I remember seeing this card when Time Spiral was coming out and thinking "Wow, a versatile card that gets better abilities the more mana you have, later in the game it gets exponentially better"
Then they announced Planeswalkers, and I remembered this card. The planeswalker before planeswalkers existed.
darkfury
★★★★☆ (4.3/5.0)(15 votes)
"Others have criticized destruction, and you know what? They're all dead." ~Jaya Ballard
Raveknight
★☆☆☆☆ (1.4/5.0)(10 votes)
@JacksJokeShop
Umezawa's Jitte feels more like a paneswalkerto me then this card and with enough counters any of the jittes three abilities apear like a planeswalkers ultimate
benlivinmusic
★★★★☆ (4.5/5.0)(4 votes)
Throw a Ensouled Scimitar on her in a Legacy burn deck with Chandra by her side for the win.
FugimSky
★★★★☆ (4.4/5.0)(7 votes)
At first i thought that this card was a rare that wouldn't be a big deal, but when i played with it, not only can she be a real powerhouse, but she is a hell a lot of fun!
nammertime
★★★★☆ (4.5/5.0)(6 votes)
Play in a discard deck with cards with low madness costs, such as, off the top of my head, Basking Rootwalla or Fiery Temper.
Zosk
★★★☆☆ (3.9/5.0)(7 votes)
I can't think of a hotter card off the top of my head.
Kryptnyt
★★★★☆ (4.1/5.0)(10 votes)
Got this shiny with a white Akroma and a Kaervek the Merciless all in one pack. Akroma was stolen though -.- Jaya's flavor text in other cards make me lol. She uses eenie-meenie-minie to determine who dies first. She was "gotcha"-ing far before unhinged. She plays "Kick-the-ouphe." And she offers people toast. She's like Chandra Nalaar with a likeable personality.
A3Kitsune
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
@Raveknight
Jaya Ballard is a Planeswalker. Granted, this card is her befor she ascended to Planeswalkerhood, but still, she's a Planeswalker and this is her card.
skew
★★★★☆ (4.2/5.0)(3 votes)
Yeah, Chandra mentions her in the comic: "As Jaya alway said, when in doubt, unleash the biggest boom you know." I also love the torn outfit and the smile on her face.
izzet_guild_mage
★★★★☆ (4.7/5.0)(13 votes)
Great stuff. She is, truly, the planeswalker before planeswalkers.
Selez
★★☆☆☆ (2.5/5.0)(1 vote)
I completely agree, they should SO make her into a planeswalker. Or at minimum Mythic Rare.
Somebody look at Gorilla Chieftain and figure out how a regenerating creature can survive an incinerate.
statiefreez
★★★★☆ (4.5/5.0)(4 votes)
I hate this card. Not because it's bad, but because a friend decided to add this to his Madness deck.
5/5
persecutor
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(3 votes)
her last ability is scuicide
Aun
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Hmm, I wanna make a red burn-Deck with her and Chandra
SleetFox
★★★★☆ (4.8/5.0)(6 votes)
I love Jaya for the following reasons:
1.) Power. Her card is very powerful, being capable of doing very good things, all for a fairly reasonable up-front price. Pyroblast is a fun card, but usually not worth playing. However, the fact that you can also play Incinerate or Inferno with the same card makes it worth playing, and when you're up against a blue deck, it just gets better. 2.) Flavor. This card represents a Planeswalker before she became a Planeswalker. The card is very similar to a Planeswalker before Planeswalker cards even existed. That's one of the most awesome parallels between lore and set design I've ever seen from this game. 3.) Character. Jaya Ballard quotes are among my favorite flavor texts. I wish she were on more burn spells, but alas, Chandra Nalaar is taking the spotlight now. 4.) Art. Honestly, look at her. I mean really. Mrawr.
littleteapot
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.6/5.0)(5 votes)
Probably the most inelegant card ever printed.
RowanKeltizar
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
An obvious sideboard card against blue... very spicy too. :)
BiOhyBr
★★★★☆ (4.0/5.0)(5 votes)
I would tap that
LeoKula
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
First planeswalker ever.
enkrust
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I'm trying to get the infomation on Jaya ballard, task mage but the marking on the card say its from a older set/newer set can someone clear this up for me. It as
Guest513736147
★★★★☆ (4.5/5.0)(5 votes)
@enkrust:
Jaya is neither a reprint nor a futureshifted card. This is her first, and likely last, printing in this form. That said, I'd like to see her in a planeswalker frame in the near future, as others have said.
Though I'd rather see her in a more mundane sense. I can think of a task or two for her to perform.
kryptnty you are such a lair you only get one rare or mythic rare each boaster pack and white akroma is from a different set the the other two cards wow you are a horrible lair.
VoidedNote
★★★★☆ (4.4/5.0)(7 votes)
If I had a red deck, I'd tap her all day long... actually I'd do that even if I didn't have a red deck.
5/5.
bagilis
★★☆☆☆ (2.8/5.0)(2 votes)
One thing misses to make this card really legendary: protection from red. That would be completely inline with the character and her destructive red magic
ItsSlaughteringTime
★★☆☆☆ (2.0/5.0)(3 votes)
This card makes me hard. and it rhymed! hell yeh!
Megaman915
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(1 vote)
can anyone else say a one drop jace killer
JaxsonBateman
★★☆☆☆ (2.8/5.0)(2 votes)
She's not exactly a 'one drop Jace killer' given that she costs 3. =P
But I can't believe I only just found this card. It's pretty nice - there's no card advantage on its own (though the third ability is likely to generate advantage), but the versatility is awesome. Turning any card into an anti-blue vindicate is good. Turning any card into a Volcanic Hammer is good. Turning any card into a Bloodfire Colossus effect is good.
In terms of comboing, I recently put her in a deck that, besides other thing, has Basilisk Collar + various pingers (4 Cunning Sparkmage, 4 Goblin Sharpshooter and 3 Niv-Mizzet), and she offers just another way to turn that Basilisk Collar into ensured creature removal.
Certainly wouldn't be the worst card to have late in a casual game when you're top decking. Oh, I got a land? Actually, I'd prefer a Lightning Bolt/board sweep.
Andromeiylochk
★★★★☆ (4.4/5.0)(8 votes)
@ dragonking987
Stop being a child. Get your facts right before you impose upon another. While it is very unlikely he got all three of those cards in a booster, it IS possible in Time Spiral. "Time Spiral is the first set to use a new premium card distribution method. All premium cards are now included in booster packs replacing a common card. Past expansions replaced a card of the same rarity as the premium card. This creates the possibility of "three rare" boosters in Time Spiral, as it is possible to find the normal rare, a premium rare and a Timeshifted card that was previously rare in the same pack." Akroma WAS in time spiral. If you mustered enough energy to try to back up your ideas and look at the other sets she was printed in, you would have realized that.
I'm in love with this card. She's a swiss army knife for red, even without madness.
Szentekkel
★★★☆☆ (3.5/5.0)(3 votes)
@ JaxsonBateman I share your thoughs about her shes just awesome I trade my copies for nothing
but actually your not too smart
her "spells" are not vindicate, lightning bolt and bloodfire colossus
but pyroblast, incinerate and inferno
kajillion
★★★★☆ (4.9/5.0)(9 votes)
Shame Chandra is Wizard's red Planeswalker de rigueur nowadays, she can't hold a candle(oho ho ho) to the Original.
bijart_dauth
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
you do realize her 7 mana ability targets you and your creatures to. this means that you just popped an inferno. it doesn't even say other creatures. of corse, this doesn't make her a bad card. just that her ultimate ability is not so ultimate. her other abilities and in a madness deck make her very powerful. not to mention the awsom flaver of her.
Also, if her first ability is meant to be pyroblast, why can't she counter blue spells?
divine_exodus
★★★☆☆ (3.1/5.0)(4 votes)
Why couldn't they put her in M12 instead of Chandra again?
sonorhC
★★★☆☆ (3.6/5.0)(4 votes)
The problem I have with this card is the same problem I have with all of the "real" planeswalkers. She's one of the most flavorful characters in the game, right? And yet, she has so many abilities that she doesn't have any room for flavor text herself.
Other than that, though, yeah, she's great.
Emcee117
★★☆☆☆ (2.8/5.0)(2 votes)
Really? No one's mentioned Sword of Kaldra? Of course she DOES still do damage to herself, so it's an imperfect solution...
DoragonShinzui
★★★★☆ (4.2/5.0)(2 votes)
Probably the single most fun EDH commander out there. Gorgeous, well designed, a plethora of abilities, and a complete slap in the face to the "One copy of any card" rule for EDH. Damn, woman. Marry me.
Because who hasn't fantasized about Lisa Edelstein wrapped in a flaming catsuit after watching an episode of House???
Missile_Penguin
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(3 votes)
Each Time Spiral card was an homage to at least one previously printed card.
The card represents Jaya Ballard (http://wiki.mtgsalvation.com/article/Jaya_Ballard), a player favorite for her humorous and sadistically to-the-point flavor text quotations throughout Ice Age block. For her card, she can spellshape three different spells she was quoted on: Pyroblast, Incinerate, and Inferno; this spellshaper turns any card in your hand into one!
After the events of Ice Age, she ascended into a planeswalker and helped found the pyromancer academy which Chandra trained at. This card represents her snatched out of her timeline prior to ascending to planeswalker status. Despite the seeming similarity between her three ability layout to modern Planeswalker cards, Wizards of the Coast has stated numerous times that this card was not a precursor to them.
feedbacker
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I really like how this card is anti-blue, but is still just as useful even if you aren't playing against a blue deck
Tiggurix
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I think it's about time we see her in Planeswalker form. I know I'd vastly prefer her, instead of that noob Chandra, to be Red's signature Planeswalker.
Comments (46)
Then they announced Planeswalkers, and I remembered this card. The planeswalker before planeswalkers existed.
~Jaya Ballard
Umezawa's Jitte feels more like a paneswalkerto me then this card and with enough counters any of the jittes three abilities apear like a planeswalkers ultimate
Jaya's flavor text in other cards make me lol. She uses eenie-meenie-minie to determine who dies first. She was "gotcha"-ing far before unhinged. She plays "Kick-the-ouphe." And she offers people toast. She's like Chandra Nalaar with a likeable personality.
Jaya Ballard is a Planeswalker. Granted, this card is her befor she ascended to Planeswalkerhood, but still, she's a Planeswalker and this is her card.
I also love the torn outfit and the smile on her face.
Somebody look at Gorilla Chieftain and figure out how a regenerating creature can survive an incinerate.
5/5
1.) Power. Her card is very powerful, being capable of doing very good things, all for a fairly reasonable up-front price. Pyroblast is a fun card, but usually not worth playing. However, the fact that you can also play Incinerate or Inferno with the same card makes it worth playing, and when you're up against a blue deck, it just gets better.
2.) Flavor. This card represents a Planeswalker before she became a Planeswalker. The card is very similar to a Planeswalker before Planeswalker cards even existed. That's one of the most awesome parallels between lore and set design I've ever seen from this game.
3.) Character. Jaya Ballard quotes are among my favorite flavor texts. I wish she were on more burn spells, but alas, Chandra Nalaar is taking the spotlight now.
4.) Art. Honestly, look at her. I mean really. Mrawr.
Jaya is neither a reprint nor a futureshifted card. This is her first, and likely last, printing in this form. That said, I'd like to see her in a planeswalker frame in the near future, as others have said.
Though I'd rather see her in a more mundane sense. I can think of a task or two for her to perform.
5/5.
But I can't believe I only just found this card. It's pretty nice - there's no card advantage on its own (though the third ability is likely to generate advantage), but the versatility is awesome. Turning any card into an anti-blue vindicate is good. Turning any card into a Volcanic Hammer is good. Turning any card into a Bloodfire Colossus effect is good.
In terms of comboing, I recently put her in a deck that, besides other thing, has Basilisk Collar + various pingers (4 Cunning Sparkmage, 4 Goblin Sharpshooter and 3 Niv-Mizzet), and she offers just another way to turn that Basilisk Collar into ensured creature removal.
Certainly wouldn't be the worst card to have late in a casual game when you're top decking. Oh, I got a land? Actually, I'd prefer a Lightning Bolt/board sweep.
Stop being a child. Get your facts right before you impose upon another. While it is very unlikely he got all three of those cards in a booster, it IS possible in Time Spiral. "Time Spiral is the first set to use a new premium card distribution method. All premium cards are now included in booster packs replacing a common card. Past expansions replaced a card of the same rarity as the premium card. This creates the possibility of "three rare" boosters in Time Spiral, as it is possible to find the normal rare, a premium rare and a Timeshifted card that was previously rare in the same pack." Akroma WAS in time spiral. If you mustered enough energy to try to back up your ideas and look at the other sets she was printed in, you would have realized that.
I'm in love with this card. She's a swiss army knife for red, even without madness.
but actually your not too smart
her "spells" are not vindicate, lightning bolt and bloodfire colossus
but pyroblast, incinerate and inferno
Also, if her first ability is meant to be pyroblast, why can't she counter blue spells?
Other than that, though, yeah, she's great.
Browse
Burnout
Chicken Egg
Flare (Ice Age)
Gorilla Chieftain (Alliances Variant 2)
Gorilla Shaman (Alliances Variant 1)
Gorilla War Cry (Alliances Variant 2)
Incinerate (Ice Age)
Inferno
Lava Burst
Melting
Meteor Shower
Mystic Compass (Alliances)
Panic
Pyroblast
Pyroclasm (Ice Age)
Pyrokinesis
Simian Spirit Guide
Sizzle
Wall of Lava
Word of Blasting (Ice Age)
The card represents Jaya Ballard (http://wiki.mtgsalvation.com/article/Jaya_Ballard), a player favorite for her humorous and sadistically to-the-point flavor text quotations throughout Ice Age block. For her card, she can spellshape three different spells she was quoted on: Pyroblast, Incinerate, and Inferno; this spellshaper turns any card in your hand into one!
After the events of Ice Age, she ascended into a planeswalker and helped found the pyromancer academy which Chandra trained at. This card represents her snatched out of her timeline prior to ascending to planeswalker status. Despite the seeming similarity between her three ability layout to modern Planeswalker cards, Wizards of the Coast has stated numerous times that this card was not a precursor to them.