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Clockspinning

Instant

Buyback {3} (You may pay an additional {3} as you cast this spell. If you do, put this card into your hand as it resolves.)
Choose a counter on target permanent or suspended card. Remove that counter from that permanent or card or put another of those counters on it.

CMC
1
Mana cost
{U}
Color identity
U
Rarity
common
Set
Doctor Who
Price
$0.42
EDHREC rank
#4205
Buy on TCGplayer
Clockspinning card art
Clockspinning moves a counter — any counter, on any permanent — for one blue mana, and the buyback cost of three makes it repeatable as long as you have mana to spare. That floor is narrow, but the ceiling in counter-heavy decks is high enough that There and Back Again comparisons don't do it justice — Jhoira of the Ghitu lists run it at over 75% inclusion for a reason.

Best Commanders

Commanders with the highest synergy

01
Jhoira of the Ghitu

Jhoira of the Ghitu

75.7% of decks · synergy 0.74

Jhoira of the Ghitu suspends spells with time counters, and Clockspinning lets you tick those counters down one at a time — with buyback, you can collapse the clock on any suspended card the turn you play it given enough mana.

02
The Tenth DoctorRose Tyler

The Tenth Doctor // Rose Tyler

72.1% of decks · synergy 0.70

The Tenth Doctor // Rose Tyler cares deeply about removing the last counter from suspended cards to trigger its adventure mechanic, and Clockspinning is one of the cleanest tools for accelerating that process on demand.

03
Orvar, the All-Form

Orvar, the All-Form

60.6% of decks · synergy 0.57

Clockspinning is a cheap blue instant that targets a permanent, which means casting it triggers Orvar, the All-Form to copy a creature you control — the counter manipulation is almost secondary to the token generation.

04
Gandalf of the Secret Fire

Gandalf of the Secret Fire

42.2% of decks · synergy 0.40

Gandalf of the Secret Fire triggers whenever you cast an instant or sorcery, and Clockspinning's buyback makes it a repeatable trigger source that also meaningfully interacts with any suspend or saga counters on the board.

05
Tom Bombadil

Tom Bombadil

39.3% of decks · synergy 0.38

Tom Bombadil advances sagas by adding lore counters, and Clockspinning can add counters to sagas already in play to fast-forward them to their final chapter — or remove counters to replay earlier chapters if another effect resets them.

Format Analysis

Where it lives, where it can’t

FormatVerdict
commander legal
legacy legal
modern legal
pioneer not legal
standard not legal
vintage legal
pauper legal
oathbreaker legal

Clockspinning sees virtually no play in Legacy, Vintage, or Pauper despite being legal in all three — the effect is too narrow to compete where raw card efficiency is the bar. Commander is where it lives, exclusively in decks built around suspend, proliferate chains, or Orvar, the All-Form trigger abuse. In those shells it pulls well above its weight; outside them it's a near-blank. Oathbreaker follows the same logic: fine in the right planeswalker-counter deck, irrelevant everywhere else.

Key Combos

Combo lines featuring this card

6,926 decks
There and Back AgainClockspinning

There and Back AgainClockspinning

Infinite ETB; Infinite colored mana; Infinite death triggers; Infinite storm count; Infinite magecraft triggers; Infinite Treasure tokens; Put all Mountains from your library onto the battlefield; Infinite LTB

View on Commander Spellbook ↗
3,143 decks
Orvar, the All-FormSpark DoubleClockspinning

Orvar, the All-FormSpark DoubleClockspinning

Infinite copies of permanents you control; Infinite creature tokens; Infinite ETB; Infinite landfall triggers; Infinite magecraft triggers; Infinite mana lands you control can produce; Infinite proliferate; Infinite storm count

View on Commander Spellbook ↗

Price Context

Current price

$0.42 bulk tier

At $0.42, Clockspinning is deep bulk — you're not paying for scarcity, you're paying for a card that only a specific slice of Commander players actually wants. It holds that floor reliably because demand is narrow but real, so don't expect it to move in either direction.

Explore

Sources

Mentioned

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Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.