Every card in Time Spiral was a throwback to at least one previously printed card.
This card references Balance and is part of a cycle of rares featuring the Suspend mechanic and having no mana cost, forcing you to suspend them as the primary way to cast them. The cards all callback to one of the color's most powerful spells ever; the others are Ancestral Vision, Wheel of Fate, Hypergenesis, Living End, and Lotus Bloom.
As these cards have no mana cost, they must be suspended to be played from your hand, but abilities such as Cascade treat these cards as if their converted mana cost is 0, allowing you to skirt around suspend and play them immediately!
Posted By:
Missile_Penguin
(12/2/2012 12:25:06 AM)
Almost unplayable when compared to the original.
Posted By:
Zulp
(4/19/2010 5:49:55 PM)
Why do so many of the cards from Time Spiral have such awesome art?
Posted By:
midnightvenom
(10/24/2010 7:01:23 PM)
worst of the time spiral manaless suspend cycle (but still pretty good. just takes 2 turns too long when suspended. not that anyone suspends it.)
Posted By:
ultratog1028
(9/9/2009 9:34:31 AM)
Yeah but i can't imagine anyone cascading this card. it wouldn't offer the same power level as hypergenesis
Posted By:
Omenchild
(4/18/2010 1:09:52 AM)
@markarmor
too bad balance ISNT legal in any formats... unless you count vintage where its restricted
Posted By:
Aen3ma
(11/16/2010 9:05:57 AM)
Well you can't play it without suspending it, so I don't see how you can say that nobody suspends it.
Posted By:
j883376
(10/20/2009 4:30:33 PM)
Regarding the single card you're right, but you can cascade into any of these suspend cards which have no mana cost, ultratog.
Hypergenisis for instance is a famous card with that trick.
Posted By:
Mode
(10/26/2009 5:57:52 AM)
Don't even bother considering this card in any format that Balance is legal. Absolutely horrid compared to the original which brutally punished your opponents for racing ahead of you too far. Except in certain very limited decks or when used with a limited number of very specific cards (Sins of the Past), this card should be avoided at all costs. Cataclysm would probably be a better alternative to Balance than this by about 900%.
Posted By:
markarmor
(6/11/2010 6:09:33 PM)
In multiplayer, I like to act in a 'judicial' role, making sure the Johnnies don't go too crazy, the Spikes don't play too fast, and the Timmies don't get too much mana! Of course Balance is the 'better' card, but I run this one anyway for the psychological effect it has on the game, and to give people time to prepare for it. Plus the art is mega.
Posted By:
Stray_Dog
(7/20/2010 9:07:47 AM)