The “Time Machine” Profile

Imagine you are glancing at a machine with blinking lights, colourful indicators, and multiple prompts tempting you to press them. Marty McFly and Doc sit next to the machine hidden in the guise of a DeLorean. Using the flux capacitor developed by the Doc and other inventions, the wheels begin to whirl as… Well, that was a nice description, but that’s unfortunately not what a time machine is in this game.

The “time machine” is aptly named based on its original representative card shown above. The card in question simply flies its way to the memory zone and returns back to the field during its owner’s next turn, effectively dodging any threats from the opposing field during the opponent’s turn (this does, however, open up slots on the field).

However, Miku, as shown above, was not the first of its kind to have this kind of effect. The original card with this kind of dodging ability seems to come in the form of the Haruhi shown below. Generally speaking, Time Machine effects can exist without a climax combo. In those cases, some other condition will need to be applied such as needing a reverse as in the case of Haruhi.

Time Machine cards are great for their exact purpose: dodging the opponent’s cards and ensuring that you have three beaters for the following turn. If the Time Machine requires a combo, it is ideal to recycle the same climax and continue to push for damage reliably every turn. However, as mentioned before, this type of effect does come with one major drawback. Due to their forced nature of moving to the memory zone, the front field is completely open during the opponent’s turn, potentially causing the player to take massive amounts of soul damage. Still, depending on the situation and opposing decks, Time Machine cards can be great options to dodge any on-reverse effects and to hopefully dodge larger swing using the extra soul to increase odds of cancelling. Time Machine combos provide an additional effect compared to the usual Time Machine cards, usually additional power on the following player’s turn.

Generally speaking, most Time Machine cards haven’t changed much in their profile or text. The majority of these cards have retained about the same power level and exact same effect. However, due to the large potential drawback, most players have opted to use combos instead that are occasionally called the “Eren” combo which have a dodging effect as well but remain on stage. Still, Time Machine gets the job done and flies away as needed. Use this profile to your advantage and continue to apply pressure throughout your games!