Extra Turns: All 42 Best Time Walks in Magic Ranked

Last updated on February 13, 2024

Time Walk (Ultra Rare Cards alternate) | Illustration by Chris Rahn

In Magic (and basically every card game ever), card draw is considered the most valuable resource a player can have. More cards means more things to play, more removal, better interaction, and a flat-out higher win condition. But there's one other kind of resource that’s infinitely better than drawing another card, and that’s taking another turn. Another turn not only gives you a card, it untaps your mana and gives you an incredible lead over your opponent.

Magic is a game of small advantages that build up over time. Drawing extra cards here and there, being able to spend all your mana each turn, and taking 2-for-1 trades all add up to let one player win over the other. Taking an extra turn gives you all these bonuses without any possible interruption from your opponent, which basically turns the game into a one-sided event.

Today I’m going to talk about all of the cards in Magic that give extra turns and answer some common questions about the mechanic. Let’s get into it!

What Are Extra Turn Cards in MTG?

Seedtime | Illustration by Rebecca Guay

“Extra turn cards” encompasses all cards that have Time Walk abilities that give you or another player an extra turn. I’m also going to include cards that give you an extra turn by letting you skip another player’s turn, like Discontinuity, because they’re used to break parity and deny your opponent a turn after yours.

But I’m not going to include cards that skip your own turn or give your opponent an extra turn at your expense, like Sundial of the Infinite. These are incredibly niche cards that are only viable for certain strategies and you’re probably more concerned with giving yourself extra turns.

Best Blue Extra Turn Cards

Alrund's Epiphany

First on the list is the infamous Standard bomb, Alrund's Epiphany. While it took a while for this card to find its place in Standard, it absolutely dominated for an entire block.

It may seem like a slightly worse Time Warp at first glance, but those two 1/1 Birds have proven to be incredibly potent. Especially when you end up casting one or two of these in a row and attack for six to eight damage with just those two fliers.

Beacon of Tomorrows

Beacon of Tomorrows is a serious downgrade from Alrund's Epiphany. Not much to say here.

Eight mana is a lot for an extra turn spell because it usually means you’ll tap out to play it and not actually capitalize on having two full turns to do stuff. The increased mana cost is to pay for the fact that eventually it comes back, but it doesn’t really help too much to incentivize players to include this card.

Capture of Jingzhou

Next up is Capture of Jingzhou, a carbon copy of Time Warp that’s basically the template for any take-an-extra-turn spell. A 5-mana take-a-turn spell at sorcery speed. This is average for these kinds of cards but ultimately still very strong thanks to how it works.

Eon Frolicker

Up next is Eon Frolicker, which actually gives your opponent an extra turn. But this is basically a mediocre Time Walk since you have protection from that player. If your opponent’s board is empty or their hand is then you don’t really have anything to worry about. Still, I don’t see this as a particularly strong extra-turn card since you have to be really set up for it to work for you.

Expropriate

Expropriate is one of my favorite cards of all time because of how absolutely awesome it feels to play. At best it can give you four extra turns which is basically just winning. At worst you get to steal three permanents and take one extra turn, which is still great for .

I love this card, and I highly recommend you include it in your EDH lists. The expression on your opponent’s face when it resolves and they’re forced to pick their poison is incredibly gratifying.

Karn's Temporal Sundering

Karn's Temporal Sundering is a 2-for-1 combo that gives you (or somebody else if you’re playing politics) an extra turn while also bouncing a nonland permanent to its owner's hand. This is another below-average extra turn card, mostly because it costs six mana instead of five and it exiles after casting.

Lighthouse Chronologist

Another omega-extra turn card is up next, and its name is Lighthouse Chronologist. This creature requires you to level it seven times to come online, which is a lot considering it dies to just about anything. But boy is there a payoff!

You get to take an extra turn after each opponent’s turn, which is S-tier in multiplayer formats like Commander. But this is also a blatant lightning rod for your opponents, so don’t get too attached to the idea of hitting level seven after it resolves.

Mu Yanling

Mu Yanling is the first planeswalker on our list today. Its ultimate lets you tap all your opponents’ creatures along with taking another turn. This is a pretty mediocre way to take an extra turn since it requires three uninterrupted untaps.

Nexus of Fate

Nexus of Fate is a much stronger extra turn card because it goes right back into your library after, and for seven mana instead of eight. It can also be cast at instant speed, which means you can consider timing an extra turn after an opponent in a multiplayer format to take advantage of a specific window of opportunity like the blue player being tapped out.

Notorious Throng

Next up is Notorious Throng, which requires you to deal combat damage to a player and pay to take an extra turn. This is yet another below average way to take an extra turn, but it’s there.

But it gets great if you manage to deal a large swath of damage that turn and end up swinging with those 1/1 tokens. I still just see this as a worse Alrund's Epiphany.

Part the Waterveil

Speaking of extra turn cards that give creature advantage, next on the list is Part the Waterveil. I think this card is just okay. I think it would be much better if the casting cost was .

The 9-mana value cost for the Awaken trigger is going to be a rarely-used option, but still a welcomed addition to the card. This is a great card if you’re building a casual EDH deck that includes blue, but it doesn’t have much place beyond that.

Plea for Power

Plea for Power is a politics card that gives everyone the option to vote to have you either take an extra turn or draw three cards. Both of these options are awesome, and wonderful card for only . Definitely underplayed and underrated in my book.

Sage of Hours

Sage of Hours is a multi-turn card that lets you take an extra turn every five +1/+1 counters removed from it. This has huge potential in a +1/+1 counter deck, but that isn’t exactly what blue is good for. You also need a spell that targets Sage to get counters on it normally, which is another thing blue isn’t particularly great at.

Savor the Moment

Speaking of cheap spells, Savor the Moment lets you take an extra turn for at the expense of your next untap step. This is hard to get around since cards like Seedborn Muse don’t help here, but it’s still something to consider if you happen to be winning with a creature-based strategy and have vigilance on most of your board.

But that’s kind of counter-intuitive to how blue plays, where most other cards incentivize you to leave mana up to interact on other player’s turns. This just seems like it should be a red or white card.

Search the City

Search the City is up next. This card literally can’t function in Singleton formats, which is the only place it’s played. You don’t have any duplicate spells to remove from exile with it, and you’re already either about to win or lose if you’re library is empty. Hard pass on this card.

Second Chance

While there are no second chances for Search the City, Second Chance might be worth playing instead! It gives you an extra turn on your upkeep if you have five or less life and can sacrifice it.

This is an okay card, but it doesn’t see much play in the main format it wants to be good in:  Commander. Five life is basically dead next turn in EDH and there are so many better options.

Teferi, Master of Time

Teferi, Master of Time is a much better option, especially because of how fast you can take two extra turns. You’re not limited to untapping with Teferi more than once in a multiplayer game, which means you can more consistently get two turns out of this rather than something like Mu Yanling. This is an excellent card, especially in a superfriends list.

Temporal Manipulation

Starting us off in the Temporal list is Temporal Manipulation. This is another cookie-cutter 5-mana extra turn spell with nothing special to it. This card is average, fine to include in most casual EDH decks, and works well.

Temporal Mastery

Temporal Mastery is totally different from Temporal Manipulation. It normally has a much higher casting cost but can become a pseudo-Time Walk if you manage to make use of its miracle trigger. And this is actually pretty easy to do if your deck includes deck manipulation cards like Brainstorm or Sensei's Divining Top.

Temporal Trespass

Up next is Temporal Trespass, which has a steep casting cost of but lets you work around that with delve. This possibly makes it as cheap as in the late game, which is incredible. It also works great in Yuriko, the Tiger’s Shadow decks, which is where most of the copies are played.

Time Stretch

Time Stretch goes over other extra turn cards’ heads and offers up two extra turns for the price of . But this isn’t as a good as it sems.

It doesn’t offer any kind of discount to go for it instead of Temporal Manipulation, it just puts all your eggs in one basket to be countered. I’d always rather have a 5-mana spell countered than a 10-mana one, so I’m passing on Time Stretch.

Time Walk

The all-time best extra turn card and member of the Power 9, Time Walk is quite literally the blueprint that every extra turn card wants to be. It doesn’t get better than this. Good luck playing with one, though; it’s banned in Commander and extremely expensive anywhere other than Magic Online.

Time Warp

Speaking of blueprints, Time Warp is another 5-mana extra turn spell that’s just average. Like Temporal Manipulation, this spell is sturdy and does exactly what you want it to do every time. No gimmicks.

Timestream Navigator

For just , Timestream Navigator comes into play as a tiny 1/1 with ascend. But don’t get your hopes up because it still costs and the city’s blessing to take an extra turn.

I don’t particularly like this card in terms of power level. It puts itself in too easy of a position to be killed and asks too much. Props to the design team, though, because this is a unique take on taking an extra turn.

Walk the Aeons

Speaking of unique cards, Walk the Aeons comes up next on the list. This card is fairly well-priced, only one more mana than average for an extra turn. But the real kicker is that you can buyback the spell for three Islands. This isn’t as good as it seems since it really has no place outside of mono-blue and gets extraordinarily difficult to play multiple times.

Wanderwine Prophets

Second to last for blue is Wanderwine Prophets, a 4/4 merfolk wizard that gives you an extra turn if you can sacrifice another merfolk after it deals combat damage to another player. Despite the high potential for this card, I still see it as fairly bad.

It, like many other extra turn cards, asks too much of the player and opens itself to removal. The reoccurring trend here is that instant and sorcery extra turn cards triumph over creature-based ones.

Best Black Extra Turn Card

Temporal Extortion

Black has a single extra turn card, and its name is Temporal Extortion. It works exactly as you’d expect a black extra turn spell to: making players pay half their life rounded up to counter the spell.

It gives you an extra turn for , but I personally see doing upwards of 20 damage to somebody for four mana as pretty good value. I still wouldn’t include this in anything that wasn’t a mono-black list, though.

Best Red Extra Turn Cards

Alchemist's Gambit

Firs on the list for red is Alchemist's Gambit from Crimson Vow. This card gives you an extra turn at the expense of losing the game for just . This is very thematically on the nose for red, and having it be a 7-mana basic extra turn spell is a nice touch and great use of the cleave keyword.

Final Fortune

Up next is the instant spell for , Final Fortune. This is very similar to Alchemist's Gambit and I really like its design.

Red is all about huge power gains for serious tolls in the form of life or losing the game. This card plays great with creature- or storm-based decks that can easily guarantee winning on the next turn if they’re uninterrupted.

Last Chance + Warrior's Oath

Last Chance and Warrior's Oath are identical to Final Fortune except they’re sorceries.

Best Green Extra Turn Card

Seedtime

Green also makes an appearance on this list (sorry, white) with a single extra turn card: Seedtime. Despite being an instant, it can only be cast on your turn and if an opponent cast a blue spell this turn. It’s almost never played even though it’s super strong in Commander.

I see blue players in practically every pod, and having Time Walk in green seems super powerful. We might’ve just stumbled onto something amazing here. Quick, buy 300 copies to sell once it’s discovered!

Best Multicolored Extra Turn Cards

Medomai the Ageless

First on the list of multicolored cards is Medomai the Ageless, a 4/4 flying sphinx that gives an extra turn whenever it deals combat damage to a player. This is a generally okay card. It doesn’t need anything other than combat damage to pop off and only costs more than the average extra turn spell. It also has 4 toughness which puts it out of Lightning Bolt range.

Teferi, Timebender

Teferi, Timebender is another cookie-cutter Teferi planeswalker with an ultimate that gives you an extra turn. This isn’t as strong as Teferi, Master of Time but it’s still nice and fits nicely into an Azorius () deck. But its +2 ability isn’t that great and I’m more tempted to draw with this card.

Time Sieve

Time Sieve is a basic artifact-empowered card that lets you sacrifice artifacts to take an extra turn. This is surprisingly easy to do, especially if you have a commander like Alela, Artful Provocateur or some other artifact-based commander.

Ral Zarek

Good ol’ Ral Zarek is up next. Its ultimate ability is much flashier than the likes of Teferi, Timebender and puts you and your opponents at the edge of your seat when flipping the coins. It only takes three untaps to activate and while it does have a chance of failing, statistically you’ll usually get at least two extra turns out of it.

Stitch in Time

Another Izzet () extra turn card is next, and this time it’s Stitch in Time. This sorcery is a mini-Ral Zarek ultimate on a stick. It flips a coin and possibly rewards you with an extra turn spell.

I think this card is just okay. It’s obviously better in casual decks because of the failure rate, but it still has a fun design.

Chance for Glory

Last on the list for multicolored extra turn spells is Chance for Glory, which gives your creatures indestructible, an entire extra turn, and the risk of losing if you don’t win by the next end step. This is a perfect Boros () extra turn card. I think everything about it, from the art to the design to the mana cost, is all on-theme.

Best Colorless Extra Turn Cards

Emrakul, the Aeons Torn

Starting off the colorless list is none other than Emrakul, the Aeons Torn. This version of the Eldrazi titan straight up gives you an extra turn on cast, which is great since you get the payoff of attacking with a 15/15 creature with annihilator 6.

Gonti's Aether Heart

Gonti's Aether Heart is up next in an attempt to follow Emrakul. This artifact is just a way to cash out on a lot of energy. Energy is pretty hard to come by in Commander since it isn’t widely supported. It can be difficult to generates a lot without specific combos or interactions.

Magistrate's Scepter

Magistrate's Scepter lets you put charge counters on it each turn with an eventual payoff of taking an extra turn. I think this is pretty mediocre overall. It takes a long time and is susceptible to artifact removal, which is fairly common.

Timesifter

Timesifter is a table-wide effect that requires each player exile the top card of their own library. Then the player with the highest mana value card takes an extra turn. This is a pretty fun and creative card overall but doesn’t go far beyond that. It has no place in any high-power setting but can be a fun way to cause chaos at a casual table.

Best Extra Turn Payoffs

Don’t get me wrong, extra turn cards are great. But they’re only as good as you make them. If you spend your entire turn drawing a card and casting an extra turn spell with 100% of your mana, you didn’t really gain much.

There are plenty of ways to maximize the advantage generated by taking an extra turn. Here are some of the best to get your brain warmed up in case you plan on building an extra turn EDH deck.

One-Turn Winning Combos

The first option is combos that can win in one turn if they’re set up properly. I’m specifically talking about things like storm that require you to have plenty of mana and card-neutral ways to sift through your deck. A storm deck usually loses where it could’ve won if it got another turn, and what better way to prevent that than taking an extra turn?

Combo-Based Strategies

General combo-based strategies also become incredibly more threatening if they get an extra turn at any point in the game. If your EDH deck is riddled with infinite combos and 2- to 3-card engines, an extra turn often gives you enough time and resources to tutor out an additional piece or set you up perfectly.

Combat-Based Strategies

Combat-based strategies excel with extra turns because they don’t need to spend mana to win outside of the extra turn spell. If you have a wide board of buffed-up creatures in some kind of Jeskai () Commander deck (or Boros if you’re running Chance for Glory), you don’t need to worry about also casting something to win. Just attack.

Can You Stack Extra Turns? How Does it Work?

You can absolutely stack extra turn effects, and it works just like you think it would: every time you get an effect that would give you an extra turn, you just add it to the total number of turns you’re taking.

It’s important to note that they happen in the reverse order that they’re played, so play your Final Fortune first so that you lose the game on your last extra turn.

How Do Extra Turns Work in Multiplayer?

Most extra-turn cards read “after this one,” which implies that you take your extra turn after whatever turn is taking place. So if you trigger the effect on an opponent’s turn you just take your extra turn right after. It doesn’t interrupt the turn cycle so it doesn’t go back to the player to your left after your extra turn, but to the next player that would’ve otherwise taken the next turn.

Can You Copy Extra Turn Spells?

You can absolutely copy extra turn spells. They both give you an extra turn, which makes for two total extra turns after the current one. You take the turn of the copied spell first since it was the last spell to be put on the stack and extra turns happen in the reverse order in which they’re played.

Why Is Time Walk Banned in Commander?

Time Walk is banned in Commander because it’s just too strong to exist in an already pseudo-Vintage format. It would greatly increase the number of turn-1 wins, which is inherently against the for-fun aspect of the format. It would also add an incredible level of power to blue that couldn’t be matched by the other colors and would cause a lot of players to shift towards blue just to play the card (or proxied versions).

How Do You Stop Extra Turn Spells?

The simple answer is that you can only stop extra turn spells by countering them or playing your own extra turn spell to negate the benefits of your opponent getting an extra turn.

Since extra turn spells happen in the reverse order that they’re played you’d be able to take an extra turn before your opponent did, which would then make the turn count return to a neutral state where neither player is a turn ahead of the other.

Wrap Up

Time Warp (Mystical Archive) | Illustration by Dominik Mayer

With that we’ve come to the end of our turns! I hope you enjoyed the long list of cards presented today and that you found some new extra turn cards to include in your awesome decks. I personally found one or two that have somehow gone completely under the radar in Commander at my local game store that I’m looking forward to using as some secret tech.

Did you find anything worth picking up? What’s your favorite extra turn card? Let me know down in the comments. I wanna hear all your crazy extra turn stories.

Until next time, stay safe and stay healthy!