Jace studied the Eye of Ugin and the remaining hedrons, then proposed a trap that echoed the ancient prison on a smaller scale. Nissa would align the network with Zendikar’s leylines. Gideon would draw Ulamog into position and keep the battlefield from collapsing before the structure closed.
The plan demanded different kinds of trust. Jace had to accept that Nissa understood a living system he could only model. Nissa had to direct the plane’s wounded power through a design associated with its long imprisonment. Gideon had to hold a line knowing that personal endurance did not make the people behind him invulnerable.
For a moment, it worked. Ulamog was held inside the ring and Zendikar’s forces could strike a titan that had seemed beyond reach. The apparent victory also concentrated enough power for a hidden enemy to use. Every part of the trap depended on alignment, making one deliberate disruption capable of reversing it.