Timeless: 10 Cards we would like to see in the format

Timeless is one of the most fun formats available on Magic Arena. With the legality of practically all cards released on the platform and a small list of restricted cards, its power level is on par and, in some cases, surpasses that of Legacy since it includes some banned cards in the format such as Necropotence and Mana Drain.

On the other hand, the format also lacks other historical staples of Magic: The Gathering and this affects its Metagame. One of the common requests, for example, is the inclusion of Force of Negation in the format to hold back combos - especially in Best of One - and give other colors pieces that allow them to compete a little better.

In this article, we present ten cards that we would like to see inserted into Magic Arena for the Timeless format, based on the demands of the current Metagame and some additions that would bring famous archetypes and more diversity to the format.

Ethersworn Canonist

One of the chronic problems with Timeless today is that we have too many ways to make degenerate combos with too few ways to counter them due to the absence of some historical Legacy staples like Force of Will and Daze - both of which seem like cards that would make the format too close to Legacy and create a Blue-Based hegemony against the degenerate archetypes, and to have a more diverse scenario, it's preferable to have diversity of answers between the colors.

Ethersworn Canonist fits this pattern because the archetypes that come to mind when we think of the degenerate combos of the Metagame involve Storm, Goblin Charbelcher or some combination with Show and Tell and Omniscience, so it technically locks these strategies in while it's in play.

Its ability doesn't differ that much from Archon of Emeria in these matchups, but having another (and cheaper) drop capable of holding combos and worthy of a maindeck slot would be a welcome addition for Timeless, which could also motivate the emergence of other white decks besides the Energy variants in the format.

Force of Negation

Force of Will seems too strong for Timeless, as it would create a hegemony of Blue-Based Tempo against the other degenerate decks in the format. On the one hand, this would almost permanently solve the problem of breaking mechanics like Storm, but it would also limit other strategies from existing, while on the other hand, it could perhaps make viable archetypes that could take advantage of the two-for-one trade that this free spell offers.

Still, for the sake of Timeless' diversity, Force of Negation is a more than necessary addition to hold back the format's degenerate strategies today, thus ensuring that other archetypes have more space in the Metagame, establishing a more diverse rock-paper-scissors environment in both Best of One and Best of Three games, but without completely granting free disruption to blue decks and not allowing an archetype to protect its combos with a free spell that interacts with the stack and without deckbuilding concessions.

Entomb

One archetype that could be improved once we have more answers like Force of Negation is Reanimator.

Currently, it is too slow when compared to the other Timeless combos and lacks consistency for it to do anything relevant in the first turns if it doesn't come with the perfect hand. Entomb would solve this situation by creating a way to consistently put the necessary card into its controller's graveyard: be it Atraxa, Grand Unifier for card advantage, Serra's Emissary for protection, or any other threat needed for specific matchups.

Pyroblast

If we want to make blue stronger in Timeless, we also need to give the format more answers against blue, and Pyroblast is the best possible answer for this scenario: it's a cheap card, in the right color, that doesn't make too many deckbuilding concessions and doesn't suppress other archetypes outside this color combination, and it's easy to splash if necessary.

Hogaak, Arisen Necropolis

Hogaak, Arisen Necropolis starred in one of the most broken archetypes in Modern history and, for a few years, was one of the predators of Delver of Secrets decks in Legacy, but it lacks some key pieces in Timeless like Vengevine (which would be another good reprint for the format) and Bridge from Below, and even if it had all the pieces in the format, I don't think it would reach the point of being as oppressive as it was in 2018.

Among the pieces that interact with Hogaak today, we have Prized Amalgam when we play it from the graveyard to put more bodies on the board, in addition to the classic combination between Gravecrawler and Bloodghast to feed the cost of Convoke. Also, we have Altar of Dementia for potential combos, but it's challenging to execute without Bridge from Below and a card like Headless Rider would be needed to perform possible loops with Hogaak.

Wrenn and Six

Wrenn and Six is one of the most powerful Planeswalkers in Magic: The Gathering and can even compete with Oko, Thief of Crowns in this space. Its interaction with lands made it one of the most important cards in Modern and led to its ban in Legacy due to the ease of controlling games with Wasteland and performing combos more easily, in addition to controlling the board against small threats and guaranteeing inevitability.

Timeless doesn't have Wasteland and I believe that inserting this land into the format would hurt it rather than help it. We have cards like Ghost Quarter to interact with Wrenn and Six's first ability, but its true utility lies in how versatile it is in every game: from ensuring land drops don't fail to dealing with multiple X/1 creatures like Orcish Bowmasters and Ocelot Pride

Its insertion would help decks like Jund Delirium to rise a bit more in the Metagame, in addition to increasing the consistency of Goodstuff archetypes.

Kaldra Compleat

Stoneforge Mystic has been in Timeless for a while now and hasn't had an impact on the competitive scene because its ability lacks good payoffs, and adding Kaldra Compleat would be a good first step to putting it into consideration in lists for the format, but with deckbuilding concessions since adding the artifact to a list means, for example, giving up Lurrus of the Dream-Den.

Scion of Draco

The combo of Scion of Draco with Leyline of the Guildpact is widely known in Modern and has already starred in Domain Zoo and Cascade lists, and is a safe addition to Timeless in a scenario where the format is notoriously faster and where there is a certain hegemony of Boros Energy as the main and currently only viable Aggro archetype.

Its inclusion could motivate players to try more explosive games with Domain Zoo, playing a two-drop that wins the game in a few turns, while cards like Stubborn Denial could hold off degenerate combos for long enough. In addition, it would give a more viable plan B to Temur Rhinos, which currently does not have much consistency in its plan A since it only has Violent Outburst to perform the “combo”.

Ancient Tomb

Currently, fast mana is limited to cards like Dark Ritual and Sacrifice in Timeless, which creates a resource gap between black combos and other strategies in the Metagame, and also allows cards like Necropotence and Necrodominance to be played as early as turn one.

Ancient Tomb would expand the diversity of decks with access to fast mana and help some strategies execute their game plans. Yes, this would increase the odds of a Blood Moon on turn two, but it would also increase the chances of Archon of Emeria and other fast and disruptive answers against some of the main archetypes in the Metagame, and help some decks like Eldrazi grow a bit more in the format.

Another important point of Ancient Tomb is that it has relevant concessions: two damage makes a difference in some games of the format, and the more the land is used, the more this damage accumulates to the point of being punishing for its controller, especially without access to City of Traitors to diversify the payment of the colorless cost.

Dark Depths

Dark Depths has a combo with Thespian’s Stage where we can copy Dark Depths to sacrifice the copy and create a 20/20 token with indestructible. This combo is widely known in Legacy and has gone through several variations between Golgari, Gruul and Selesnya.

To complement the plan, we have Knight of the Reliquary and Elvish Reclaimer to add consistency to the combo, in addition to Sylvan Safekeeper to protect Marit Lage.

This would be a risky insertion due to the potential resilience that the combo would have without Wasteland, but with cards like Blood Moon and Harbinger of the Seas in the Metagame, it seems like a safe choice that would create another viable archetype in the competitive chain.

That's all for today!

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

Thanks for reading!