note: I put this deck in this section because it doesn't have any particular focus or bent: I can use it for 1v1 or multiplayer games, I can choose to play fast or slow, loud or quiet, good or evil; I'm mainly just wanting to sit down and have a hoot.
Introduction
I began my love-affair with the format just shortly before the precons were released but none of the "Mirror Mastery" generals really rung my bell enough to give them a deck. When Maelstrom Wanderer was spoiled however I about did a backflip, then did a somersault instead since I was indoors, loudly singing "That's way more like it" to the strains of KC and the Sunshine Band. I didn't immediately sit down and build a list though, I just let it bubble in the back of my brain. How did I want to play such an elegant beast?
How I came to be a Time Lord
Around the same time the Wanderer was spoiled, I had started rereading Vacuum Diagrams by Stephen Baxter, a collection of the short stories of his Xeelee Sequence, and it was about halfway through the titular story (a damn-fine little sci-fi diddy I recommend) that I realized I knew exactly how I wanted to play the Wanderer.
For those not familiar with the Sequence and the beings it's named for, let me explain. The Xeelee are a race of extra-terrestial entities that have existed, in one form or another, from the Big Bang to shortly before the universe's demise in a stable and evolving timeloop (at the apex of their civilization they travel back in time to the beginning and re-found it with all the information and experience of the past iteration) who can astral-engineer on pan-galactic levels and regularly make the laws of nature their playthings.
That sounded like fun.
I thus began working on the deck with the intention that it be themed around the Sequence and I would be casting myself in the role of the Xeelee, breaking rules and interactions to my heart's content and steamrolling everyone with the results. As I thought more on it, that shine quickly wore dim and I began groping for a new angle. Thankfully, it wasn't far away and actually quite a bit more dear to my heart. I love the Xeelee and most other super-alien races because I grew up watching a member of just such a race save the universe on a regular schedule with a lot more panache.
I'm referring, of course, to The Doctor.
Now we go from being just a faceless conglomeration of super-aliens with hax-tech that can destroy you before you even existed, to being one very quirky and dishevelled member of just such a race with the exact same options but not the same inclination. Exactly my speed.
I don't have that strong of a killer instinct, I'm not sitting down to plot your death, I'm sitting down to shuffle up my cards and have a riot. I like to interact, I like politics, I like a good splash of chaos, and I like synergy right down to the bone. I like everything that's good and broken in the game and I like giving some oddball stuff a shot. I like to gut it out and win without having to to press some combo button but if it comes to that I will. I like being able to know the future, then throw it away and decide to just go with my intuition. I would probably make a pretty good Time Lord.
- Maelstrom Wanderer is your TARDIS control panel, it should trigger every function in your deck, so I want every card to be playable off it's cascade.
- No mind control. I'm not that kind of Time Lord.
- No land sweeps or other things of that nature. I save the universe, I don't destroy it (intentionally).
Themes and Explanations
Let's take a look at some of our themes.
Time Magic: The main one. This is not just restricted to additional turns. I consider deck manipulation, Flash-granting effects, haste, cascade, flashback, buyback, and retrace to all be forms of time magic or temporal manipulation as well, especially within the theme of the deck.
Lands: We do quite a bit with lands in the deck, effects like Trade Routes and Uyo, Loam, Mists, Azusa, etc. I'm trying to capture a sense of travel with this, hitting lots of locations, sometimes the same one multiple different times, or using locations to your advantage.
Clone and copy effects: I love copy effects, they hearken to the Time Lord regeneration ability, control of time and space, and provide massive amounts of utility and potential.
Reality Manipulation: Stuff like Doubling Season, Dream Halls, Mana Reflection, etc. Things that just alter fundamental principles. You have a TARDIS, this is what it does after all.
Interaction: You can win through infinite combo. Multiple ones are sitting in the deck. DON'T! You want to play and have fun seeing what you can bring to the table other than that. If it's not much, THEN burn them down.
That's about all I got for the moment. I'm still tuning and honing, but I've finally gutted out the majority of this I think, the rest should just take some delicate work with the sonic. Anyways, I'm very interested in feedback! Comments? Suggestions? Questions? Ideas? All are welcome.
Dropped Tolaria West for Oboro, Palace in the Clouds. A small change, but one I'm excited about just because Tolaria was running subpar and Oboro seems like very fun tech to take advantage of.
Heh, nice deck. You must be super sad that the doctor himself(Venser, the Sojourner) is out of your colors
Nah, he'd just be hogging the spotlight from me. It's my TARDIS and it's MY adventure, he can go get his own :D. Venser would be a very interesting addition and a ton of fun though if I could run him.
There's really no theme to the creatures though and I'm not trying to maintain one outside of making sure they contribute to the general themes and goals of the deck. As a being with access to pretty much every point in time and space I'm sure to run in to every manner of bizarre creature which gives me great flavor explanation to be as unrestricted in choice as possible. Pestermite itself is overall more versatile than the Exarch and it opens up a lot of political avenues and shenanigans which is why I went with it. As for Magosi, it's just to cumbersome and requires to much support to make use of.
For some casual fun try Timeshifter it shouldn't even be that bad with all that deck manipulation. It's a random time machine, might as well have named it TARDIS. Add Stranglehold if you want to lose your friends.
Can't wait to play with these new planechase cards. Hope the rest of them are as tasty as Wanderer.
Timesifter is a card I've looked at a number of times as well for the fun factor, but the exile activation keeps me off it. Maybe if I was running Riftsweeper as well.
I agree, I'm really looking forward to Planechase 2 as well, not just for my general and the other new cards, but I also just really enjoy the format. Thanks for the suggestions and thoughts!
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Introduction
I began my love-affair with the format just shortly before the precons were released but none of the "Mirror Mastery" generals really rung my bell enough to give them a deck. When Maelstrom Wanderer was spoiled however I about did a backflip, then did a somersault instead since I was indoors, loudly singing "That's way more like it" to the strains of KC and the Sunshine Band. I didn't immediately sit down and build a list though, I just let it bubble in the back of my brain. How did I want to play such an elegant beast?
How I came to be a Time Lord
For those not familiar with the Sequence and the beings it's named for, let me explain. The Xeelee are a race of extra-terrestial entities that have existed, in one form or another, from the Big Bang to shortly before the universe's demise in a stable and evolving timeloop (at the apex of their civilization they travel back in time to the beginning and re-found it with all the information and experience of the past iteration) who can astral-engineer on pan-galactic levels and regularly make the laws of nature their playthings.
That sounded like fun.
I thus began working on the deck with the intention that it be themed around the Sequence and I would be casting myself in the role of the Xeelee, breaking rules and interactions to my heart's content and steamrolling everyone with the results. As I thought more on it, that shine quickly wore dim and I began groping for a new angle. Thankfully, it wasn't far away and actually quite a bit more dear to my heart. I love the Xeelee and most other super-alien races because I grew up watching a member of just such a race save the universe on a regular schedule with a lot more panache.
I'm referring, of course, to The Doctor.
Now we go from being just a faceless conglomeration of super-aliens with hax-tech that can destroy you before you even existed, to being one very quirky and dishevelled member of just such a race with the exact same options but not the same inclination. Exactly my speed.
I don't have that strong of a killer instinct, I'm not sitting down to plot your death, I'm sitting down to shuffle up my cards and have a riot. I like to interact, I like politics, I like a good splash of chaos, and I like synergy right down to the bone. I like everything that's good and broken in the game and I like giving some oddball stuff a shot. I like to gut it out and win without having to to press some combo button but if it comes to that I will. I like being able to know the future, then throw it away and decide to just go with my intuition. I would probably make a pretty good Time Lord.
So, without further ado, this is the TARDIS:
The Deck
1 Maelstrom Wanderer
Creatures (24)
1 Coiling Oracle
1 Primeval Titan
1 Palinchron
1 Lotus Cobra
1 Avenger of Zendikar
1 Wurmcoil Engine
1 Riku of Two Reflections
1 Djinn Illuminatus
1 Uyo, Silent Prophet
1 Azusa, Lost but Seeking
1 Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker
1 Body Double
1 Phyrexian Metamorph
1 Phantasmal Image
1 Eternal Witness
1 Goblin Welder
1 Mindwrack Liege
1 Goblin Flectomancer
1 Glen Elendra Archmage
1 Venser, Shaper Savant
1 Pestermite
1 Snapcaster Mage
1 Mulldrifter
1 Acidic Slime
Enchantments (9)
1 Future Sight
1 Trade Routes
1 Sylvan Library
1 Abundance
1 Doubling Season
1 Mana Reflection
1 Leyline of Anticipation
1 Call of the Wild
1 Dream Halls
1 Vigean Intuition
1 Fact or Fiction
1 Brainstorm
1 Spy Network
1 Long-Term Plans
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Worldly Tutor
1 Noxious Revival
1 Forbid
1 Capsize
1 Chaos Warp
1 Constant Mists
Sorceries (10)
1 Wheel of Fortune
1 Life from the Loam
1 Tooth and Nail
1 Recross the Paths
1 Journey of Discovery
1 Time Warp
1 Walk the Aeons
1 Spitting Image
1 Rite of Replication
1 Primal Command
Artifacts (6)
1 Scroll Rack
1 Sensei's Divining Top
1 Mirari
1 Rings of Brighthearth
1 Crucible of Worlds
1 Crystal Shard
Lands (38)
4 Island
3 Mountain
4 Forest
1 Command Tower
1 Forbidden Orchard
1 City of Brass
1 Volcanic Island
1 Taiga
1 Tropical Island
1 Steam Vents
1 Stomping Ground
1 Breeding Pool
1 Cascade Bluffs
1 Flooded Grove
1 Scalding Tarn
1 Wooded Foothills
1 Misty Rainforest
1 Seat of the Synod
1 Great Furnace
1 Tree of Tales
1 Remote Isle
1 Slippery Karst
1 Smoldering Crater
1 Oboro, Palace in the Clouds
1 Dryad Arbor
1 Academy Ruins
1 Kessig Wolf Run
1 Strip Mine
1 Winding Canyons
1 Vesuva
Deck Rules
- No mind control. I'm not that kind of Time Lord.
- No land sweeps or other things of that nature. I save the universe, I don't destroy it (intentionally).
Themes and Explanations
Let's take a look at some of our themes.
Time Magic: The main one. This is not just restricted to additional turns. I consider deck manipulation, Flash-granting effects, haste, cascade, flashback, buyback, and retrace to all be forms of time magic or temporal manipulation as well, especially within the theme of the deck.
Lands: We do quite a bit with lands in the deck, effects like Trade Routes and Uyo, Loam, Mists, Azusa, etc. I'm trying to capture a sense of travel with this, hitting lots of locations, sometimes the same one multiple different times, or using locations to your advantage.
Clone and copy effects: I love copy effects, they hearken to the Time Lord regeneration ability, control of time and space, and provide massive amounts of utility and potential.
Reality Manipulation: Stuff like Doubling Season, Dream Halls, Mana Reflection, etc. Things that just alter fundamental principles. You have a TARDIS, this is what it does after all.
Interaction: You can win through infinite combo. Multiple ones are sitting in the deck. DON'T! You want to play and have fun seeing what you can bring to the table other than that. If it's not much, THEN burn them down.
Change Log
Minamo, School at Water's Edge - > Vesuva
Izzet Chronarch - > Mulldrifter
Surging Vitae - > Goblin Welder
That's about all I got for the moment. I'm still tuning and honing, but I've finally gutted out the majority of this I think, the rest should just take some delicate work with the sonic. Anyways, I'm very interested in feedback! Comments? Suggestions? Questions? Ideas? All are welcome.
Nah, he'd just be hogging the spotlight from me. It's my TARDIS and it's MY adventure, he can go get his own :D. Venser would be a very interesting addition and a ton of fun though if I could run him.
There's really no theme to the creatures though and I'm not trying to maintain one outside of making sure they contribute to the general themes and goals of the deck. As a being with access to pretty much every point in time and space I'm sure to run in to every manner of bizarre creature which gives me great flavor explanation to be as unrestricted in choice as possible. Pestermite itself is overall more versatile than the Exarch and it opens up a lot of political avenues and shenanigans which is why I went with it. As for Magosi, it's just to cumbersome and requires to much support to make use of.
Timesifter is a card I've looked at a number of times as well for the fun factor, but the exile activation keeps me off it. Maybe if I was running Riftsweeper as well.
I agree, I'm really looking forward to Planechase 2 as well, not just for my general and the other new cards, but I also just really enjoy the format. Thanks for the suggestions and thoughts!