Terminus Is a Team Sport: Jace's Machinations in Legacy UW Miracles

In the lead up to Reality Fracture, I had high hopes for good cards to play in Legacy because of the introduction of Fatehold, one of the Echoverse's alternative Strixhaven Schools, which taught its student's about future history. The notion that primary area of study was understanding the implications of future events before they happen suggested strong possibilities of library manipulation to set up and enable Miracles.

Unfortunately, none of the Fatehold cards got anywhere near that evocative design spaces. Instead, Fatehold's mechanic was creating 2/2 cadets that surveil 1. I was sad.

The other mechanic that seemed interesting but utimately underwhelming on rate was Empower Jace, which tacks on a surveiling planeswalker token that sometimes draws a card onto otherwise the routine effects they print every set.

At the time of this article's publication, the only person who has said anything positive about Empower Jace was one player at my local shop who said they drew a card off Theorist's Sanctum, the fetchable island that can Empower Jace 2 for four mana. -mana, instant-speed tutors can make even overcosted effects appealing, even if it's 4UUUU over two turns to draw a card. I was slightly less sad.

While reflecting upon other cards in the set while on the subway, my instinct kept returning to one card in particular for Miracles.

Jace's Machinations felt like a card that would support the Miracles shell in the current Legacy environment. I couldn't articulate why immediately when it would continously jump to the forefront of my mind, but I trusted my intuition and returned to the Miracles blueprint to identify why my instinct wouldn't let it go.

Miracles Blueprint

Miracles is designed on the basis of ABC Deckbuilding Theory; the notion that you prioritize your Legacy-powerlevel effect, which is Terminus (A), therefore you want its supporting enabler (B), which is Brainstorm with three or fewer islands and Mystic Sanctuary four or more, which also enables the other pillar (C), which has historically been Counterbalance.

Tamiyo Is a Different Archetype

This structure of Terminus and Counterbalance pillared on a foundation of Mystic Sanctuary is why Tamiyo, Inquisitive Student has always been adrift in the shell despite being an unbelievably broken power outlier that somehow remains legal in the format. Tamiyo, Inquisitive Student is an insane card, but does not help support Miracles primary plan of converting Terminus, which we must assume is our primary desirable effect in game ones.

Tamiyo, Seasoned Scholar by Ampreh

If that wasn't the case, then we would change our (A) plan, most likely to Tamiyo, Inquisitive Student) and focus the entirety of the deck's infrastructure around supporting {Tamiyo, Inquisitive Student soloing the game. That might be the better plan but that is a wholly different archetype.

The many archetypes in Legacy that include Tamiyo, Inquisitive Student do so because it is an alternative power outlier that generates a ton of card advantage in their flexslots (e.g., Doomsday, Breakfast), or is a snowball unto itself amidst other snowballs (e.g., every other deck from Up the Beanstalk to Phelia-Riddler}.

Miracles is not constructed with individual power level, but rather the sum of its parts build a strategy that can contend against the rest of the field. Tamiyo, Inquisitive Student isn't helping any of our other cards get on base.

Terminus by James Paick

Moneyball Miracles

Jace's Machinations is a team player. Jace's Machinations gets on base.

If we need to cast a Terminus at instant speed and have three islands and a fetchland on board, we can Mystic Sanctuary Terminus to the top of the library, cast Jace's Machinations and then the Jace token can draw the Terminus.

On the flip side of the spectrum, in a world of Show and Tell and Doomsday, which are matchups where Terminus is bad, the other pillar (Counterbalance) is only effective if it has -drops to reveal.

Unfortunately, the only appealing -drops are other Tamiyo-like cards that do nothing to support getting on base (read: don't help enable Terminus or pull off double-plays with Mystic Sanctuary (e.g., Teferi, Time Raveler, Narset, Parter of Veils, etc.)).

Counterbalance by John Zeleznik

Brainsurge is hugely appealing but softbanned in an Orcish Bowmaster economy. Entreat the Angels is the biggest end game possible with Mystic Sanctuary but that is an extremely unlikely gamestate to achieve against those combo decks.

Jace's Machinations is a -drop that has this lovely tactic to play toward in the similar scenario of three islands, a fetchland, and a Counterbalance on board:

If the opponent casts their -drop, we can cast Jace's Machinations, then fetch Mystic Sanctuary to put it on top of the library to reveal to Counterbalance. Then we still have the newly created Jace token to further manipulate the top of the library before they pass the turn.

Machination Miracles

4 Brainstorm
4 Ponder
2 Portent
4 Swords to Plowshares
2 Erode
2 Prismatic Ending
4 Predict
4 Flow State
3 Jace's Machinations
1 Witness the Future
4 Force of Will
2 Jace, Reality Sculptor
4 Terminus
4 Flooded Strand
1 Misty Rainforest
1 Scalding Tarn
1 Polluted Delta
4 Tundra
4 Mystic Sanctuary
3 Island
1 Meticulous Archive
1 Volcanic Island