Academic Ascent
New in Reality Fracture (FRA), released October 2, 2026.
Academic Ascent: Instant, Reality Fracture. Target creature gets +2/+2 and gains flying until end of turn. Empower Jace 2. Prices and printings on Mana Grove.
- Mana cost
- {1}{W}
- Mana value
- 2
- Type
- Instant
- Colour identity
- White (W)
- Rarity
- Common
- Set
- Reality Fracture (FRA)
- Released
- 2026-10-02
- Collector number
- 2
- Artist
- Randy Gallegos
- Keywords
- Surveil, Empower Jace
Build around this card with Grover
About Academic Ascent
Academic Ascent is a Magic: The Gathering card, a common white instant from Reality Fracture (FRA), an expansion set released in October 2026. It is collector number 2 in that set, with art by Randy Gallegos. It costs {1}{W} (one generic and one white mana) to cast, for a mana value of 2. Its colour identity is white. It is legal in Standard, Pioneer, Modern, Legacy, Vintage, Pauper, Commander, Duel Commander, Oathbreaker, Pauper Commander, Brawl, Standard Brawl, Historic, Timeless, Alchemy, Gladiator and Penny Dreadful. Reality Fracture is its only printing so far. The latest aggregated market price for this printing is $0.16 (normal finish, as of 2026-10-23).
Card text
Target creature gets +2/+2 and gains flying until end of turn.
Empower Jace 2. (Put two loyalty counters on a Jace token you control. If you don't control one, first create a blue Jace planeswalker token with "[−1]: Surveil 1" and "[−3]: Draw a card.")
The Theorist takes notice of innovative battlemages.
Market price
Latest aggregated market price for the normal finish of this printing: $0.16 (as of 2026-10-23).
The figure covers this printing only; other printings carry their own price on their own page.
Format legality
Legality of Academic Ascent by format. Formats in which it is not legal are not listed.
| Standard | Legal |
|---|---|
| Pioneer | Legal |
| Modern | Legal |
| Legacy | Legal |
| Vintage | Legal |
| Pauper | Legal |
| Commander | Legal |
| Duel Commander | Legal |
| Oathbreaker | Legal |
| Pauper Commander | Legal |
| Brawl | Legal |
| Standard Brawl | Legal |
| Historic | Legal |
| Timeless | Legal |
| Alchemy | Legal |
| Gladiator | Legal |
| Penny Dreadful | Legal |
Official rulings
Four official rulings apply to Academic Ascent, newest first.
- To empower Jace N, if you don't control a Jace planeswalker token, create a blue Jace planeswalker token with 0 loyalty, "[−1]: Surveil 1," and "[−3]: Draw a card." Choose a Jace planeswalker token you control. Put N loyalty counters on it.
- If you control a Jace planeswalker token, you can't choose to create a new one when you empower Jace. You have to put the loyalty counters on your existing Jace planeswalker token. In the rare case that you control multiple Jace planeswalker tokens, you'll choose one of those tokens to put the loyalty counters on.
- Some spells and abilities that empower Jace may require targets. If each target chosen is an illegal target as that spell or ability tries to resolve, it won't resolve. You won't empower Jace.
- Empower Jace won't let you put loyalty counters on nontoken Jace planeswalkers. However, if you control a Jace planeswalker token that you got another way (such as an effect that creates a token that's a copy of a permanent), empower Jace will put loyalty counters on that.
Similar cards
Other instant cards with a white colour identity, ranked by how often they appear in Commander decks.