Timeless Set Review: Duskmourn

With the Duskmourn preview season over, Cards Realm is starting its review season for the latest Magic: The Gathering set. Today, we'll be covering Timeless, MTGArena's eternal format where players can use some of the most powerful and banned cards from other formats, such as Lurrus of the Dream-Den and Oko, Thief of Crowns.

Duskmourn didn't bring any instant staples to Timeless, not even in the Special Guest slots. However, some additions have the potential for specific situations or even to find places in established decks in the Metagame.

Split Up is perhaps the most friendly sweeper to include in Aggro decks against other Aggro. You can take advantage of a crucial moment of your opponent's attack to destroy their creatures on the next turn, or go all-in and, if your opponent doesn't trade, use it to destroy their untapped creatures.

This versatility can be useful in Boros Energy mirrors, but it's extremely conditional to be worth many Sideboard slots.

Timeless doesn't have Murktide Regent yet, so Abhorrent Oculus is the closest thing the format has to a big, blue, flying, graveyard-feeding creature. It also provides mid-term value by manifesting top cards on your opponent's turn.

While it doesn't compete with one of the most powerful creatures in Modern and Legacy in Timeless, Abhorrent Oculus has the challenge of being worth the concession of losing Lurrus of the Dream-Den in Dimir lists. Not running the most powerful creature and companion in the game isn't a cheap concession, though it does ensure that these archetypes can run The One Ring.

It also has a chance in Izzet lists, but it competes with Treasure Cruise there.

Phantasmal Image is a good reprint and a response to Show and Tell if we ever get Emrakul, the Aeons’ Torn in the format. Outside of that, a few Jeskai Energy variants have appeared in Modern with Mockingbird and Phantasmal Image to copy key creatures, and similar versions may have a spot on Timeless.

Damnation is a classic sweeper in black. It can mostly be seen in Dimir Control. It's unlikely to become a staple, but it's useful enough to deserve a mention.

Phyrexian Tower does the same thing you'd want to do with Sacrifice (sacrificing Grief with the Evoke trigger on the stack to add mana), but without spending mana or maindeck slots.

Valgavoth, Terror Eater is more resilient than Atraxa, Grand Unifier, but doesn't offer the same amount of immediate card advantage. It can be a good addition to Reanimator or Show and Tell for games where Ward and Lifelink make a big difference.

Fear of Missing Out is the cheapest extra combat effect we've ever had, and it's easy to enable in Timeless - and at the ideal mana value for Lurrus of the Dream-Den. Enabling it is just as easy in Timeless as it is in Modern, so it could find a home in some lists in the format.

Maddening Hex is a good hate deck against Storm and other decks that cast numerous spells in one turn. It also works against Tempo decks if it gets in play, and it was a sideboard staple in Legacy, so it certainly has some potential for Timeless.

Pyroclasm, coming from the main set rather than Special Guests, is a pleasant surprise for Standard and Pioneer, and a necessary addition to Timeless to provide cheap ways to deal with Boros Energy's "go wide" plan. A sideboard staple, and thankfully as uncommon.

Screaming Nemesis has a very specific effect that works for the rest of the game, and it also turns Galvanic Discharge and Unholy Heat into the best Lava Spike variants ever. It may have a home in the format, but it requires a specific Metagame.

Untimely Malfunction has the same problem in Timeless that it suffers in Modern: it doesn't deal with The One Ring and its other abilities lose relevance due to its lack of versatility. It may show up in some Sideboards, but not while exile effects are more important.

Noxious Revival doesn't seem playable in Timeless right now, but it has appeared in combos in Modern and Legacy in the past, so it deserves an honorable mention.

Ghost Vacuum is a one-mana graveyard hate with additional effects that are impractical in Timeless. It is worth mentioning because it makes it easy to exile Reanimator targets from the first turn without giving the opponent choices, and also because it is not a one-shot effect like Soul-Guide Lantern.

Verge Lands have some potential to be played as one-ofs in specific archetypes that require more color consistency but don't want to lose life to Pain Lands. They are also useful in decks that just need a small splash of second color.

That's all for today!

If you have any questions, I'm available in the comments!

Thanks for reading!