate Avacyn turbocharges black by giving players a means of semi-permanent recursion once she hits the field.

The original Avacyn, Angel of Hope, cost eight mana and gave itself and the player’s board indestructible. In a similar vein, Angel of Horror does something familiar, giving creatures, including itself, a way back from the graveyard after they die. While it’s a bit on the slower side, reviving creatures at the beginning of the next end step, including your opponent’s, creature-heavy value decks in black are in for a great time, assuming it doesn’t get exiled along the way.

Venser’s journey in MTG is wild, to say the least, going from legendary creature to planeswalker, then back to a creature before passing away. Fervent Forger takes a cue from the original Shaper Savant, flashing into play and manipulating a spell or permanent as it enters.

Unlike the original, though, apart from getting double the value, Fervent Forger is one half of an infinite combo waiting to be broken. In a multiplayer environment, the possibilities are endless. Imagine having an Impact Tremors or Purphoros in play together with your opponent casting a clone spell. That’s infinite damage waiting to happen.

Niv-Mizzet has historically been two things: an Izzet dragon in UR colors and an easy enabler for combos. The Orzhov counterpart of Niv-Mizzet continues that tradition, with a twist in its color combination and activation conditions.

While the original lets players deal damage as they draw cards, leading to infinite combos with cards like Curiosity, Ghost Counsel lets you draw cards as you pay life. Playing well with previous Orzhov mechanics like extort and life-gain cards such as Sheoldred, the Apocalypse, Ghost Counsel has the tools to find a home in Commander for years to come.

In MTG lore, the Phyrexians conquered Mirrodin, leading to their eventual multiversal rise, but Darksteel Angel sees that war from a different perspective. At nine mana, what this card lacks in stats, it makes up for in abilities, with indestructible and the line, “You can’t lose the game and your opponents can’t win the game.”

More of a casual card than anything else, having big creatures that players can look forward to casting is always a great thing. It’s even better in a deck that can cheat it into play sooner, like with Jace or Kaalia of the Vast.

Jhoira, Weatherlight Corsair takes a spin on black’s identity of manipulating opponents’ decks while taking cues from her Izzet counterpart, Jhoira, Weatherlight Captain. In recent times, black cards in MTG have gained the ability to manipulate opponents’ libraries, with cards like Inside Information from the recent Hobbit set serving as an example. Weatherlight Corsair joins the ranks of commanders like Gonti, Lord of Luxury, but with a historic twist.

Leaning once again on fun rather than competition, Jhoira is a great commander to build around since, more often than not, you’ll be playing your opponents’ deck rather than your own.

Going back into competitive territory, we end the initial list of cards coming out of the Commander deck with Teferi’s Reproach. An alternate take on Teferi’s Protection where he protects the player for a turn, Reproach has you pseudo-remove an opponent until their next turn.

In a way, it feels counterproductive to remove a player but only temporarily. The strength of Teferi’s Reproach, however, is in furthering your own game plan or preventing an opponent from furthering theirs. Of all the Commander cards printed in this product, Teferi’s Reproach is one that players should keep an eye on moving forward.

With only a handful of new cards added to the MTG card pool, most of which are focused on Commander, the Jace deck also brings along with it a bevy of great reprints.

While mana rocks like Sol Ring and the full Talisman cycle are appreciated, as are filter lands like Sunken Ruins and Mystic Gate, the deck also reprints some heavy hitters.

While not completely an inherent creature deck, the Flawless Maneuver reprint gives your expensive creatures a means of lasting another turn just when your opponents thought you had your defenses down. Imagine tapping out for a big creature because you had no Jace to cheat it out and, just when your opponents thought it’s time for a blowout, you cast this in response.

At the time of writing, Flawless Maneuver is around $20 at its cheapest printing, and having it available here is a welcome addition to white deckbuilders everywhere.

Multicolor land bases are difficult to make, and having one that could potentially tap for all colors is a boon. There’s not much to say about Reflecting Pool other than it being a great multicolor land, and with a minimum price of around $15 for its cheapest printing, it too is a great card to have.

Between the deck itself being playable out of the box and its consistent mana base helping it along, the Jace Commander deck offers plenty for both new and veteran Commander players. If you were fortunate enough to get it for SRP, you’re in for a great time, with the only expected issue being the clunky nature of its build. Then again, that appears to be part of the design, with Jace’s cycling ability helping smooth things out.

While the Standard sets have been somewhat hit or miss for Wizards of the Coast and MTG over the past year, the supplementary Commander products have continued to provide plenty of interesting cards and build-around options. With the card quality present here, it’s even possible to justify picking up the deck for its singles, especially with reprints like Flawless Maneuver and Reflecting Pool.

Even the possible build paths from this deck are interesting, and if you find one in the wild at SRP, it’s certainly worth taking a closer look.