Darksteel Commons Review

by Jeff Zandi

Darksteel puts the hammer down. Mirrodin introduced the Magic world to a set with more artifacts than ever before while reintroducing us to many familiar reprinted cards from virtually every previous Magic set ever printed. Darksteel, the first expansion for Mirrodin, feels much more fresh and imaginative. It’s way too early to know how this set will be received or how many of these new cards will be good for the constructed game. For Sealed Deck and drafting, Darksteel feels like a very solid extension to Mirrodin. This article’s primary focus is on how the cards in the set rate for limted play. This article is further focused on the commons in the new set. In limited play, commons have a larger effect on the average match because there are so many more of them available to the sealed deck or draft player. Helping me out with my first look at Darksteel is none other than the very talented Neil Reeves. Neil has a great eye for all limited formats, and he helped me review the fifty-five commons found in Darksteel. Acting as head judge at last Saturday’s Darksteel pre-release in Dallas as well as drafting with Darksteel a half dozen times has given me a chance to get closer to these cards than some others might.

Reeves reviewed the commons separately in each color (and artifacts of course). Further, he reviewed the colors themselves. I am listing the reviews starting with black, the color that we feel contains the most good commons. In each color, we developed three tiers to describe the cards’ desirability for limited play. The top tier includes cards that should ALWAYS be included in your draft or sealed deck. The middle tier includes cards that WILL USUALLY be included in your decks and the bottom tier includes cards that SHOULD NOT be included in your draft or sealed decks very often if at all. I listed the cards in each color best card first and worst card last.

Black has four very good commons, one middle tier very playable card and two commons you really want to avoid.

Echoing Decay is a black instant for 1B that gives target creature and all other creatures with the same name as that creature -2/-2 until end of turn. This is black’s best common and can solve problems that Mirrodin’s Terror cannot. This is probably the second best “echoing” card after the red one.

Chittering Rats is a 2/2 Rat for 1BB that requires target opponent to put a card from their hand on top of their library when he comes into play. This card has a lot more to offer than perhaps the cutest card art in the set. This card puts your opponent a turn behind the moment you play it. (as long as your opponent has a card in their hand when the rat’s ability resolves) Considering that only one or two players at an eight man draft table will take black cards, you could easily have two or three of these in your deck, giving your opponent a difficult time keeping up. In blue/black, a popular draft archetype in Mirrodin already, this card combos BIG TIME with Crystal Shard.

Essence Drain is a sorcery for 4B that deals three damage to target player or creature and gains you three life. This is a splashable version of Drain Life that can destroy a wide array of creatures as well as providing finishing damage to an opponent.

Grimclaw Bats is a 1/1 Bat with flying for 1B that gains +1/+1 until end of turn for the cost of one black and one life. This is an extremely good creature that will fit into any deck playing black, but will be best in decks playing a lot of black mana. This card is better than the BEST card in several other colors. Even if it’s a little painful, pumping this guy up can be a lot like having additional removal in your deck when he’s blocked or blocking a larger creature.

Scavenging Scarab is a 3/3 Insect for 3B that cannot block. This is a good sized creature for a good mana cost in a format where big creatures for reasonable mana costs are hard to find. This card represents the beginning and the end of the second tier of black cards.

Burden of Greed is an instant for 3B that causes target player to lose one life for each tapped artifact he or she controls. To be remotely playable, this card would have to look at all artifacts an opponent controls, not just tapped ones. Instant speed is the only thing that makes you think this card would ever be worth a try.

Hunger of the Nim is a sorcery for 1B that gives target creature +1/+0 until end of turn for each artifact you control. I thought this card would be okay if it had been an instant, but Neil assures me it would still be very bad.

Red has two very good commons. It’s quite a drop to the two playable commons and another drop to the three worst red commons.

Barbed Lightning is an instant for 2R that deals three damage to target creature or player. By adding the Entwine cost of two colorless, Barbed Lightning will do three damage to both.  Everything about this card is good for limited. This card gives you efficient, quick removal early in the game with the ability to add extra damage to your opponent other times.

Echoing Ruin is a sorcery for 1R that destroys target artifact and all other artifacts with the same name as that artifact. This would be a great card in this format even without the “echoing” effect, just because artifact removal is that important. This card is the best of the five common “echoing” cards because it targets the type of permanent most likely to appear in multiples in players decks. Imagine, your opponent plays Seat of Synod on turn one and turn two while you, playing second, play a land on turn one, then play a Mountain for your second turn and just decide to destroy both your opponent’s land with Echoing Ruin. Or two Myr. You get the picture. Just be sure to remember that it destroys ALL artifacts with the same name, even if they are on YOUR side of the board.

Unforge is an instant for 2R that destroys target equipment, and, if the equipment was attached to a creature, two damage to that creature. This card is probably superior to green’s Turn to Dust from Mirrodin. With this card, you have effective equipment removal and the opportunity to gain a two for one card advantage sometimes. The judge in me wants you to know that the equipment, and any effect it might have had on the equipped creature’s toughness, will be destroyed BEFORE the damage from this spell is applied. Therefore, a 3/3 creature that had been attached to Skullclamp (and it’s +1/-1 effect) will not be destroyed by Unforge. The creature will “snap back” to its original three toughness before Unforge deals two damage to it.

Krark-Clan Stoker is a 2/2 Goblin Shaman for 2R. You can tap the Stoker and sacrifice an artifact to add two red mana to your mana pool. This creature’s ability doesn’t matter, he is playable only as a Bear of Last Resort to add a creature to your deck.

Drooling Ogre is a 3/3 Ogre for 1R. When a player plays an artifact spell, he gains control of this clumsy creature. Reeves says this guy is simply unplayable, even if you have TONS of artifacts in your deck. The risk of your opponent bashing you with your own card is too risky. This just in, everyone is playing a lot of artifacts in their limited decks. The number of times that this card will be bad will outnumber the times that this card will be good.

Inflame is an instant for one red mana that deals two damage to each creature dealt damage this turn. This card, reprinted from Prophesy, COULD be good if you have a bunch of Spikeshot Goblins or Viridian Longbows in your deck, but is far too situational to be good.

Crazed Goblin is a 1/1 Goblin Warrior for one red mana that must attack each turn if able. It takes hard work to mess up a Goblin, but Wizards succeeded with this one. The name isn’t even right. This card should be called Normal Goblin or, more likely, Crappy Goblin.

Green has no middle tier. The first four green cards are good enough to be played in most green limited decks, the last three are not worth playing any of the time.

Tel-Jilad Outrider is a 3/1 Elf Warrior for 3G that has protection from artifacts. Protection from artifacts eliminates a lot of the problems associated with creatures in this format with one toughness.

Echoing Courage is an instant for 1G that gives target creature and all other creatures in play with the same name as target creature +2/+2 until end of turn. This card’s “echoing” effect probably will not matter much. However, since booster drafts now include Darksteel instead of a third pack of Mirrodin, your green decks will still need this giant growth effect, even though it is clearly inferior to Predator’s Strike and maybe no better than Battlegrowth.

Tangle Spider is a 3/ 4 Spider that can block flying creatures AND can be played as an instant. Frankly, being able to play this card as an instant will only be a fun late game trick once in awhile. (although it will be seriously good when the surprise factor costs your opponent a good creature) Mostly, this is just a good flyer blocker that, while not as good as Tel-Jilad Archers, is still perfectly playable.

Tel-Jilad Wolf is a 2/2 Wolf for 2G that gains +3/+3 until end of turn if it is blocked by an artifact creature. Early in the game, this creature’s special ability could really help you get through damage. Most of the time, this is just another bear.

Reap and Sow is a sorcery for 3G that can destroy a target land or search your library for a land card and put that land card into play (ANY land card, in play UNTAPPED). You can get both effects by adding the Entwine cost of 1G to the casting cost. If the search ability cost three instead of four, this card would be acceptable for green decks splashing a third color. I think this card would be a very costly and bad substitute for a mana source in your deck, and after trying it a few times, we don’t recommend it.

Viridian Acolyte is a 1/1 Elf Shaman for one green mana that, when you pay a colorless mana and tap it, produces one mana of any color. This type of color-smoothing ability is not important enough in the current limited formats to make this guy worthwhile.

Nourish is an instant for GG that gains you six life. Six is a lot, but not enough to give one of your precious card slots to a life gainer. This card is meant to combo with artifact effects that give you some interesting options when you gain life. These combos aren’t good enough to merit the use of this card in all but the most desperate times.

Blue features three good cards that should be played often and two cards each for the middle and lower tiers. The second and third cards listed could swap places if you are playing a strong Affinity strategy.

Neurok Prodigy is a 2/1 Human Wizard with flying for 2U that can be returned to your hand with the discard of an artifact. While a two power flyer for three mana is very good in the current limited formats, I thought the Prodigy’s special ability was a little too narrow. After playing with this card, I know it’s good. I wouldn’t want to use his ability simply to protect this little guy in combat, but when your opponent is forced to use a precious removal spell to try to destroy the Prodigy, it feels really good to lose instead an artifact land or other unnecessary artifact from your hand.

Echoing Truth is an instant for 1U that returns target non-land permanent and all others with the same name to their owner’s hands. This card’s “echoing” effect is not likely to be particularly useful very often. This card does provide needed bounce to blue decks more efficiently than Repress, and with a greater potential upside.

Quicksilver Behemoth is a 4/5 Beast for 6U with Affinity for Artifacts that returns to its owner’s hand at the end of combat whenever it attacks or blocks. This card will be fine as long as your deck has some level of artifact affinity, but will be a great card for decks with high levels of artifact affinity. This creature is huge enough that you have to give him a shot.

Machinate is an instant for 1UU that lets you look at the top X cards of your library where X is the number of artifacts you control. Like the all-star Impulse, you then put one of those cards into your hand and return the others to the bottom of your deck in any order. This card COULD be good in constructed, and will be plenty useful in limited decks that play a lot of blue mana.

Vedalken Engineer is a 1/1 Vedalken Artificer that taps to add two of any color mana that must be spent to play artifact spells or activated abilities of artifacts. This card is almost too good to be true, a two casting cost creature tapping to create two mana of any color. The restriction of how this mana must be used is not a big problem for blue decks taking advantage of artifact affinity.

Vex is an instant for 2U that counters target spell and allows the countered spell’s controller to draw a card. This card COULD be good from the sideboard for an opponent’s late game bomb that you have no other way to deal with. In general, though, Vex is card disadvantage for you.

Magnetic Flux is an instant for 2U that gives artifact creatures you control flying until end of turn. This could have been a decent (but not great) game ending effect if it gave all your creatures flying instead of only your artifacts. Don’t be fooled, though, this card is strictly unplayable.

White has two tier one commons, one tier two card and four lower tier cards. As good as the white commons are in Mirrodin, the white Darksteel commons are a HUGE step down in power andusefulness.

 

Auriok Glaivemaster is a 1/1 Human Soldier for one white mana that gains +1/+1 and first strike when equipped. This card slides comfortably into white limited decks with Leonin Den-Guard and Skyhunter Cubs.

Pteron Ghost is a 1/1 Spirit with flying for 1W that you can sacrifice to regenerate target artifact. Lately, I’ve been learning to like Welding Jar for certain decks in order to help protect certain artifacts in my decks. Pteron Ghost lets you feel less guilty, replacing any need for Welding Jar in white decks with a 1/1 flyer. Good but not great.

Loxodon Mystic is a 3/3 Elephant Cleric for 3WW that, for one white mana, taps to tap target creature. This is a good but not great hill giant that acts like an Icy Manipulator for creatures. This elephant cleric’s high casting cost is the main reason you won’t see these in the better players’ decks. Obviously the special ability is very good.

Ritual of Restoration is a sorcery for one white mana that returns target artifact card from your graveyard to your hand. A white Raise Dead for artifacts, Ritual of Restoration is the kind of card that is a luxury most limited decks can’t afford to waste a card slot for. Raise Dead itself is far from a tier one card in the limited formats in which it appears.

Metal Fatique is an instant for 2W that taps all artifacts. Attack with your artifact creatures, then tap all of your opponent’s creatures before they can be declared as blockers. Or cast during your opponent’s end step to tap all of his artifact creatures before you attack on your next turn. This card could come in from the sideboard against decks primarily populated with artifact creatures, but it’s a risky proposition to include this card in your deck at any time.

Hallow is an instant for one white mana that prevents all damage that TARGET SPELL would deal this turn, you gain life equal to the damage prevented this way. It’s like a Reverse Damage that only works for a small handful of cards in the format. Leave this card alone and look for cards with elephants on them.

Echoing Calm is an instant for 1W that destroys target enchantment and all other enchantments with the same name. Yeah, that’ll happen a lot. This card’s “echoing” effect is VERY UNLIKELY to make a difference. A bad sideboard card AT BEST.

Land has a single common representative in Darksteel.

Darksteel Citadel is an artifact land that taps for one colorless mana and is Indestructible. This card is slightly better for affinity decks than off color Mirrodin artifact lands thanks to its Indestructible nature.

The common Darksteel artifacts include five Golems that are almost colored cards. They all have affinity for a basic land type. Reeves says he will ALWAYS play any number of these that he can get in the colors that he is playing (not including third color splashes). Reeves says that if you are not playing mana that could make the Golems’ affinity matter, you should NEVER play that Golem.

Razor Golem costs six for a 3/ 4 Golem that does not tap to attack and has affinity for Plains. Reeves believes this is the best by far of this set of Golems.

Spire Golem costs six mana, has affinity for Islands and is flying 2/4 Golem. I thought I would like this card even in decks without Islands in a similar way I like Wizard Replica in any colored deck simply as a flyer. I have since decided that I agree with Neil, that even this Golem is just not worth playing unless you have Islands in your deck.

Tangle Golem is a 5/4 Golem for seven mana that has affinity for Forests. Reeves likes this card only because it fits well into the kinds of decks that use a lot of Forests.

Dross Golem is a 3/2 Golem for five mana with affinity for Swamps and has fear. If this creature had a higher power and toughness, its fear ability could have been more relevant. Decks with heavy black mana bases should include this creature simply for its affinity cost.

Oxidda Golem is a 3/2 Golem with haste and affinity for Mountains. This creature CAN be played on turn three with three Mountains in play. Most decks use red as a secondary color, however, making the use of a lot of Mountains less than optimal.

The rest of the common artifacts are divided among four tiers with only one card in the highest must-play tier, six cards in a highly-playable second tier, four cards in a less-desirable third tier and three wholly unplayable cards in the lowest tier.

Vulshok Morningstar is an equipment card with a casting cost and equip cost of two colorless mana. Equipped creature gains +2/+2. This card is an elegant, much more powerful alternative to Leonin Scimitar and a fair alternative to the highly praised Bonesplitter.

Darksteel Ingot is an artifact for three colorless that is Indestructible and taps to add one mana of any color to your mana pool. This card is a clear step up from Viridian Joiner and may ultimately be almost as good as Mirrodin’s Talismans for all but the fastest decks.

Whispersilk Cloak is an equipment artifact that costs three to cast and two to equip. Equipped creature is unblockable and cannot be the target of spells or abilities. This card is an improvement, in many decks, to Hoversail. This card can provide protection to a creature like a poor man’s Lightning Greaves. Reeves still prefers Hoversail to this card. I feel the casting cost of three versus Hoversail’s one will not cause a problem more often than not.

Leonin Bola is a equipment artifact that casts and equips for one colorless mana. Equipped creature gains the ability to tap and unattach this equipment to tap target creature. With this COMMON equipment, you can turn any creature into a virtual Icy Manipulator. We just haven’t been able to tell in the short time since the prerelease if this card is a real difference maker.

Arcbound Hybrid is an artifact creature for four colorless mana with haste that has Modular 2, which means this 0/0 creature comes into play with two +1/+1 counters that can be moved to a target artifact creature when the Hybrid is put into a graveyard from play. Haste makes this card very worthwhile. When it dies, the worst case is normally +1/+1 counters on one of your Myr after the Arcbound Hybrid is destroyed.

Arcbound Bruiser is a 0/0 artifact creature for five mana with Modular 3.

Arcbound Worker is a 0/0 artifact creature for one mana with Modular 1. Considering how expensive they made the Modular 3 Arcbound Bruiser, it’s amazing that we have a Modular 1 creature for a one mana casting cost. This is a much better early game card than many of the lesser artifact creatures from Mirrodin, even including Alpha Myr.

Arcbound Stinger is a 0/0 flying artifact creature for two mana with Modular 1. A flying 1/1 creature for just two colorless mana makes for a very efficient flyer, especially good in decks with lots of cheap equipment.

Arcane Spyglass is an artifact for four mana that, for two mana and the sacrifice of a land, draws a card and puts a charge counter on itself. You can remove three charge counters from the Spyglass to draw a card. I first thought this card drawing engine would be too expensive both in its casting cost and its activation cost. Neil proved me wrong again. In a game where he was actually slow drawing mana, he used the Spyglass to churn through land clumps in his deck later in the game.

Drill-Skimmer is a 2/1 flying artifact creature that cannot be the target of spells or abilities as long as you control another artifact creature. This creature’s high casting cost of four colorless is the main reason to avoid it. It’s ability and its power level are good enough, if only the casting cost could have been three instead of four.

Darksteel Pendant is an Indestructible artifact for two mana that taps for one mana to look at the top card of your library after which you may put the card on the bottom of your library. I liked this card and played with it in my first Darksteel draft. There’s nothing particularly bad about this card, but it is a luxury item that won’t be good enough to fit in very many decks.

Ur-Golem’s Eye is an artifact for four mana that taps to add two colorless mana to your mana pool. A little two slow, even in decks with high casting cost cards.

Myr Moonvessel is a 1/1 Myr that adds one colorless mana to your mana pool whenever he is put in a graveyard from play.

Myr Landshaper is a 1/1 Myr for three colorless mana that taps to turn target land into an artifact until end of turn. Not at all interesting.

After experiencing Darksteel in a few booster drafts, my opinion is that Darksteel is frankly weaker than a third pack of Mirrodin. Mirrodin has made for a very thoughtful and competitive limited formats. Darksteel makes a fine addition to Mirrodin in this regard and is very interesting to play with.

Jeff Zandi

Texas Guildmages

Level II DCI Judge

jeffzandi@thoughtcastle.com

Zanman on Magic Online