Mirrodin

Mirrodin

 

Theme decks

 

Mirrodin
[[File:{{#setmainimage:MRD logo.png}}|250px]]
Set Information
Set symbol
Symbol description	The Sword of Kaldra
Design	Mark Rosewater (lead), Bill Rose, Brian Tinsman, Mike Elliott, Tyler Bielman
Development	Randy Buehler (lead), Brian Schneider, Henry Stern, Elaine Chase, Brandon Bozzi, Brian Tinsman
Art direction	Jeremy Cranford
Release date	October 2, 2003
Plane	Mirrodin
Themes and mechanics	Artifacts, artifact lands, and Equipment
Keywords/​ability words	Affinity (for artifacts), Imprint, Entwine
Set size	306 cards (110 commons, 88 uncommons, 88 rares, 20 basic lands)
Expansion code	MRD
Development codename	Bacon
Mirrodin block
Mirrodin Darksteel Fifth Dawn
Magic: The Gathering Chronology
Eighth Edition Mirrodin Darksteel

This page is about the set. For the plane, see Mirrodin (plane). For other uses, see Mirrodin (disambiguation).

Mirrodin is the first set in the Mirrodin block. It is the thirtieth Magic: The Gathering expansion and was released on October 2, 2003. The prerelease was September 20–21, 2003

Set details

Starting with the Mirrodin block, WotC took 44 cards out of the large expansion and added 22 cards to each of the two small expansions. Mirrodin therefore contained 306 black-bordered cards (88 rares, 88 uncommons, 110 commons, and 20 basic lands), which is 22 rares and 22 uncommons less than Onslaught. Mirrodin features a heavy artifact theme. Its expansion symbol is a small image of Sword of Kaldra, a card from the set. Mirrodin introduced a new artifact subtype in Equipment with the accompanying keyword equip, representing 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 it's attached to dies. The set is also noted for 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. Mirrodin was the first expansion set to feature the new card face which had debuted in Eighth Edition. The high number of artifacts revealed the inherent flaw of the new card frame: they were very hard to distinguish from white cards.

Marketing

Mirrodin was sold in 75-card tournament decks, 15-card boosters, four preconstructed theme decks and a fat pack. The booster packs featured artwork from Mindslaver, Icy Manipulator, Clockwork Dragon, Pentavus, and Worldslayer. The Prerelease card was a foil Sword of Kaldra. This was the first Prerelease promo card to feature alternate art and the first that wasn't a creature. The set was accompanied by a novel by Will McDermott. A */* Demon token with flying for Promise of Power and a 1/1 Pentavite token with flying for Pentavus were offered as Magic Player Reward.

Flavor and storyline

The setting for Mirrodin is a plane by the same name, an artificial world created by the planeswalker Karn, and named after the Mirari by Memnarch. Mirrodin's environments and inhabitants mix organic and metallic. Mirrodin is orbited by four satellites, which are called suns and moons interchangeably, that correspond to red, black, white and blue magic. Green was notably absent. Glissa Sunseeker, the finest hunter and perhaps the most skilled warrior of the elves, begins her story to find out why the monstrous "levelers" seek to destroy her. This search for answers will begin to uncover the mysteries within Mirrodin.

Tournament impact

Mirrodin is 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 synergized with each other. The set contained many cards that were banned or restricted in several competitive formats, such as Disciple of the Vault, the artifact land cycle, and Thirst for Knowledge.

Themes and mechanics

• Artifacts, including artifacts with colored activation costs, artifact lands, and Equipment.
• Affinity — Makes cards cheaper to cast by for each permanent controlled by its caster of a certain type specified (usually artifacts).
• Imprint — This ability found on artifacts like Chrome Mox allows you to exile a card and "imprint" attributes of that card onto the artifact, such as colors or abilities.
• Entwine — Appears on modal spells and represents an extra cost; paying that cost allows you to use both effects instead of only one, such as on Tooth and Nail.
• Equipment — An artifact subtype that has the equip keyword ability. By paying the equip cost, it becomes attached to a creature you control. If that creature leaves the battlefield, the Equipment becomes unattached and remains on the battlefield. Paying the equip cost also allows the Equipment to be moved from one creature to another.

Creature types

Mirrodin introduced the race/class model and the creature type Human. Other introduced types were Drone, Myr, Rogue, Shaman, Slith, and Vedalken in this expansion. The set featured all eight major tribes from the previous Onslaught block.

The following creature types that are not new to Magic are used in this expansion:

• Angel
• Archer
• Atog
• Beast
• Berserker
• Bird
• Cat
• Cleric
• Demon
• Dragon
• Druid
• Elemental
• Elephant
• Elf
• Gnome
• Goblin
• Golem
• Horror
• Imp
• Insect
• Knight
• Ogre
• Ouphe
• Scout
• Shapeshifter
• Skeleton
• Soldier
• Troll
• Wall
• Warrior
• Wizard
• Wurm
• Zombie

Cycles

Mirrodin has 11 cycles:

Cycle name
Artifact lands	Ancient Den	Seat of the Synod	Vault of Whispers	Great Furnace	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 for artifacts and proved to be so powerful they were eventually banned in Mirrodin Block Constructed tournaments. Darksteel would later add a sixth artifact land to this cycle, Darksteel Citadel.
Entwine spells	Blinding Beam	Dream's Grip	Wail of the Nim	Incite War	Journey of Discovery
	Each of these modal common spells has entwine
Golems	Titanium Golem	Cobalt Golem	Pewter Golem	Hematite Golem	Malachite Golem
	Each of these common artifact creatures has a color-specific ability. Each was illustrated by Paolo Parente.
Mana Myr	Gold Myr	Silver Myr	Leaden Myr	Iron Myr	Copper Myr
	Each of these common Myr artifact creatures costs to cast and has an ability in which they produce colored mana. They represent different areas of Mirrodin and the mana they produce is appropriately colored to match their environment. Each is illustrated by Kev Walker.
Rare color artifacts	Leonin Sun Standard	Proteus Staff	Altar of Shadows	Bosh, Iron Golem	Tangleroot
	Each of these rare artifacts is tied to one of the five colors.
Replicas	Soldier Replica	Wizard Replica	Nim Replica	Goblin Replica	Elf Replica
	Each of these common artifact creatures costs and has an ability with the cost of being sacrificed and a certain amount of partially 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. They were each illustrated by Carl Critchlow.
Shards	Pearl Shard	Crystal Shard	Skeleton Shard	Granite Shard	Heartwood Shard
	Each of these uncommon artifacts costs and has an activated ability which costs or one mana of a given color to activate, and produce different color-oriented effects. Each represents a piece of another world found by each of Mirrodin's races. They were each illustrated by Doug Chaffee.
Sliths	Slith Ascendant	Slith Strider	Slith Bloodletter	Slith Firewalker	Slith Predator
	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". They were each illustrated by Justin Sweet.
Spellbombs	Sunbeam Spellbomb	Æther Spellbomb	Necrogen Spellbomb	Pyrite Spellbomb	Lifespark Spellbomb
	Each of these common artifacts costs and has two activated abilities that require to sacrifice them. One is the same for each of them: ", Sacrifice this: Draw a card". They were each illustrated by Jim Nelson.
Cycle name
Talismans	Talisman of Progress	Talisman of Dominance	Talisman of Indulgence	Talisman of Impulse	Talisman of Unity
	Each of these uncommon artifacts costs to cast. Each had the same abilities as an allied color pain land. Each was illustrated by Mike Dringenberg.

Mega cycle

Cycle name
Kaldra Equipment	Sword of Kaldra (Mirrodin)	Shield of Kaldra (Darksteel)	Helm of Kaldra (Fifth Dawn)
	Each expansion symbol in the Mirrodin block represents one of the Kaldra artifacts. Shield of Kaldra, the second card in the cycle, is especially noteworthy for naming the Helm in its card text, despite the Helm not having been printed or revealed at that time. This was the first card and the first cycle to refer to "future cards" in this way.

Mega-mega cycles

Cycle name
Towers	Tower of Eons (Mirrodin)	Tower of Fortunes (Mirrodin)	Tower of Murmurs (Mirrodin)	Tower of Calamities (Scars of Mirrodin)	Tower of Champions (Mirrodin)
	Each of these rare artifacts costs to cast and have an ", :" ability. Each of these artifacts is affiliated with a certain color; green, white, blue, and black, respectively. Scars of Mirrodin would later add a fifth card to this cycle to represent a red affiliation: Tower of Calamities.

Reprinted cards

Mirrodin reprinted 17 cards from previous sets.

• Annul was first printed in Urza's Saga. In Mirrodin its focus reversed, with countering artifacts becoming the primary value, with countering enchantments as a side benefit.
• Arrest was last seen in Mercadian Masques. It changed rarity from uncommon to common. It's the only reprint not to mention artifacts.
• Atog was first printed in Antiquities and last seen in 5th Edition.
• Bottle Gnomes was first printed in Tempest.
• Brown Ouphe was first printed in Ice Age. Its reprinting was because of "interesting interactions in a set full of artifacts."
• Cathodion was first printed in Urza's Saga.
• Chromatic Sphere was first printed in Invasion.
• Creeping Mold was first printed in Visions and last seen in Eighth Edition.
• Detonate was first printed in Antiquities and last seen in 5th Edition. Detonate had a new role in Mirrodin block: destroying artifact lands for just .
• Dragon Blood was first printed in Urza's Saga.
• Icy Manipulator was first printed in Alpha and last seen in Ice Age. Along with Chrome Mox and Gilded Lotus, Icy Manipulator provided a "Greatest Artifact Hits of Magic" feel.
• Ornithopter was first printed in Antiquities and last seen in Aether Revolt
• Shatter was first printed in Alpha and last seen in Eighth Edition.
• Stalking Stones was first printed in Tempest.
• Terror was first printed in Alpha and last seen in Beatdown.
• Triskelion was first printed in Antiquities and last seen in Fourth Edition.
• Yotian Soldier was first printed in Antiquities and last seen in Fourth Edition.

Functional reprints

Mirrodin 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.

Card comparison

Colorshifted

• Mass Hysteria is the colorshifted version of Concordant Crossroads- except that Concordant Crossroads is a World Enchantment - from Legends.
• Rule of Law is the colorshifted version of Arcane Laboratory last seen in Seventh Edition.

Strictly better

• Lumengrid Warden is an upgrade of Vodalian Soldiers, with an additional point of toughness.
• Predator's Strike is an upgrade of Fanatical Fever, granting an additional toughness boost at half the cost.
• Tel-Jilad Chosen is an upgrade of Argothian Pixies from Antiquities. The former specifically says it has "Protection from Artifacts", the latter has almost full protection but not quite.

Notable cards

• Chimney Imp — Arguably one of the worst creatures ever printed.
• Glissa Sunseeker — One of two cards that refer to unspent mana outside of the context of losing mana at the end of phases. The other is the unusual mana rock Doubling Cube.
• Fatespinner — While skipping draw steps turns up as a downside for draw engines, and skipping combat has happened a few times as a pre-emptive Fog, Fatespinner is the only card to skip a main phase.
• Grim Reminder — A curious card that punishes the opponent for playing the same cards as the controller. The only card that reveals a searched card without putting it anywhere else.
• Liar's Pendulum — The first black-bordered card to feature Guess.
• Mindslaver — Rules had to be added to the Comprehensive Rules for controlling another player's turn due to this card's effect.
• Chalice of the Void — A staple of Legacy prison decks.
• Disciple of the Vault — A staple of Standard and Legacy affinity decks; this card rapidly decreases the opponent's life total when used correctly.
• Platinum Angel — It had good synergies with cards like Shield of Kaldra.
• Reiver Demon — Great for mass removal and as a finisher, even if the meta was full of artifacts.
• Sword of Kaldra — The first card of the unusual Kaldra mega cycle spanning Mirrodin block, and the set symbol for Mirrodin.

Preconstructed decks

Mirrodin has two monocolored and two bicolored theme decks.

Theme deck name	Colors Included
Little Bashers	W
Wicked Big					G
Bait and Bludgeon		U	B
Sacrificial Bam			B	R

External links

• Mark Rosewater (March 14, 2023). "Lesson Learned, Part 1". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.