Magic: The Gathering's newest expansion set is Kaldheim, which is fairly complex and robust for a regular expansion set. But not even that tricky set can compare to the intricate nature of Time Spiral Remastered, which will be a set solely geared for games of booster draft Limited.
The Time Spiral Remastered set is designed with veteran players in mind, who remember countless diverse mechanics, keywords, time-honored creature tribes and more. Now, the set's black cards are arriving in the spoilers, and black mana is living up to its reputation for graveyard shenanigans once again. Undeath is the only way to live.
Time Spiral Remastered and Graveyard Fun
Black mana has always been the color of madness, undeath and paying any price for power, and these previewed cards show black mana firing on all pistons. Urborg Syphon-Mage is stronger than it looks, since it can drain the opponent and enable the graveyard and discard-based effects. Paying {2}B, tapping and discarding something feels like a stiff price to pay, but all Spellshapers work that way, and black mana loves to play with the graveyard.
At the very least, Urborg Syphon-Mage can be fed some dead draws (such as an unwanted topdecked Swamp) and fuel its magic in later turns in Limited. Some abilities act as a mana sink, while Urborg Syphon-Mage can act as a card sink instead.
Yixlid Jailer is a rather small creature, but it comes down early and has a fascinating effect. As long as Yixlid Jailer is around, all cards in graveyards lose their abilities, with flashback being a good example. Some white and blue cards in this set have flashback, but this stops them cold. Yixlid Jailer also ensures that no cards with Dredger can be used, making it a great choice against modern Dredge decks in Constructed. In the context of Time Spiral Remastered, though, this will probably act primarily as a hoser for flashback (at least based on what've been revealed so far).
Leyline of the Void is a notable reprint, appearing in the pre-Modern frame for the first time. This black enchantment is a staple anti-graveyard card, especially since it can be "cast" for free if it's in the opening hand. This first appeared in the original Ravnica block as one of several Leylines. Players drafting black in Time Spiral Remastered might pick it up to hose some reanimation and flashback effects to slow down the opponent.
Madness & Flashback: Creative Ways to Cast Spells
Many other black cards in Time Spiral Remastered play into this color's fondness for discarding cards and interacting with the graveyard, and the flashback and madness effects are here in force. Flashback is a staple effect in the game, allowing the player to cast their spell one more time from the graveyard for its flashback cost, then exile it upon resolution (or if it's countered). Flashback rewards self-mill and discard effects, and it can also grind out some card advantage in the process.
Dread Return is one such card, being cast the first time for {2}BB to bring a dead creature back to the battlefield. Flashback costs zero mana; instead, this spell is fueled by the blood of three creatures. This is a steep but quick cost to pay, and it can fuel an Aristocrats deck well. Strangling Soot costs mana both times, but its flashback requires red, meaning the player can either splash red mana or run this in a dedicated black-red deck. Casting this twice and killing off two creatures can create some impressive card advantage.
Madness allows the player to cast the spell for its madness cost when the card ends up discarded for any reason. This effect appeared in some pre-Moderns sets and in the Shadows Over Innistrad block. In Time Spiral Remastered, Ichor Slick can be cast for {2}B to give a creature -3/-3, or it can be discarded and pay {3}B to cast it anyway on its way to the graveyard. Conveniently, this spell also has cycling {2}, so the caster can pay a total of {5}B to cast Ichor Slick and draw a card at the same time. Of course, if the card is discarded some other way, it can still be cast with madness.
Big Game Hunter is a small 1/1, but it will take down a huge creature when it shows up. It's also a Rebel, meaning it slots right into the developing white-black Rebel deck. Paying {1}BB for a 1/1 that kills off a big creature is fair, but if the player can discard this somehow, they can cast Big Game Hunter for just B, a fantastically low price to pay. Urborg Syphon-Mage, for example, can enable both Ichor Slick and Big Game Hunter, on top of its own effect. Now that's ruthless.