Over the course of History in Magic: the Gathering, there’s certain kinds of cards that Wizards of the Coast prints that really annoy the community. You have Chaos spells like
Scrambleverse
Scrambleverse
For each nonland permanent, choose a player at random. Then each player gains control of each permanent for which they were chosen. Untap those permanents.
, Mill cards like
Glimpse the Unthinkable
Glimpse the Unthinkable
Target player mills ten cards.
, or spells that let you cast cards for free like
Emergent Ultimatum
Emergent Ultimatum
Search your library for up to three monocolored cards with different names and exile them. An opponent chooses one of those cards. Shuffle that card into your library. You may cast the other cards without paying their mana costs. Exile Emergent Ultimatum.
. But these cards pale in comparison to one of the most annoying spell types of all time, Extra Turn Spells. WotC needs to stop printing these cards.
Polarizing
Extra Turn spells are some of the most polarizing spells in the game. There’s very little in terms of middle ground. The spells are either VERY good, like
Nexus of Fate
Nexus of Fate
Take an extra turn after this one.
If Nexus of Fate would be put into a graveyard from anywhere, reveal Nexus of Fate and shuffle it into its owner's library instead.
or
Alrund’s Epiphany
Alrund’s Epiphany
Create two 1/1 blue Bird creature tokens with flying. Take an extra turn after this one. Exile Alrund's Epiphany.
Foretell {4}{U}{U} (During your turn, you may pay {2} and exile this card from your hand face down. Cast it on a later turn for its foretell cost.)
or they’re mediocre, like
Stitch in Time
Stitch in Time
Flip a coin. If you win the flip, take an extra turn after this one.
. It’s very difficult to have a balanced downside to taking an entire extra turn. Skipping a turn or losing the game is often not good enough because the player using the spell can minimize that downside.
Recently Banned Extra Turns
In recent times, there have been 2 extra turn spells that have been banned on Magic Arena. These have been utilized in combo control decks in Historic and had really taken over the format during their time. Nexus of Fate was the first to go as it as abused in
Wilderness Reclamation
Wilderness Reclamation
At the beginning of your end step, untap all lands you control.
decks to effectively take every turn for the rest of the game.
Time Warp was utilized in the
Velomachus Lorehold
Velomachus Lorehold
Flying, vigilance, haste
Whenever Velomachus Lorehold attacks, look at the top seven cards of your library. You may cast an instant or sorcery spell with mana value less than or equal to Velomachus Lorehold's power from among them without paying its mana cost. Put the rest on the bottom of your library in a random order.
deck that played
Magma Opus
Magma Opus
Magma Opus deals 4 damage divided as you choose among any number of targets. Tap two target permanents. Create a 4/4 blue and red Elemental creature token. Draw two cards.
{U/R}{U/R}, Discard this card: Create a Treasure token.
and
Mizzix’s Mastery
Mizzix’s Mastery
Exile target card that's an instant or sorcery from your graveyard. For each card exiled this way, copy it, and you may cast the copy without paying its mana cost. Exile Mizzix's Mastery.
Overload {5}{R}{R}{R} (You may cast this spell for its overload cost. If you do, change "target" in its text to "each.")
to take a couple of turns in a row and amass an insurmountable board state.
READ MORE: This Deck is the BEST to Climb MTG Arena Ladder in Standard
This One is Next
I think that there’s an extra turn card that might end up being on the chopping block, or at least closely watched in the coming weeks, and that is
Alrund’s Epiphany
Alrund’s Epiphany
Create two 1/1 blue Bird creature tokens with flying. Take an extra turn after this one. Exile Alrund's Epiphany.
Foretell {4}{U}{U} (During your turn, you may pay {2} and exile this card from your hand face down. Cast it on a later turn for its foretell cost.)
. It was a staple in the old Standard environment in Sultai Ultimatum, powerful in Izzet Dragons in Standard 2022, and it’s becoming a problem in New Standard.
Alrund’s and ultimately any good Extra Turns spell, creates unfun environments and terrible play patterns that are often out of line with what the rest of the format is doing. Wizards has shown that they are willing to take more than win rate into account when they’re looking at bans, so hopefully they are paying attention to the ladder and tournaments.
READ MORE: How to Beat Mono-Green Tron in Modern in 2021
What are your thoughts on this? Do you think that Alrund’s Epiphany needs a Standard ban? Should WotC stop printing extra turn spells? Let us know in the comments.