Time Spiral/Theme decks

Time Spiral features four preconstructed theme decks.^[1]

Fun with Fungus

Fun with Fungus is .

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Fungus doesn’t think or sleep—it just spreads and devours. The Fun with Fungus deck lets you take the reins of a post-apocalyptic rampage of Thallids, and these freaky fungus fiends won’t take “Eeeeewww!” for an answer.

In the early going, play as many Thallids as possible so they can start building up spore counters. Waiting three turns for enough spore counters to make a single Saproling might seem slow, but when you have three or four Thallids budding at once, you’ll soon have more creatures than you know what to do with.

Don’t be too aggressive in combat with your early Thallids. Trade with an opponent’s creature only if you really need to get it off the table. The longer your Thallids stay in play, the more work they’ll do for you. You’ll be rewarded if they’re still around when Sporesower Thallid or Verdant Embrace turbo-charges your Saproling production, or when Thelon of Havenwood makes your Thallids enormous.

To get the most from your Saprolings, you can attack with them or you can sacrifice them. Attacking is good if your opponent has few blockers, and it’s especially good if you have Pendelhaven Elder to pump them all up at once. If that’s your plan, it’s best to create Saprolings as early as possible.

If you can’t attack, use your Saprolings as blockers and sacrifice fodder. In this case, don’t create them until you need them. Your opponent will have a harder time removing spore counters than destroying 1/1 creatures, and if Thelon shows up, you’ll be glad those spore counters are still there! The Fun with Fungus deck is packed with effects that take advantage of a sacrificed Saproling. Make a creature bigger with Thallid Germinator or smaller with Deathspore Thallid. Regenerate a Thallid with Savage Thallid. Gain life with Claws of Gix by sacrificing any permanent. Sacrifice three creatures to pay Dread Return’s flashback cost. And a creature enchanted with Fallen Ideal can devour all your Saprolings—and your other creatures—to become big enough for one gigantic, game-winning attack.

After playing with the deck, customize it. More copies of Thelon of Havenwood or Sporesower Thallid will increase the deck’s power. Try the Time Spiral cards Sarpadian Empires, Vol. VII or Thelonite Hermit to generate more Saprolings. But the best (and most fun) option may be the Ravnica card Doubling Season, which doubles both the number of spore counters you get and the number of Saproling tokens you put into play!^[2]

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Fun With Fungus

The 2 rares in this deck are Thelon of Havenwood and Verdant Embrace.

The timeshifted cards in this deck are Claws of Gix, Pendelhaven, and Thallid.

Hope's Crusaders

Hope's Crusaders is .

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Nothing—not even an apocalypse—can keep a noble fighter down, and the “Hope’s Crusaders” deck is proof of that. Lead your troops onto the battlefield and give them the one command they want to hear: “Charge!” This deck gives your opponent no good blocking options: Either your creatures will get through, or your opponent’s blockers will be overmatched in combat.

As soon as the game begins, your plan is to play creatures and start attacking! Many of the creatures in the “Hope’s Crusaders” deck have flanking. Whenever a creature with flanking is blocked by a creature without flanking, the blocker will become smaller. This can swing combat in your favor, but the ability is useful only when attacking, so don’t let it go to waste. Press your advantage and take the battle to your opponent.

As the game develops, your opponent is sure to play a blocker that’s too large for your Knights to handle. In that case, Gustcloak Cavalier can nudge it out of the way every turn, or Gaze of Justice can nudge it out of the game entirely. Pentarch Paladin can devastate your opponent if you’ve chosen the right color. If you’ve also got a Cloudchaser Kestrel, the right color is white—those two cards together will let you destroy your opponent’s best permanent every single turn. Meanwhile, keep attacking for every point of damage you can squeeze in.

Your ragtag army of Knights will get a boost from both Zhalfirin Commander and Cavalry Master. The Commander helps your Knights, and the Cavalry Master helps your creatures with flanking—and in this deck, those two groups are exactly the same. Other support creatures, like D’Avenant Healer and Icatian Javelineers, reinforce the deck’s theme. If your opponent ever tries to block your onrushing forces, the blockers will be picked off while the attackers will live to fight another day. Even better, a well-timed Ivory Giant may make it impossible for your opponent to block at all.

After you’ve gotten the hang of the deck, try changing it around. You can speed the deck up by adding more one-mana and two-mana creatures, and it’s all the better if they’re Knights. The Time Spiral card Serra Avenger is a worthy addition to any offensive deck. And the Ninth Edition card Glorious Anthem will pump up your entire army.^[3]

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Hope's Crusaders

Lands (23)

23 Plains

Creatures (27)

3 Benalish Cavalry

2 Cavalry Master

1 Celestial Crusader

1 Cloudchaser Kestrel

2 D'Avenant Healer

2 Errant Doomsayers

2 Foriysian Interceptor

1 Gustcloak Cavalier

1 Icatian Crier

3 Icatian Javelineers

1 Ivory Giant

3 Knight of the Holy Nimbus

2 Outrider en-Kor

1 Pentarch Paladin

2 Zhalfirin Commander

Instants (1)

1 Fortify

Sorceries (4)

1 Divine Congregation

3 Gaze of Justice

Artifacts (5)

2 Brass Gnat

1 Sarpadian Empires, Vol. VII

2 Thunder Totem

The 2 rares in this deck are Pentarch Paladin and Sarpadian Empires, Vol. VII.

The timeshifted cards in this deck are Icatian Javelineers and Zhalfirin Commander.

Reality Fracture

Reality Fracture is .

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The Reality Fracture deck highlights the interaction between suspend and storm. Manipulate the time stream just right, and you’ll set up a single, explosive, game-winning turn!

In the first few turns of the game, use the suspend ability of cards in your hand, preferably so they have the same number of time counters on them. Meanwhile, you’re vulnerable to attack, so you may need to use Rift Bolt or Grapeshot to take the pressure off.

After a few turns, your suspended cards will have counted down all the way. Ideally, you’ll remove the last time counter from two or three of them on the same turn. Play those spells, then play your spells with storm. You get an extra copy of each storm spell for each other spell played that turn, so the copies will add up! Empty the Warrens could give you a huge Goblin horde, or Ignite Memories could result in over a dozen damage. Suspended creatures come into play with haste, so after they attack, your opponent might just have been dealt 20 damage in a single turn!

To maximize your storm spells, hold on to cards like Claws of Gix and Coal Stoker. They’re easy to play on the same turn as other spells, which will increase your storm count. But don’t be too greedy! Depending on how the game is going, it may be better to get three storm copies on turn 5 than five storm copies on turn 7. If setting up a giant turn isn’t working, simply attacking with your hefty creatures is a good backup plan.

The “Reality Fracture” deck includes cards like Clockspinning and Jhoira’s Timebug that manipulate counters. Use them to sync up the number of time counters on your suspended cards—even if you have to add a time counter! Or if you need a suspended card immediately, remove the last time counter from it. Clockspinning also interacts with other counters, like the ones on Serrated Arrows or Dreadship Reef.

After getting the hang of the deck, experiment with its contents. More Rift Bolts help set up big storm turns or eliminate pesky creatures. The Time Spiral card Lotus Bloom and the Ninth Edition card Seething Song enable multiple spells on the same turn. And Furnace of Rath, also from the Ninth Edition set, is a perfect turn 4 play since your deck will be ready to explode with damage on turn 5.^[4]

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Reality Fracture

Lands (24)

1 Dreadship Reef

12 Island

11 Mountain

Creatures (16)

3 Riftwing Cloudskate

1 Sage of Epityr

3 Viscerid Deepwalker

Instants (4)

1 Careful Consideration

2 Clockspinning

1 Whispers of the Muse

Sorceries (11)

Artifacts (5)

The 2 rares in this deck are Deep-Sea Kraken and Pardic Dragon.

The timeshifted cards in this deck are Claws of Gix, Giant Oyster, Serrated Arrows, and Whispers of the Muse.

Sliver Evolution

Sliver Evolution is .

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Slivers share a hive mind. Whatever one thinks, they all think. Whatever one can do, they can all do. Slivers have mutated over the years, and the Sliver Evolution deck shows off their new, deadlier skills. But they still think the same thing they always did: “Smash anything that’s not a Sliver.”

As soon as the game begins, start building your Sliver collective. Gemhide Sliver is especially good early since its mana ability helps you play other Slivers. Don’t take any risks in combat with your first few Slivers. If they’re still in play a few turns later when their friends show up, even the most mild-mannered Sliver will turn into a ferocious attacker.

The creatures that turn your hive into a potent offensive force are Bonesplitter Sliver, which gives all your creatures +2/+0, Watcher Sliver, which gives all your creatures +0/+2, and Might Sliver, which confers both bonuses at once. Once you’ve assembled enough pieces to make your Sliver army into a fearsome force, start attacking. Your opponent may be able to take down a Sliver or two, but the blockers will surely be paying the price. When you attack, you’ll need to judge whether it’s best to send in all your Slivers or whether you should hold back the most important ones, like Might Sliver, to protect them.

Other Slivers can enhance your horde in more clever ways. Fungus Sliver puts a +1/+1 counter on any Sliver that’s been dealt damage. Quilled Sliver lets your Slivers deal 1 damage to an attacking or blocking creature. Use them together! Have one of your Slivers attack, then tap another Sliver to deal 1 damage to it, thus making it permanently bigger!

Another nifty duo is Sidewinder Sliver and Spined Sliver. If they’re in play together, whenever one of your Slivers becomes blocked, that Sliver gets bigger and the blocker gets smaller! But for game-ending power, look no further than Pulmonic Sliver. Not only does it gives your entire horde flying, but whenever any of your Slivers is destroyed, it’s put on top of your library where you can draw it next turn.

Once you have some games under your belt, it’s time for the deck to evolve. Ravnica dual lands, like Temple Garden or Sacred Foundry, will make it easier to play your Slivers. You can try including Time Spiral Slivers of a different color, like Psionic Sliver. Or you can check out the awesome Slivers in the Tempest, Stronghold, and Legions sets.^[5]

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