Time Stretch — ruling 1

If multiple "extra turn" effects resolve in the same turn, take them in the reverse of the order that the effects resolved. In other words, the most recently created extra turn is taken first.

Time Stretch : règles, fonctionnement et interactions (MTG)

Time Stretch is one of those cards players keep asking about. Here is, in plain words, what its official text says, the rulings published by Wizards of the Coast, and the combos players actually run.

Official card text

Target player takes two extra turns after this one.

Complete guide

Time Stretch is one of the most powerful sorceries in Magic: The Gathering, offering a massive advantage by warping the flow of time. By granting a player two full extra turns, it allows for back-to-back attacks, multiple draw steps, and double the mana production. This high-cost blue spell is a definitive game-ender in many control and combo decks.

What it Does

Time Stretch targets a single player and adds two additional turns to the turn order immediately following the current one. Unlike some modern extra-turn spells, it does not exile itself upon resolution, meaning it can be recovered from the graveyard by other effects. It is a targeted spell, so it can be used to give yourself the turns or, in rare political scenarios, another player.

How it Resolves Step by Step

First, you choose a target player as you cast the spell. When Time Stretch resolves, it checks if the target is still legal. If the target is legal, two extra turns are created and inserted into the game schedule. These turns occur one after another before the game returns to the normal turn rotation that existed before Time Stretch was cast. If multiple extra turns are created by different effects in a single turn, the most recently created turn is always taken first.

Common Mistakes

A frequent point of confusion involves the order of turns when stacking multiple effects. If you cast another extra-turn spell during your first extra turn, that new turn will happen before the second turn originally granted by Time Stretch. Additionally, if Time Stretch is countered or its target becomes illegal (such as gaining Hexproof), no extra turns are granted at all.

When to Play It

Because it costs ten mana, Time Stretch is best played when you have a stable board presence or can cheat the mana cost. It is most effective when you have planeswalkers that can activate their abilities twice more or creatures that can swing for lethal damage across two consecutive combat phases.

Interaction examples

Stacking Extra Turns

Temporal Trespass

If you cast Time Stretch and it resolves, you have two extra turns waiting. If you then cast Temporal Trespass during that same original turn, its effect resolves last. According to the rules, the most recently created extra turn is taken first. You will take the turn from Temporal Trespass first, followed by the two turns from Time Stretch.

Voting for Time

Expropriate

If you cast Expropriate and everyone votes for 'time', you gain several extra turns. If you then cast Time Stretch later in the same turn, the two turns from Time Stretch are added to the 'top' of the turn queue. You will complete both turns from Time Stretch before you begin the turns generated by the Expropriate votes.

Guide written with AI from the official text and rulings. Official English text prevails.

How it works : Time Stretch

Original English text — Wizards of the Coast / Scryfall

#1December 8, 2022· Wizards of the Coast
If multiple "extra turn" effects resolve in the same turn, take them in the reverse of the order that the effects resolved. In other words, the most recently created extra turn is taken first.
No other card is named in this ruling.