Pojo's Magic The Gathering news, tips, strategies and more!

Pojo's MTG
MTG Home
Message Board
News & Archives
Deck Garage
BMoor Dolf BeJoSe

Columnists
Paul's Perspective
Jeff Zandi
DeQuan Watson
Jordon Kronick
IQ
Aburame Shino
Rare Hunter
Tim Stoltzfus
WiCkEd
Judge Bill's Corner


Trading Card
Game

Card of the Day
Guide for Newbies
Decks to Beat
Featured Articles
Peasant Magic
Fan Tips
Tourney Reports


Other
Color Chart
Book Reviews
Online Play
MTG Links
Staff



This Space
For Rent

Pojo's Magic The Gathering
Card of the Day

Daily Since November 2001!

Temporal Mastery
Image from Wizards.com

Temporal Mastery
Avacyn Restored

Reviewed May 14, 2012

Constructed: 3.90
Casual: 4.00
Limited: 4.00
Multiplayer: 3.60

Ratings are based on a 1 to 5 scale
1 being the worst.  3 ... average.  
5 is the highest rating

Click here to see all of our 
Card of the Day Reviews 

BMoor

Temporal Mastery

Spells that let you take an extra turn tend to get abused. People love that stuff, and with cards like Panoptic Mirror, Reverberate, and Reclaim, it's not that hard to set up a situation where you never run out of extra turns. Hence the "Exile Temporal Mastery" rider at the end there-- getting stuff back from the graveyard is just too easy to do.

But of course, it's the Miracle ability that's the draw here. An extra turn for a mere 1U? Why, that's Time Walk! And all you have to do is topdeck it and immediately play it! The fact that this is a blue Miracle makes it inherently better than a Miracle of another color, since Blue is the color of Scry and can more easily force the topdeck. Which is good, because that's basically what Temporal Mastery is-- a way to force a topdeck. You see, taking extra turns is so much fun to abuse and chain together because the power of taking them increases exponentially with each extra turn you take. Just taking one for the heck of it is basically "I get to attack twice, or attack and untap, and draw an extra card"-- cute, but only strong if you've got decent board presence or caught your opponent tapped out. Taking 12 turns in a row is "By the time it's your turn again, I've drawn so many cards, built up so much of my board, and hit you so hard with my evasive dudes that you may as well concede". If you can't copy, replay, or otherwise spam Temporal Mastery, then it's a "win more" card that 's at its strongest when you didn't really need the help. Or it's a "just one more card" card that you play because you're in a jam and you're praying for a lucky topdeck.

Constructed- 3
Casual- 3.5
Limited- 4
Multiplayer- 3.5


David Fanany

Player since 1995

Temporal Mastery
 
There's a long-running joke (since about the Urza's Saga era) about how a card named "Yawgmoth's Time Mox" would have to be banned before it was even designed. I'm not sure why you would name a card something with so little sense of rhythm . . . but seriously, any word that relates to "time" is a red flag. Nearly two decades of Magic history have proven that Temporal Mastery's rules text is basically a bargain at any cost, much less for the two mana it will cost at least a few times a session. Especially since for the majority of us, Ponder isn't banned and Liliana Vess is still in rotation. Thank Mark Rosewater, I guess (either genuinely or ironically).
 
Constructed: 4/5
Casual: 4/5
Limited: 3/5
Multiplayer: 3/5 


Paul
Magic The Gathering Card of The Day: Temporal Mastery
 
Welcome back readers todays care of the day is one of the more hyped cards in the set. Temporal Mastery when you get it for its miracle cost is Time Walk, one of the power 9. In standard I don’t foresee this card making it a big impact perhaps in some sort of combo deck that rearranges the top of its library but it just seems overwhelmed by the sheer power of creature decks available. In extended and modern there are more cards that can help you manipulate the top of your library and make sure you get the extra turn and more combo decks available that may be interested in this. In legacy and vintage is where this card has received considerable hype combined with Brainstorm you get a lot of advantage making it a natural fit in some blue decks but  not every deck running blue is just going to switch to this making it a powerful card but not something that will dominate the format. In casual and multiplayer this card is decent getting the miracle cost is always good but even hardcasting this for its full price isn’t the end of the world, the fact it exiles is horrible taking away any infinite turn shenanigans makes it somewhat less powerful then other similar cards. In limited it’s a money rare you can sometimes take an extra turn off if you’re in blue it’s a decent pick up but doesn’t seem as bomby to me as most of the angels or big beaters. Overall a powerful constructed card that will see a decent amount of play almost everywhere.
 
Constructed: 3.5
Casual: 3.5
Limited: 3.0
Multiplayer: 3.0
Michael "Maikeruu" Pierno

Today's card of the day is Temporal Mastery which is a Blue seven mana or two with Miracle that allows you to take an extra turn, then is exiled.  This is a powerful effect, particularly if Miracle is triggered either naturally or thanks to Blue's abundant library manipulation options, and is definitely going to see play in competitive decks. 

However, it does need some dedicated support to be somewhat reliable in the earlier stages of the game where it can offer a bigger advantage as the cost of seven is a bit of a drawback.  It being exiled is a negative as well, though overall the card is strong enough to be played yet not enough to just be tossed into every Blue deck like Time Walk was.
 
For Limited taking an extra turn with no real negative is a major advantage at any stage of the game and is by definition the best topdeck possible with at least two mana in play or the unlikely scenario of being the last card in your deck.  There aren't many ways of drawing extra cards to prevent the Miracle and there should never be a situation where this isn't a card you want to draw.  Splashing it is slightly risky thanks to the double Blue in the base cost when it is in your opening hand, so it is a little better off in decks using a bit more Blue.  Otherwise just about any Sealed should be running this and it is worth the first pick in Booster even though other effects can win the game directly.  This doesn't preclude drawing another major card on the next turn and either allows you to improve your battlefield or at least helps maintain it against just about any position.
 
Constructed: 4.0
Casual: 4.0
Limited: 5.0
Multiplayer: 4.0

John
Shultis
Phoenix
Gaming
       Welcome to a new week of card of the day reviews here at Pojo.com! To kick start this week we are looking at Temporal Mastery from Avacyn Restored. Temporal Mastery is a mythic rare blue sorcery that costs five generic and two blue mana. Temporal Mastery says Take an extra turn after this one. Exile Temporal Mastery. Temporal Mastery also has Miracle for one blue and one generic mana.

     Temporal Mastery is definitely one of the most sought after cards from the Avacyn Restored set thus far. Obvious reasons dictate why. Being able to practically get Time Walk in the Standard format would cause almost anybody to want it. An extra turn for just two mana is incredible, And even if it should end up in your opening hand, or otherwise unable to play it for the Miracle cost, there are plenty of ways of putting it back in your deck, and we all know how much blue loves being able to manipulate the deck thus ensuring you draw it and get it for the Miracle cost. Cards in Standard such as Mass the Components let you draw three and put one on the bottom. Then you could very well use Elixir of Immortality to shuffle things up, and then Ponder and see where it lies.

      Of course running it in red/blue could be nice, too. Increasing Vengeance could very well copy it twice if you play the Temporal Mastery for its Miracle cost, and Flashback the Increasing Vengeance. Which would still be the converted mana cost of casting Temporal Mastery normally.
 
Limited: 5/5
Constructed: 5/5
Casual: 5/5
Multiplayer: 4/5

Copyright© 1998-2012 pojo.com
This site is not sponsored, endorsed, or otherwise affiliated with any of the companies or products featured on this site. This is not an Official Site.