Jeska, Thrice Reborn is one of those cards players keep asking about. Here is, in plain words, what its official text says, the rulings published by Wizards of the Coast, and the combos players actually run.
Official card text
Jeska enters with a loyalty counter on her for each time you've cast a commander from the command zone this game. 0: Choose target creature. Until your next turn, if that creature would deal combat damage to one of your opponents, it deals triple that damage to that player instead. −X: Jeska deals X damage to each of up to three targets. Jeska, Thrice Reborn can be your commander. Partner
Complete guide
Jeska, Thrice Reborn is a high-impact planeswalker designed specifically for the Commander format, scaling in power as the game progresses. With the ability to triple combat damage and act as your commander through the Partner mechanic, she can turn any creature into a lethal threat in a single swing.
Scaling Loyalty and Partner
Jeska’s first ability is unique: she enters the battlefield with a loyalty counter for every time you have cast a commander from the command zone this game. This includes casting Jeska herself if she is your commander, as well as any other commander you might have via the Partner keyword. Because Jeska has Partner, you can pair her with another legendary creature that also has Partner, allowing you to run two commanders and access more colors. Note that commander tax is tracked separately for each commander, but Jeska counts the total number of times any commander has been cast when she enters.
Tripling Damage step by Step
When you activate Jeska’s 0 ability, you choose a target creature. This creates a replacement effect that lasts until your next turn. If that creature would deal combat damage to one of your opponents, it deals three times that amount instead. If the creature has trample, you first assign lethal damage to blockers as normal. Only the damage that actually carries over to the opponent is tripled. For example, if a 5/5 creature is blocked by a 1/1, you assign 1 damage to the blocker and 4 to the opponent; Jeska then triples that 4 into 12 damage to the player.
Multi-Target Removal
Jeska's -X ability allows her to deal X damage to each of up to three targets. Unlike many planeswalkers, she doesn't have a fixed minus value. You choose the value of X when you activate the ability, provided you have enough loyalty. This damage is dealt simultaneously to all selected targets. This is particularly effective for clearing out small utility creatures or finishing off multiple weakened planeswalkers at once.
Common Mistakes
A common misconception is that Jeska triples all damage. However, her 0 ability only affects *combat* damage dealt to *opponents*. It does not triple damage dealt to creatures, planeswalkers, or damage dealt by spells or non-combat abilities. Additionally, remember that if you target a creature with this ability multiple times (perhaps by flickering Jeska or using multiple activations), the effects stack multiplicatively: two activations result in 9x damage, not 6x.
Interaction examples
If Jeska is your commander and has been returned to the command zone once already, casting her for the second time ({4}{R}) means she will enter with 2 loyalty counters. If you have another commander with Partner and you cast that commander once before Jeska, Jeska would enter with 3 loyalty counters.
Chandra, Torch of DefianceYou have Jeska on the battlefield with 4 loyalty. You activate her -3 ability, choosing three different target creatures. Jeska deals 3 damage to each of them. Unlike Chandra, Torch of Defiance, who deals 4 damage to a single target for -3 loyalty, Jeska provides broader board control by splitting the damage across multiple threats.
Tezzeret, Cruel CaptainIf you control both Jeska and Tezzeret, Cruel Captain, you can use Jeska's 0 ability on an artifact creature Tezzeret has buffed. If Tezzeret's emblem gives a creature +3/+3 and Jeska targets it, that creature's increased combat damage will be tripled when it hits an opponent, though Tezzeret's own triggered damage from his emblem is not combat damage and will not be tripled.
Guide written with AI from the official text and rulings. Official English text prevails.
How it works : Jeska, Thrice Reborn
Original English text — Wizards of the Coast / Scryfall
- #1· Wizards of the Coast
If you cast Jeska, Thrice Reborn and she is your commander, that casting counts for her first ability.
No other card is named in this ruling.
- #2· Wizards of the Coast
For a creature affected by Jeska's second ability, if that creature has trample, only the damage dealt to the defending player is tripled (as long as that player is one of your opponents). For example, say you activate that ability targeting a 5/5 creature with trample, attack one of your opponents with that creature, and that creature is blocked by a 3/3 creature. You could assign 3 damage to the blocking creature and 2 damage to the defending player. If you did, your attacker would deal 3 damage to the blocking creature and 6 damage (2 damage tripled) to the defending player. All of the damage remains combat damage.
No other card is named in this ruling.
- #3· Wizards of the Coast
If a creature is targeted by Jeska's second ability twice, combat damage it would deal one of your opponents is multiplied by nine. Three abilities multiply the damage by twenty-seven, and so on.
No other card is named in this ruling.
- #4· Wizards of the Coast
If your Commander deck has two commanders, you can only include cards whose own color identities are also found in your commanders' combined color identities. If Falthis and Kediss are your commanders, your deck may contain cards with black and/or red in their color identity, but not cards with green, white, or blue.
No other card is named in this ruling.
- #5· Wizards of the Coast
Both commanders start in the command zone, and the remaining 98 cards (or 58 cards in a Commander Draft game) of your deck are shuffled to become your library.
No other card is named in this ruling.
- #6· Wizards of the Coast
To have two commanders, both must have the partner ability as the game begins. Losing the ability during the game doesn't cause either to cease to be your commander.
No other card is named in this ruling.
- #7· Wizards of the Coast
Once the game begins, your two commanders are tracked separately. If you cast one, you won't have to pay an additional
the first time you cast the other. A player loses the game after having been dealt 21 damage from any one of them, not from both of them combined.No other card is named in this ruling.
- #8· Wizards of the Coast
If something refers to your commander while you have two commanders, it refers to one of them of your choice. If you are instructed to perform an action on your commander (e.g. put it from the command zone into your hand due to Command Beacon), you choose one of your commanders at the time the effect happens.
No other card is named in this ruling.
- #9· Wizards of the Coast
An effect that checks whether you control your commander is satisfied if you control one or both of your two commanders.
No other card is named in this ruling.
- #10· Wizards of the Coast
You can choose two commanders with partner that are the same color or colors. In Commander Draft, you can even choose two of the same commander with partner if you drafted them. If you do this, make sure you keep the number of times you've cast each from the command zone clear for "commander tax" purposes.
No other card is named in this ruling.
Legal formats
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