Is It Time For Time Sieve Again?

by Bill Stark | posted at 2010-02-08 22:01:00
tagged: MTG, Magic, Magic the Gathering, Standard, Time Sieve

I've extolled the virtues of Time Sieve on the pages of TheStarkingtonPost.com before. While gunslinging in Kansas City, a reader asked me directly if I thought it might be time for the deck to make another go in Standard. Truthfully, I hadn't considered it. But after being asked, I couldn't help but start wondering. Check out this list from Maxim Nazarenko on DeckCheck.net:

4 Glassdust Hulk

4 Angelsong

4 Spell Pierce

4 Open the Vaults

4 Time Warp

4 Fieldmist Borderpost

4 Howling Mine

4 Kaleidostone

4 Mistvein Borderpost

4 Time Sieve

8 Island

4 Marsh Flats

3 Plains

1 Swamp

2 Jace Beleren

2 Tezzeret, the Seeker

Sideboard:

4 Negate

3 Path to Exile

4 Silence

4 Day of Judgment

Maxim's list stays pretty close to the original list posted here on the site. He cut Architects of Will, but managed to sneak in Spell Pierce. I absolutely love that card because it solves a lot of the deck's problems in the format: counters, Maelstrom Pulse, Mind Sludge, Thought Hemorrhage, etc. Before taking over the game, your opponent will generally have one shot to stop you. Spell Pierce is the cheapest way to prevent that from happening. From there it's Time Warp, Time Sieve, and Open the Vaults all the way.

The deck is still weak to the decks it's always been weak to, but it's still strong against the decks it's always been strong against. And with counter magic being as weak as it is, Time Sieve might be primed for a comeback. Jund decks are cutting Putrid Leeches to get an edge in the mirror, a card that was very bad for Time Sieve previously. It's a deck that has me excited to being testing, particularly in light of the upcoming Pro Tour-San Diego.

So what do you think? Could Time Sieve be ready for a comeback in Standard? Sound off in the forum link below.

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