Tawnos, Urza's Apprentice + Sands of Time

Tawnos, Urza's Apprentice

Sands of Time

How it works

1. At the beginning of the upkeep step, Sands of Time triggers.
2. In response, tap all of your mana producing permanents.
3. Activate Tawnos, copying the Sands of Time trigger.
4. Let the copy resolve, untapping all your creatures, lands, and artifacts.
5. Repeat from step 2.

This clever setup exploits the unique upkeep-untap trigger of Sands of Time by turning it into a controllable loop right during your upkeep. Because Sands of Time forces everyone to skip their normal untap step, you rely on its upkeep trigger to cycle your permanents between tapped and untapped states, which Tawnos, Urza's Apprentice breaks wide open. By responding to the initial trigger by tapping your mana-producing permanents and using Tawnos, Urza's Apprentice to copy that very trigger, you can immediately untap everything you just tapped—allowing you to float infinite mana and reuse your battlefield endlessly before the phase even progresses.