Mirrodin

For other uses, see Mirrodin (disambiguation).

Template:Expansion Mirrodin is the thirty-first Magic expansion and was released in October 2003 as the first set in the Mirrodin block. The prerelease events for this set were held on September 20-21, 2003.

Set details

Mirrodin is set on the plane of the same name and features a heavy artifact theme and a large quantity of these in set as well as all other colors interacting with the permanent type. The set also introduced a new artifact subtype in Equipment with the accompanying keyword Equip, armor, swords and other utensils which can be attached to a creature to enhance that creature. Unlike Auras, the equipment stays on the battlefield even if the creature is put in the graveyard.

The set and block is also noted for many allusions to famous artifacts and related mechanics from previous blocks, such as Chrome Mox or Clockwork creatures. The set also featured Solemn Simulacrum, Jens Thoren's invitational card.

It is also infamous for an imbalanced power level due to the set not restricting most of its cards to a certain color and the introduction of the Affinity mechanic and Artifact lands which enhanced each other. The set contained many cards which were banned or restricted in all major tournament formats such as Disciple of the Vault, the aforementioned Artifact lands or Thirst for Knowledge and also setting up the sets following it in Mirrodin block which did pretty much the same.

Keywords

• Affinity — A card becomes cheaper by for each permanent of a certain type specified.
• Imprint — This ability found on artifacts allows you to remove a card from the game and "imprint" the attributes of the removed card onto your artifact such as Chrome Mox.
• Entwine — These spells that give you two options, or pay an extra cost and do both such as Tooth and Nail.

Cycles

Mirrodin has 10 Cycles:

• Artifact lands: Ancient Den, Seat of the Synod, Vault of Whispers, Great Furnace and Tree of Tales — Each of these common cards, representing an important location in each of Mirrodin's different regions, counted as both artifacts and lands, and could be tapped for one mana of a given color. Each was illustrated by Rob Alexander. Artifact lands reduced the cost of spells with Affinity, and proved to be so powerful they were eventually banned in Mirrodin block tournaments.
• Entwine spells: Each of these modal common spells has Entwine — Blinding Beam, Dream's Grip, Incite War, Journey of Discovery and Wail of the Nim.
• Golems: Titanium Golem, Cobalt Golem, Pewter Golem, Hematite Golem, and Malachite Golem — Each of these common artifact creatures has a color-specific ability. Each was illustrated by Paolo Parente.
• Mana Myr: Copper Myr, Gold Myr, Iron Myr, Leaden Myr, and Silver Myr — Each of these common myr artifact creatures costs and has a mana ability in which they tap, and which produce a color-appropriate mana. Each represents a zone of Mirrodin corresponding to the color. Each was illustrated by Kev Walker.
• Rare color artifacts: Each of these rare artifacts is tied to one of the five colors. — Leonin Sun Standard, Proteus Staff, Altar of Shadows, Bosh, Iron Golem, and Tangleroot
• Replicas: Each of these common artifact creatures costs and has an ability with the cost of being sacrificed and a certain amount of partialy colored mana, and an effect, which is typical for the mana used. Each of them has a creature type from the tribes of the Onslaught block and was illustrated by Carl Critchlow — Soldier Replica, Wizard Replica, Nim Replica, Goblin Replica and Elf Replica.
• Shards: Crystal Shard, Granite Shard, Heartwood Shard, Pearl Shard, and Skeleton Shard — Each of these uncommon artifacts cost and had an activated ability which cost or one mana of a given color, and which produced a color-appropriate effect. Each represented a piece of another world found by each of Mirrodin's races. Each was illustrated by Doug Chaffee.
• Sliths: Each of these uncommon 1/1 Slith creatures has a mana cost containing two colored mana of the same type and the ability "Whenever this creature deals combat damage to a player, put a +1/+1 counter on it". Each of them was illustrated by Justin Sweet — Slith Ascendant, Slith Strider, Slith Bloodletter, Slith Firewalker and Slith Predator.
• Spellbombs: Each of these common artifacts costs and has two activated abilities which require to sacrifice them. One is the same for each of them: ", sacrifice this: Draw a card.". They were all illustraded by Jim Nelson — Sunbeam Spellbomb, Æther Spellbomb, Necrogen Spellbomb, Pyrite Spellbomb, and Lifespark Spellbomb.
• Talismans: Talisman of Progress, Talisman of Dominance, Talisman of Indulgence, Talisman of Impulse and Talisman of Unity — Each of these uncommon artifacts cost to cast. Each had the same abilities as an allied-color painland. Each was illustrated by Mike Dringenberg.

Notable cards

• Broodstar
• Chrome Mox
• Isochron Scepter
• Mindslaver — Rules had to be added to the Comprehensive Rules for controlling another player's turn thanks to this card.
• Platinum Angel
• Tooth and Nail
• Chalice of the Void

Theme decks

The preconstructed theme decks are: Template:Theme decks

Reprinted cards

The following cards have been reprinted from previous sets and included in Mirrodin.

• Annul — was last seen in Urza's Saga. In Mirrodin (as opposed to Urza's Saga), the focus is reversed, with countering artifacts becoming the primary value, with countering enchantments as a side benefit.
• Arrest — was last seen in Mercadian Masques.
• Atog — was last seen in 5th Edition.
• Bottle Gnomes — was last seen in Tempest.
• Brown Ouphe — was last seen in Ice Age, "interesting interactions in a set full of artifacts. So it was included in the set for play reasons."
• Cathodion — was last seen in Urza's Saga. Bizarre and very much an artifact. He's bigger than any color could get for this cost at that time. Like his predecessor Su-Chi, Cathodion's ability was costed as a drawback for its mana burn danger, but clever mages found ways to turn it into an advantage. A host of new "Sacrifice an artifact:" abilities in the block gave him plenty of new combo potential.
• Chromatic Sphere — was last seen in Invasion.
• Creeping Mold — was last seen in 8th Edition.
• Detonate — was last seen in 5th Edition. A flavorful combination of burn and artifact destruction, Detonate had a new role in Mirrodin block: Destroying artifact lands for just .
• Dragon Blood — was last seen in Urza's Saga. A definite artifact feel and good interaction with Mirrodin block's +1/+1 counter theme made this a good fit.
• Icy Manipulator — was last seen in Ice Age. Along with Chrome Mox and Gilded Lotus, Icy Manipulator provided a "Greatest Artifact Hits of Magic" feel.
• Ornithopter — was last seen in 6th Edition, "basic engineering design that, given enough time and development of a civilization, always gets invented sooner or later."
• Shatter — was last seen in 8th Edition.
• Stalking Stones — was last seen in Tempest.
• Terror — was last seen in Beatdown.
• Triskelion — was last seen in 4th Edition. A classic, powerful artifact creature and a great fit with the +1/+1 counter theme of the block.
• Yotian Soldier — was last seen in 4th Edition.

Functional reprints

Miroddin has four functional reprints:

• Dross Prowler is a functional reprint of Razortooth Rats from Weatherlight, save for creature type.
• Lumengrid Warden is a functional reprint of Straw Soldiers from Portal Three Kingdoms and Talas Merchant from Portal Second Age, save for creature types.
• Neurok Spy is a functional reprint of Bouncing Beebles from Urza's Saga, save for creature type.
• Viridian Shaman is a functional reprint of Uktabi Orangutan from Visions, save for creature type.
• Tel-Jilad Chosen is a near-functional reprint of Argothian Pixies from Antiquities. The former specifically says it has "Protection from Artifacts", the latter has almost full protection but not quite.
• Mass Hysteria is a colorshifted Concordant Crossroads.

External links

• Mirrodin product information page — Wizards of the Coast