First turn: Teferi's Isle (0 mana)
Second turn: Island, Teferi's Isle phases out (1 mana)
Third turn: Island, Teferi's isle phases in (4 mana, compared to the 3 mana three islands would give)
Fourth turn: Island, Teferi's Isle phases out (3 mana)
Fifth turn: Island, Teferi's Isle Phases in (6 mana, compared to 5 from five islands)
So no, themicronaut, you won't always be down one mana. Not that this makes the card much better, but it is one of the most interesting lands in all of magic :P
Posted By:
exterion
(7/14/2010 3:17:06 PM)
This is really cool with the urza's blue "untap mechanic" cards, AKA snap, frantic search, rewind, treachery, time spiral. Using this land and temple of the false god, one can generate tons mana with these cards without needing to run high tide to combo off. This is how I would use it.
I can't wait to get 2 of this card for my mono-blue "Turbo-Draw" deck!
Posted By:
VancouverPlayer
(10/30/2011 7:01:34 PM)
I thought that I should play 2 of these in order to "break" this card, but it's not the correct way to use this land. In fact, as exterion suggested, with only one of these, you can have a turn in which you are behind a mana, and another turn in which you are ahead... Think it as a island enchanted with Fertile Ground fixed to "blue" that untap like a Root.water Depth... (or simply think it as a Teferi's Isle...)
Flavor since Teferi's Isle is an Island that drift in time, but maybe I would have preferred a "Karoo" Island, like Izzet Boilerworks. As it is, it's not so tempting... However, it benefits of every "untap target land" effect, and the "ahead every else turn" is valuable. If you play casual, give it a try...!
Trivia: this legendary land is a part of a mega-mega-cycle of legendary lands, each of them appearing in a different block:
Mirage: Teferi's Isle
Tempest: auto... (see all)
Posted By:
leomistico
(7/10/2011 5:59:44 AM)
@Drunyon,
The cycle of uncommon storage counter lands from Mercadian Masques (eg. Fountain of Cho) also don't provide mana until three turns in.
Posted By:
nemokara
(3/6/2012 9:33:53 AM)
or you could just play two of them. legendary rule will never trigger since they are never on the board at the same time
Posted By:
ZypherLex
(1/2/2010 12:03:44 PM)
Sorrow's Path is much worse, if you ask me. At least Teferi's Isle can find use. Combos well with Armageddon.
Posted By:
Dr_Draco
(7/15/2009 7:58:58 PM)
This land is interesting because it's the only land I know of where it doesn't provide mana on its first two turns. Other lands come into play tapped, but I believe this is the only one that makes you wait two turns.
Interestingly, most lands that provide two mana actually don't come into play tapped, but they almost always have a unique drawback (City of Traitors, Ancient Tomb, etc.) And most of these types of lands can only produce two colorless mana (See Temple of the False God). Teferi's Isle, on the other hand, comes into play tapped AND can provide colored mana, which is quite different from the others.
I'd say Teferi's Isle is most similar to the Ravnica bounce lands, like Simic Growth Chamber. Like them, it provides two colored mana and comes into play tapped. I'd say the Simic lands are better in most circumstances, because they let you play the other land later.
But this land can be bet... (see all)
Posted By:
drunyon
(11/2/2011 8:40:20 PM)
i guess it can be pretty good with Garruk. But overall, pretty horrible.
Posted By:
Ace_Rimmer
(7/26/2009 9:18:27 PM)
"The three wizards knew only that this isle held a great mystery—and that patience alone would solve it."
Is this flavor text implying that Wizards was expecting someone out there to "break" this card? Yeah -- they're going to need a lot of patience alright. Infinite patience, almost certainly.
Posted By:
scumbling1
(3/21/2011 3:06:00 PM)
You can play another one of these when your other one is phased out... which would be similar to just playing two islands, but just more prone to nonbasic land destructors.
Posted By:
001010011100101110
(9/18/2011 7:44:00 PM)