Spoiler Highlight: Dark Depths on Timeless

Avatar: The Last Airbender already shows great potential and promise for Timeless. In addition to the already announced reprint of Force of Negation, which finally brings the possibility of interacting with combo decks through another blue free spell, the Magic collaboration with Nickelodeon also offers, in the special slots, the reprint of Dark Depths.

Dark Depths has been a historical combo staple since the release of Vampire Hexmage in 2009 — a card that also recently entered Magic Arena through the Powered Cube — and was the centerpiece of an originally Dimir deck in the old Extended format, which culminated in its preventative ban in Modern two years later.

Today, the card remains one of the most iconic combos in Legacy, and despite losing ground in recent years, it is still a common win condition in Lands decks and Selesnya variants of the archetype, where it is combined with Thespian’s Stage to copy Dark Depths and trigger its ability, creating a 20/20 indestructible token.

Timeless also features several cards that work in Legacy's Selesnya Depths, such as Knight of the Reliquary and Elvish Reclaimer to search for lands, as well as Green Sun’s Zenith to find the creatures, adding consistency to the archetype along with Crop Rotation, which can be used in any version.

In Legacy lists, Life from the Loam reuses the combo whenever necessary in case Marit Lage is targeted by a Swords to Plowshares, Path to Exile, or Solitude. The card doesn't yet exist on the digital platform, but Wrenn and Six remains unbanned in Timeless and has a similar role, while Wary Zone Guard provides another method of recurring the lands whenever

Strip Mine in Timeless plays the same role as Wasteland in the tabletop format: preventing the combo from happening, and given the card's popularity in most competitive archetypes, it should keep Dark Depths in check in the Metagame—but we can also use our recursion tools as a way to exploit interactions with LD.

Golgari Depths

The Golgari version seems like the ideal list for testing at the beginning of the season. The mix of Thoughtseize and Duress provides protection for Dark Depths and delays the key plays of other combos, while having both Vampire Hexmage and Thespian’s Stage, combined with Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth, makes us faster in putting Marit Lage into play as early as turn two.

Fatal Push can be replaced with any other unconditional removal spell depending on the Metagame, while we also have an effective package of tutors between Demonic Tutor and Assemble the Team, combined with Once Upon a Time and Crop Rotation to consistently find the key pieces.

This version, which foregoes Grief and Reanimate, which could serve as an alternative win condition alongside Troll of Khazad-dûm and/or include cards like Wary Zone Guard and Icetill Explorer for a more consistent attrition plan, takes advantage of the low costs to play with Lurrus of the Dream-Den, although we don't make the most out of everything the Companion has to offer yet.

Naya Depths

This version requires refinement, given that it considers little of the overall scope of the Metagame and focuses heavily on adding as much consistency as possible to the combo, but it presents another line we can follow with Depths.

Knight of the Reliquary and Elvish Reclaimer guarantee tutors for Dark Depths and Thespian’s Stage, while Deathrite Shaman functions as mana fixing and ramp, with all the pieces found with Green Sun’s Zenith — complemented by a small toolbox with Icetill Explorer, Wary Zone Guard, and Sylvan Safekeeper for protection.

We also use the interaction between Wrenn and Six and Strip Mine as a method of mana disruption and double down on the possibilities of resource "lock" until we close the combo with Icetill Explorer.

Gradually, Timeless is becoming more and more similar to the power level of Legacy and Vintage as new pieces are released with each set.

With Dark Depths, one of the most iconic combos in the game — and one of the most powerful for 1v1 games — becomes a possibility for ranked matches, and while there are some challenges to making it a mainline contender, the mix of speed and resilience guarantees enough potential for Turbo Depths to be explored in November.