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.
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).
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.
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.
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.
