Image courtesy of Scryfall.com
Stopping Palinchron’s Infinite Mana Engine
Blue control has always thrived on tempo, card draw, and the delicate ballet of counterspells. When a card like Palinchron lands on the battlefield, that tempo gears up into a full-blown engine capable of generating endless mana and bending the game toward a single, unstoppable conclusion. The moment Palinchron enters, the table reads a quiet, literal invitation: untap seven lands, then set up the possibility of looping mana as long as the pieces hold together. 🧙🔥💎 The real art is not just knowing the combo, but knowing when and how to shut it down before it spirals into an unanswerable “I win” moment.
What makes this card dangerous?
Palinchron is a blue, flying illusion that costs 7 mana to cast: five generic and two blue. Its immediate threat is not just the body (a 4/5 flyer with a friendly reminder about evasive pressure); it’s the on-entry effect: “When this creature enters, untap up to seven lands.” That single line can suddenly justify a massive mana swing, opening doors to acceleration, looping, and a variety of infinite-mana configurations. And yes, there’s a second, less visible axis of danger: the ability to bounce Palinchron back to its owner’s hand for {2}{U}{U}, which can be part of a longer, more brutal control shell that resettles the battlefield and replays the engine. ⚔️
From a lore and flavor perspective, Palinchron embodies the paradox of mastery: the more you untap, the more you can spend, and the more you spend, the more you can untap. It’s a mechanical nod to the moment when a blue player realizes the board state has shifted to a vantage point where the game’s tempo is outmatching the rest of the table. The Vintage Masters reprint in particular preserves that classic feel, reminding us that even a rare, non-full-art card can loom large in a game with a million threads to pull. 🎨
Immediate counters you can deploy on turn one or at first sight
- Counter the spell or the entry: The most direct line is to counter Palinchron as it’s cast or as it enters. If you’re holding legitimate countermagic (Counterspell, Force of Will, Pact of Negation, etc.), use it to stop the spell before it hits the battlefield. This buys you time to address the looming engine on the table. 🧙♀️
- Target the trigger with Stifle: Palinchron’s endurance hinges on its ETB trigger. A well-timed Stifle can shut down the whole untap sequence by countering the triggered ability itself. If the trigger never resolves, you deny seven untaps at the source. It’s an elegant blue tempo move that punishes overzealous turns without wrecking your own plan. 💎
- Early disruption of the lands: If the table is bringing fast mana into play, consider effects that slow down untapping or mana generation in general. Cards like Winter Orb or Trinisphere (in the right shell) can blunt the impact of a large untap swing, especially if Palinchron is part of a broader plan. The goal is not to “kill” Palinchron outright but to ensure your own threats stay in line with the game’s tempo. 🧙♂️
- Answer the engine’s key pieces: Often the real threat isn’t just Palinchron in isolation but the other cards enabling infinite mana: additional untap effects or the bounce loop that returns Palinchron to hand. If you can remove or neutralize those pieces, the engine becomes manageable or collapses altogether. A targeted hand disruption or creature removal can do the job when timed with care. ⚔️
- Exile or bounce control elements: Some builds rely on recursion or protection for the engine. Forcing Palinchron out of the graveyard, or bouncing it away with sacrifice-friendly or bounce-heavy strategies, can be a clean way to break the cycle. The key is to act while you still have an opportunity to influence the board state. 🧩
Disrupting the loop: practical steps to deny the infinite
- Identify the loop’s core: The circle typically consists of Palinchron plus the untap catalysts and a method to recast or reuse Palinchron without paying full price every time. If you can sever the core—the trigger, the untap engines, or the re-cast line—you cut off the infinite mana before the table can utter the word “draw” for the rest of the game. 🧭
- Delay the recursion with bounce and lock situations: In multiplayer formats like Commander, where multiple players contribute to the tempo, returning Palinchron to hand with its own tap-cost can stall the table long enough for you to stabilize. Combining bounce with counter magic or removal can create a window where your threats—fleeting as they may be—start to look real again. 🪄
- Apply pressure with card advantage: If you can draw and play through the same clock, you’ll outpace the opponent in a race you didn’t expect to win. A strong control plan emphasizes continuous pressure, counter resilience, and the ability to answer multiple threats per turn. The goal is to turn the table’s momentum from infinite toward finite, one meaningful answer at a time. 💬
Format-specific considerations
In EDH/Commander, Palinchron’s potential for infinite mana is both a deck-building temptation and a political hazard. The format rewards robust answers with broad applicability, so sideboard-ready tools like versatile counterspells and flexible removal shine. In competitive Modern or Legacy, the engine may appear in dedicated shells, but the core counterplay remains the same: disrupt the entry, counter the trigger, and prevent the loop from taking root. A thoughtful deck plan includes not only the spells to answer Palinchron but the threats that would be vulnerable to a sudden life swing or alpha strike once the engine has been tamed. 🧙♀️🎲
“Control isn’t about denying power; it’s about turning power into a puzzle you can solve before it reshapes the board.”
As you plan your approach, remember the rhythm of the game: know when your window is open to counter or to force a tempo swing, and keep a plan for dealing with the inevitable returns of blue’s best trickster. The balance between answering the threat and advancing your own game plan is where the real magic happens. And yes, sometimes your best counter is simply recognizing when the best move is to hold steady and let the table burn through its own resources. 🧙🔥
Deckbuilding notes and practical tips
- Include a mix of 1-for-1 answers and permission spells to handle both Palinchron and its common enablers.
- Plan for tempo loss: have enough card draw to recover after you’ve spent resources on disruption.
- Don’t underestimate graveyard hate or exile-based tech in older formats; Palinchron’s recursions can be a path to abuse through the graveyard or reanimation lines.
- Incorporate flexible tools that can be used against multiple threats, not just this one card—consistency wins battles as much as brute force. 🧙♂️
If you’re crafting a blue control shell that could stop this engine in its tracks, consider how you balance the need for answers with the need to stay in the game long enough to deploy your own win conditions. For fans who love the thrill of high-level strategy, this is where the magic shines—the moment you glimpse a flawless counterplay, and the table acknowledges that the game’s pace has shifted decisively. And if you’re a collector who enjoys a little synergy on the side, you’ll appreciate the Vintage Masters’ storied history as well as the future you can still build around it. 🎨