Jace's Ruse
Sorcery
Return up to two target creatures to their owner's hand. You may search your library and/or graveyard for a card named Jace, Arcane Strategist, reveal it, and put it into your hand. If you search your library this way, shuffle.
- CMC
- 5
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- U
- Rarity
- rare
- Set
- War of the Spark
- Price
- $0.16
- EDHREC rank
- #22859
Jace's Ruse bounces a creature and draws you a card for three mana at instant speed — solid rate on its own, better if you have a enters-the-battlefield trigger to rebuy. It's a role-player in blink and tempo strategies, not a staple, but it earns its slot when the payoff is right.
Format Analysis
Where it lives, where it can’t
| Format | Verdict |
|---|---|
| commander | legal |
| legacy | legal |
| modern | legal |
| pioneer | legal |
| standard | not legal |
| vintage | legal |
| pauper | not legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
In Commander, Jace's Ruse fits cleanly into blink and flicker strategies where bouncing your own creature is a feature, not a drawback — commanders like Brago, King Eternal or Roon of the Hidden Realm turn it into a three-mana draw-plus-trigger engine. Outside of those synergy shells it's too narrow; removal that doesn't replace itself in multiples is hard to justify in a 100-card format. In competitive formats like Modern and Legacy, three mana at instant speed for a bounce-and-cantrip is too slow against the format's threat density — there's no meaningful home there. Pioneer and Vintage face the same ceiling: Jace's Ruse never rises above fringe consideration when faster options exist.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.16 bulk tier
At $0.16, Jace's Ruse is deep bulk — you're not paying for the card, you're paying for the sleeve. Bulk commons and uncommons at this price point don't appreciate unless a combo or format shift puts them in sudden demand, and nothing on the horizon does that here.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.