The Naked TimeHow it works & interactions with other cards

A Journey Through Time

As a Saga, The Naked Time enters the battlefield with a lore counter and gains one after each of your draw steps. Chapter I allows you to fetch a basic Mountain and put it into play tapped, effectively ramping you for later turns. Chapter II sets up a temporary static effect that buffs any creature entering the battlefield under your control that turn. Finally, Chapter III requires a sacrifice, symbolizing the fleeting nature of this temporal advantage.

Understanding the Resolution

When Chapter I triggers, you search your library for a basic Mountain card; it enters the battlefield tapped regardless of its own abilities. During the turn Chapter II triggers, any creature that enters the battlefield under your control—whether cast, flickered, or created as a token—will receive a +1/+1 counter and haste. This effect lasts only until the end of the current turn. When Chapter III resolves, you must choose and sacrifice a land you control. Once the Chapter III ability leaves the stack, the Saga is sacrificed.

Strategic Considerations

A common mistake is forgetting that Chapter II only applies to creatures entering the turn the counter was added. If you play a creature on a different turn, it does not get the bonus. Additionally, because the Saga is sacrificed after Chapter III, you cannot use effects to remove the lore counter in response to the sacrifice trigger to save the Saga indefinitely, though you can respond to the sacrifice trigger with other instant-speed spells or abilities.

Interaction examples

Explosive Entrances

Impact Tremors

With Impact Tremors on the battlefield and The Naked Time on Chapter II, any creature you play will deal 1 damage to each opponent, get a +1/+1 counter, and gain haste. This combination allows you to apply immediate pressure both through direct damage and an empowered attacker.

Recur and Replay

Underworld Breach

If you have already sacrificed The Naked Time after its third chapter, you can use Underworld Breach to cast it again from your graveyard. This allows you to repeat the ramp process of Chapter I, though you must be prepared to handle the escape cost and the eventual sacrifice of the land again when it reaches Chapter III.

The Land Cycle

On turn two, you cast The Naked Time. Chapter I triggers, and you put a basic Mountain from your library onto the battlefield tapped. Two turns later, Chapter III triggers, and you sacrifice a land. Effectively, you have used the Mountain you searched for to 'pay' for the Saga's final chapter, leaving you even on land count but ahead on board presence.