Duskmorne is almost here and with it comes  another batch of cards that just might shake up the Timeless meta or provide a new deck-building question for existing decks. 

5. Kona, Rescue Beastie

Kona is definitely a good girl when it comes to Timeless. Shout out to Korae for this idea because I originally overlooked this card, but they have shown me the light. 

This card is great in the various Woodland builds as one of the few payoffs that actively wants woodlands to be tapped so that you could put an Omniscience or any other threat into play as early as turn three from your hand. Add to the fact that triggering Survvival just by attacking allows you to dodge all the graveyard hate that your opponent might have. The only worry is that Kona’s three toughness allow for it to be killed easier than most threats you normally copy. 

4. Say Its Name/Altanak, the Thrice-Called

Beetlejuice…Beetlejuice…Altanak?

This is going to be my hot take for the set. For most people, this package will read as a neat Limited gimmick and a poor man’s Cache Grab, but it’s arguably about even in the various Woodland decks, if not better.

Pros:

• The possibility of a free 9/9 Trampler
• Discarding Altanak to its own ability ramps you to your notable four drops like The One Ring and provides something to copy with Woodlands
• It can pick up any Creature or Land in the graveyard. Not just those milled

Cons:

• Sorcery Speed
• Puts one less card in the Graveyard
• Can’t pick up enchantments or artifacts

While I’m not going to call this an easy swap, there is more than enough meat on the bone for this to have a fighting shot in Timeless. Oddly enough, the biggest worry with this plan is that an opposing Orchish Bowmasters makes you draw your entire deck.

3. Phantasmal Image

Now Phantasmal Image is going to be interesting for the people who have been jamming the versions of Jeskai Energy recently, Mockingbird has proven that copying with your Ocelot Prides, Ajani, and Amped Raptors is powerful but has the problem of being an awful hit off of your Raptors themselves. 

I’m looking forward to not being limited to only those but my opponent’s Elementals and Atraxas for the low low cost of two mana. 

2. Damnation

Black midrange and Control decks have been eating well recently when it comes to board wipes. While Damnation does cost an extra mana, the life loss can be too much for the various decks that use The One Ring and Necropotence. I don’t expect this one to make a huge shake-up in the meta overall; an upgrade to decks like Mono-Black Scam and possibly Orzhov Vampires is a welcome addition. 

Honorable Mentions

Noxious Revival

There isn’t too much to say about Noxious Revival on what the card does on a baseline, But it has a long history of being an extender for combo decks, providing free storm count, and a way to rebuy needed pieces. I don’t believe we have a deck that can take advantage of this currently, but it’s one to keep an eye on in the future.

Sacrifice

On the other end of the spectrum, I have seen a lot of excitement for this card, but ultimately, it has already been replaced before it was even printed. Making a lot of extra mana off of an evoke elemental sounds so cool, but the problem is it requires three cards. You then have to have kept a card in hand that benefits from making 4-5 mana on turn one. 

Are there cards that do that? Sure, but you have to ask yourself why you aren’t just using Dark Ritual to do 95% of the same thing with one card vs. three. 

1. Pyroclasm

Pyroclasm is back, and it is ready to mess up energy’s day. 

I don’t think this is the death of energy or anything like that, but giving decks like Grixis Tempo and Beans a sweeper low on the curve should do a good amount. I would not be surprised if more decks splashed red just to have access to a cheap answer to Energy’s best starts. 

What cards are you looking forward to the most, and do you think I missed any new cards that might see play? I am looking forward to trying to Say its Name on day one and seeing just how right or wrong I am the most.