Wizards of the Coast will be releasing Core Set 2021 for Magic: The Gathering later this year, which will include a quintet of new mono-colored Planeswalker Decks. Among those joining the game is Teferi, Timeless Voyager. Here's how to use Teferi and the Blue cards he'll be joined by in M21.
Tricker than ever, Teferi won't let his enemies stay balanced for long. This time-bending mage prefers the long game, even against hotheaded opponents like Chandra. Blue mana is capable of aggro, such as Merfolk tribal decks, but that sort of thing is the exception. For the most part, Blue mana prefers to build up incremental advantages in terms of cards and battlefield tricks, and this new decks brings some classic Blue effects to the table.
Teferi's friends include Teferi's Wavecaster, Historian of Zhalfir and Mystic Skyfish. Historian of Zhalfir is a 3/3 Human Wizard costing 2UU, and anytime it attacks, the controlling player simply draws a card if they control a Teferi planeswalker at that time. Blue isn't the first color to reward aggression, but it has to attack eventually, and it can draw cards like a maniac even during combat. A 3/3 on turn four is nothing special, but Blue is renowned for its tricky effects to shut down its opponents. A 3/3 attacker may be deceptively difficult to fend off.
If that weren't enough, Mystic Skyfish is a 3/1 that costs 2U, and if its controller draws a second card that turn, the Skyfish gains flying until end of turn. This includes the compulsory draw during the draw step, and in a color like Blue, drawing just one more card is quite easy. For the rare slot, this deck has a new card: Teferi's Wavecaster. This Merfolk Wizard is a 3/3 with flash for 3UU, and when it enters the battlefield, its controller can search their library or graveyard for Teferi, Timeless Voyager and put it into their hand. Since this card has flash, that translates to finding Teferi and getting a sizeable 3/3 blocker at any time.
Teferi, Timeless Voyager himself costs 4UU and begins with four loyalty counters, and its first ability (costing +1 loyalty) is classic Blue: just draw a card. That alone easily enables the Skyfish, giving it flying on demand. Teferi's second ability, costing -3, can put any target creature atop its owner's library, which is a fine way to remove any blocker that would get in the way of an attacking creature. This can create a safe battlefield for attacking creatures. For the ultimate, Teferi pulls out all the stops: he uses phasing. This ability first appeared early in Magic's history, and it is truly unique. If Teferi can pay -8 loyalty, he can make each creature an opponent controls phase out for awhile. Those phased-out cards aren't just exiled; they are treated as nonexistent, and that will buy Teferi a lot of time to launch an attack or build up toward another strategy.
As for just why M21 will incorporate versions of powerful abilities like phasing, Magic Senior Game Designer Max McCall told CBR exclusively, "Planeswalker ultimates are supposed to be big and splashy. We don’t make planeswalkers to be safe, controlled versions of other cards – we make them to be cool and exciting. Don’t worry, M21 contains many other powerful, exciting cards."
Overall, Teferi isn't designed to win games fast. However, with card advantage and non-lethal creature removal, he can take over the game slowly but surely.
The M21 Core Set releases July 3.