Mirrodin

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Mirrodin
Sword of Kaldra
Released	October 2, 2003[1]
Size	306 cards (110 commons, 88 uncommons, 88 rares, 20 basic lands)
Keywords	Affinity, Imprint, Entwine
Mechanics	Artifacts, Equipment
Designers	Mark Rosewater (lead), Mike Elliott, Brian Tinsman, Tyler Bielman, Bill Rose[1]
Developers	Randy Buehler (lead), Brian Schneider, Henry Stern, Elaine Chase, Brandon Bozzi, and Brian Tinsman[1]
Dev. code	Bacon
Exp. code	MRD
	v · d · e
First set in the Mirrodin block
Mirrodin Darksteel Fifth Dawn

Mirrodin was the 50th Magic: The Gathering set, the 30th expert level set, and the first set in the Mirrodin Block, released in October 2003. It is a 306-card expansion set. It is also the name of the block containing the Mirrodin, Darksteel and Fifth Dawn expansion sets. This expansion, as well as the rest of the block, is centered around artifacts and is only the second set to do so (from a card frequency point of view) since Antiquities. The percentage of artifact cards is much higher than in any preceding set. Mirrodin 's expansion symbol is a small image of Sword of Kaldra, a card from this set.

The world of Mirrodin

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 interchangably, that correspond to red, black, white and blue magic. Green was notably absent until Glissa Sunseeker became a conduit for its birth.

The set focuses on five main regions on Mirrodin, each corresponding to a part of the Magic color pie:

• The Oxidda Chain, a range of mountains populated by goblins and the human Vulshok tribe.
• The Tangle, a dense jungle populated by elves, the human Sylvok tribe and horrible beasts.
• The Mephidross, a dreadful swamp, and a home of Nim (zombies) and the human Moriok tribe.
• Quicksilver Sea, a sea of mercury populated by Vedalken and the human Neurok tribe.
• Razor Grass Fields, the plains of Mirrodin, overgrown with sharp metallic grass and home to the Leonin, the human Auriok tribe and Loxodon.

The main character of the story is the elf Glissa Sunseeker, who visits all these places, guided by revenge against the machines that killed her family. The story is captured in the novel The Moons of Mirrodin by Will McDermott.

Set history

Mirrodin is notable for being the first expansion set to feature the new card front design (which debuted in 8th Edition). The high number of artifacts in Mirrodin highlighted the inherent flaw of the new border design — artifact cards, which were now bordered in a very light grey instead of brown, were very hard to distinguish from white cards. The problem prompted Wizards of the Coast to change the bordering background of artifact cards to a much darker grey in Fifth Dawn. Also due to complications when switching to the new card frame, mana symbols in the text box of Mirrodin cards are greyed out instead of being in color.^[2]

Beginning with Mirrodin Wizards reduced the size of their large expansion sets from 350 to 306 cards. This was due to regular complaints, that Wizards was producing too many cards and players could not keep up. Beginning with Darksteel Wizards also increased the size of small expansion sets from 143 to 165 cards. Thus the number of cards released each year would stay the same, but then Magic developer Randy Buehler explained that Wizards believed this change would make it easier for collectors and players to keep up with number of new cards as these would be release more homogeneously over the course of the year.^[3]

Mechanics

Below is the list of mechanics introduced by Mirrodin:

• Affinity - This keyword reduces the total cost of the spell by the number of permanents in play of a certain type, for instance "affinity for artifacts" under your control. This mechanic was extremely powerful and "Affinity" decks quickly monopolised Magic: The Gathering tournaments (see below), eventually resulting in sweeping bannings of the most powerful Affinity-related cards in an effort to revive the tournament scene.
• Artifact lands - While artifact creatures were not a new addition, Mirrodin introduced artifact lands. These enhanced the power of cards with the "Affinity" mechanic by increasing the number of artifacts in play while still being considered lands.
• Imprint - This keyword allows a player to "imprint" some card on the artifact (removing that card from the game). That artifact's effect depends on the card imprinted (for example you can imprint a creature on Soul Foundry and then activate it to reproduce copies of that creature).
• Entwine - An ability on modal spells, which normally require a player to choose only one of multiple effects. By paying the Entwine cost, all of the effects occur.
• Equipment - A new artifact subtype that denotes things which could be wielded or worn by creatures. Equipment functions like the older "Enchant Creature" cards (now called Auras) in that they provide some effect while attached to the creature. Unlike Auras, however, Equipment can only be attached to creatures you control in most cases, and remain in play even if the creature they were attached to leaves play. Equipment have gone on to be a staple of Magic in general, being featured in future core sets and expansions.

References

1. ^ ^{a b c} "Mirrodin Fact Sheet". Wizards of the Coast. 1 September 2003. http://www.wizards.com/Magic/Magazine/Article.aspx?x=mtgcom/arcana/407. Retrieved 25 February 2011. 
2. ^ Forsythe, Aaron (8 November 2010). "Aaron's Random Card Comment of the Day #31, 11/8/10". Wizards of the Coast. http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Discussion.aspx?multiverseid=51183. Retrieved 25 February 2011. 
3. ^ Buehler, Randy (20 June 2003). "The size of sets". Wizards of the Coast. http://www.wizards.com/Magic/Magazine/Article.aspx?x=mtgcom/daily/rb76. Retrieved 25 February 2011. 

External links

• Wizards' Official page for Mirrodin
• Official Mirrodin fact sheet