Last week, a 120-player Timeless tournament took place, and we got a good glimpse at some of the strongest archetypes the format has to offer. From Dark Ritual to Necropotence, Timeless gives MTG Arena players the opportunity to play with some of the game’s most broken cards. As such, it wasn’t surprising to see Beseech the Mirror Storm and Show and Tell combo near the top of the standings.
What was a bit interesting, however, was seeing a unique four-color control deck put up a top eight performance. This deck utilizes a mixture of elite interaction and card draw, and also heavily abuses an Arena-only mechanic to pull ahead. While Alchemy cards are not everyone’s cup of tea, they’re here to stay in Timeless, and this deck takes full advantage.
The Chorus Package
The Alchemy mechanic that this deck maximizes is known as starting intensity. Each card with starting intensity is a chorus, and each chorus gets progressively stronger the more chorus spells you’ve cast prior. This deck uses two key chorus cards, each of which fuel each other.
Notably, both of these cards, Hymn to the Ages and Ribald Shanty, received a major buff during Arena rebalances back in November 2024. Both cards got a lot cheaper in the hopes of seeing play. Ribald Shanty’s effects stayed identical and was simply reduced from two mana to one, while Hymn to the Ages was reduced from five mana all the way down to two, but its starting intensity reduced from three to one.
This made both cards much stronger, and they synergize perfectly on curve together. In the case of Ribald Shanty, your first copy functions as a Shock to creatures or Planeswalkers. This isn’t all that exciting, but it still cleanly answers popular cards like Lurrus of the Dream-Den and Guide of Souls.
From then on, though, your other chorus cards intensify by one. This means that future copies of Ribald Shanty deal three damage instead of two and, more importantly, following up with Hymn to the Ages will let you draw two cards instead of one.
Getting to draw two cards for two mana is quite the deal, and the value doesn’t stop there. Your chorus cards only get better, so if you draw another copy of Hymn to the Ages, that will draw you three cards, and so on.
Hymn to the Ages is such a strong card advantage machine that, even though there are stronger removal spells available than Ribald Shanty, it’s well worth playing a few copies. The opportunity cost is low, while the ceiling on Hymn to the Ages is very high.
Traditional Control Elements
Most of the rest of the deck is filled with the best control cards that Timeless has available. In the removal suite, Swords to Plowshares is clearly the best of the bunch. Swords to Plowshares cleans up any threat that’s too big for Ribald Shanty to handle.
For Counterspells, unsurprisingly, a playset of Mana Drain makes an appearance. This deck isn’t the best at spending the extra mana, but it isn’t hard to pull ahead in some capacity. Besides, Mana Drain is super efficient regardless.
Likely the most interesting inclusion, though, is Phantasmal Shieldback. As a 1/3, it does a surprisingly good job halting Ocelot Pride and the like. It then draws a card when it dies, so if it eats a removal spell or trades in combat, it’s totally fine.
The biggest reason for the card’s inclusion, however, is to be able to play Flare of Denial. Timeless is a combo-driven format. Storm decks with Dark Ritual and Show and Tell decks with Ugin’s Labyrinth can generate an insurmountable advantage early in the game. In some spots, even Mana Drain on the draw is too slow. Flare of Denial solves these problems.
In other formats like Legacy where Dark Ritual or Show and Tell are legal, Force of Will or Force of Negation can keep these cards in check. Without access to these cards on Arena, players are forced to think outside the box.
Commandeer is a common sideboard card, but it doesn’t actually counter Show and Tell. Flare of Denial+Phantasmal Shieldback is a nice combination that gives you outs to opposing nut draws.
Control in a Combo World
All in all, this deck has a lot of appeal in the current state of Timeless. The presence of multiple excellent one-mana removal spells means that your chances of getting run over by Energy are pretty slim.
At the same time, between Mana Drain and Flare of Denial, you have the ability to hold combo decks in check. Many combo shells have a large number of Rituals and other cards that, despite helping with speed, aren’t super impactful on their own. Decks like Storm and Oops All Spells rely on resolving one or two key cards, and your disruptive elements can get in the way in the early turns.
It is interesting to see zero copies of Solitude or any Planeswalkers to play with excess Mana Drain mana. Still, with Hymn to the Ages in the mix, you shouldn’t run out of cards to play. Subtlety can end games when necessary, and flipping Tamiyo, Inquisitive Student via Brainstorm is a great way to pull far ahead on resources.
Tamiyo and Mystic Sanctuary also synergize nicely with Hymn to the Ages, allowing you to rebuy the card draw spell and continue to bolster your choruses. This innovative take on traditional control is really sweet, and it’s nice to see the Arena rebalances making a difference.