Quick Links

There are some characters in Magic: The Gathering’s expansive lore that have endured through planar collapses, multiversal invasions, time shenanigans, and even devastating changes to magic as a force in the universe.

Related: Magic: The Gathering – A Brief History Of Innistrad

Jaya Ballard weathered all these cataclysmic changes to the multiverse and more to become one of the strongest planeswalkers in the history of Magic. A fire mage of immense power, Jaya worked with some of the most influential characters in Magic’s history before becoming something of a legend to much of the universe.

Jaya’s Pre-Planeswalker Days

Image of the Jaya Ballard card in Magic: The Gathering, with art by Fajareka Setiawan
Jaya Ballard by Fajareka Setiawan

Born on the continent Terisiare from the plane Dominaria, Jaya spent much of her childhood living on the streets, stealing and scamming others to provide for herself. Eventually, Jaya found a mark that she couldn’t steal from, the Archmage Eternal Jodah, an immortal mage of immense power and influence.

Jodah had a feeling that Jaya held much potential and encouraged her to enroll at the School of the Unseen, a college of wizardry on the island of Lat-Nam. Jaya would study there for a time, but decided to make her way in the world again after learning some key spells. Now as a task mage, Jaya would go on several exploits, including protecting a village from a horrifying Lhurgoyf.

Upon learning that her old mentor Jodah had disappeared, she tracked the Archmage to Tresserhorn Keep, the fortress of the necromancer Lim-Dûl that sat above a bottomless pit during Magic’s Ice Age. Jaya rescued Jodah, but as a result of torture and poisoning from pollen from the forest of Fyndhorn, he was deranged and ill. Seeking help from the planeswalker Freyalise, Jaya was able to help her mentor.

Related: Magic: The Gathering – Who Is Lim-Dûl?

Freyalise did not do it out of the goodness of her heart however, she requested the use of all the resources of the School of the Unseen to try and put an end to the Ice Age, and then she wanted access to a mysterious and magical mirror that Jodah kept with him. Freyalise would enchant the mirror to activate when it comes into contact with a planeswalker, since she suspected Jodah had the spark hidden within him.

Lim-Dûl would continue his evil ways by preparing an invasion of the realms of Kjeldor and Balduvia. In the final battle on Kjeldor, Jaya was instrumental and pushing back Chaeska, one of Lim-Dûl’s strongest minions. After the battle, Jaya claimed Lim-Dûl’s ring as a trophy, though it would slowly subvert her will and turn her against Jodah years later.

Planeswalker Awakening

Image of the Jaya's Immolating Inferno card in Magic: The Gathering, with art by Josu Hernaiz
Jaya's Immolating Inferno by Josu Hernaiz

Twenty years after the battle against Lim-Dûl, Jaya returned to the School of the Unseen to bring dire news to Jodah. She had found the detached hand of Lim-Dûl, but it was missing the malevolent Mairsil’s Ring, an artifact with an evil will hiding deep within. Jodah and Jaya searched for the missing ring, concerned that Lim-Dûl might have returned.

Together they searched the realms of Tresserhorn, Kjeld, Balduvia, and finally Soldev. During their travels Jodah noticed that Jaya was acting strangely, though he did not understand why. While searching Soldev for remnants of Lim-Dûl, the ring’s influence on Jaya took over, and turned her against Jodah.

Related: Magic The Gathering: Who Are The Phyrexians?

Jaya quickly overwhelmed Jodah, slitting his throat and using his blood to restore ancient Phyrexian mechanical monstrosities. Jodah managed to heal himself thanks to his magic-amplifying mirror. The two friends unleashed their full strength against each other, with Jodah gaining the advantage for a second. Taking this moment, he smashed his mirror in Jaya’s face, awakening her planeswalker spark and engulfing Jaya in an immense fireball.

Having awakened to a higher power, Jaya burned away the evil influence of Marisil, and then singlehandedly destroyed all the Phyrexian war machines that besieged the School of the Unseen. She also sealed the bottomless pit that Lim-Dûl called his home base, and relocated the college to a safer location with her nigh-limitless planeswalker magic.

Before leaving Dominaria to explore the multiverse, Jaya gifted Jodah an amulet that helped him retain his sanity despite his advanced age and the weight of thousands of years of memories. Since leaving, rumors of her death circulated Dominara, though in reality, the fiery red mage had learned to find peace in her travels.

The Sanctuary of Keral Keep

Image of the Phyretic Ritual card in Magic: The Gathering, with art by Svetlin Velinov
Phyretic Ritual by Svetlin Velinov

Sometime before the Mending, a cataclysmic restructuring of the workings of magic in the Multiverse to prevent the complete collapse of every plane in existence that dramatically depowered all planeswalkers, Jaya journeyed to the plane of Regatha where a phenomenon called the Purifying Fire exists.

The Purifying Flame burns white but is cool to the touch and has the power to drain all magic from sinful beings, removing even a planeswalker’s ability to travel between planes.

Related: Magic: The Gathering – What Is The Realmbreaker?

While there, Jaya shared her wisdom and skill with pyromancy with the people of Regatha. She would return to the plane two hundred years later, after the Mending and having aged 60 years, to discover a religion had been formed around her teachings. There, she took the name Mother Luti and became the matriarch of Keral Keep, a monastery formed around the study of pyromancy and the importance of freedom and individual choice.

During her time here, Jaya would help mentor a young Chandra Nalaar and though she kept her planeswalker status a secret for a time, Jaya would help Chandra control her pyromancy powers.

Returning To Dominaria

Image of the Lightning Strike card in Magic: The Gathering, with art by Marta Nael
Lightning Strike by Marta Nael

Jaya would eventually return to Dominaria and become embroiled with the workings of the Gatewatch. She helped the alliance of planeswalkers in their fight against the demon Belzenlok.

After some convincing from Jace and Gideon, Jaya agreed to fight against Nicol Bolas, but never officially joined the Gatewatch.

Nicol Bolas’ War Of The Spark

Image of the Reprecussion card in Magic: The Gathering, with art by Lucas Graciano
Reprecussion by Lucas Graciano

When the time came to confront the Dragon planeswalker Nicol Bolas on Ravnica, Jaya found herself and the Gatewatch trapped by the influence of the Immortal Sun, an ancient device of great power that, when activated, can prevent planeswalkers from leaving the plane. Bolas swarmed over the plane with his generational army of Zombies from the plane of Amonkhet called the Eternals.

Related: Magic: The Gathering - Who Is Elspeth Tirel?

During the massive invasion that broke out across Ravnica, Jaya became part of a task force to take down Liliana Vess, as she worked with Bolas to control his Zombie army. Along with Teferi, Jace, and Vivien, the group was able to badly wound Liliana, but not able to kill her.

Many planeswalkers fell to Nicol Bolas’ trap, but Jaya was among those who survived. During the aftermath, Jaya helped Samut cremate the bodies of the Eternals who no longer were animated by the combined magic of Nicol Bolas and Liliana.

Death Catches Up

Image of the Jaya's Death in Magic: The Gathering, with art by Ekaterina Burmak
Jaya's Death by Ekaterina Burmak

After spending years away, Jaya returned once again to Dominaria to join Jodah in peace talks between the nations of Keld and New Benalia. The summit was quickly disrupted by fellow planeswalkers Karn and Teferi, who came to warn the leaders at the conference that New Phyrexia has breached Dominara.

Just then, Phyrexian sleeper agents that hid among the Benalish knights awoke, slaughtering anyone they could reach. Jaya fought against the sleeper agents, eventually escaping with the other planeswalkers to the realm of Argivia.

Jaya would meet with Ajani and Danitha Capashen, to join them in convincing Llanowar and New Benalia for help against a second Phyrexian Invasion. She encountered a revived Ertai and a compleated Aron Capashen, father to Danitha, both relatives of the first Phyrexian Invasion hero, Gerrard Capashen.

Phyrexian forces swarmed over the Mana Rig, an ancient Thran facility that the New Coalition turned into their home base against the second Phyrexian Invasion. Led by the Preator Sheoldred, the battle would be the biggest fought on Dominaria during the New Phyrexians Invasion. Their goal was to recapture Karn and to steal or destroy his new sylex, an artifact with enough power to devastate entire continents.

Related: Magic: The Gathering – The Phyrexian Invasion Arc, Explained

Jaya tried to planeswalk away with the sylex, but it was too heavy for her to take on her own while it remained in its protective case. Karn magically removed it, making it light enough for Jaya to carry, but seeing the sylex out in the open activated Ajani, revealing himself as a Phyrexian sleeper agent.

A compleated Ajani swinging his weapon.
Ajani, Sleeper Agent by Victor Adame Minguez

In shock of Ajani’s corruption, Jaya tried to summon fire to keep him away, but the infected Ajani impaled her with his massive axe. In a final act of defiance, she severely wounded Ajani, burning the flesh from his arm.

The Phyrexian planeswalker hurled Jaya off the Mana Rig, to ensure her death. Jaya died defending her home plane against the Phyrexian invasion, and had influenced the lives of many across the multiverse.

In her honor, her old friends Jodah, Teferi, and Jhoria built a monument to Jaya. Four white pyramids containing the memories of Jaya surrounding an eternal pyre that hovered in the air. Jodah was the one to ignite the spell in honor of his old friend.

At times, when the wind of Shiv would stoke the flame, the fire would take the form of a woman hiding a smile.

Next: Magic: The Gathering – Who Is Jace Beleren?