Timelords

by msquared on 26 April 2013

Main Deck (60 cards)

Sideboard (15 cards)

Sorceries (2)


Instants (3)


Enchantments (1)

Submit a list of cards below to bulk import them all into your sideboard. Post one card per line using a format like "4x Birds of Paradise" or "1 Blaze", you can even enter just the card name by itself like "Wrath of God" for single cards.


Deck Description

Bide your time, and build up mana as fast as you can, the goal being to lock your opponent out of the game with an endless cycle of Time Warp + Archaeomancer. Cast a spell that gives you an extra turn (Time Warp, Time Stretch (2 turns) or Walk of Aeons) then during that turn (or one of the following turns) cast Archaeomancer to get the sorcery back...and use it again. The 4 Clones can all be used to make 4 duplicate Archaeomancers (for the same cost), Unsummon can be used to put one back in your hand to cast again, Trusted Advisor & Sunken Hope both let you put one back in your hand every turn (for free), Aether Adept and Wizard Mentor can also be used to return one to your hand to cast again. The two Exhaustion spells can act just like a Time Warp if your opponent has no untapped lands or creatures (and it only costs 3 mana). The rest of the cards are mostly about drawing cards, scrying (or pseudo scrying), countering opponents spells or locking them down. The Mind Controls and Treachery are there just to steal any big threat your opponent may play...either to deny him its use, or to use it against him, as this deck has very few (if any) big hitters...but, once you can get an endless cycle of turns...it's only a matter of time.

For 1 more mana, Mnemonic Wall does the same thing as Archaeomancer, so the two of those help extend the effect as well.

4/22/14 - UPDATE: Newly streamlined and playtested. This deck guarantees you'll alienate yourself from your friends, and repeatedly using it to win, will cause them to end their friendship with you. You've been warned.

I've cut most of the scry cards (and those that emulate the effect), as I found I didn't really need them. I took out most of the walls (now in sideboard), they're all great defensive creatures, but if you have a few Fog Banks you probably won't need any other walls. I also put most of the cards that increase your hand size on the sideboard, I have only played one game of 8-12 played where it was needed, most games I never have that many cards in hand. Any creature control cards can be quite useful (stolen creatures will be the easiest way to kill your enemies with this deck), but again, I found other ways to get around that problem. I also dumped the Vedalken Mastermind, as it's ability wasn't getting used either.

I did manage to get my hand on Followed Footsteps, and an extra Time Stretch and Time Warp and a few other useful "time" spells and creatures, which enabled me to dump cards which were less useful.

Which leaves me with the newly slimmed down 60 card deck.

How to Play

60 Card Deck:

CREATURES - Echo Mage - quick leveling up and you can dupe all those tasty instants and sorceries for just 2 blue mana; Lighthouse Chronologist - takes longer to level up, but when he gets to 7...the misery begins (especially in multi-player games)...opponent takes a turn, you take a turn, next opponent takes a turn, you take a turn, next opponent takes a turn, you take a turn, you take your real turn, then the first opponent takes a turn; Trusted Advisor - great two-fer, your max handsize goes up two AND you can bounce your useful blue creatures to your hand to be recast; Fog Bank - excellent pace changer; Clone - use to either dupe your own interesting creatures OR take advantage of an enemy threat, unsummon his creature out of the way and stomp him; Archaeomancer -the little common gem which makes this deck nearly unstoppable, they give your sorceries and instants MORE MILEAGE; Aether Adept - another great OPTION card, either bounce your enemy's creatures back to their hand, or do it to Archaeomancer to re-use his ability...I recently used the AA (in combination with some nice enchantments) to hold my opponent's sliver deck at bay for 10-12 turns just recasting it and forcing him to put his slivers back in his hand, then duplicating the effect with the enchantment which put another one in his hand on HIS turn).

SORCERIES - only got a few, but when you bounce them back again, and again, and again, it seems like you have dozens of each one. Time Spiral - this is a last ditch saver...since this deck gets SO MANY extra turns and draws a ton of cards, it depletes the library fairly quickly...THIS card resets the game, great card; Glimpse the Future - one of the only "scry" card left, can't resist...it is a "time" card; Time Warp & Time Stretch - the reason this deck is here, hitting those magic numbers (5 & 10) in mana production, always makes me smile, use them as often as necessary, every free turn you can squeeze can get you another draw and more potential land into play...once you get the magic number +4, you can cast the spell AND Archaeomancer the same turn, and then you lose your friends; Temporal Cascade - use it to save your library (like Time Spiral), or to draw a ton of cards, or both.

INSTANTS - Counterspell - the best counterspell money can buy, luckily, I have so many from the early days, I'll never be forced to use the modern version of it; Unsummon - bounce your good creatures or your enemies "bad" creatures back to their hands...typically, that wouldn't help you so much...BUT, in a deck that can get endless turns AND can remove threats AND get the card back whenever it wants...it's a good combo; Telling Time - great card, for just 2 mana, get a card in your hand, select the card you'll draw next and get a third out of the way, which I had a few more of them.

ENCHANTMENTS - not many, but oh, are they good ones. Followed Footsteps - create an endless supply of cloned destroyers (by attaching it to your clone) or get a free Archaeomancer every turn (bouncing back an instant or sorcery with every new duplicate) or an endless threat remover by attaching it to Aether Adept...just don't target anything LEGENDARY or they'll all be destroyed with the first dupe - found that out the hard way; Omniscience - IF, I say, IF you manage to get 10 mana in play AND draw this card...it becomes manna from heaven...allowing you to play Time Warp and Time Stretch for FREE...in combo with the Followed Footsteps - Archaeomancer combo, your opponent/s will NEVER get another turn...and you will lose their friendship; Sunken Hope - awesome punishment for your opponents (so long as they don't thrive on "comes into play" creatures) while giving you a boon by freely bouncing Archaeomancer and/or Aether Adept back to your hand; Arcane Melee - makes those HIGH costing sorceries much, much easier to cast.

ARTIFACTS - Sapphire Medallion - makes those same blue spells cheaper; Sphinx-Bone Wand - okay, if you can't win the game using clones or you just can't get an edge with free turns (or if you just can't keep stuff in play to utilize them)...the Sphinx-Bone Wand is an AWESOME way to annihilate your foes...just cast those cheap instants and expensive sorceries as soon as able...build up the counters and zap...zap-zap...zap-zap-zap...etc, etc, etc....can also be used to kill dangerous enemy creatures.

Deck at a Glance

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Mana Curve

Mana Symbol Occurrence

060000

Card Legality

  • Not Legal in Standard
  • Not Legal in Modern
  • Legal in Vintage
  • Legal in Legacy

Deck discussion for Timelords

I like the theme and the title of your deck. :)

For bouncing back your own creatures, you could use Vedalken Mastermind. Temporal Adept has a similar ability, but with a pretty heavy cost, which might not be so bad if you build up a lot of mana, and you can use it to disrupt your opponents. Probably not as slick as the mastermind, but Temporal Adept fits the theme of your deck quite well.

A card I've always wanted to use that might fit in here (both in utility and theme) is Savor the Moment. It gives you an extra turn, which is in-theme, but it skips the untap step, so it ends up acting more as a blue Explore, which would help speed up your mana base. The extra upkeep step does mean it'll trigger your Trusted Advisor / Sunken Hope, though...

Dreamscape Artist is another option for mono-blue mana acceleration that you could try out. He's not fantastic, but he can do good things.

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Posted 26 April 2013 at 17:20

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Thanks! I'll look into those. I was playing MTG 2013 on the Xbox and one of the decks on the game had the Time Warp + Archaeomancer + Followed Footsteps and a light bulb went off in my head. I looked up the cards, and it turned out I had them in my real-world collection...though I still haven't found Footsteps (erg). The deck listed hasn't been playtested yet, and I'm still working on the balance (the deck is still too big, but I just took out a few of the creatures and a couple of the big draw cards...if I could get it under 80, it would be ideal.

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Posted 26 April 2013 at 21:48

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I know I have Vedalken Mastermind in my collection, it would be a good addition (and since it's uncommon, I probably have 2 or 3). I have a bunch of cards from Urza's, 7th-8th-9th...but I don't have Temporal Adept...too bad, because it does fit nicely.

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Posted 26 April 2013 at 22:03

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I always chuckle when Talrand plays an unkicked Rite of Replication on his Archaeomancer, just to return the Rite of Replication back to his hand. Hehe. :)

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Posted 26 April 2013 at 22:03

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5-26 Taking rikimbo's suggestion, I added my two Vedalken Mastermind creatures to the deck. I also added three more Minamo Scrollkeepers (each allows me to increase my hand size +1). Then I went through my rares and found two more cards that fit in nicely: Renegade Doppelganger (which is yet another way to duplicate Archaeomancer); and Lighthouse Chronologist...I don't usually bother with leveling creatures, but this mythic rare is the perfect addition to the deck, giving me all sorts of extra turns at level 7 (especially in multi-player games).

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Posted 26 May 2013 at 21:49

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Prior to my new additions, I did playtest this deck against a friend in a couple of games. He won the first game by duplicating a big green elemental and creating a ton of saprolings that became duplicates of the elemental...I had a clone of this creature as well and had a bunch of duplicates...but he upped the number beyond my ability to block and killed me.
Game 2 though, ended in my favor. Like the first game, he brought in that nasty creature, which I duplicated with a clone, but this time I managed to get my endless cycle of turns...and after about 5 he gave up when he knew it was just a matter of time. Of all the decks I have, this one has the potential to be the biggest "ass hole" deck...the kind that just pisses opponents off. All's fair...I've had my run ins with opponents who did nothing but burn burn burn with X cost red mana direct damage cards (Fireball, Blaze)...ending EVERY game with a big blast fire attack.

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Posted 26 May 2013 at 21:56

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Update coming soon. I have recently acquired several cards for this deck by complete accident. When I looked at some singles in my local card shop...and there they were...just looking back at me and begging me to include them. So I did.

I have added those cards, and at the same time, trimmed this to a more functionally playable 60+ card size.

I should also note, I used this deck in a four player game (pretty much what's listed above) and it worked perfectly...just sat back and played defense, biding my time until the mana mix was just right...then created an endless series of turns. After the 6th or 7th free turn, the remaining two opponents capitulated. I never play more than one game with the deck in any gaming session...to use it more than once would be cruel, and would force my opponents to loathe me in every way. =)

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Posted 31 January 2014 at 19:39

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When my buddy's 16 year old son tried to counter a game-changing spell I was casting using "Cancel" thinking he was very clever...the look on his face, and those of the other two players, when I used "Counterspell" to counter his counter...was priceless. Kids today...just don't know what a good counterspell looks like. I'm always happy to impart some knowledge on them.

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Posted 31 January 2014 at 19:44

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UPDATED 4/22/2014 - now 60 cards!

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Posted 23 April 2014 at 04:02

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