Iain suggested at the end of our last article that a bad color gets a little better in Darksteel. That's a gigantic understatement - Mirrodin had less Black than Howard Dean's Vermont administration. It's almost as if they were too busy making jokes about how Razortooth Rats would suck and Terror would be marginalized if they put them into Mirrodin. Then someone invented a species of X/1s, and there wasn't any space for anything else besides Drain Life. Darksteel's Black actually looks normal - there's a Phyrexian Rager variant, a few other solid common creatures, and more good removal spells. Black also has what I consider to be the second best card in the set so far, not really touching Skullclamp, but it should be another of those very famous Uncommon bombs.

Red gets much, much more removal, and is still excellent, but it's hard to see any real quality creatures near approaching the level of Spikeshot Goblin (with the notable exception of Vulshok War Boar). As such, it feels like Black and Red are making something of a role reversal - Red is powerful, but thinner than it was in Mirrodin - it's more tempting to splash, while to get the most from Black you're going to go further than just splashing (a trait that was common in Mirrodin).

Aether Snap
Nathan - This is clearly only a sideboard card for very strange circumstances (against multiple Clockwork Creatures?), and too unwieldy to be a good sideboard card anyway.

Iain - I don't know how marginal this is. To be fine, it needs to kill at least one creature. To be a bomb, it needs to kill two or three. If you consider that it kills tokens produced by Pulse of the Tangle and One Dozen Eyes, along with soldier tokens, clockwork creatures, arcbound creatures and weakens a broad number of cards from Banshee's Blade to Talon of Pain. That's not"good," since your opponent might not meet the conditions where this is good, or inversely it might weaken you more, but it is a card worth considering in your sideboard.

Burden of Greed
Nathan - You can't rely on your opponent having any tapped artifacts at all. The best artifacts, for example, Equipment, don't tap at all. The only artifacts that tap on a regular basis are artifact creatures, and the shards (including Icy Manipulator), and using Burden of Greed requires that they're attacking you. Lava Axe isn't even always a very playable card - it's only a finisher - and a finisher that requires your opponent to be on the offensive is useless.

Iain - Did you know that bad players love Lava Axe, since they don't pass the Rosewater test? I should write about that Rosewater theory some time, but regardless - the card's potential is inherently set up within your opponent's deck, an effect you can not control until game 2 or 3, when you have seen his deck in action. Even in Rochester draft, you're not going to know how many artifact creatures and lands your opponent ends up playing - most other artifacts don't trigger the Burden, since it reads tapped artifacts.

In other words, it's not a very good card. Oh, I'm sure it will win someone a game somewhere. And it can be brought in against Affinity decks.

Chittering Rats
Nathan - In a format where castable non-artifact creatures of any size can be valuable, this is a"cantrip" creature more efficient than it has any right to be. Costing your opponent a draw step is at least on par with drawing a card yourself, unless you're in a tight spot already. On turn 3, with 1BB available, you seem to be doing fine, and if you can mana-screw or spell-deny an opponent while playing the board, you should have the early game won. It's even good in the late game, especially during a topdecking war where your opponent is bluffing a basic land.

Iain - I've heard tales of players dropping two of these back to back on turn 3 and 4, denying their opponent the land's they were hoping to draw and pushing back their tempo a ridiculous amount. A lot of players dismiss Repel-style effects, because they don't deal with the permanent, but let's be honest - this one is good. Obviously the power of Viridian Shaman and Man-O-War had a lot to do with removing a permanent from the table, but that this card can even be compared to those makes it stand to reason that it's pretty good.

Death Cloud
Nathan - Barter in Blood is admittedly easier to prepare for, since it can be played turn 4 as a two-for-one, since it isn't vital to put up a defense on the first two turns. Death Cloud kills just everything, though, and is a bomb effect even if it's not clear how to set up the symmetry. If you get it in your opening hand, I would suggest committing creatures to the board (you can't save them in your hand), and trying to set it up so that everything is gone except your one or two best creatures. If your opponent has more creatures, you may have to settle for a board reset, but a card that keeps you from losing is just as bombastic as a card that can win the game. Death Cloud should always do one of the two, and has got to be a first pick in any deck that can support the CC.

Iain - I'm not sure I'm quite as optimistic as Nathan is about this here card. It doesn't seem like much of a bomb to me, simply because it's three mana and then X, which can be quite costly. If cast for three mana, it's very hard for it to coax out any card advantage. In a deck that was heavier on creatures than average (especially the cheap sort) I would rate it higher, but given how Black seems to operate, I don't think I like this too much.

But hey, I hate Barter in Blood and find it utterly unplayable. C'est la vie, mes ami.

Echoing Decay
Nathan - Instant Weakness effects are rare, probably because they are too good for Limited. Since this block has virtually no enchantments, and it's lame to make Weakness a sorcery (why not then just -0/-X?), Black gets this unexpected boost. This is as good as a Giant Growth effect in combat, so don't look at it as simply removal for small creatures. Though it's excellent for removing a Neurok Spy or Somber Hoverguard, it can also take out a Fangren Hunter in combat. Since most creatures larger than X/2 are ground pounders, and easy to get into a fight, you should be able to take out almost anything one way or another. The echo shouldn't come into play very often, but should be a nice surprise against One Dozen Eyes or even Nuisance Engine.

Iain - This is obviously really, really good. I'm not going to disagree with Nathan at all here.

Emissary of Despair
Nathan - This is basically a Nim Shrieker that plays off your opponent's artifacts instead of your own. Even with no artifacts, it's a 2/x flyer for three, which is pretty excellent. Notice how a lot of the better Black spells in Darksteel have more Black in the casting cost, which should help to make it a better color to go deep into, instead of the old"Splash for Terror and Betrayal" in MMM.

Iain - I think he's not giving this card it's due. He says it's"pretty excellent." Well, while it will generally come out at the same time as Nim Shrieker, it requires no artifact-heavy draw to be good - your opponent is generally going to have two or more artifacts out by turn 4, which is when this one is going to first hit.

That's a four power flier for three mana, and it's only going to get harder to deal with as the game goes on. I think it's much stronger than Shrieker, if a little less splashable. Occasionally this thing is going to be an absolute game-ending bomb, as well.

Essence Drain
Nathan - This is pretty good burn, but difficult to get a big advantage from since it's a Sorcery and there's no Flashback. A one-shot effect of three life isn't a huge tempo swing in a format where the winner is often decided by a Equipped monstrosity instead of a swarm of weenies. I don't know how important this will be, but it is burn, and has to be played.

Iain - The card reminds me of Solar Blast. It's a little weaker when striking down men (since it's not an instant and a bit pricier), but the men in this format are a bit pricier and a little smaller than Onslaught block, so we remain at parity. It's not the best piece of removal you could ever ask for, but decent enough. The life gain helps regain tempo you might have lost in the early game, and justifies the extra mana tacked on the casting cost. You'll always have a target for this thing.

Greater Harvester
Nathan - The casting cost might as well be six for all but heavy Black decks, and this is too late for something that does not want to be chump blocked. You'll be trading your worst creature for theirs for a while, which is a stalemate which should be decided by another card. Possibly good in a deck with some Arcbounds, since it minimizes the drawback and creates two"must block" creatures very fast, but I can't see this card living up to its potential without some evasion help. Shouldn't go early, but it's too large to pass up before mid pack.

Iain - You don't really mind it being chump blocked, though. True, it's going to use up resources at the same pace as it's using up your opponent's, but he really must chump block it - a player can only take so many"sack two permanents" hits before his development is far too slowed down to win. It's about a midpick, as Nathan said, but moves up in decks that feature cards like Whispersilk Cloak or Neurok Hoversail, both of which are generally going to be valued highly in Black decks. Unlike a Nim Lasher though, if the artifact making it hard to block is removed, the Harvester isn't going to die in some flimsy chump block.

Grimclaw Bats
Nathan - If you have the mana, it's a flying Wall of Blood that doubles as a mini-Hatred engine. If you're on the offensive, Bats should end things quickly. If you're on defense, he's kind of a No Mercy, since you still lose life, but the attacker shouldn't survive. The Bats is an excellent, versatile card that shouldn't just be judged by its situational (but substantial) offensive power.

Iain - Definitely a solid little beater. Shades are notoriously good in Limited, and while the life loss makes him somewhat weaker, he's still a very aggressive man. I don't know if I'd really want to see him in a game where I'm on the defensive, but I suppose there he'll just knock out something I'd need dead anyway.

It's important to note that the threat of activation often makes Shades stronger than they appear on paper. You won't have to pay the life for all the times the ability"works for you," if you catch my drift.

Hunger of the Nim
Nathan- Yes, it's a Fists of the Anvil, but don't overlook that this can end games way too early in a suicide artifact deck. That deck exists, and will probably want this sometimes, but this kind of effect is never very good, since it's a loss of a card except in specific situations.

Iain - Horrible. Fists of the Anvil's dumbass little brother. Get it away from me.

Mephitic Ooze
Nathan - I like this, since even if you only have one artifact, this is a very daunting wall. With a few more, it's a beast that can go one on one with almost any other creature, and is difficult to gang block, since your opponent has no chance of coming out ahead. Pick it first if you're Black and have even a few artifacts - you have no right getting something this large. It's a Nim with toughness, for Pete's sake, and it becomes even more incredible with Nim Equipment like Hoversail or even Slagwurm Armor.

Iain - It's a lot like a Broodstar with Black theme'd abilities. It's true that it's toughness doesn't rise, but it's also never lower than five, and the card is always going to come out on turn 5 - something that Broodstar has been known not to do. A very solid card and one Black's best Limited rares - like Nathan said, it gets really ridiculous with the"Nim Equipment."

Murderous Spoils
Nathan - There isn't a card in Darksteel I would take over Murderous Spoils if I'm already in Black - the only card that even comes close is Skullclamp. This is obviously better than Betrayal of Flesh, since without a nice-sized creature in the yard, you wouldn't want to Entwine it anyway, and hitting non-Blacks is not a terrible drawback when Black creatures only make up 1/10th of all creatures, instead of 1/5th.

This is always solid removal, and when your opponent has any Equipment at all, it's at least a three-for-one. Not any three for one, but you are trading one measly card for destroying your (1) opponent's best creature and (2) best Equipment, and then (3) putting your opponent's best Equipment into play under your control. I'd suggest drafting this and splashing it even over the bombiest rare in your color, since this card can bring wins out of nowhere like no other card in the set can (and there aren't too many good bombs in Darksteel anyway).

Iain - It's not going to hit your opponent's best creature and best Equipment all of the time, since the best creature may not be interested in the quote unquote"best Equipment." Don't get too hyped up over it, as there's way around its abilities. That being said, when it does work, it will crack the game right open and put it totally in your favor. It will gain you tempo. It will kill men. It will win games you have no business winning.

Nim Abomination
Nathan - You lose three life right off the bat, so it's like a Serpent Warrior that then has to attack every turn in exchange for one toughness. Probably not worth it for most decks, but it's worth considering, since Serpent Warrior would be pretty good in Mirrodin where he doesn't have much Hill Giant competition. This is very solid on turn 3, but I hate cards like this which become awful top decks late. Very aggressive decks shouldn't mind, though.

Iain - How good is Serpent Warrior? How much worse does she get, when your opponent using a simple Arrest makes you cringe? Or when your opponent playing down a Fangren Hunter makes her have to throw herself into the fat just go die? A lot worse. Sure, it's big for the format and its drawback doesn't come into play if you're swinging, yet somehow I don't really want this in my deck. I know I'll end up playing it, and it still manages to work really nicely with other"Nim Equipment" and other Nim, as well. It can be sacked quite pleasantly to Nim Shambler if it becomes a problem.

Pulse of the Dross
Nathan - I thought Blackmail was an underrated card for Limited, since it was very easy to take away your opponent's best late game spell. This is only sometimes better than Blackmail, and often much worse, since it is more difficult to cast. I'd only really want to see it when I know my opponent is packing something like Pentavus, so it'll probably be a sideboard Rare that only gets maindecked in decks that know how to empty their hand.

Iain - I think I'd maindeck this in Black / Red aggro decks that drop their hand early on and may not have as much to do in the late game as other decks, but it's not a high pick in any other archetype. Keep in mind that if you have this in your hand and another card, and your opponent has three cards, it pulses back to pick at his hand again. That's decent. It just needs to be in a deck that empties it's hand rapidly.

Scavenging Scarab
Nathan - Hill Giants in Mirrodin are of monstrous size, so it's notable that Black gets one in the Common slot, even if it comes with a major drawback. An attacker with this body is not easy to handle for non-Green decks on turn 5, so I think it's better than it looks. The drawback forces you to sometimes attack it just to get double blocked and trade with a worse creature, but that's really not so bad, since Scarab is not a high pick card and it's easy to cast.

The only problem I can see is that it really doesn't fit with Black's creatures from Mirrodin, who are aiming for a 6/1 Nim Shrieker or a 7/1 Nim Lasher, and sometimes don't have any use for a small attacker that can't hold the turf while a flyer is beating. I think this is mostly solid for a vanilla creature with a drawback, and means that one of Black's"bad" commons can actually get played, rather than leaving an empty slot in the set.

Iain - Well, it should be able to come out consistently on turn 3 due to Black decks yearning for Myr, and it's not so awful with the Nim Equipment. We should probably add Whispersilk Cloak to the list as well, shouldn't we? It's not great, but for common men, your deck could do a lot worse. It's better than running an off color replica.

Screams from Within
Nathan - When I first read this card, I thought it returned to your hand, which would make it way too slow but still pretty good removal for Myr and weenies, and not a terrible enchantment to place on a threat. Since it comes into play directly, it's a Simoon with major benefits - it re-Wraths your opponents 1/1s in regular intervals and rests on one of his threats (really good on Spikeshot Goblin), and unless your opponent can somehow keep this weakened creature alive later, it'll do it again. In some ways, it's very much like Goblin Sharpshooter, and when combines with other pingers can keep this one rolling even for bigger threats. This is one of Black's only ping effects, and a very good one.

Iain - It's pretty damn good, really, especially in multiples or with other cards that offer small pings. With Longbow it will allow you to massacre your opponent's men up to three toughness very easily, and beyond that it will impair one of your opponent's better men, should you run out of stuff to kill. Pretty nifty.

Scrounge
Nathan - There is no appreciable benefit to running this card, and even if there was it could be foiled by a Krark-Clan Grunt saccing an irrelevant artifact land and handing it to you.

Iain - This card is so laughably bad and I know I'm going to see bad players - well, players worse than me, heh - running it. [There are worse players than you? - Knut, one of the few] It's not a bad sideboard card versus decks with low artifact counts, but generally you're not going to get much out of it. Against a heavy Green deck, you might manage to steal a Tangle Golem or something, though, so I shouldn't laugh at it too much.

Shriveling Rot
Nathan - You're obviously supposed to use this with pingers, but Longbow is so difficult to move that you're likely only going to be able to get one shot off. So it's a 2BB card that, if you have the other piece of the combo out, will destroy a creature. The other side of the card is only good for going straight to the head, not even reliably, and isn't worth much consideration. To reiterate - the only ways to use this are in combos, most of which will net you a dead creature if you're lucky.

Iain - I keep reading this card and half the time I do, it says"this card doesn't do anything." Occasionally you'll be able to trade two smaller men with two attackers, or Spikeshot can down a Bosh, Iron Golem, but generally it should be kept in mind that it works for your opponent as well.

Barbed Lightning
Nathan - Outstanding Burn. Carbonize was outstanding too, but this is a common. Don't worry too much about entwining it early - three damage to your opponent's head early on isn't likely to make as much of a difference as waiting two extra turns to remove a problem. Later on it's a very nice bonus, though. This is Red 's best common in Darksteel.

Iain - I'd disagree, because I think I'd rather have Echoing Ruin, but generally, this is definitely damn good. It's very close to Constructed-worthy and probably will see play if the format shifts a little, but either way, it's a very solid card and one of Red 's best in the set.

Crazed Goblin
Nathan - As far as I can tell, this is the only 1/1 for 1 with a strict drawback every printed. Myr Moonvessel is tempting, but it doesn't count since it's sometimes an advantage. If you count Myr Moonvessel, then you have to count Electric Eel, since it has a strict drawback if you don't have access to Red mana. Wizards obviously printed this to make a point, but I think the point that 1/1s for one should have interesting abilities is more important than the point that we don't have to worry about Goblins anymore.

Iain - Eager Cadet costs white mana to play. That's a drawback.

[I look at Crazed Goblin and I see an apology to everyone who hated Goblins in Onslaught Block, and a pissed off Mons Johnson. - Knut]

Dismantle
Nathan - Without the counter ability it would be still very good, so the question is how relevant the counter ability will be. There should be a number of Arcbound and Clockwork creatures around, but it's a question as to how many rounds your opponents will have them. Destroying Sun Droplet with Dismantle is a major victory, and should mean the game. Also consider that Dismantling your own Arcbound gives you double the counters. Since this has the potential to be game winning, and when it's not game winning it's just one more than normal but still excellent removal, I think you definitely pick this over Echoing Ruin.

Iain - I would rate this card was one of the best in the set if it was an instant, but the simple point is it's something like a two-for-one that has some requirements that need to be met. It's going to be a simple piece of artifact removal in a format that adores those much of the time, and then occasionally let you get away with some ridiculousness. Blowing up a Clockwork Condor on turn 4 results in a 4/4 myr on your side of the board, which is the least this card can manage. Blow up a Clockwork Dragon and make a 7/8 Yotian Soldier? Now we're talking!

Drooling Ogre
Nathan - Even if you played thirty-nine artifacts and one Drooling Ogre, he would still have summoning sickness most of the time and be unable to attack. That's the best case scenario.

Iain - A friend of mine feels this will be alright in the sideboards of Affinity draft decks, but in my mind, it's pretty bad. Quick creatures are generally evaluated based on their ability to actually, I don't know, hit the opponent consistently. This isn't going to manage that.

Echoing Ruin
Nathan - Thankfully you don't have to choose between this and Shatter, so you don't have to figure out whether the Echo is worth making this a sorcery. The Echo should come into play more in Constructed, destroying two Seat of the Synod, for example. In Limited, keep in mind that you're almost as likely to have a copy of your opponent's artifacts as she is, but that isn't a drawback as much as it shows how irrelevant the ability will be. In any case it's artifact removal, and I think Dismantle is better, but both are obviously very high picks.

Iain - Dismantle is better, and in mirror matches this thing is actually almost as likely to turn on you, as to echo into card advantage. If you need to remove his Bonesplitter and you have one, you lose yours as well. This sounds silly when I didn't mention it with the other echoing cards, but most of those seem like you wouldn't be mirroring cards that often. Anyway, it's a fair enough card, definitely almost as good as Shatter, but not quite.

Fireball
Nathan - Yes, absolutely incredible, but I don't think it's the mistake Skullclamp (great card, should have been rare) or Murderous Spoils are. Mostly because this will"just" be a Blaze, which is a bomb, but not the one sided wrath that many of you think Fireball is because you misread the confusing text from Alpha-Revised."Divided Evenly" means that you need twelve total mana to destroy a 1/1, a 2/2, and a 3/3 (same as for 3 3/3s). Eliminating multiple small creatures is a useful extra ability, but this isn't much worse than having Blaze in the uncommon slot, and is much better than having Kaervek's Torch ruin drafts as a common.

Iain - It's basically Blaze. I hear people make this big deal about this card, yet the situations where it's"amazing" and"game breaking!" it's basically acting like a really good Falter. On the plus side, it's very splashable.

But I don't know. Since I have a tendency to draft quick decks, this card looks like something that does four damage to the dome to me. Sure, it's excellent, but it takes seven mana on your side of the board to be"better" than Shrapnel Blast. I didn't hear people making a giant fuss about Shrapnel Blast.

Flamebreak
Nathan - Triple colored mana cards are usually pretty cool, if not always good. This is not too different than a X=3 Earthquake, which is a far better card, since this is the kind of effect that is much better if you can scale it yourself. As it stands, it's similar to Pyroclasm with a finisher option but much, much more difficult to cast. It will probably make the main deck, especially with enough fliers, but it just won't be very good in most decks, since it's difficult to cast early.

Iain - Interesting how he seems to dislike this compared to Death Cloud, which is just as clunky and harder to work with. I've cast War Elemental in Mirrodin Limited and I'm sure I'd feel even better about casting this, but anyway, it's a solid enough card. Not a high pick, since you need to be heavy Red , but hey, heavy Red is a good place to be.

Furnace Dragon
Nathan - Oh my. It's not too difficult to get four to six artifacts, making the only trick getting the RRR. After that, you should have the game in the bag, since your opponent won't likely have any non-artifacts that can face down a 5/5 flier. Even if it's Terrored, you'll be able to see it coming and be able to hold vital artifacts if you don't need them for Furnace Dragon's affinity. A gigantic symmetrical effect with a giant creature attached at a discount is just a great bomb. I'm going to go out on a limb and suggest this may be better than Fireball in the right deck (heavy Red, enough spellbombs)

Iain - Seems like they're heavy on triple colored cards in this set, but maybe that's just me. Anyway, Nathan is spot on in his evaluation - any symmetrical effect of this magnitude, with the"Oops, I win" power of a 5/5 Dragon backing it up, is going to get noticed in Mirrodin limited.

Think about it like this - Would Shatterstorm be good in this block? Yes. How expensive would it be? Probably around 3RRR, which is about how much this card is going to be when you cast it and gain card advantage. When you add on a Dragon, you get yourself a gaming winning bomb.

Oh, and it's really ridiculous with Neurok Transmuter.

Goblin Archaeologist
Nathan - Ignore the ability for a moment. It's a non-artifact 1/2 for two, which is a pretty terrible deal, but something like that can be played after the draft goes wrong and you end up with almost as much Equipment as creatures. I've never played Omega Myr, but it's not unheard of. Add a little more than half a removal spell, and you get something that you probably won't want in your deck, but will make the cut when there just weren't enough creatures. If you keep RR open, he's worth 75% of Shatter, 50% an expected removal spell, and a 25% chance you'll knock off a second. The problem is that reliability is very important in Magic, which is why some players will try to completely ignore this spell. But if you can trade the 1/2 creature for a X/1 attacker and try the ability with it on the stack, you don't give up anything even if you lose.

Iain - You said an awful lot about a bad card! Good show, Nathan.

Inflame
Nathan - You'd need a lot of pingers to even consider this, and even then it's not worth the risk unless pinging is your only path to victory. If this is the case. you'll probably lose anyway against anything but Nim.dec, where you wouldn't need Inflame.

Iain - It looks like it would be okay if you were facing a deck with bigger creatures, letting you trade bears with boars, but I said I don't like Shriveling Rot and guess what? This is worse.

Krark-Clan Stoker
Nathan - Getting only two mana from an artifact land is kind of disappointing when Goblin Clearcutter was in the last block, and was a better creature anyway. But by sacrificing an early Arcbound creature, you can create a monster and cast a new one on your same turn. I don't expect Stoker to be very exciting normally, but I suspect most people will see it as a mediocre-but-necessary creature with an occasional bonus.

Iain - It's basically an Ogre with a marginal ability. I'm not really going to complain about a card like this, because like Scavenger Beetle, it's the body that we're looking at. It's also worth noting that sacrifice effects are something to keep in mind - this chases off effects from Domineer to Murderous Spoils, if timed right. I'm not trying to say it's good, but it's as Nathan said - it's mediocre but occasionally quite worthwhile.

Pulse of the Forge
Nathan - I think it's just crazy that you can cast this at the end of an opponent's turn and then cast it again as soon as you untap. It's just an insane burn spell, but like every other spell that only goes to the dome: if you can't get any damage on the board, this won't help you, and will be unlikely to turn games around that aren't races.

Iain - Keep in mind, if your opponent has you down five points, you can cast this before you attack and pulse it back. So it depends on the size of the race. I tend to greatly dislike Lava Axes, since they sit in my hand and don't do anything, so I'm not going to call it insane. But it is certainly a decent card.

Savage Beating
Nathan - Everyone seems to love this name (LOL SVG BEATZ) but it reads like it should have been called"Overkill." If you can get substantial creatures through by the time you're able to entwine this, you'll probably only need one of the halves. It will win numerous games, but most of them could probably be won with a simple Falter effect instead, and you should draft this only about as high as one of those.

Iain - Of course I love the name! It's a little better than a Falter, since it will have occasional uses outside of a gaming winning combat - it is, after all, a quadrupling of damage, which allows for some very ridiculous situations to come up. I mean, this is the format filled with 1/3s and 2/3s, which will often survive combat or have to be blocked differently in the second combat phase.

Shunt
Nathan - Shunt should only be good against other Red decks. Blue isn't affected, this won't even counter Annul. White and Green's combat tricks aren't always targeted, and you can Shunt a Deconstruct but not a Viridian Shaman. Black doesn't target for much except for removal, which sometimes can't even be deflected to their own creatures. Red has multiple Shatter and burn effects, and it should be worth siding this in, but that's about all. This would be better in a block with creature enchantments, but even then it's not a maindeck worthy card.

Iain - It's very much a sideboard card, yes. What he said.

Slobad, Goblin Tinkerer
Nathan - Turning all your artifacts into indestructible Welding Jars seems better in Constructed, where indestructible can save them from various Wrath effects. Here all Slobad does is deflect Shatters to your worst artifacts. That can come in handy if you have artifacts that are good enough to warrant this kind of protection (like Platinum Angel or Crystal Shard), but Slobad isn't something to look for unless you already have bomb artifacts in your pile.

Iain - Given the fact that he can target artifact creatures with his ability, I think you're underrating this card. He makes cards like Nim Replica or Myr Enforcer that much harder to deal with, within the boundaries of combat. Obviously you're still losing artifacts, but there are many situations where you would rather keep one artifact and lose another. It should be considered like an enchantment that says"Whenever an effect would destroy an artifact you control, instead sacrifice an artifact you control" which is actually pretty good. He's not great, but he's helpful in an artifact heavy deck like Affinity.

Tears of Rage
Nathan - It's incredibly risky to even think about using this. You can't cast it after blockers are declared, so all your opponent has to do is chump your most valuable force and they'll die. This doesn't seem good at all except where you have many, many more creatures than your opponent. You can't ever depend on that in Limited unless you're depending on something like Nuisance Engine. That seems like an awful combo to me.

Iain - Bleh. The card, for one thing, simply shouldn't be an instant. The"can only be played during the declare attackers step" is rather clunky. Making it a sorcery would have easily been a lot clearer to use. Anyway, this is the sort of card you board in against slower decks.

A simple example of such a scenario would be: If you have four creatures, and your opponent has two, you will deal an additional eight points of damage to him.

This has the potential to deal a ridiculous amount of damage in a hurry - a mana curve like turn 1 1/1, turn 2 Raise the Alarm, turn 3 Ogre, turn 4 Tears is an attack power of twenty-one. Now, I'm not necessarily saying you'll be allowed to that, but if you're aggressive and he's not, you're going to be able to just plain brutalize him with it. Of special note is Disciple of the Vault, which will give you even more damage if you attacked with artifact creatures.

It's probably more playable in Constructed, though, for enabling the most broken Siege-Gang Commander swings ever!

Unforge
Nathan - This, like Turn to Dust, is instantly maindeckable in Sealed. If you make the assumption that your opponent will play all of his good Equipment, he will have five packs worth of Equipment, and only three in a draft if it's divided evenly. Sealed gives you more cards, because you aren't expected to use two to three of your colors, so the card quality remains somewhat even, except for colorless artifacts and Equipment, where the card quality goes up dramatically for this reason.

In draft, where you can only expect a little more than half the Equipment, I still consider Unforge good, where Turn to Dust is slightly too risky. The reason is that these cards should only be dead about a third of the time or less, and the chance to get a two-for-one with Unforge means that the expected value is still better than an average card, especially when you consider that you can survive games that you may have otherwise lost to equipped Skyhunter Cub, Neurok Spy, and Somber Hoverguard.

Iain - Risk vs. rewards. Turn to Dust will occasionally give you two-for-ones, while Unforge will do it all the time. But it isn't a free spell, like Turn to Dust is. As Nathan said, it's definitely maindeckable in Sealed, and good in Draft. If you were to get multiples you would not want to run all of them maindeck, but you'd be pretty happy when your opponent dropped a Plains and Bonesplitter.

Vulshok War Boar
Nathan - A 5/5 on turn 4 is normally a gigantic game winner (anyone else still haunted by losses to Phantom Centaur?), but in Mirrodin it should be even better. The drawback is negligible on turn 3-4, since giving up a Myr to own the board with an early 5/5 is worth it. It's negligible later, when you should have Myr and artifact land sitting around doing nothing anyway. The only time the drawback should pose a problem is when you don't have any cheap artifacts at all, but those should not be difficult to find.

Iain - <psamms> War Boar!

Well put. I'm looking forward to seeing what IRC chatz you'll include in the next article. I hope it won't be more whining about walking into Tangle Spider.