Intro
Storm in my Heart by Scarred IV Life

The comprehensive rules for both vanishing and fading, and a closer look at the differences between them.

Special note: Stifle, Trickbind and Voidslime can actually stop vanishers from going away.

Time Spiral Cards with Vanishing
Aven Riftwatcher
Calciderm
Chronozoa (a wacked out Phantom Monster?)
Deadly Grub (part Cocoon, Deadly Insect, and Penumbra)
Deadwood Treefolk
Keldon Marauders
Lavacore Elemental
Reality Acid (the blue Vindicate)
Tidewalker
Waning Wurm (possible use with Sutured Ghoul)

Fading into History
The roots of these abilities may have started with Clockwork Beast, Divine Intervention, Lord of the Pit and Stasis. Magmasaur was likely a huge influence to the creation of vanishing and fading. Cumulative upkeep, echo, phasing and even suspend have similar elements to vanishing and fading.

Fading Cards from the Past
Static fading cards have a basic countdown
Blastoderm
Cloudskate
Parallax Dementia
Rejuvenation Chamber
Rusting Golem
Skyshroud Behemoth
Skyshroud Ridgeback (a Kird Ape wannabe)
Tangle Wire

Adjustable fading cards let you remove counters for more effects
Ancient Hydra
Defender en-Vec
Jolting Merfolk
Parallax Nexus (likely an influence for Nightmares)
Parallax Tide
Parallax Wave (likely the influence for white blink cards)
Phyrexian Prowler
Saproling Burst
Woodripper

There’s also Parallax Inhibitor to alleviate faders.

Using Vanishing and Fading Effectively
Due to their limited lifespan, you have several options here:
1) Play fast and aggressive with cheap and efficient damage or mana production.
2) Use bounce or blink effects - Temporal Adept, Clockspinning, Ghostway, Safe Haven, or Blood Clock are some examples.
3) Use reanimation (normally found in black) - Hell’s Caretaker might be a powerhouse with fading or vanishing.

Here’s some other cards that use time counters:
All Hallow’s Eve
Tourach’s Gate (might be fun with Endrek Sahr, Master Breeder)
Infinite Hourglass
Time Bomb

Stopping Vanishing and Fading
Forget bounce and blink spells, that will only encourage your opponent!
Also, don’t fall into the trap of using AEther Snap, Ferropede, or Spinal Parasite. Use strong, basic tactics instead and try stopping whatever is allowing the opponent to abuse the cards.

Favorite Card with Decklist
Blastoderm/Calciderm

Here’s a Standard-legal deck that uses bounce and blinking to reset your time counters.

Vanishing Act
Lands: (24)
4 Adarkar Wastes
4 Hallowed Fountain
8 Island
8 Plains

Creatures: (16)
4 Calciderm
4 Dust Elemental
4 Sage of Epityr
4 Temporal Adept

Other Spells: (20)
4 Chromatic Star
4 Ghostway
4 Reality Acid
4 Remand
4 Wrath of God

This is a basic control deck, so play defensively until you can clear the way for your finishers. There’s a lot of synergy here, as Dust Elemental or Ghostway can save your side from Wrath of God, and Temporal Adept with Reality Acid is great for all-purpose removal. Sage of Epityr really helps to smooth out your draws, especially when you can use it repeatedly throughout a game.