Hi all,
For those of you that are going to prerelease tournaments this weekend,
here are some tips on Timespiral.
1) Search the internet for cards
A lot of cards are already on the internet and are not that hard to
find.
2) Build for the long game
Timespiral is VERY slow. It seems almost impossible to do anything more
in the first three turns than just playing lands and maybe a 1/1 or
2/2. The best colors to play seem to be green, blue and black, but this
depends (of course) on the cards you will be getting.
3) Rares
The rares of Timespiral are very strong compared to the commons and
even uncommons. Play as many of your rares as you possibly can. Also,
the reprinted ("Timeshifted") cards are very strong.
4) Suspend
Suspend is VERY good. Since the environment is so slow, waiting for 3
to 5 turns to play a card, is no problem. This goes especially for the
black cards (Corpulent Corpse (B, suspend 5, 3/3 with fear), Mindstab
(B, suspend 4, target player discards 3 cards), Phthisis (1B, suspend
5, Destoy target creature. Its controller loses life equal to its power
plus its toughness)). Although suspend and discard would normally be
very bad in sealed decks, they are actually very good in Timespiral.
Don't put to many suspend cards in your deck, though, or you will be
overrun in the 4 or 5 turns you do nothing.
5) Removal
First of all, don't waste any spots on artifact or enchantment removal.
There are not a lot of good enchantments and artifacts (Teferi's moat
and the new Triskelion/Petravus creature are good, but that's about
it). Second, there is not a lot of creature removal available (at
least, from what I have seen). Use the available ones wisely. Don't use
the 1 damage sorceries red has, because they are just not good enough.
6) Creatures
You can go two ways here, power or speed.
The best way to go is going for the powerful creatures (if you can).
Use some of the smaller utility creatures (Looter il-Kor (1U, 1/1
shadow, when * deals dmg to opponent, draw and discard a card) for
example) as an early offence/defence and just build mana until you can
cast your big creatures.
The other way to go is for the smaller, less powerful creatures. Do
this only if you have plenty to build your deck (which you probably
won't).
7) Commons to look for
Mogg War Marshal (1/1 for 1R with echo. Put 1/1 goblin into play when *
comes into play and is put in the graveyard from play) Decent because
of the lack of removal in the environment.
Cyclopeoan Giant (4/2 for 2BB. If * goes to graveyard from play, target
land becomes a swamp) Decent because many players will be playing 3
colours and will only have 1 land in play of one of their colours.
Slipstream Serpent (6/6 with morph 5U for 7U. Can only attack if
opponent controls island) Good because you can attack while morphed and
either trade for a creature if blocked or doing 6 dmg to opponent when
unmorphed.
Ophidian Eye (2U aura with flash. When enchanted creature deals dmg to
opponent, draw a card) Good because you can play it as an instant, so
it automatically replaces itself.
Chromatic Star (1, 1 Tap, sac to add 1 mana to mana pool, draw a card)
Good because it's a cantrip and it's a mana fixer.
Crookclaw Transmuter (3U for 3/1 flyer with flash. Switches power and
toughness of target creature when it comes into play) Good because you
can play it in combat to kill a lot of the creature available (with 3
power it's a good beater) or at the end of turn to attack with it next
turn.
Terramorphic Expanse (Land, sac to search basic land. Put this land
into play tapped.) This was really the MVP for me, as I was forced to
play 3 colours. It is a great mana fixer and it thins your deck.
Looter il-Kor (1/1 with shadow for 1U. Draw a card when * deals dmg to
opponent) Very good, because there is not a lot of shadow creatures
available.
Dauthi Slayer (2/2 shadow for BB. Attacks each turn if able.) Very
good, because there is not a lot of shadow creatures available.
Stay away from
Slivers - Unless you have really good ones (like Fury Sliver (3/3 for
5R. Gives double strike to all slivers), don't use them.
Echo - Unless the creature is really good, don't use echo creatures.
Buyback - The cards I have seen with buyback are just not worth it.
Land destruction - Unless you get lucky and draw enough land
destruction to actually destroy a significant amount of lands, the
slots are better used for creatures.
Double colour mana symbols - It's just hard to pull off in what
probably will be a 3 colour deck.
That's it. Thanks for reading my post and good luck on your next
tournament. Just keep in mind that the environment is very slow, but
some games will still be fast. Use shadow and suspend and, to a lesser
extent, flying to your advantage.
Have fun,
Bram de Beer
>> Stay informed about: Time Spiral advice needed! 
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