Time of Ice

The Saga structure turns a fragile tap-down into a self-enforcing lock. The first two chapters each pin an opposing creature that then refuses to stand back up while the enchantment sits on the battlefield, and because the lore counters accrue on their own, you spend nothing to keep two blockers (or two attackers) removed from the math over consecutive turns. That is the patient half. Chapter III is the release valve and the payoff: every tapped creature gets bounced to hand, including the two you have held hostage, a one-sided reset against a tapped-out opponent that undoes a turn of their development into mana already spent. The bounce reads "all tapped creatures," but the timing quietly protects you: lore counters advance at the beginning of your precombat main phase, after your untap step, so anything you attacked with the previous turn is already standing and safe when the third chapter fires. What Chapter III actually catches is whatever is tapped right now, chiefly the opponent's mana dorks and the creatures you locked down. This is a control card wearing tempo clothing: the early chapters buy time, the last one strikes at the worst possible moment for the opponent. The mandatory countdown is the price of admission. You do not choose when Chapter III resolves, so the pinned creatures come free regardless; the lock is a deadline, not a permanent answer.