Decaying Time Loop

Decaying Time Loop card image

Decaying Time Loop: Instant, Doctor Who. Discard all the cards in your hand, then draw that many cards. Retrace. Prices and printings on Mana Grove.

Mana cost
{3}{R}
Mana value
4
Type
Instant
Colour identity
Red (R)
Rarity
Uncommon
Set
Doctor Who (WHO)
Released
2023-10-13
Collector number
80
Artist
Alexander Gering
Commander rank
7,069 (by how often it appears in Commander decks)
Keywords
Retrace

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About Decaying Time Loop

Decaying Time Loop is a Magic: The Gathering card, an uncommon red instant from Doctor Who (WHO), a Commander product released in October 2023. It is collector number 80 in that set, with art by Alexander Gering. It costs {3}{R} (three generic and one red mana) to cast, for a mana value of 4. Its colour identity is red. It is legal in Legacy, Vintage, Commander, Duel Commander and Oathbreaker. Doctor Who is its only printing so far. The latest aggregated market price for this printing is $0.29 (normal finish, as of 2026-11-11).

Card text

Discard all the cards in your hand, then draw that many cards.

Retrace (You may cast this card from your graveyard by discarding a land card in addition to paying its other costs.)

"We try, it doesn't work, we try again. We learn, we improve, we fail again, but better." -The Thirteenth Doctor

Market price

Latest aggregated market price for the normal finish of this printing: $0.29 (as of 2026-11-11).

The figure covers this printing only; other printings carry their own price on their own page.

Format legality

Legality of Decaying Time Loop by format. Formats in which it is not legal are not listed.

LegacyLegal
VintageLegal
CommanderLegal
Duel CommanderLegal
OathbreakerLegal

Other printings of Decaying Time Loop

The other printings are listed newest first, with the rarity and release year of each.

PrintingRarityYear
Doctor Who (WHO) #685Uncommon2023

Official rulings

Four official rulings apply to Decaying Time Loop, newest first.

  • A retrace card cast from your graveyard follows the normal timing rules for its card type.
  • When a retrace spell you cast from your graveyard resolves, fails to resolve, or is countered, it's put back into your graveyard. You may use the retrace ability to cast it again.
  • Casting a card by using its retrace ability works just like casting any other spell, with two exceptions: You're casting it from your graveyard rather than your hand, and you must discard a land card in addition to any other costs.
  • If the active player casts a spell that has retrace, that player may cast that card again after it resolves, before another player can remove the card from the graveyard. The active player has priority after the spell resolves, so they can immediately cast a new spell. Since casting a card with retrace from the graveyard moves that card onto the stack, no one else would have the chance to affect it while it's still in the graveyard.

Similar cards

Other instant cards with a red colour identity, ranked by how often they appear in Commander decks.

In these precons

Decaying Time Loop is in the decklist of these preconstructed Commander decks.

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