commander · Teferi, Temporal Archmage
Peer Through Time (C14).
A mono-blue control deck from Commander 2014, led by Teferi, Temporal Archmage — draw cards and untap permanents with his plus abilities, then use his emblem to activate planeswalker abilities at any time including other players' turns.
The Commander
Peer Through Time is Commander 2014's mono-blue control deck and Teferi is one of the format's most unique commanders. His +1 reveals the top two cards of your library and puts both into your hand — straight card advantage at plus loyalty. His -1 untaps up to four target permanents. His ultimate grants an emblem letting you activate planeswalker abilities at instant speed, any time you could cast an instant. The deck builds around the untap ability to generate absurd amounts of mana with tap-for-mana lands and artifacts.
Teferi, Temporal Archmage with High Tide and his -1 generates enormous amounts of blue mana. Untap four Islands, tap them, untap again — the mana generation compounds through the turn. The deck runs Cyclonic Rift for the ultimate instant-speed reset, counterspells for protection, and large finisher creatures like Sphinx of Uthuun and Frost Titan to close after establishing control.
Key Cards
Cyclonic Rift
Overload for seven mana: return all nonland permanents you don't control to their owners' hands. The most powerful board wipe in Commander at instant speed. Opponents return everything to their hands with no sacrifice or exile — it all comes back, but not until they pay to recast it. In a Teferi deck that generates enormous amounts of mana through the -1 untap chain, casting Cyclonic Rift overload at full cost is routine. Use it on opponents' end steps to reset the board and untap into protection.
High Tide
Until end of turn, whenever a player taps an Island for mana, that player adds an extra blue mana. Teferi's -1 untaps four permanents — untap four Islands, tap them under High Tide for eight blue mana, use that mana to reactivate Teferi, untap again. The mana loop through High Tide and Teferi's untap ability generates effectively unlimited blue mana in a single turn. This is the engine that makes the rest of the deck's expensive spells trivial to cast.
Sphinx of Uthuun
A 5/6 flying Sphinx that uses Fact or Fiction on entry — reveal the top five cards of your library and split them into two piles, then an opponent chooses a pile and you take that pile into your hand. Opponents always give you the better pile or let you take what you need. Sphinx of Uthuun is the deck's mid-game card advantage spike — five mana for a 5/6 flyer that draws at minimum three cards and up to five. Combined with Teferi's +1, the deck generates more cards than opponents can handle.
Frost Titan
Whenever Frost Titan becomes the target of a spell or ability, counter that spell or ability unless its controller pays two mana. Whenever Frost Titan enters or attacks, tap target permanent. That permanent doesn't untap during its controller's next untap step. Frost Titan locks down a permanent for a full rotation and taxes any attempt to target him. As a finisher in a control deck, he generates two mana taxes just to answer him and keeps one permanent locked each turn cycle.
Deep-Sea Kraken
Suspend for six mana — twelve time counters are placed on it and it removes one per opponent's turn. You may unsuspend it immediately by removing all remaining counters when a spell is cast. In a multiplayer game with three opponents, Deep-Sea Kraken comes off suspend in four turns automatically — faster in pods with active spellcasters. A free 6/6 unblockable that arrives without paying mana. The deck uses it as an alternate finisher that deploys without spending mana during the control game.
How to Play
Establish mana acceleration through the deck's artifact rocks and spend the early turns drawing cards and countering threats. Teferi is the mid-game engine — deploy him behind a counterspell shield and use his +1 to draw two cards every turn. Once High Tide resolves, use Teferi's -1 to untap Islands and generate massive mana. The deck wins in the late game after establishing counterspell control and card advantage superiority — cast Cyclonic Rift to reset the board, then develop a finisher behind open mana. Frost Titan locks key permanents, Sphinx of Uthuun refills the hand, and Deep-Sea Kraken arrives for free to close.