This week’s twitter in review article comes with some heated debate.  There is not much I can say on the subject of #BanJace that hasn’t been said, quoted, and then retweeted this past week.  There was talk of things other than Benjamin, the Wallet Sculptor though, and I will cover those first, but most of this week’s article I will let the tweets talk for themselves.

First up is the announcement of the new spoiler for the week Surgical Extraction.  There was some solid buzz on the newly spun Extirpate and its possible uses in a variety of formats.  People are excited to see another variation on the Cranial type effect and certainly one that can be played in any color for the cost of only two life.

On the topic of “free” spells, Evan Erwin seems to have the same line of thought as I approached in last week’s article about a possible Force Reprint.  Only time will tell but it seems like the perfect time and place for such a card to shine.

GP Dallas brings a new player to the forefront of the Magic Hall of Fame, and probably the fastest to do so.  Brad Nelson will more than likely be a shoe-in when his time comes, as a dominant name in the game over the past few years and a huge contributor to the community as well.  Congrats Brad!

On to the topic of the weekend which will also tie into our primary focus this week, Grand Prix: Dallas.  The top 8 showed us what many had been afraid of, a lack of variation and dominance of Jace, the Mind Sculptor.  RUG and Cawblade showed their dominance both running a full set of the best 4cmc card in the format and taking the entire top 8!

Though the top 8 was pretty stale a new deck that has been rolling around made a day two showing.  This deck looks like a lot of fun to play, granted expensive, but none the less a nice change from the norm.

Without much variation in this stale format is Jace looking at the chopping block next month?  Many think so and even those that don’t think it is deserved can’t argue with his apparent ability to bring creativity to a halt in this format.  When the biggest innovation is which Sword you run maindeck it may be time to mix things up.

With the conversation already started early in the week two of the big names at WotC presented these questions to gauge the player’s feelings toward Big Jace.  Given an opportunity to voice their opinions from both sides we saw a lot of support for a possible ban:

Given many big names on the side of #BanJace it seems like a lack of possible innovation has held people back from not playing something new.  The Dallas top 8 has shown this to be true as every deck was packed with Jace’s and most of the top 16 followed suit.

However not everyone is so quick to label the powerhouse as a card that is ban worthy, though most people who are not on the train are indifferent to a potential ban.

Given the fight on both sides some people feel like it could come out either way.  No matter what, the format is not as warped as previous bannings (Skullclamp, Affinity, Etc.)

It seemed like a deadlock all day as the horse seemed to be beat into submission the conversations turned into a Jace insult contest painting the man as a pretty nasty fellow.  As usual no subject comes without its humor on twitter and these are just some of the more hilarious Jace placements.

Without any real basis for information no one is sure on Jace’s fate, with a possible reprint in M12 it is just as possible for us to see him for another year.  Certainly it is something to be aware of if you are picking Jace’s up in trade over the next month but I don’t know that I would rush to sell them if your deck needs them either.  Truly his fate is in the hands of WotC now as the players and vendors have voiced their opinions.

What do you think?  Does Jace need to get a taste of the Ban-Hammer?  Is he fine to stay until rotation, or another year even?  Only time will tell what will happen in standard but as a looming possibility it may be wise to hold off on ponying up your wallet if you can at all help it.  Unfortunately, some people don’t have a choice with Standard PTQ season right around the corner, perhaps innovation will shine through and show us a format beyond Jace!

Well that’s all for this week’s edition of the twitter recap.  Feel free to voice your opinion in the comments or shoot me a tweet on Twitter.  I am always happy to hear what people think on topics of such great importance!

People to follow on Twitter:

@matteoOJ Matteo Orsini Jones

@LuisScottVargas Luis Scott-Vargas

@TheZvi Zvi Mowshowitz

@thepchapin Patrick Chapin

And as always follow me at @CryppleCommand

Until next time, keep tweeting!