Timeless: Mystical Archives Review

Timeless Horizons is coming! The special Mystical Archives slots in Secrets of Strixhaven promise to push Magic Arena's power level to heights similar to what a Horizons set does for Modern and Legacy. The new staples for the format include the long-awaited Force of Will and Daze, plus the dangerous addition of Vampiric Tutor.

The set also brings support for decks like Ruby Storm and Golgari Lands, plus some cards that might not do much at first but could become future pillars with the right support — Glimpse of Nature and Living End, for example.

Below, we've rounded up the main Mystical Archives cards for Timeless and evaluated their potential in the format's Metagame.

Ad Nauseam also arrived with Secrets of Strixhaven, and Angel's Grace has always been a historic piece of that combo in Modern. The lines are there with Dark Ritual, Culling the Weak, and Sacrifice to ramp mana, plus Thassa's Oracle to finish games. But the mix of Grief + Reanimate disruption, plus the addition of Daze and Force of Will, will make life hard for any pure combo archetype.

Not exactly the most competitive card right now, but Armageddon will be an experience for many Arena players. Maybe fast mana with Chrome Mox and Ancient Tomb could enable some lists with it, but I wouldn't get my hopes up about it being efficient in Timeless.

The lack of Lotus Petal and Lion's Eye Diamond probably makes it hard for Echo of Eons to have its own Storm version like it does in Legacy. That said, Brain Freeze is also known for enabling infinite combos with Underworld Breach — lines that even showed up in Legacy Delver decks and got the enchantment banned.

I'd start evaluating this card from that angle, not purely as a Storm card. However, we do lack Lion's Eye Diamond to make infinite loops with it.

The real game changers of this set.

Daze and Force of Will were the most wanted cards by the Timeless community for good reason — the format's Metagame is inherently broken without free spells to stop combos and enable fair play. Ever since the Show and Tell reprint, the feeling was that these spells needed to exist so the format could make room for fairer archetypes.

Now they're here. The rise of Blue Tempo is inevitable — whether it's Izzet with Cori-Steel Cutter and Dragon's Rage Channeler, three-color variants in Grixis, Sultai, or even Jeskai, not to mention the dreaded Dimir version running Psychic Frog and the Grief + Reanimate combo that got a dozen cards banned until the key piece left Legacy.

Daze might have a bit more traction: combo decks like Show and Tell benefit from running Islands and having another cheap protection piece for their key play without sacrificing too much tempo if they have to "set themselves back" a turn. Meanwhile, Force of Will — alongside combo-policing archetypes — opens the door for new Midrange and Control builds with blue, possibly mirroring the Up the Beanstalk interactions from Legacy.

The big question is whether they will they actually save Timeless, or will they push the format into a new combo era thanks to decks like Reanimator using these key pieces to protect their own game plan and answer the opponent? In the latter case, Timeless might need another wave of restrictions — this time involving Grief.

Like Brain Freeze, I think the lack of certain free mana sources — and no Cabal Ritual — plus the presence of more disruptive combos in post-Strixhaven Timeless makes Ad Nauseam less appealing than it should be.

You could imagine a Storm build using it as a resource engine and Tendrils of Agony as a finisher, especially if you pair some cheap creatures with Culling the Weak. Sacrifice only really works with Grief, which would be painfully expensive to flip off Ad Nauseam.

There's room and potential, but even Mono Black has better combos right now.

Culling the Weak looks like a good reason to revisit Jet Storm. Even without Necropotence, you can loop cheap creatures with Chthonian Nightmare and Marionette Master — especially if Vampiric Tutor actually drops unrestricted.

We have Violent Outburst and Bloodbraid Elf as cheap spells that can hit Living End without getting blocked by other spells. Just run evoke elementals and cycling creatures like Troll of Khazad-dûm and Generous Ent to enable the archetype — pretty similar to how Modern players do it.

It's an easy combo to answer, and the hate cards overlap with Reanimator hate, so it probably won't gain much competitive traction.

Golgari Midrange is known as a Strip Mine deck in Timeless — either the land-focused version with Dark Depths or the one running Reanimate with Grief / Troll of Khazad-dûm. Smallpox could benefit those variants alongside Wary Zone Guard and Icetill Explorer. Plus you have cards like Deathrite Shaman that offset the mana loss while serving as maindeck graveyard hate.

With Daze in the format, I think this plan gets much worse than it would be if players only had to worry about Force of Will. Smallpox might be too fair for Timeless's standards. Still, it's the best — or second-best — Mystical Archives addition for one of the few fair archetypes in the format right now.

The elephant in the room.

Demonic Tutor is restricted in Timeless because it adds too much consistency. Ideally, Vampiric Tutor would get the same treatment before launch. As of this writing, Wizards hasn't said anything about the card's fate in the format.

If nothing happens, Force of Will and Daze will be the barriers holding the Metagame together alongside Force of Negation — and that might not be enough. Every combo archetype will be one black mana away from setting up the perfect hand at the end of your turn and winning on the spot.

It's a risky place to leave Timeless right after banning Necropotence for adding too much consistency to black combo decks. But Wizards's pattern with Timeless has been "wait and see," which would allow us a few months to evaluate how much this card warps the competitive environment.

Ruby Storm shows up occasionally in Timeless but has never been a major player due to consistency issues. With Pyretic Ritual and Jeska's Will, the archetype gets two of the best support pieces it could ask for. Add the Flashback from the main set, and that might be enough to push it into the competitive spotlight.

Subterranean Tremors looks like a conditional sideboard niche piece, but it's broad enough to maybe earn a slot or two when you need to handle X/1s and X/2s from Energy decks, plus Kappa Cannoneer, artifact lands, and Mox Opal all in one shot — assuming you're on a list that can run Ancient Tomb and other fast mana.

Doesn't look like a staple, but worth a mention.

Without Blighted Agent and Glistener Elf, relying only on Inkmoth Nexus for combo kills with Berserk and pumps feels way too risky. The closest deck that would use it today is some variant of Tifa Lockhart Stompy, and that's miles away from Timeless's power level.

Elves just got another tool — a historic staple that remains banned in Legacy to this day. The interaction between Nettle Sentinel and Heritage Druid to create loops with Glimpse of Nature isn't here yet, but players might find creative ways to use the new spell in the format.

This will probably be Magic's best set of the year for Timeless — and also the most expensive. Unlike Special Guests reprints, the Mystical Archives keep their printed rarity, so every new-to-Timeless card from this slot is rare or mythic. Spend your wildcards wisely.

I'd start with Daze, Force of Will, and Vampiric Tutor. Those are likely the most universal staples the format will see. From there, it's up to each player's preferred deck direction.

Still, I'd advise a little patience before investing in more than those twelve cards. The early results will come in, and the Metagame will shape up slowly until we have a clearer picture of what's here to stay and what still needs a push or two from future sets to find a home in Timeless.

If you have any questions, feel free to leave a comment!

Thanks for reading!