With another set, another big shake up for Timeless is on the horizon with both Outlaws of Thunder Junction and Modern Horizon 3 coming up right behind it in July. Let’s look into what rares and mythics will be eating into your wildcard stash and wallet on the 16th.

10:Abrupt Decay

At the current moment, the addition of Abrupt Decay isn’t gonna shake up the meta or force a deck into existence like a lot of the cards further down this list, but is a good generic option to have on hand for the Sultai Midrange, Show and Tell, and other GBx decks.

9:Jace Reawakened

Let’s talk about the only main-set card and the biggest gamble that I have on the list as a whole. I don’t believe that the Valki plan is good enough by itself in the current Timeless metagame unless the rest of your deck is able to play as if it doesn’t exist. So where do I imagine Jace will see play? Dimir control. At two mana, neither part of the combo requires you to drop Lurrus, and Jace works quite well with Lurrus. 

The most common and obvious interaction is just that Lurrus can recast any Jaces from the yard, which I won’t lie – is a pretty good option to have on a Walker, but I don’t believe that’s the best synergy they have. Jace’s second plus one allows you to completely avoid the companion tax and allows you to have all your mana available to use with Lurrus without having to hope it survives a turn. This combined with the synergy of the ability to not have to choose to cast a Sauron’s Ransom over a counter spell is huge. I believe how good Jace is without Valki is going to surprise a lot of players on release day.

8:Archive Trap

The most beloved and simultaneously hated deck is getting a huge upgrade. Mill has been popping up on the ladder already here and there, but I imagine that it won’t be long before it gets added to the tier list. All we are missing now from the Modern version is my little friend Hedron Crab.

7:Stoneforge Mystic

Outlaws of Thunder Junction gives another fan-favorite addition, and I imagine the final card needed to allow Hammer Time to exist in Timeless in some capacity. I don’t have a lot of hope that it will stick long-term unless we get Urza’s Saga added to the format (crossing my fingers for the SPG sheet with MH3), but I imagine it will be a big addition for Historic in comparison. 

6:Surgical Extraction

Oh boy now this is a sweet card for Timeless Mill and for Timeless in general. The ability to tag a Show and Tell from the graveyard after countering it or Thoughtsizeing it is such a gamechanger for the format.

5:Prismatic Vista

I think this land is being overlooked quite a bit, but is a huge game changer for Jund Midrange and other less-played Blood Moon decks in the format. A big issue with us only having half of the fetches means the math on having all your basics before you Moon can be rough and inconsistent, and can lead you to losing games to your own Moon after a few draws. 

4:Mindbreak Trap

Now we are getting into the heavy hitters for the set.This card is gonna be a great stop valve against Show and Tell and any other spell-based combo decks that pop up in the future. As a note for all the Arena Zoomers who have yet to play around with Trap in the past, The border and the cost may be blue but the card is played in decks with or without a way to hard-cast it just due to how often it is free in the matchups you want it in.

3:Force of Vigor

Speaking of Free spells, let’s look at the one that never was printed in a Standard set, and for good reason. It’s one of the free spells that has the ability to go even on cards even while pitching a card by hitting two targets. This is gonna be big in Titan field and Zoo as a way to answer Blood Moon, and if you really need an answer to Omniscience, it works in a pinch.

2:Mana Drain

A banned-in-Legacy powerhouse is coming to Timeless, and if I’m being honest, I am all for it. Control decks as a whole needed some help and Mana Drain is good enough where it might just be too much. The mana from this is mostly going to be used to either cast The One Ring or pay for Lurrus’s Companion tax in most games, but either way is going to feel back-breaking any time the spell it’s countering is more than one mana. I’m looking forward to seeing just how far control decks can come with tools like this. 

1:Reanimate

Reanimate is by far the card that is going to have the most homes when it comes to Timeless. I’m sure we are going to see the traditional Reanimator package of Faithless Looting and Atraxa, but the far more common and better shell is going to be a little less obvious: Death’s Shadow. 

A Reanimate on Troll of Khazad-dûm almost puts you under 13 for Shadow by itself and is just a good threat. 

If we get Grief in MH3, the scam engine in Legacy is going to be legal. While this is still up in the air, I feel like it’s a good enough chance of happening with Solitude already being previewed. It’s worth the mention. 

One again, Timeless is looking to be shaken up in a major way with the release of Outlaws of Thunder Junction and I could not be happier. I wish your wallet good luck with all the Rares and Mythics coming this set and in MH3. If you need me, I’ll be clowning fools on the ladder with Jace Dimir control on release day, and good luck!