Normally, when I write this style of article for new sets, I try to count down to the best card to create some suspense about where your favorite might card might be. But for Timeless, Edge of Eternities has a clear front-runner.
Strip Mine
For those who are out of the loop, Strip Mine is currently only legal in Vintage as a one-of, and even there, it remains one of the most played lands in the format. Most players’ first thought will be to try and loop it with other effects like Icetill Explorer, which is also in Edge of Eternities. That might be fun, but I don’t think it will be the primary way the card is used. Strip Mine will likely become a staple in most Timeless decks, but I think the biggest winners will be Eldrazi decks, thanks to some of the other lands we’re getting, and Energy shells. (Go ahead and post your “Nothing Ever Happens” memes.) I’ll get into more detail on Eldrazi shortly, but for Energy decks, having the ability to cheaply attack an opponent’s mana base makes it much harder to go over the top of them.
Speaking of Eldrazi, let’s move on to the next two lands worth discussing.
Eldrazi Temple and Ancient Tomb
We’ll start with the more niche one. Eldrazi Temple will clearly see play in dedicated Eldrazi lists, which is the obvious level one take. But if you look at where other formats have gone, you’ll notice that it sometimes shows up in decks that only run a couple of Eldrazi cards like Kozilek’s Command or Thought-Knot Seer. I’m not sure yet if that will translate to Timeless, but it’s something to keep in mind, especially when building mono-colored decks that could also benefit from the more flexible Ancient Tomb.
Ancient Tomb is the kind of card that takes time to fully understand. Is it good to ramp into something like The One Ring a turn early? Absolutely. But if you’re playing Tomb and don’t have any life gain, you’re going to lose to yourself if the game goes long. From what I’ve seen in testing, the damage adds up fast. One last note for Eldrazi builds is that combining Sowing Mycospawn with Strip Mine and Ancient Tomb creates a powerful mana advantage that can make it nearly impossible for opponents to keep up.
Now, let’s look at some other strategies that can benefit from all this fast mana.
The most straightforward is the hyper-aggressive versions of Show and Tell. These had a small showing when Chrome Mox was first introduced, but they didn’t hold up well against the now-standard control variants. Ancient Tomb offers another way to go off on turn two, and when paired with Chrome Mox, even enables some turn-one wins. It’s still too early to say which version will become the stock list, but early testing looks promising. Some brewers are moving toward using Stock Up as a card advantage engine that plays well with Ancient Tomb.
Another solid use for Tomb is in powering out lock pieces. Cards like Chalice of the Void, Thorn of Amethyst, Torpor Orb, and Blood Moon effects all become much more powerful with fast mana. Keep an eye out for content like Seth’s “Teaching Zoomers About” series once Edge of Eternities drops. Chalice and Orb, in particular, could be key in slowing down Energy decks. Blood Moon effects bring us to the only creature to make this list.
Magus of the Moon
If you’ve seen Blood Moon, you’ve basically seen Magus of the Moon. They cost the same, do the same thing, and both can be cast off a turn two Ancient Tomb or turn one with Chrome Mox. The upside to Magus is that you can now play up to eight Moon effects, which increases your chances of locking opponents out before they even get started. In general, you’ll want a mix of both since they die to different kinds of removal, and having multiples in play doesn’t help much. Strip Mine also makes these effects better in the late game by letting you take out basic lands before landing a Moon.
Gemstone Caverns
This card is strange but potentially important. Gemstone Caverns is mostly about one thing, and that’s stealing the play. In many formats, it shows up in combo decks that need to move faster to avoid hate or interaction. Timeless is in a weird spot where even so-called fair decks, like Mono-Red Prison, are running a bit of unfair tech to keep up with Energy and various combo strategies. If you’re expecting to see Chrome Mox, you should also expect to see Gemstone Caverns, since they offer similar advantages when you’re on the draw.
Seam Rip
This might be the most boring card on the list, but I know I’ll hear about it if I don’t mention it. Seam Rip is essentially a replacement for Portable Hole in Energy decks. Its main upside is that it’s vulnerable to slightly different types of interaction. The most notable case is if you’re running Pinnacle Starcage from Edge of Eternities, since Starcage doesn’t exile enchantments.
Now that we’ve covered the top cards, I want to mention a few others that I’m still unsure about. These either need more testing or might end up better than they look right now.
Tezzeret, Cruel Captain and Pinnacle Emissary
Both of these cards reward you for playing lots of cheap artifacts, and they happen to work very well together. Tezzeret can ultimate quickly and also untap The One Ring to draw more cards. His -3 is solid for finding mana like artifact lands or Chrome Mox, card draw like Mishra’s Bauble, or hate pieces like Vexing Bauble. Pinnacle Emissary is great for powering out Kappa Cannoneer as early as turn two and also helps raise Tezzeret’s loyalty if you’re running both in the same list.
Starfield Shepherd and Haliya, Guided by Light
I’ve been high on warp cards in most formats, and these two stand out for how well they work with the Guide of Souls and Ocelot Pride synergy. Shepherd can tutor up both pieces, and Haliya helps you gain life to trigger Pride. The best-case curve is turn one Guide into turn two warp Haliya and Pride, which gives you a 4 life gain triggers, draws a card, and creates a Cat. Warp cards also play well with Ketramose, the New Dawn, helping you draw even more, especially if Ketramose gets to attack.
Green Sun’s Zenith
Older players will recognize the power of Green Sun’s Zenith, which was recently unbanned in Modern and is now available in Timeless. While we’re missing Dryad Arbor, which was a key part of many Zenith packages, green-based combo decks like Sam Combo will definitely see upgrades. It’s probably not enough to make them a meta by itself, but it’s a solid boost to their consistency.
Inkmoth Nexus
This one is personal for me. My first competitive deck was Modern Infect, so Inkmoth Nexus holds a special place in my heart. Sadly, Infect as a strategy doesn’t have the support it needs in Timeless right now, and the time when a Hammer-style deck could break through may have already passed. The best hope for Inkmoth Nexus is that we eventually get a card like Arcbound Ravager to make an Inkmoth deck viable.
Thanks for reading, and be sure to share your brews in our Discord. We hope to see you at the 1k on August 9th.