(Temporal Extortion | By Steven Belledin)

How is This Card Not Orzhov?

Welcome back to The Toolbox! Here we take a look at underplayed cards and evaluate where they ought to see more play. Today we’re taking a look at a pretty fun version of Time Walk: Temporal Extortion!

Temporal Extortion is a sorcery for four black mana that lets you take an extra turn unless someone pays half their life, rounded up. I don't design Magic cards, but I do wish this card had been Orzhov; it even has 'extort' right there in the name!

Let's begin our analysis of this card by taking a look at the commanders that currently play it most often:

To take full advantage of Temporal Extortion, you have to be able to capitalize on both aspects of the card. Ob Nixilis and Seizan obviously focus on pressuring opponents with life loss, making the prospect of paying half their life to prevent the extra turn much more dangerous. Then there's K'rrik, the Phyrexian black sheep of the bunch that just wants to cast this spell without paying mana. K'rrik is mildly broken, but Temporal Extortion feels so amazing when you cast it without paying any mana for it that it's pretty sweet in his deck.

Each of these commanders capitalizes on Temporal Extortion's ability by making it a dangerous to lose life or to give the caster an extra turn. So where else can Temporal Extortion see more play?

The Locthwain

When Ayara, First of Locthwain was spoiled, I was so excited for her mass drain and card draw. Plus, her three black mana pips also provides three Devotion for things like Abhorrent Overlord!

Temporal Extortion will likely be one of the more hotly contested cards I've discussed in this series. It's a modal card that gives your enemies a choice, which means they'll always choose the option that is most favorable to them, and least favorable to you. This card can be countered by any opponent who opts to pay half their life, and an opponent at 6 life has a lot less to lose than an opponent at 60.

So why play this spell with Ayara, who cares more about creatures than spells? Well, as it says in the flavor text of the Modern Horizons edition of Diabolic Edict, "Always give your foes a choice when they have none."

Ayara, First of Locthwain comes into play early and immediately begins to drain enemies for tons of life. She puts a clock on the game right away, which means your opponents will be low on life in short order. Once you cast Temporal Extortion, their lives either get a lot harder or a whole lot lower. Anyone who chooses to pay half their life has to weigh their chances against your next turn, where you might drop an Abhorrent Overlord, Plague of Vermin, or Gray Merchant of Asphodel to absolutely wreck their day. If they don't pay the life, you'll do any of those things on your next turn anyway. There isn't a good option here, even for enemies at higher life totals. Ayara also has the added benefit of drawing you lots of cards, which helps mitigate one of the few downsides of extra turn spells: when you have nothing left in hand, they sometimes become expensive Explores.

Let's let the decklist do the talking:

Toadally Didn't Eat Thalia

It's time for The Gitrog Monster, who totally did not eat Thalia, Heretic Cathar. The four black mana seems pretty hard to justify in a two-color deck.

Notably, Gitrog can be played as a cEDH combo deck (which you can find covered here by the Laboratory Maniacs), and for the cEDH crowd, this spell has little to no benefit. Outside of that realm, however, Gitrog can put up a really solid board state so fast that it feels like it came out of nowhere. We have Titania, Protector of Argoth, Rampaging Baloths, Avenger of Zendikar, and Worm Harvest, which all assemble huge armies by sacrificing, ramping, or just putting lands into the bin. If you cast Temporal Extortion, and you get an extra turn, you can then summon a bazillion creatures who will be able to use that next turn to smash the living daylights out of your enemies.

If they don't let you take the extra turn, and they pay half their life? Puts them right within range for a big-mana Exsanguinate.

Additionally, four black mana is not difficult for Gitrog to assemble. The Bog Frog has access to Crop Rotation, Sylvan Scrying, Realms Uncharted, and even Scapeshift to find Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth, which makes casting Temporal Extortion a breeze. Gitrog draws a lot of cards and makes a ton of mana, so this spell is a fun way to threaten your enemies with a bad time.

Alrighty, decklist time:

Tryna Start a Riot?

Rakdos, Lord of Riots definitely is ready to start a riot! The question is, is he ready to start a Temporal Extortion?

It is definitely possible to cast Temporal Extortion in a two-color deck, especially a deck with cards like Graven Cairns, Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth, and a ton of mana rocks like Arcane Signet, Cryptolith Fragment, and Gilded Lotus.

Rakdos likes Temporal Extortion for its ability to massively reduce the cost of his creatures. If someone pays life to counter the Extortion, that could be a free Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger, Artisan of Kozilek, and/or Void Winnower. If they let Extortion resolve, Rakdos can fly in for damage and cast cheap creatures anyway, which will then be able to attack on the next turn!.

I know this will be a tough sell to some, but I do think it is an interesting and underrated inclusion for Rakdos. Take a look at the decklist to see if you agree:

It's Still Mono-Black

Thank you all for your continued support of the series! I hope that you all enjoyed reading this installment, and I hope that you’ve found a new home for Temporal Extortion. Do you think that these commanders pair well with Temporal Extortion? Do you think I’m over-evaluating this bad Time Walk, or do you agree it’s highly underrated? What other decks do you think should have this card in their toolbox?

Please share your thoughts in the comments below, and as always, have a great day!

Elijah Klein

Elijah is a mildly obsessive EDH player from Georgia. He started playing during Battle for Zendikar with Green/Black Eldrazi Aristocrats and still pays tribute to the plane with his Omnath, Locus of Rage storm brew. He is always excited to innovate and try new things in Magic and Life. Elijah is currently a full time student looking to go into Computer Engineering but also has a bit of an artistic streak.