Jin-Gitaxias wants a deck that casts lots of instant and sorcery spells. It also suits a deck that fills the table with artifacts that make mana and draw cards.
Mana cost
Blue ()
Power / toughness5 / 5
RarityMythic
Whenever you cast an artifact, instant, or sorcery spell, copy that spell. You may choose new targets for the copy. This ability triggers only once each turn. (A copy of a permanent spell becomes a token.)
Whenever an opponent casts an artifact, instant, or sorcery spell, counter that spell. This ability triggers only once each turn.
Picked for what they do in Jin-Gitaxias's deck. When two cards do the same job, the one with the lower comes first. All of them fit Jin-Gitaxias's color identity.Mana ValueThe total amount of mana a card costs, all added up. A card costing two generic and one green has a mana value of three. Wizards renamed this from "converted mana cost" in 2021, so older cards and articles may still use the old name.Open the full glossary
explain how Jin-Gitaxias works in tricky situations. They come from Wizards of the Coast, the company that makes Magic.RulingThe official answer to how a card works in a tricky situation. Most rulings are written by Wizards of the Coast, the company that makes Magic, and a few are notes from Scryfall, the card database Magic players use. A ruling explains a card. It does not change what the card says.Open the full glossary
Wizards of the Coast18 Feb 2022
A copy is created even if the spell that caused the ability to trigger has been countered by the time that ability resolves. The copy resolves before the original spell.
Wizards of the Coast18 Feb 2022
If the spell that's copied had damage divided to targets as it was cast, the division can't be changed, although the targets receiving that damage still can. The same is true of spells that distribute counters to targets as it was cast.
Wizards of the Coast18 Feb 2022
If the spell that's copied is modal (that is, it says “Choose one —” or the like), the copy created by Jin-Gitaxias's first ability will have the same mode or modes. You can't choose different ones.
Wizards of the Coast18 Feb 2022
Jin-Gitaxias's last ability triggers once each turn, not once each turn per opponent.
Wizards of the Coast18 Feb 2022
The copies that Jin-Gitaxias's first ability creates are created on the stack, so they're not “cast.” Abilities that trigger when a player casts a spell won't trigger.
Wizards of the Coast18 Feb 2022
You can't choose to pay any additional costs for the copy created by Jin-Gitaxias's first ability. However, effects based on any additional costs that were paid for the original spell are copied as though those same costs were paid for the copy too.
Color identityEvery color of mana symbol on a card, in its cost and in its rules text. Your commander's color identity sets the limit for your whole deck: every other card has to fit inside it. A deck led by a green and white commander cannot play a card with any blue in its color identity.Open the full glossaryUPlayers write colors as letters: U for blue. Blue is U because B was already taken by black.SpellslingerSpellslinger decks cast lots of instants and sorceries, one-time spells, and play creatures that reward every spell you cast. Instants and sorceries take effect once and then go to your graveyard, and an instant can even be cast during another player's turn.Open the Spellslinger pageAikido / RedirectionTurns an opponent's own spell, ability or damage back on them. It changes the spell's target, copies it, or sends the damage somewhere else. Aikido is the community's name for it, borrowed from the martial art. Deflecting Swat, Narset's ReversalOpen the Aikido / Redirection pageSpell CopyingCopies a spell or an ability. The copy is not cast, so it costs nothing extra and does not set off cards that care about casting a spell. Reverberate, Storm-Kiln ArtistOpen the Spell Copying pageArtifactsAn artifacts deck fills the battlefield with artifacts, cards like Sol Ring that stay in play and keep working turn after turn. Played together, they give you extra mana and extra cards. A handful of keywords turn up on artifacts again and again. Equip means you pay a cost to attach an Equipment such as Swiftfoot Boots to one of your creatures. If that creature dies, the Equipment does not go to your graveyard with it. It stays on the battlefield, and you can pay the cost again to attach it to another creature. Crew means you tap your own creatures with enough total power between them to turn a Vehicle such as Smuggler's Copter into a creature until the end of the turn. A Treasure is a token you can sacrifice (put into your graveyard on purpose) for one mana of any color. A token is a game piece that a card makes, not a card from your deck, and Pitiless Plunderer is one card that makes Treasures. Affinity makes a spell like Frogmite cheaper for each artifact you control. Unearth brings a card like Combat Courier back from your graveyard for one turn, and then it is exiled. Modular creatures like Arcbound Ravager enter with +1/+1 counters and pass them to another artifact creature when they die.Open the Artifacts pageArtifact PayoffRewards you for having artifacts: counting them, triggering off them, or getting cheaper as you play more. Urza's Saga, Mox OpalOpen the Artifact Payoff pageControlControl decks answer what everyone else plays, stopping spells and removing dangerous cards, then win slowly once they are in charge. Expect lots of removal, spells that cancel other spells, and extra card draw.Open the Control pageCounterspell - HardCancels a spell outright, with no way for its caster to pay to save it. The most reliable kind of counterspell. CounterspellOpen the Counterspell - Hard pageCounterspellCancels a spell or ability while it is waiting on the stack, so it never takes effect. The countered spell goes to its owner's graveyard without doing anything. CounterspellOpen the Counterspell page
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