Darksteel is the name of the second set of the Mirrodin block of sets, also featuring Mirrodin and Fifth Dawn. It was released in February 2004, containing 165 cards. Darksteel continued the themes established in Mirrodin: Artifact cards, equipment and the mechanics that debuted. The expansion symbol for the set is the Shield of Kaldra.

Set history

Darksteel was the first "small" expansion to have 165 cards, where as previous small expansions had 143, (with the exception of Legions which had 145 as a balance between the five colors.)

Mechanics

The following mechanics first appeared in Darksteel:

• Indestructibility - Mechanic that made permanents just that, indestructible. These permanents couldn't be destroyed by "destroy effects" or lethal damage.
• Modular - An ability of artifact creatures, these creatures would come into play with a set number of counters and, upon the destruction of that creature, could transfer them to another artifact creature.

Notable Cards and Tournament Impact

• Skullclamp - An equipment that cost 1 to play and 1 to equip, it gave a creature +1/-1. When the equipped creature died, it's controller would draw two cards. Skullclamp was found to be inherently broken, allowing decks to draw absurd amounts of cards quickly. As a result, this was the first card to be banned in Standard tournaments in four years.
• Arcbound Ravager - 1/1 creature for 2 with Modular and the ability to sacrifice an artifact to add another counter, "Ravager" quickly found a home in Affinity decks, replacing Broodstar as the creature of choice. Because when destroyed it transfered it's counters to another it could almost always deliver massive damage whether by itself or by transfering the counters to an unblocked creature. Arcbound Ravager was banned from Standard tournaments on March 1, 2005.
• Trinisphere - Trinisphere, an artifact that made spells less than 3 cost 3, was restricted in Vintage tournaments on March 1, 2005. While it kept combo decks in check, it also had a nasty interaction with the card "Mishra's Workshop" allowing it to be played first turn. This randomly destroyed players' decks and made the games unfun.
• Darksteel Colossus - An 11/11 Trampling indestructible artifact creature for 11 that when put in a graveyard returns to the library. Darksteel Colossus was a popular target for Tooth and Nail.
• Sword of Fire and Ice - An equipment that grants +2/+2 and protection from red and blue, as well as combat effects. "SoFaI" is often used as a defense against Aggro decks.
• Oxidize - A Green instant that could destroy an artifact without hope of regeneration, Oxidize became a standard "Four-of" during the days of Ravager Affinity.

Other interesting cards:

• Juggernaut - An old favorite among older players, Juggernaut was reprinted after not seeing print for almost 8 years.
• Shield of Kaldra - The second piece of the Kaldra equipment, the Shield made the Sword, Shield and (then yet to be released) Helm of Kaldra, as well as the equipped creature, Indestructible.

External Links

• http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=magic/expansion/darksteel - Official Darksteel Page