In the mid-2000s, Wizards of the Coast put together a Magic set that stepped out of the box and played with the concept of time: Time Spiral. It would become one of the most infamous releases of all time.

The set was lauded for its nostalgic throwbacks, high quality, and rich gameplay. At the same time, it's also remembered for selling poorly and being too complex for the wider casual audience.

Let's look back at what made it such a critical darling but also, a failure.

TSP Set Details

Time Spiral was released on October 6, 2006. It was the first set of the Time Spiral block and was made under the design codename "Snap" of "Snap, Crackle, Pop." Its name comes from the Urza's Saga (USG) card Time Spiral, starting a trend that would continue throughout the block.

The set took place on a post-apocalyptic Dominaria, where numerous time rifts were ravaging the plane. This caused overlapping timelines, bringing old characters and concepts into the modern age.

The Design Team was made up of:

• Brian Tinsman (Lead)
• Aaron Forsythe
• Devin Low
• Mark Rosewater

The Development Team (what we now know as Set Design and Play Design) included:

• Brian Schneider (Lead)
• Michael Donais
• Aaron Forsythe
• Devin Low
• Matt Place

Products

Time Spiral comes from an era long before sets came with numerous products, but the release still came with some of the typical items.

Booster Packs

Time Spiral's primary way to get cards was through the standard Booster Pack. Each pack contained:

• Ten Commons
• Three Uncommons
• One Rare
• One Timeshifted Card

Time Spiral featured a new change to how foils were done. This was the first set that replaced a Common card with a foil of any rarity.

Prior to this set, foils in Booster Packs replaced a card of whatever their rarity was. This meant if you opened a foil Rare, you wouldn't get a non-foil Rare in your pack. On rare occasions, you could even open multiple foils in one pack during their early years.

Tournament Packs

Players could also buy Tournament Packs, a 75-card pack meant for Sealed Deck play. These were released with the first set in every block up through Shards of Alara (ALA).

Each of these had:

• 30 Basic Lands
• 28 Commons
• Ten Uncommons
• Three Timeshifted Cards
• Three Rares
• One Foil of any rarity
• One Rules Insert
• One Pro Tour Player Card

Fat Pack and Novel

Fat Packs were the Bundles of the time. This version came with:

• 40 Basic Lands
• Six Booster Packs
• Two Storage Boxes
• Six dividers featuring art from the set
• A Spindown Life Counter
• A Player's Guide
• A Time Spiral novel
• A random Pro Tour player card

But, the Fat Packs of the 2000s contained something special: a full-length novel telling the story of the set!

The novel for Time Spiral focused on several Planeswalkers and major characters working to fix the time rifts on Dominaria. This caused past, present, and future to meld together, with Teferi trying to stop the spreading rift at the continent of Shiv.

Mechanics

Suspend

Time Spiral's main mechanics all played around with the concept of time. The first of these was called Suspend, which is generally considered the main mechanic of Time Spiral.

This mechanic allowed you to pay an alternate cost to wait some number of turns and cast the spell for free from exile.

If it's a Creature that you cast this way, it gains Haste. Originally, this mechanic wasn't going to grant Haste, but playtesters used it that way during the trial period. This led to the change becoming part of the mechanic going forward.

Each Suspend card depicts the subject coming through a portal, a distinct visual of how it works.

Split Second

The second mechanic was Split Second.

This mechanic made it so when you cast a card using it, no other spells or abilities could be played in response. It was originally named "Superfast" and was inspired by the way Interrupts worked in the game's early days.

You could still perform special game actions like flip up a face-down Morph Creature like Willbender, but that was all. The only faster spells in the game are, technically, mana abilities.

The original cards with Split Second also had a unique visual style. Each card art was split down the middle and would present the subject in two very different appearances.

Flash

Flash officially became a keyword starting with Time Spiral.

Spells with Flash can be cast at any time you could cast an Instant. Several cards had used the mechanic in the past, starting with King Cheetah in Visions (VIS), but the ability was always written in full.

To highlight the change and play off the time themes of the set, 19 cards used this mechanic we know as an evergreen keyword today.

Returning Mechanics

In addition to the new mechanics, Time Spiral also contained numerous returning mechanics.

The keyword mechanics included Buyback, Echo, Flanking, Flashback, Madness, Morph, Shadow, and Storm. Each of these came from a set that was released prior to Eighth Edition (8ED) and Mirrodin (MRD) to keep with the set's throwback feel.

Several Creature type-specific mechanics were back, too. These include:

• Rebels: Creatures that can find more Rebels in your deck and put them onto the battlefield
• Slivers: Creatures that buff all other Slivers on the battlefield. These ones also affect your opponents' slivers and not just yours
• Spellshapers: Creatures that let you pay a cost, discard a card, and tap to gain an effect. This would "shape" cards in your hand into famous "spells." For example, Urborg Syphon-Mage turns your cards into copies of Syphon Soul.
• Thallids: Creatures that gain Spore Counters and can remove a set amount to generate 1/1 Saproling tokens. Many had secondary abilities that let you sacrifice Saprolings for additional effects.

The unnamed Pitch Spell mechanic also appeared on one card: Snapback. You could cast this for free by exiling a Blue card from your hand, much like the famous Force of Will. This also represents the card Snap which had the Urza block's untap mechanic to cast spells for "free."

This high density of returning mechanics is a major reason the set was considered too complex for newer players. Even more mechanics would appear as the block went on, worsening the issue. This would lead to the introduction of "New World Order" design with Zendikar in 2009 to make the game easier for new players.

The Timeshifted Bonus Sheet

As part of Time Spiral's theme, the set contained a surprise: a bonus sheet full of Retro Frame cards.

Primarily curated by Aaron Forsythe, this Timeshifted sheet included 121 cards from the first ten years of Magic. In addition to the Retro Frame, each card had a special purple rarity set symbol.

Each of these was meant to be a fun throwback to what made the game so awesome. Inclusions ranged from high profile cards (Lord of Atlantis, Dragonstorm, and Tormod's Crypt) to the downright silly (Squire, Goblin Snowman).

The card Akroma, Angel of Wrath was noteworthy for being voted the most popular Creature in the game at the time. This led to her being included on this bonus sheet, on various promotional materials, and additional Akroma cards throughout the block.

The success of the Timeshifted set would lead to many future releases getting bonus sheets of their own. Today, nearly every major release has a bonus sheet or sub-set that accompanies it.

Major Cards

No-Cost Suspend Rares

The main attraction for Time Spiral were the six no-cost Suspend Rares. Each of these had no mana cost at all, meaning you could only play them using their Suspend abilities.

These include:

1. Restore Balance, a White spell based on Balance
2. Ancestral Vision, a Blue spell based on Ancestral Recall
3. Living End, a Black spell based on Living Death
4. Wheel of Fate, a Red spell based on Wheel of Fortune
5. Hypergenesis, a Green spell based on Eureka
6. Lotus Bloom, an Artifact based on Black Lotus

Each of these cards saw some tournament play.

Ancestral Vision and Hypergenesis were both banned in Modern early on. Ancestral Vision would eventually be unbanned but never really re-entered the ring. Living End remains a fan favorite in the format to this day as the centerpiece of a deck with the same name.

Angel's Grace

Angel's Grace is a spell that allows you to survive a turn and not lose if your life total goes below zero. Because of this, it's become a critical Combo card, namely to enable the powerful Ad Nauseum in older formats.

Mangara of Corondor, Serra Avenger, Flagstones of Trokair

Three Rares from this set made up the backbone of Legacy's Death and Taxes deck for years. This deck is known as the rare fair deck in a format full of unfair strategies.

• Serra Avenger was a card that you could put into play for free with Aether Vial. This also got around the card's early game restrictions.
• Mangara of Corondor was a combo with Karakas. When you activate Mangara's exile ability, you activate Karakas to return it to your hand. This would remove your opponent's threat while letting you replay Mangara again.
• Flagstones of Trokair provided solid insurance against land destruction. If you played multiple copies, you could use the Legend Rule to sacrifice them, tutor for Plains, and thin your deck in the process.

Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir

Long before the printing of Teferi, Hero of Dominaria and Teferi, Time Raveler, we got Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir.

Teferi's first iteration both used the new Flash mechanic and made opponents play at Sorcery speed. This was huge for Control decks of the era and made Teferi a powerful, if annoying, threat.

Dread Return

Dread Return seems like a fun callback to reanimation spells like Zombify but is better thanks to its Flashback cost.

If you pair it with cards like Narcomoeba, Bridge from Below, the Dredge mechanic, and Balustrade Spy, you can easily cast it for free. Doing this could get a big Creature like Sutured Ghoul or Golgari Grave-Troll, but it could also win the game for you with something like Lotleth Giant or Thassa's Oracle.

Powerful strategies like this have led to Dread Return's banning in Modern. It continues to see play in Legacy and Vintage, as well as Pauper thanks to a downshift in Commander Masters.

Bogardan Hellkite, Dragonstorm

One of the biggest decks of this era was Dragonstorm, and it was thanks to two cards: Bogardan Hellkite and Dragonstorm.

By casting a Dragonstorm with a Storm count of four or more, you could search your deck for four copies of Bogardan Hellkite. Each one would deal five damage to your opponent, killing them in one shot.

Storm Spells

Time Spiral also brought back the incredibly broken Storm mechanic on five cards. These were:

• Empty the Warrens
• Grapeshot
• Ground Rift
• Ignite Memories
• Volcanic Awakening

Empty the Warrens and Grapeshot have gone on to become multi-format staples, allowing for powerful game-ending effects. Both are now banned in Pauper as a result.

Ignite Memories, along with Empty the Warrens and Grapeshot, also saw play in the Dragonstorm deck. This card led to one of Pro Magic's greatest coverage moments where Gabriel Nassif survived a massive Ignite Memories against Patrick Chapin.

Ground Rift would eventually become a casual favorite thanks to the release of Venerated Rotpriest.

Rift Bolt

Rift Bolt was a simple Suspend riff on Lightning Bolt. Rather than casting Bolt whenever you wanted, you paid its Suspend cost and would get a free three damage the following turn.

This made Rift Bolt less optimal for removing Creatures, but great for both Burn and Storm decks alike. These days it's quite outclassed, but for a time it was a multi-format staple.

Gemstone Caverns

Gemstone Caverns first appeared in this set, giving players an opportunity to speed up their mana if luck was on their side. If you didn't go first and it was in your opening hand, you could exile another card to put the Land into play right away.

This leads to many decks having very powerful starts. It's a staple of Commander as well as a handful of Combo decks in Modern and Legacy.

Vesuva

Vesuva has become a popular Land thanks to its unique ability to copy any other Land in play. This is a Commander staple since you can not only copy your Lands but your opponents' as well. It's also an on-and-off Competitive card thanks to its uses in decks like Modern Amulet Titan and Legacy Cloudpost lists.

Cancel

What makes Cancel so special is the line it drew in the sand for Magic design. This card was the same as Counterspell but cost . This was seen as markedly worse, especially since Counterspell hadn't been reprinted since Seventh Edition (7ED).

Future counter spells would often become "Cancels with upside," or "Cancel with a small bonus stapled to it." This includes Dissolve's Scry 1, Didn't Say Please's Mill effect, and Neutralize's alternate Cycling option.

As a nod to the original, the art depicted a mage in the same pose as the Alpha (LEA) art for Counterspell. Both illustrations were done by Mark Poole.

Mystical Teachings, Think Twice, Ancient Grudge

Time Spiral also contained a series of strong roleplayer Flashback spells, like:

• Mystical Teachings
• Think Twice
• Ancient Grudge
• Momentary Blink

These, and more, became popular cards in a number of formats. Many see play in the modern day. Ancient Grudge remains a best-in-class option for Artifact removal and Mystical Teachings is a beloved Control piece in Pauper.

Precons

Time Spiral also included a set of four Preconstructed Theme Decks. Each of these provided an entry level 60-card deck for players to get into Magic: The Gathering. Most of these played up a specific set mechanic, but one used a fan-favorite strategy as its basis instead.

In addition to the usual Commons, Uncommons, and Rares, Time Spiral decks included cards from the Timeshifted Bonus Sheet.

Fun With Fungus

First up is the Black-Green Fun With Fungus deck.

This deck played into the Thallid Creatures in order to make an army of Saprolings. Both the deck's Rares - Verdant Embrace and Thelon of Havenwood - fuel the plan.

Once you have enough Creatures, Strength In Numbers helps to ensure your victory.

Hope's Crusaders

The second deck - Hope's Crusaders - is the one that doesn't lean into the mechanics of the set. Instead, this deck acts as a traditional White Weenies strategy. This means you play lots of small White Creatures and pump them up with cards like Celestial Crusader and Fortify to close out the game.

Reality Fracture

Reality Fracture (FRA) may be the name of a Magic expansion but it first appeared here as the name of a Blue-Red deck.

This list took advantage of Suspend cards to synergize with the Storm mechanic. If you set it up right, you could cast several Suspended cards on the same turn, leading to massive copies of Empty the Warrens and Grapeshot.

Sliver Evolution

Last but not least, the Sliver Evolution deck. As the name suggests, this deck is all about the Slivers that made up a sizable chunk of the set. Rather than leaning on all five colors, it zeroes in on Red, Green, and White Slivers instead.

Tournament Decks of the Era

Blue-Red Dragonstorm

One of the biggest decks of the TSP era was Dragonstorm.

Using cards like Lotus Bloom, Rite of Flame, and Seething Song, you would generate tons of mana. This would also set up a fast Storm count, allowing you to cast a big Dragonstorm and win by playing out four Bogardan Hellkites.

Izzet Dragonstorm | TSP Standard | Makihito Mihara, 1st Place Worlds 2006

• Creatures (6)
• 2 Hunted Dragon
• 4 Bogardan Hellkite

• Instants (16)
• 4 Gigadrowse
• 4 Remand
• 4 Seething Song
• 4 Telling Time

• Sorceries (12)
• 4 Dragonstorm
• 4 Rite of Flame
• 4 Sleight of Hand

• Artifacts (4)
• 4 Lotus Bloom

• Lands (22)
• 4 Mountain
• 8 Island
• 1 Calciform Pools
• 1 Dreadship Reef
• 4 Shivan Reef
• 4 Steam Vents

• Sideboard (15)
• 1 Calciform Pools
• 1 Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir
• 1 Trickbind
• 2 Dreadship Reef
• 3 Ignorant Bliss
• 3 Pyroclasm
• 4 Repeal

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This version that won Worlds 2006 in the hands of Makihito Mihara was a Blue-Red (Izzet) build. It took advantage of cards like Steam Vents, Gigadrowse, Telling Time, and Remand to set up the combo.

After those cards fell victim to rotation, these decks pivoted into a Mono-Red build. This would go all-in on the Storm plan, playing Grapeshot with Pyromancer's Swath for extra damage.

Red-White Weenie Aggro

For many years, Magic's Creatures were significantly weaker than the spells. This led to significantly more Combo and Control decks than Aggro decks.

Sometimes, all you need is a deck full of small critters and some burn spells to get the job done. That's how Nicholas Lovett made third place in Worlds 2006.

Boros Weenies | TSP Standard | Nicholas Lovett, 3rd Place Worlds 2006

• Creatures (23)
• 1 Magus of the Scroll
• 2 Ronom Unicorn
• 4 Icatian Javelineers
• 4 Knight of the Holy Nimbus
• 4 Savannah Lions
• 4 Soltari Priest
• 4 Wildfire Emissary

• Instants (8)
• 4 Char
• 4 Lightning Helix

• Sorceries (8)
• 4 Rift Bolt
• 4 Volcanic Hammer

• Lands (21)
• 2 Mountain
• 4 Plains
• 3 Boros Garrison
• 4 Battlefield Forge
• 4 Flagstones of Trokair
• 4 Sacred Foundry

• Sideboard (15)
• 1 Ronom Unicorn
• 2 Cryoclasm
• 2 Paladin en-Vec
• 3 Honorable Passage
• 3 Pacifism
• 4 Stone Rain

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Several small threats like Icatian Javelineers, Knight of the Holy Nimbus, Soltari Priest, and Wildfire Emissary all came with Time Spiral.

With the help of Rift Bolt and other powerful burn spells Lightning Helix and Char, this could take players out quickly.

Mono-Blue Pickles

Not all the coolest decks came from Worlds, though. Pickles is a famous archetype of the era, known for being a Control-Combo deck that could lock people out.

This is done using Brine Elemental to repeatedly stop your opponent from being able to untap. If you control a Vesuvan Shapeshifter with a Brine Elemental, you can turn the Shapeshifter face down then turn it up as a copy.

Doing this eventually prevented your opponents from doing anything as you slowly tore them apart.

Mono-Blue Pickles | PLC Standard | Motokiyo Azuma, 3rd Place GP Kyoto 2007

• Creatures (15)
• 2 Fathom Seer
• 2 Willbender
• 3 Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir
• 4 Brine Elemental
• 4 Vesuvan Shapeshifter

• Instants (20)
• 2 Repeal
• 2 Think Twice
• 4 Cancel
• 4 Mana Leak
• 4 Remand
• 4 Spell Snare

• Lands (25)
• 14 Snow-Covered Island
• 1 Urza's Factory
• 3 Desert
• 3 Dimir Aqueduct
• 4 Dreadship Reef

• Sideboard (15)
• 1 Draining Whelk
• 1 Wipe Away
• 2 Repeal
• 2 Shadow of Doubt
• 2 Willbender
• 3 Phyrexian Ironfoot
• 4 Rewind

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Later builds would become White-Blue or Blue-Black. Doing this gave the deck better access to permanent removal, helping the Control part of the strategy.

Weird Facts

Most Cards Are References

Nearly every card in this release was a reference to cards from the game's past. This included everything from how cards functioned mechanically to simple flavor elements.

A good example of both is Academy Ruins.

Many players will recognize its flavor is based on Tolarian Academy, one of the most broken cards ever printed. The Academy was wiped out at the end of the Weatherlight Saga. The mage Barrin cast his Obliterate spell, causing the ruins to sink to the bottom of the ocean.

Mechanically, it's riffing on Volrath's Stronghold - another major location in the Weatherlight Saga.

Instead of using Black mana and putting Creatures onto your deck, it uses Blue mana to put Artifacts back instead. The Artifact theming is also a nod to the Academy and the Urza Block's powerful Artifacts.

Here's a handful of other references:

• The five "Magus of the..." cards reference classic Artifacts. These include Nevinyrral's Disk, Memory Jar, Mirror Universe, Cursed Scroll, and Candelabra of Tawnos.
• Every Sliver grants an ability of an older card, often with direct naming conventions, like Basal Sliver granting all Slivers Basal Thrull's ability.
• The Uncommon Totem cycle all reference famous old Creatures on the Reserved List. These include Thunder Spirit, Chronatog, Phyrexian Negator, Two-Headed Giant of Foriys, and Weatherseed Treefolk.
• Viscid Lemures is a nod to Hyalopterous Lemure, a card known for its incorrect and silly art. The artist - Richard Thomas - thought he was supposed to illustrate a lemur with wings, referenced in Viscid Lemures' flavor text.
• Cyclopean Giant was one of the most obscure references in the set. It was two Cyclopean Mummys - a famously hated card - stapled together. The ability that changed a Land to a Swamp calls to the other early Cyclopean card: Cyclopean Tomb.

Time Spiral Inspires Modern Horizons

Time Spiral's low sales compared to its strong critical reception have given it a reputation as the "art house" set of Magic. This meant that the long-time players loved it, but it was tough to go back to for your average player.

During an internal Hackathon, a pitch was made to make Time Spiral 2 and Future Sight 2. This led to the creation of the first Modern Horizons set, using many of the same themes as Time Spiral. These include nostalgia, numerous returning mechanics, and unique mash-ups.

It was marketed as a premium product to avoid the pitfalls of TSP and was made Modern legal to have greater appeal.

Conclusion

Time Spiral may have initially appeared as a dud, but the years have been kind to it. It's a rich set full of fun designs and unique concepts.

Newer players may not have enjoyed it but, it was a home run for the enfranchised players. As the years have gone on and Magic has gotten more popular, many players have come to appreciate it.

Paige Smith

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