Magic: The Gathering
Magical Thinking: Time Spiral
Welcome back to Magical Thinking, a look at the cards and art of Magic: the Gathering, set by set, from the beginning. This week takes us back to the past in a more literal sense than most, as we begin what I consider one of the most important blocks in the history of Magic: The Time Spiral block, with the titular set of the block, 2006’s Time Spiral.
This set brings us back to Dominaria, 200 years after the Phyrexian invasion, and things are pretty bad. The land is literally falling apart; forests are dying, mountains are eroding, the swamps are choked with the ruins of Phyrexian horrors, the plains are salt-blasted wastelands. To make matters worse, time is beginning to unravel as well, with creatures and places from Dominaria’s past appearing and disappearing at will. It’s up to our old pals Terferi and Freyalise to try and fix this big mess.
Time Spiral saw the return of many old mechanics and characters from Magic’s past. In addition, we also got time shifted cards; 121 cards from Magic’s past brought back for modern use. I won’t be covering the Time Shifted cards because I already talked about them in the past.
Now, onto the cards!
And we got our first new mechanic right out the gate. Split second is basically you getting the last word on your opponent; They can’t counter it, they can’t throw anything else on the stack, this is the final decision. Needless to say, this effect was pretty powerful, scoring an 8 on the Storm Scale, and it only ever really showed up in this block.
Speaking of overpowered keywords. Yes, they brought back flanking. And now with this guy you can give your creatures double flanking. Truly the most powerful card ever printed by Wizards. Black Lotus is just filler now. THIS is the real stuff right here.
This set doesn’t just have old mechanics and timeshifted cards, but callbacks to older sets as well. Remember Necrosavant from Mirage? Well this is what he looked like when he was alive, and he’s willing to mess up time and space to keep himself from becoming a Zombie. Which is kind of bad news for you and I’m guessing no one really played him because of that.
Now here’s the big mechanic I remember from this set: Suspend. Basically you can pay an alternate mana cost and set a card to go off in a few turns. Despite not being well received, it’s a powerful ability, scoring a 9 on the Storm Scale, so it only ever showed up in this block and Modern Horizons.
Hey, remember the two headed giant of Foriys? Well, now we get to see the other inhabitants of Foriys, and we can also see that they know how to handle an unruly giant. Whoever said two heads were better than one?
This set is kind of a greatest hits of Magic’s past sets, with a lot of classic creatures and such making a comeback, like the Spellshapers. Remember those guys? I was actually playing Magic at the time this came out so I was familiar with these cards, so this is what I remember Spellshapers from.
I feel like maybe studying the journals of a Necromage should not be a thing a White-colored creature should be doing. But White is the color of mass destruction, so I guess they know what they’re doing OHGODNO.
See, this is probably the only flanking card I would ever use, because it has a great power that has nothing to do with using its flank power.
Hey, and the Slivers are back! Actually, did they ever go away? I kind of assume they just stuck around and became part of Dominaria’s ecosystem after the Riptide Project revived them. I mean, we have been away from Dominaria for a while, I guess they could have still been around.
Oh hey, since this is Time Spiral I can recycle my old jokes too right (Like that’s ever stopped me). Oh, this must be Thanos’ favorite card. AGAIN! Ah hah ha. Haaaa.
Time Spiral is also an opportunity for them to give cards to named characters from older sets that never got cards (nowadays they just do that in Commander sets).
So, Tivadar. He’s that guy from The Dark who really hated goblins, to the point the card associated with them had a disemboweled goblin on it. Speaking of which: *cocks gun* THIS IS FOR GOBBY YOU BASTARD! GET YOU SOME! AHHHHHHH!
Hey remember that blue card that was so powerful it was part of the Power Nine? That card that drew you three cards right away for one Mana? Well what if that, but you had to wait four turns to get your cards. Honestly, a lot of this set feels like “How can we nerf our classic cards?”
Later Fendros would log onto Twitter and complain about Dr. Seuss and Potato toys. Ha Ha! It’s topical because people are incredibly dumb.
I really like this card because not only does it put an opponent on a clock, it also delays them because every time they cast a spell it speeds up the clock they are on. Kind of a damned-if-you-do-damned-if-you-don’t sort of thing.
Hey, Shadow is another mechanic making a comeback. You may also remember the plane of Rath was merged with Dominaria in order to give the Phyrexians access to it. Which is why we still have Kor and Vecs and the like running around.
Ooh! And Morph is back as well. I actually have to thank this series because it was how I figured out how Morph worked in story. That was a great personal day for me.
I like the flavor of this guy. He actually turns all other creatures into Morphs. Just sits there and stuffs everyone in those little spider-shell-things.
Okay if you use Clear Eyes for dry red eyes, what do you use for green snake eyes? Answer that, Ben Stein!
Two of my favorite things: Milling and Slivers. Just get like twenty slivers out and blast away. Dubstep sliver.
I think that’s what happens if you put Slimer from the Ghostbusters into the Microwave. Don’t worry, he’ll be fine. Probably. I’ll go get a sponge.
And here’s the very first time Terferi actually appeared on a card as himself. Of course he had to give up his planeswalker powers because, well, we can’t have planeswalkers on cards. That’d be crazy! But just imagine if it could happen, like if something happened in this block that made Planeswalkers playable as cards. Just imagine the possibilities…
If you can’t counter the card itself, you can at least keep it from doing a thing for a turn. And of course split second, so once again, the last word.
Hey, a Homarid! I remember them. Sadly I think this is their last hurrah, since not even temporal upheaval can make lobster people interesting. Sorry, guys.
It’s the weird skeletons from Time Walk! And I think they’re working on their strength training. Or maybe their…time has broken down and they’re trying to jump start it? Actually, that’s an apt metaphor for what’s going on in this block.
Here’s another card I really like because it makes good use of the suspend mechanic. How much are you willing to sacrifice to keep this card from going off? How many sacrifices do you make before you’ve lost more than if you just let it go off? You may as well call this Sunk Cost Fallacy: The Card.
Another mechanic making a comeback is Madness. I was running mainly Black when this set came out so I was super jazzed to see this mechanic return.
Now here’s a story: When I was in college, Time Spiral was out and my gaming club ran some drafts. I went to one, and drafted a bunch of these guys, and I eventually ended up putting them in my IRL Black deck which I still have to this day. The thing I really like about them is the way it’s worded. When something blocks it they are destroyed before dealing damage, so you can always attack with them without risk, even if the blocker has first strike. So yeah, Evil Eye of Urborg is my MVP of this set.
Another thing I really love are cards that turn creatures into other creatures in a roundabout way. I mean, you like Fallen Angel? Have a card that turns your creature into a Fallen Angel by giving them the same abilities. That is a good card to me.
And here we have the big bad of Ice Age block himself. Now if it were me, I would have printed this guy in Coldsnap, since that was already retroactively put into Ice Age block, but I guess better late than never, right? Also, kudos to the man for having the pointiest beard in all of Dominaria.
Nether Traitor is another card from this set I really liked, because they’re the ultimate harasser; They hit fast, they can’t be blocked (because no one plays shadow) and they keep coming back. They are the ultimate pinger.
Well here it is, the closest I will ever get to owning a Juzam Djinn. That’s the joke; it has the same stats, but it’s also a Sliver. I have this in a deck with Conspiracy, so I can turn it (and my other cards) into eyes to get around both its drawback and the drawbacks of my Eyes of Urborg. It’s also useful because it’s a great Sliver hate card.
Yep, still waiting for Innistrad to come along and get this type of mechanic right. My question is, why would you ever bother turning Sengir Nosferatu into a bat? To get rid of unwanted enchantments? To avoid being targeted by spells? I mean, it seems kind of roundabout but whatever works, I suppose.
Glad to see someone was doing well after that whole Phyrexian mess. Honestly, under all those bones and teeth that guy looks almost cuddly.
My favorite part of the game. James Woods reference.
One of the great things about Time Spiral is it let you mix up abilities that were from different blocks that would have never been together otherwise. Like, Spellshapers and madness cards. I run a couple of these bad boys in my Black deck as well with some madness cards. The combo should be obvious.
Hey, they actually got the art right this time, and they referenced the Ice Age card as well. I appreciate that.
Before I got into Magic, I played Hearthstone, and in that game one of the most useless cards was the Magma Rager, a 5/1 for 3 mana with no abilities. This is pretty much the parallel universe version of Magma Rager who actually made something of themselves.
And when we’re bringing back old mechanics, why not bring back the most powerful Magic keyword of all. Cast a ton of spells, get a ton of goblins. Give Tivadar something to really cry about, the racist douche.
Hey look, its Ali’s sister! I think she must be visiting from Cairo. And she’s a morph too.
Guess he had one of those Altoids. They are curiously strong, or so I hear. (Altoids people, if you are reading this call me).
You like big creatures? Me too. And here’s one for 1 mana and 10 turns, and maybe just sacrifice something to get it out a turn early or two.
And here’s another Planeswalker in the making. You probably know Jaya as the cool old lady who trained Chandra, but more on that later. Also, I like that she has three spellshaper abilities instead of just one.
Norrin is the personification of that meme with the kids giving the deuces sign and then fading out of existence. I’m actually intrigued to see this guy in a commander deck.
Its Lightning Bolt if you wait a turn.
Also it’s always sad to see zombies get blasted and stuff. I mean, haven’t they suffered enough? They’re dead.
Fun fact: This guy was Tivadar’s roommate in college, and had to put up with all his racist jokes about goblins. Don’t be fooled though, he doesn’t put up with that racist crap anymore, but at the same time he doesn’t let it get to him.
This is probably the best treason effect I have ever seen. Since its split second it means your opponent can’t sacrifice or do anything else to the creature before you get it. The only one I may like better is Grab the Reins from Mirrodin.
Its not Green unless you mess with the flyers. Honestly, also messing with Shadow is just icing on the cake.
Hey, it’s the Sliver that will be an auto-include in every Sliver deck ever until the end of time. A real Sliver of paradise.
I love this wurm! For some reason the teeth placement make it look so goofy to me. I should also probably mention that this set featured the debut of Flash, which has been around for a long time, but this is when it got an actual keyword. Flash is an evergreen mechanic, so it’s still around today, unlike a lot of the mechanics seen here.
Honestly, I don’t care about Terferi. Because, as we’ve established, Urza was a loser. I mean, you knew the guy personally. Take off the nostalgia goggles and remember how he’s pretty much entirely responsible for Dominaria’s current mess.
This is actually a really clever use of the Suspend effect. It costs more to play it for the suspend cost, but doing that is the only way to get its card draw effect. Also, I feel bad for this Nantuko coming in from the past to the huge mess Dominaria is now. I hope he gets home and forgets everything he saw.
What’s better than a Wurm? A Ghost Wurm! Instead of rattling chains, it just eats you. Still the same amount of scariness, though.
That’s pretty much what living through the Trump administration was like too.
Oh hey, the Spikes. That other race from Rath that never really caught on like Slivers did. Of course now I’m wondering when we’re getting another Licid.
All these years and I’m still not entirely sure what a saproling is supposed to be. Still, good for that little guy going it all alone.
Ah yes, the spore counter thing. That’s always fun to keep track of. Glad they brought that back from Fallen Empires. Me? I would have brought back more Thrulls (And not just Endrek Sahr).
Okay, I get the flavor of it dying when it stings your opponent (But isn’t that just a myth?) but shouldn’t that apply to any way the bee attacks? Also, I love creatures you can make infinitely big, especially with Green Mana since you always have a ton of it.
It’s Ugin’s favorite Sliver. That joke will make more sense later.
Hey, I forgot Mishra was in this set. I’m glad because it’s not Urza.
Well if Mishra is timeshifted he could probably track these guys down and give them new orders. *Gasp* Oh, I get it, these cards go in the same deck! It all makes sense now!
Who would make a totem to a Chronatog? They’re like the worst of the Atog family. Ah well, it does look cool at the very least.
I will never run out of material for making Thanos jokes with Magic cards. I should hold a contest or something for the best Thanos theme deck.
And behold, the closest you will ever come to even seeing a Black Lotus. Like Magic will never stop making Black Lotus-alikes ever, but I think this one is the closest to the original.
And here is probably my favorite artifact from this set: Stuffy doll, star of such cards as The rack, The cursed rack, and Black Vise. Equip him with Pariah’s shield and the game is over and you win (And yes, I did run both those cards in my Black deck).
Oh come on, Teferi, be nice. They’re kobolds. I think they’ve suffered enough.
And with that our trip to the past for this week comes to a close. Come back next week when things start to get really weird as we explore the what-if’s of the Magic world. What if Mirri was a vampire? What if Braids never joined the Cabal? What if my side series talking about Yugioh cards didn’t crash and burn? Find out next week when we explore Planar Chaos, and until then, stay Magical.
