MTG TIME SPIRAL REGULAR MOL FACTORY SET

NOTE: Timeshifted cards are considered a subset and are not included. They are available as a separate MOL set.

Time Spiral contains 301 all new black-bordered cards (121 commons, 80 uncommons, 80 rares, 20 basic lands) and a bonus reprint subset of 121 "timeshifted" cards (not included in this MOL set). Time Spiral was nostalgia-themed. Most of the cards in this expansion reference previous cards in some way. The expansion symbol of the set is an hourglass to reinforce the time themes and to imply the idea that time is running out.

Timeshifted cards make up a 121-card subset comprised entirely of pre-Mirrodin reprints, tying in with the set's theme of revisiting the past. Each card in the subset features the old Seventh Edition card frame and has a new purple expansion symbol to denote their unique rarity. One timeshifted card appears in every Time Spiral booster pack, making the cards roughly 50% as rare as rare cards, which also appear once per pack but comprise of only 80 cards. Timeshifted cards are treated as a part of Time Spiral block, thus it is legal in any format that uses Time Spiral's cards (Standard, Extended, Block Constructed, Modern).

Mechanics and themes

The theme of the expansion is the past. Many mechanics and themes that appear in Time Spiral also appeared in past expansions. These include the keywords buyback, echo, flanking, flashback, madness, morph, shadow, and storm. Returning creature-type themes include rebels, slivers, spellshapers and thallids. Two new time-related mechanics were introduced in this expansion, namely split second and suspend, and additionally flash was keyworded. Another theme is the "timeshifted" cards, each of which is a reprint of a card from Magic's past and features a special purple rarity symbol. Alongside the direct reprints of old cards, there was a cycle of 'callbacks'; cards that had the same effect as extremely powerful older cards but which could only be played by suspend and never directly cast.

• Suspend sends a spell into the future by paying a reduced cost and waiting a number of turns before casting it for free. Some cards had other ways to reduce the time taken before they were played.
• Split second freezes time for a moment, preventing spells and abilities from being played while a spell with split second is on the stack.
• Flash slows down time for the mage, allowing a non-instant spell to be cast at instant speed. This was simply the keywording of an existing ability. Flash has since become an evergreen keyword.

Notable cards (Base Set)

• Academy Ruins, used as a regrowth mechanic for artifacts, specifically in Extended to severely hurt or even lock the opponent under a Mindslaver.
• Ancestral Vision, a very cheap but delayed draw spell
• Ancient Grudge, a high quality card due to Flashback, as such used in decks that dump their library in the graveyard, e.g. Friggorid.
• Dread Return also card widely used in Reanimator decks, especially after Narcomoeba came along two sets later.
• Empty the Warrens, an alternate win Condition for storm decks when they can't target the player.
• Gemstone Caverns, a card designed by Tsuyoshi Fujita during the 2005 Magic Invitational which was voted on by users of the Wizards of the Coast homepage to be the one they'd want to see the most in a set (though changed in functionality due to playtesting later on).
• Greater Gargadon, a long term threat used in R/G aggressive decks, which sacrifices permanents if the opponent attempts to destroy them. It was later used in combo decks as a sacrifice outlet, e.g. with Saffi Eriksdotter and Reveillark.
• Hypergenesis and Living End, two cards which would later be abused with the Cascade mechanic to clutter the battlefield with a number of large and/or utility creatures that are hard to kill.
• Krosan Grip, a valuable sideboard card against blue decks that are dependent on a specific artifact or enchantment, e.g. Counterbalance or Vedalken Shackles
• Lotus Bloom, a card to be played for free and adding mana 3 turns later, especially widely used in Storm decks.
• Saffi Eriksdotter, becoming a card due to its popularity from the Flavortext of Lhurgoyf.
• Smallpox, a variation of Pox which still saw wide play due to its strong effect depriving the opponent of multiple resources at once.
• Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir, a representation of Teferi after he lost his Planeswalker spark in a spell to heal the time rift near his home continent of Jamuraa. Saw widespread tournament play due to his ability to shut down opposing Control decks and being searchable with Mystical Teachings, also from this set.

Notable cards (Timeshifted)

• Avalanche Riders, Shadowmage Infiltrator and Voidmage Prodigy were all reprinted Magic Invitational cards.
• Dragonstorm, unlike its first appearance in Scourge inspired a whole new deck, partially because of the inclusion of Bogardan Hellkite and Lotus Bloom, both also from this set, creating the so-called Dragonstorm deck.
• Tormod's Crypt, a reprinted graveyard hate card to combat graveyard based decks such as Friggorid which were widespread in the Extended Environment at the time.