This round was the most difficult for me so far (and that is saying something, considering the criteria for the first two rounds of this contest). It has been said that restrictions breed creativity, and this criterion did not provide nearly sufficient restrictions for my creativity to truly thrive. As was said previously, there are many facets to Magic: the Gathering, perhaps thousands even, that do not directly involve combat, warfare, or violence. However, after much deliberation and many, many failed and discarded design attempts, Celestial Oscillation was conceived, a double-edged Time Warp variant with combo potential and, in my opinion, very cool flavor.


The visual that I have in my head is of celestial bodies moving one direction, and then slowing and reversing direction. From the player's perspective, he gets an extra day, or turn, to work before his or her opponent gets to take over, who gets similar planetary favors.

At first glance, this card seems like a bad Time Warp. Why would you ever cast this instead of the aforementioned sorcery? Why give your opponent free turns? Because this card's effect can happen over and over again. Furthermore, this card is in blue, the color of bounce. A well-crafted deck catered to this card can take two turns for every one opponent's turn by returning it periodically to its owner's hand. This requires significant planning, and as such, I see no reason why it should cost more than Time Warp. However, I felt this card was so blue that splashing it should be very difficult, hence the in the mana cost.

A bit of backstory may assist in understanding the flavor of this card, though those well-versed in Magic: the Gathering lore (and Alpha Centauri quotes) should be able to appreciate the flavor text without such an explanation. Jodah was a powerful archmage who was submerged into a fountain of youth which significantly slowed down his aging process. As such, he lived for a very long time and was influential in many storylines in Magic history, including The Gathering Dark, the Ice Age, the Phyrexian Invasion of Dominaria, and even in Planar Chaos, when he met up with Jhoira. Teferi was a Jamuraan planeswalker who is typically associated with phasing cards from Mirage block, was a student at the Tolarian Academy, and who played a prominent role in the Phyrexian Invasion, phasing out Shiv and Jamuraa to avoid war. When Teferi returned to Dominaria, he found it riddled with time rifts, and had to sacrifice his planeswalker status to return Shiv and Jamuraa to their rightful locations. Though there is no record of an interaction between Jodah and Teferi, they are both well versed in the effects of time manipulation and have a mutual friend in Jhoira. It is possible that they may have been introduced after the events of Time Spiral block, and Celestial Oscillation imagines what kind of conversation they might have had.

There is little else to say about this card. I merely hope it is well-received by the judges and that its potential for interesting and thoughtful deck building, its impact on game play, and its flavor are appreciated.