Fun with crap-rares: Timesifter

[jorael]

Timesifter (5)
Artifact
At the beginning of each player’s upkeep, each player removes the top card of his or her library from the game. The player who removed the card with the highest converted mana cost takes an extra turn after this one. If two or more players’ cards are tied for highest cost, the tied players repeat this process until the tie is broken.


I got these a few week ago for a low bargain. I made a B/U/G 180 card monstrosity that was fun to play with and benefitted more from the Timesifter than most decks. Fun, but not stable So after cutting green 120 cards remained. I tried some stuff out and here I present to you the final 80-card version:

Once Again
14 Swamp
14 Island
4Terminal Moraine

4 Timesifter
4 Haunted Crossroads
4 Spite/Malice
4 Rush of Knowledge

4 Shoreline Raider
4 Twisted Abomination
4 Misschievous Quanar
4 Bane of the Living
4 Spire Golem
4 Dross Golem
4 Dralnu's Pet
4 Duplicant

The deck has 8 landcyclers, 8 morphs and 8 landaffinity creatures. All of those have a reasonable high casting cost, but are still playable. Dralnu's Pet and Rush of Knowledge can use these creatures very well.
The idea is to let your graveyard slowly fill with creatures, drop Timesifter and use Haunted Crossroads to place those 6-mana creatures on top of it. And again, and again, and again At first I had more cyclers in the deck (slipstream eel, gempalm polluter) but I opted to thin the deck some more. More than 80 cards make the deck more unreliable and I had more mana-screws.

I usually drop the sifter before I can really go off: it's fun! It gets totally unpredictable who will be next (if I don't have the crossroads). Players usually start sending creatures and removal my way, so don't expect to win if you drop the sifter too soon.

So for fun times, try Timesifter!

 

[f-6]

Not bad! Not bad at all. I miss Sensei's Divining Top though. To make it even better, add some fetch lands for more reshuffeling to find the Timesifters and Underground seas to get both swamps and islands for the land-affinitees (?). Expensive, I know.

 

[jorael]

Yeah Sensei's devining Top (or any other library manipulation card) would work great with the deck. But, the cards themselves tend to be low on casting cost and Haunted Crossroads does the trick.

I think I'll make a different version some time: more top of the library manipulation and add Red for cards like Kaboom and Erratic Explosion


Unfortunately I don't have fetchlands. Reducing the amount of lands in the deck certainly is good! Even the mirage fetch lands would be 'good' in the deck.

 

[f-6]

True, the top is cheap, but it will never be your top card unless it is the first top you draw. It also reduces the risk of the top card being a land. Also, it helps you find the crossroads and the timestifer itself, something that might be a problem otherwise. It is a two card combo after all. The landcyclers and possible fetch lands rotates the top cards of your library, making findig the combo easier.

 

[DÛke]

Actually, for fun purposes, and also for purposes of being purely evil, I would play Second Sight. Yes, it's not long lasting the the Top, but it can effectively win you games when played corrected and at the right time, even without the Time Sifter. As soon as you have your opponent in a tight corner, play Second Time on him (and you, if possible, via entwine), and make sure that he stays in a corner for 2 or 3 more turns. The feeling you get as you manupilate his library and smirk as you play 2 lands as his next draws when the last thing he needs are lands...such a feeling, well, is eerie. It has a beautiful Time Walk quality to it. With the Sifter, it's nasty.

Second Sight, an underrated card. Try it while you're trying other underrated fun cards.

While at that, I also think you would benefit from Scry cards. Having Serum Visions would proof valuable. Early game in can help you find what you need and late game with Time Sifter it can give you extra turns. I would quickly remove 2 Rush of Knowledge and 2 Misschievous Quanar for 4 Serum Visions. Or, like everyone says, you should at least consider the Top. I personally have used the top and I don't like it very much. That's your call.

Also, I have to plug in one of my favorite cards here: Time Stop. This card has a fat casting cost, and can stop your opponent from taking extra turns, while it can counter anything a long the way, or fog your opponent, or...well...you name it.

 

[jorael]

Late reply, sorry.

The idea of using Second Sight makes me smile Scry is good too. The top is probably better due to the shuffling of the landcyclers.

The problem is that when I play grab this deck I betray myself because of its size. All my decks are about 60 cards and this one is bigger. I'll play it a few more times and then deconstruct it. Then after a few weeks, when they don't expect the timesifter will strike again! *supposedly evil laughter*

 

[Captain Caveman]

I played around with Timesifter for awhile. It was rather fun. This is my
final version. I never really got it to work often enough to be playable but
once in awhile,... every once in awhile..., man it was kewl.



Timesifter v3.2
--------------
4 Lantern Of Insight
4 Darksteel Pendant
4 Vedalken Engineer
4 Timesifter
4 Qumulox
4 Somber Hoverguard
4 Frogmite
4 Myr Enforcer
4 Broodstar
4 Thoughtcast

4 Seat of the Synod
4 Darksteel Citadel
12 Island

 

[Istanbul]

Volrath's Stronghold?

 

[jorael]

Volrath's Stronghold?

Yep, excellent card...

Unfortunately I don't have it. The options with this land are so great that it certainly is on my wish-list


About lantern of insight: Cool in your deck! I'm planning to make a fun cog/predict/ray of erasure/mise deck with the card.