Jump-start Mechanic in MTG: Rules, History, and Best Cards

Last updated on February 14, 2024

Beacon Bolt | Illustration by Titus Lunter

Magic consistently tries out new keyword mechanics. Some of these are successful and go on to become evergreen mechanics, while others prove too difficult to understand or sometimes even too powerful to continue getting printed. Then there are the abilities that fall in between, the ones that seemingly worked pretty well but haven’t really popped back up again. Jump-start is a mechanic that falls into this third category.

Jump-start was printed for the first time somewhat recently as a keyword mechanic associated with the Izzet () Guild on Ravnica. It’s possible that the mechanic will be tied to the plane, similar to how Innistrad’s werewolf mechanics have yet to be seen on other planes. Or, perhaps Wizards decided they don’t want to keep using the mechanic for whatever reason. Without any official word on it from Wizards, I think it’s safe to assume that we could see more jump-start in the future.

So, what is jump-start? How do you use it? What cards can you find it on? Let’s take a look at the history of the mechanic, and discuss where it might go from here.

How Does Jump-start Work?

Chemister's Insight | Illustration by Josh Hass

You may cast a spell with jump-start from your graveyard by paying its mana cost and discarding a card. When the jump-start spell resolves and leaves the stack, you exile it instead of putting it back into your graveyard. This means you can get two uses out of it, similar to cards with flashback.

The History of Jump-start in MTG

Jump-start was first printed in Guilds of Ravnica in 2018. Both this set and the one that followed it, Ravnica Allegiance, introduced new keywords for the city’s 10 guilds that synergize well with each guild’s built-in strategy. Jump-start was made for the Izzet guild, appearing primarily on red and/or blue spells, though it has since popped up on a few cards of other color identities.

Since its initial printing, it has been printed on individual cards from a few sets, but never as a major set mechanic outside Guilds of Ravnica. As of now, jump-start has not been given a formal ranking on the Storm Scale, so there’s no way of knowing whether it’ll return in a premier set or not. There hasn’t been any indication that it was too powerful to come back, and could possibly return next time we go to Ravnica in Murders at Karlov Manor.

A quick distinction, jump-start the mechanic has nothing to do with Magic’s Jumpstart product line. The similarity in the names is just a coincidence.

Is Jump-start an Activated Ability?

No, jump-start is considered two separate static abilities. One that allows you to cast the card from your graveyard, and a second static ability that says it must be exiled when you’ve cast it using its jump-start ability.

Is Jump-start an Additional Cost?

Yes, jump-start considers the card you have to discard an additional cost to casting the spell while using this ability.

Is Jump-start a Keyword Ability?

Yes, jump-start is considered a keyword ability. As of right now, each jump-start card also has accompanying reminder text, likely because it hasn’t become an evergreen mechanic yet. If it sticks around, we may at some point get jump-start cards that just have the keyword and no explanation of what it means.

Can You Cast Jump-start Cards at Any Time?

Jump-start cards are bound by timing restrictions while in the graveyard the same way they are in your hand. This means jump-start cards that are sorceries can still only be cast at sorcery speed. You can jump-start instant cards any time you could cast an instant. You may also jump-start cards at any time if you have a card like Leyline of Anticipation which allows you to cast spells as though they had flash.

Can you Jump-start the Same Card Multiple Times?

No, jump-start just allows you to cast the card from your graveyard. Once you’ve cast the card, it exits your graveyard and goes on the stack. You exile it after it exits the stack if it was cast using jump-start. This means you can only use the jump-start ability one time.

Gallery and List of Jump-start Cards

• Beacon Bolt
• Chemister's Insight
• Dihada's Ploy
• Direct Current
• Gravitic Punch
• Maximize Altitude
• Maximize Velocity
• Niv-Mizzet, Supreme
• Quasiduplicate
• Radical Idea
• Risk Factor
• Sonic Assault
• Start the TARDIS

Best Jump-start Cards

Gravitic Punch

Gravitic Punch isn’t a card that would go in every deck, but it can be good in the right situations. If you’re running decks that have big creatures, it can be pretty impactful and help you close out games. If you’re mostly running weaker creatures, there are likely burn spells that can do more damage for less mana. Having jump-start on this card makes it especially powerful as you can essentially do a one-two punch with your strongest creature, which could potentially close out a game.

Dihada’s Ploy

Dihada's Ploy is a pretty good draw spell for certain decks. It’s in Dimir colors (), which is unique for jump-start cards, but it actually works really well with the color combination. Plenty of decks that use black and blue use the graveyard as a resource, so it can actually be an asset to discard certain cards.

Risk Factor

Three cards for 3 mana is an excellent trade, and dealing 4 damage to a player for 3 mana isn’t too bad. This means whichever way things go with Risk Factor it isn’t bad for you. It’s a great spell to play in burn decks that put a lot of pressure on your opponents, because they’ll likely be too worried about losing life and will let you draw the cards.

Niv-Mizzet, Supreme

Niv-Mizzet, Supreme doesn’t actually have jump-start itself, but it is a way to give it to other cards. Most instants and sorceries are balanced with the understanding that they likely will just be cast a single time, so being able to cast them multiple times will make them much stronger. It also isn’t a huge loss to discard a card for a jump-start ability if you know you’ll be able to cast it from your graveyard later on.

Quasiduplicate

Quasiduplicate is a good deal without even considering its jump-start ability. 3 mana to copy one of your creatures will be worth it a lot of the time. Jump-start is just the cherry on top here, as you can copy that creature again easily, or hold out to copy a better creature later on.

Decklist: Niv-Mizzet, Supreme in Commander

Gravitic Punch | Illustration by Randy Vargas

This Niv-Mizzet, Supreme deck is a spellslinger deck built around 2-color spells specifically. This means most of the spells in this deck will gain jump-start from your commander, giving you a lot of card advantage.

Cards like Jace's Archivist can especially help give you card advantage because you’ll still be able to use most of the cards in your graveyard as well as the ones in your hand.

While there aren’t a lot of cards that have jump-start on them initially in this deck, it will give you a good feel for how the mechanic works and how helpful it can be.

Wrap Up

Quasiduplicate | Illustration by Dmitry Burmak

Jump-start is a fun mechanic. Whether it's casting a spell twice, or just giving you a second chance to cast a spell that gets countered, it can make your game a lot more consistent. It would be nice to see the mechanic come back in future sets, and if March of the Machine: The Aftermath is any indication, it does seem like jump-start is still on the mind of Magic’s design team. I would be happy to see it come back in a future Ravnica set, along with most of the other guild mechanics which all added a nice dynamic to the plane.

Do you enjoy the jump-start mechanic? Which cards do you like to use? Would you like to see it come back in future sets? Let me know in the comments or on Draftim’s Twitter/X.

Thank you for reading and I look forward to seeing you on the next article!