Protect Jace, then turn resources into attacks
Use green bodies to hold the ground while blue supplies cards and flyers. Spend Jace’s loyalty on the result you need now, or preserve it when a specific supported payoff justifies the risk.
Investigate green-blue when defensive creatures, interaction and useful empower effects are arriving together. A loyalty reward is a reason to inspect that support, not to skip the early battlefield.
Four checks while you draft
Does this pick give me a creature that protects my life and Jace?
A small deathtoucher or useful early body makes loyalty less vulnerable to an ordinary attack.
Does empowering Jace come attached to development or a useful spell?
A creature or flexible spell can add loyalty without surrendering the whole turn to setup.
What specific benefit will the loyalty enable, and can I use it before Jace is attacked?
Kiora can make an attacker unblockable; Tethermage grows from loyalty-counter events; Wildspeaker makes a substantial blocker or attacker.
Does this interaction stop a threat instead of only drawing toward a future answer?
Cards in hand do not stop an immediate attack. Add ways to neutralize creatures while your engine develops.
Choose the missing job before another reward that needs it.
You have Kiora but few ways to activate a planeswalker before attacking.
Look for an empower card that also develops the turn.
Oculus supplies a creature and loyalty. Tam’s Resistance can add a counter and empowers Jace; the loyalty activation still follows its normal timing.
You can empower often but cannot defend Jace.
Take an early blocker before another reward.
Amphisbaena has deathtouch; Improviser is a two-mana body with later ramp available. Neither requires reaching eight loyalty.
Your hand has card flow but no answer to the next attack.
Choose interaction that the current board can use.
Compel needs your creature or planeswalker as a damage source. Infinite Coursework offers temporary interaction instead.
The support is missing
Use green creatures and blue flyers with incidental Jace value if the special loyalty rewards are absent. Cash in loyalty when it helps now instead of waiting for an unsupported large ability.
Repeated useful cards are clues, not proof that the colors are open.
A planeswalker can be attacked or removed. Compare a card or creature now with the specific future ability you hope to use.
Mind Meanderer’s entry fight is optional and both creatures deal damage. Do not lose it by choosing a target it cannot survive without a worthwhile exchange.
Adding more rewards can leave the same exposed planeswalker. Judge the early body or interaction beside them before selecting both.
Jiang Yanggu, Never Alone3.5/5
Proft, Consulting Detective3.5/5
Way of the Wildspeaker3.5/5
Arni, Humble Scribe3.0/5
Countersculpt3.0/5Grades by J2SJosh · Review 1 ↗ · Review 2 ↗ · checked Sep 26, 2026 · Individual general Limited grades; not pair-specific ratings.
The Theorist, Jace Beleren 2UUEarly creatures protect its repeatable card draw. UU calls for a blue base, not a light splash.
Garruk, Curse Breaker 3GGIts own Beast triggers a draw; other 4-power creatures add value. GG favors a green base.
Verdant Kraken 4GGGRamp and early defense buy time for seven mana and an upkeep. GGG makes this a green-base finisher.J2SJosh · MTG Arena Zone · Sep 26, 2026
Arcane AmphisbaenaDeathtouch defense plus an entry empower trigger.
Konstrari ImproviserA green-castable hybrid body with a later Heartwood spell.
Mindseeker OculusA body and four loyalty can support either card flow or another granted ability.
Tam's ResistanceCan improve a creature and adds four Jace loyalty in the same spell.
Inspired TethermageGets one counter per event that adds loyalty, not one counter per loyalty counter added.
Kiora of Salt and SandAn earlier loyalty activation enables her attack trigger without requiring eight loyalty.
Compel BrutalityCan use a creature’s power or a planeswalker’s loyalty to answer a threat.
CountersculptKiora of Salt and SandHer attack trigger can be the payoff; treat the eight-loyalty Leviathan as an additional option, not the only reason to play her.
Heartwood CrafterAdd useful prepared or flashback spells; count its Heartwood separately from the creature’s mana.
Way of the WildspeakerThe first granted activation can establish a 4/4 blocker immediately if that planeswalker has not activated. Remaining loyalty can supply later cards or creatures.
Plan for All OutcomesAn initial nonland answer plus a continuing source of loyalty.
Hexhaven InvigoratorA substantial creature with exceptional colored-mana demands and damage-trigger ramp.
Avatar of Burgeoning EchoesA cheap repeatable loyalty engine from normal land drops.
Avatar of Burgeoning Echoes
Entrust the Spark
Mind Meanderer
Paradox Shaper
Prudent Fateseer
Vigorbloom Vanguard
Woodwork Prodigy
Karn, Gilded GuardianKiora of Salt and Sand
Tam, the PossibilityExamples apply the printed rules; judge the board, costs and timing.
| Pick-Two | One-pick | Sealed | Reality Echoes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pair a useful empower card with the defensive creature or answer that protects the plan. Two loyalty rewards do not create the time to activate them. | Use one-card picks to keep defense, answers and useful empower balanced. A flashy eight-loyalty outcome is not a reason to pass the blocker the deck currently needs. | Draft may concentrate empower rewards. A Sealed pool needs actual defense and a finisher before making loyalty accumulation its identity. No tested format-speed assumption supports blindly taking the longest route. | Choose one complete pair before the game only when its castable half helps this deck. If you exile the Kiora pair, then resolve Kiora of Salt and Sand for {1}{G}{U} and activate a loyalty ability before attacking with a ready creature to make that attacker unblockable. Normal costs and timing still apply; only one half can be cast from exile. You may leave the other half in exile instead of shuffling it. Ask your store whether both halves must be in your deck. |
Cryotheory Adept
Way of the Paradox
Infinite Coursework
Unsummon