MTG TOP 10: Darksteel | The BEST Cards in One of Magic's Most POWERFUL Sets | Magic: the Gathering

[@shuboy05]

Wow, you know this is going to be a stacked list when number ten is Skullclamp.

[@minervadetauro7646]

Cards that get banned super fast everywhere they exist tend to get less top 8s and therefore less points Another victim of the Nizza method™️

[@AndrewSmith-pn2qc]

​@minervadetauro7646 yeah, his method has some flaws to it

[@andrewsparkes6275]

​​@@minervadetauro7646(1) Tbf, he does do the top 10 Broken Cards too, which while subjective (as in aren't ranked by an objective points-based metric like these are), does take into account how many formats a card is banned in. So the methods flaws are recognised and it leads to even more lists! (2) While Skullclamp IS really powerful in Commander and needed to be banned in the relevant formats when it was released, it's hard to say whether it'd have continued seeing much play anyway. Vintage is our only barometer, and actual powerful cards either tend to be restricted (with people still playing it in every possible deck that can play it), or people play at least two if they're not restricted. Skullclamp doesn't really make a dent anymore, and most decks (even those with a lot of small creatures, that it's best with) don't even run it at all. So maybe it'd be safe to unban in Legacy or even Modern at this point, and still remain fairly low on the list.

[@NizzahonMagic]

@@minervadetauro7646 I need to do "Most OP Artifacts" at some point -- in those style of lists cards that get banned get a leg up, since I'm just looking at how broken the cards are and not their actualy competitive Magic performance. I do that in an attempt to correct a bit for that bias in my scoring system.

[@faerie7dragon]

​@@NizzahonMagic How fast it gets banned can put a number of reference for the statistics crowd.

[@jamessnedeker4799]

While this is a great list, I wanted to show my support for the care you and your wife are doing for the ducks in this chilly time.

[@NizzahonMagic]

Thanks, we appreciate it!

[@cax1175]

It is my birthday today. I hope WOTC announces Teeka's Darksteel Dragon!

[@TheGloriousLobsterEmperor]

Happy birthday!!!!!!!!

[@cax1175]

​@@TheGloriousLobsterEmperor Thank you, I look forward to One With Nothing making the Top 10 Cards in Vintage (Not including the Power 9)!

[@TheGloriousLobsterEmperor]

@@cax1175 Nah, One With Nothing is a part of the Power 9, remember? Same as Teeka's Dragon.

[@Uryvichk]

I like how this list is basically a competition to see which card is just powerful enough to be a busted staple but not powerful enough to eat multi-format bans and stop accumulating points as fast. Darksteel Citadel seems to be the exact sweet spot, which would bear out if it eventually hits #1.

[@venkelos6996]

I simply want to thank you for covering this set! Darksteel was when I first got into MtG, despite having a really strong personal reason to dislike Magic, as a game. Being my first set, and fir most of the time I've played MtG, my favorite plane (Mirrodin), with some of my favorite stuff (Darksteel Forge, Kaldra, and more), I feel like the identity of this set shaped a lot of what I like most in Magic, being uncomfortably fond of Artifact cards, and a total Blue junky. I know that Mirrodin Blick had its issues, and that, in the many years since it happened, more, bigger, and better things have either come, out, or power-crept in, but these cards were some of my personal road into a game I intended not to play, and even now, they still have a place eith me, even if it's just nostalgia. 😊 Thank you for visiting the plane I thought even Wizards might never gave gone back to!

[@NizzahonMagic]

It's always fun to revisit the past with sets like Darksteel!

[@georgelacatus1495]

​@NizzahonMagic Mirrodin block was so cool, I love that it embraced the fantasy of earlier Magic while combining it with a really immersive sci-fi aesthetic

[@smashfanatic]

>#10 is skullclamp, a card banned in multiple formats holy shit this list is stacked

[@andrewsparkes6275]

Maybe itd be good to put banned information in the little info block? I know you talk about it sometimes (such as in Skullclamp), but it'd be helpful when comparing it to the "time frame" line, to see when it wasnt even available to play in certain formats. Edit: Maybe (if you have the stats in a spreadsheet) you could even change the Timeframe/Points lines to a little graph. Have each format be its own horizontal white bar, with the years on the horizontal axis. Then use saturation to show how many points it got each year (so a brighter/darker green for lots of points, and a lighter green for less points - just leave it white where it saw play but didnt get points, and dark grey for where it didn't even see play), with a total points in text at the end. Then you could blacken out the bar entirely during the years it was entirely banned from a format too.

[@andyspendlove1019]

One time I combo’d off in Commander because my friend played a Mycosynth Lattice. I had Daxos the Returned, Ashnod’s altar, and Ajani’s Chosen. And because of the last clause on Lattice that says “PLAYERS may spend mana as though it were mana of any color,” I was able to use Ashnod’s Altar to pay for Daxos’ normally colored ability to pop out enchantment creature tokens. So I paid 3 for that ability, making two tokens thanks to Ajani’s Chosen, sac both of them to the altar for 4 mana, and then repeat for infinite mana and tokens.

[@haunter27]

I loved collecting Darksteel. It felt so exciting when it came out. Wish I had drafted it!

[@timzoat]

This set even made kitchen table in school against long time players a walk in the park for me, despite not using any of the cards but Darksteel Citadel. I ran all the arcbound creatures but ravager, Vedalken engineer, Energy chamber and one copy of things like Darksteel Gargoyle, Triskelion and Pentavus, plus some blue removal. I still love this deck to this day.

[@Methylimidazol]

The ruling for Trinisphere is pretty funny. They had to make an own rule just for that one card.

[@yawg691]

Yeah it literally has its own step in the cost calculation it's so funny

[@MasterHigure]

I remember back in the day I came across two guys playing a casual game of vintage? Legacy? There were power 9-s involved. One player had a bunch of 0 and 1 mana spells and basically popped off the moment they got to play. The other player mulliganed down to three, when he finally got lotus-trinisphere on turn one, and the opponent resigned immediately.

[@JasonFanelli]

Would it be possible to do the Top 10 SETS by point total? I imagine that would be a Herculean effort, but your mentioning that this might be the strongest set ever has me intrigued...

[@ben_clifford]

It would also be interesting to rank sets by average points per card. I imagine Darksteel would rank #1 or #2 on that list, since it's a small set with a ridiculous pedigree.

[@ashleypenhall7949]

I played with Echoing truth main board in my Anti affinity deck during that time. (U/G) It was over powered with Isochron Scepter, thats why it was so powerful and White was still doing its thing at this time to with the introductionof loads of more powerful Equipment's at the time, IE the Attach mechanic and white had the best Synergies for Equipments. Echoing Truth has Always been powerful. The Red Echoing Echoing Ruin was used some too during its time.

[@DaveyDAKFAE]

Inkmoth doesn't just gain infect over Blinkmoth, it also loses the third ability, which is relevant with blocking and multiples

[@protoboy912]

Love the vids. Been watching for years!

[@NizzahonMagic]

Thanks for watching!

[@craigmobey954]

Darksteel was my first prerelease. So many fond memories of that era.

[@WiiTara]

One thing I was asking myself: i usually watch and like your videos during work from my work pc listening to it in the background while doing low attention tasks. I also like but watch them later at home from my yt account. Is this actually supporting you in regards to the algorythm?😊

[@floppyslot]

Probably as views are views. I'd be willing to bet that KZbin tracks your viewing trends regardless of whether you are logged in. That being said it's a damn shame nizzahon isn't more popular today considering how prolific his work amhas been so far.

[@NizzahonMagic]

Yep, watching them twice definitely helps! Thanks.

[@fishlips54]

Any chance of you doing a top 10 archetype decks? and or top 10 archetypes?

[@joedominguez8064]

Man I loved this era of magic, Darksteel/Mirrodin was right before I started playing as a kid and these cards always had this ancient fabled quality to me as a result. Plus some were totally busted obviously 😂

[@woodysmith2681]

"The ten that have left the biggest impact on competitive MTG...before they were banned."

[@danielgoldberg2129]

In regards to Sundering Titan, it would work great in a colorless deck. I believe Wastes aren’t technically Basic lands.

[@NizzahonMagic]

You are correct! But the decks that do play it have access to cards that are basically Wastes with upside, like all the cards I mentioned. Haha.

[@Carubidul]

They are basic lands. They however have no land type.

[@Kasigi03]

I'm guessing Menmarch on the list before I watch. He was a TERROR back in the day paired with Mycosynth Lattice. A friend played those two next to Heartstones and he just stole everything before you knew it.

[@Kasigi03]

I was wrong, LOL. Let's not forget this set also introduced the almighty Darksteel Colossus.

[@OrbGoblin]

Yeah #3 was a surprise.

[@douglasmccoy5414]

This was my first block i was introduced to.

[@MatthewKehn187]

Monster Top 10 to add to the collection!

[@johnruhd5917]

I just realized Echoing Truth was printed the set after Unnatural Selection stopped being able to pop tokens by making them Legends.

[@Mrbananasgfan]

I miss being able to kill with unnatural selection. It always took people by surprise

[@yawg691]

Darksteel is ABNORMALLY stacked wow

[@sawyermifsud852]

Skullclamp not bein #1 on this list is kinda insane, even it makes sense for how fast it was banned.

[@mrhaftbar]

idea: top ten mechanics/keywords overall

[@pieapplebomb]

You should have titled the video "One of magic's STRONGEST sets" because the cards in Darksteel were very strong in terms of power level, but also Darksteel as a material in lore is incredibly strong with most things made of darksteel being Indestructible.

[@aappaapp6627]

Micosynth lattice better get Karm the Great creator a great birthday gift since it's the only reason why it's on this list lol

[@StegDarkhorse]

Man, what a list.

[@HumbleBasse]

I never understood why Aether Vial was so absurdly broken.. gives u basically another mana a turn, flash to some of your creatures, for...... 1 mana???

[@NizzahonMagic]

I said it all in the video, but I'll reiterate: You pay one mana a single time, and by the time you've put a second one mana creature into play with it you're ahead on mana. And it usually saves you a massive amount of mana over the course of a game, makes your creatures uncounterable, and lets you get disruptive enters triggers at instant speed. Play against it some time, and you'll see.

[@crawdaddy1234]

Based on how you worded this, there’s a chance you’re trolling. But for the sake of argument, I’m going to assume you’re not. And I’m going to assume you’re primarily a Commander player. -- First thing to point out: Adding the charge counter is a “may.” That means you can keep it at a particular mana value. 60-card competitive decks generally only run about 22 lands. For multi-color decks, half of those are probably fetch lands, and for mono-color decks, eight of them are probably utility lands. That means your entire deck is running only about 10-15 actual mana sources. Every available mana is often critical. Additionally, these decks generally have creatures that share mana costs. Merfolk decks are running, like, 20 two-drops. Death and Taxes run a smattering of 1’s, 2’s, and 3’s. Vial essentially gives these decks extra mana sources AND allows them to keep up mana for interaction and/or use their utility lands without suffering. And lastly, though it comes up far less often, the creature is uncounterable. You have to respond to the activation of the Vial. Once the Vial activation resolves, the creature is in play. Flashing in Hushbringer or Containment Priest at that point won’t do anything, because the creature is already in play. -- The best comparison I can make is that it’s like if Delighted Halfling and Prophet of Kruphix had an artifact baby.

[@urzaserra256]

Another thing Aether Vial allows you to do is bypass the mana color requirements, it can be looked at as a form of mana fixing.

[@marpj6138]

It have a lot of advantages: - Mana cheating: you say 1 mana for 1 but that is wrong as most decks stop at 2 or 3 counters, which would be 2 or 3 mana a turn for 1 and that is the best rate you can have. - Counter protection: it is an ability that puts in play, which means counterspell does nothing, especially important in a world of Force of Will (legacy D&T) - Flash: do not underestimate flash, not only it allow to dodge sorcery speed removal, and gives pseudo haste by not giving your opponent enough information until you are about to start your turn, but vial decks often have a lot of interaction using their creatures so it is making sorcery speed interaction into instant speed which is a massive advantage

[@DesArthes]

Karn + Lattice is technicaly 1 card combo, because 1 card can search the other one.

[@NizzahonMagic]

I said as much in the video.

[@argoth231]

Can only imagine how high clamp would've been if it wasn't banned so fast.

[@ep1phany62]

Mycosynth Latice and Burden of Greed

[@TheGloriousLobsterEmperor]

Darksteel is a cool set and all, but Fifth Dawn is such a better set name. I like Trinisphere because I'm one of those horrible people that plays stax in EDH. Perhaps the card could make it onto "Top 10 Vintage Cards (Minus Power 9)", but truth be told, I'd be content with it just being good in my stax deck.

[@cax1175]

I actually won a game of cedh with my Kozilek cedh deck (don't laugh) due to a Turn 1 Trinisphere lmao.

[@minervadetauro7646]

Darksteel: The Hedgeheg *nothing personnel, kid*

[@alp627]

Wow, I'm surprised Sword of Fire and Ice didn't make it

[@NizzahonMagic]

Yep, crazy stacked list.

[@ultratog1028]

Surprised Arcbound Ravager only got 21 points in Standard despite being around for like a year in the format and being the best deck in the format.

[@blabik]

Artifact lands got banned super fast, because affinity was murdering everoyne. So that probably made a bit difference.

[@ultratog1028]

@blabik no, they didnt get hit until Betrayers of Kamigawa

[@NizzahonMagic]

It has to do with the quirks of how they did formats at high-level events back then. Standard wasn't played as much back then as it is now.

[@minervadetauro7646]

Guessing Arcbound Ravager for number 1. An absolute beast

[@minervadetauro7646]

Update: Damn I was expecting Trinisphere to rank high but number 1 is crazy. TBF I've never played Vintage

[@monogreen]

Trinisphere is my happy place.

[@Orcasgt22]

I want Trinisphere to get into Timeless.

[@PokeBattlerJaze]

I literally don't know any cards from that set other then Darksteel Citadel, so gonna guess that. Edit: huh, I clearly don't play enough of the older formats.

[@personalthesus]

Skullclamps’ first printing, so I’m guessing that!😂❤

[@personalthesus]

Lmao nevermind it was #10😅🤦🏻‍♂️

[@TheEvolver311]

Probably good guess given its a land

[@PokeBattlerJaze]

@ The bans hurt its score.

[@williamkeiser7562]

I hated that entire standard block so much. It was easily the worst standard I've ever seen still too. I was still a newer player back then, but that standard environment wasn't fun and actively started making me not want to play as much in the stores. Probably another reason I loved ravnica so much is because it rotated all that crap out.

[@Carubidul]

I'd say the whole Kaladesh to Throne of Eldraine era gave it a run for its money. Constant ban announcements because every ban was followed by people finding another broken card to make a deck from.

[@anthonypeters3005]

Please do a Top 10 Basic Lands video. I would love to see which has been played the most through all formats and which Snow Basic has seen the most play. It would be the most stacked list ever.

[@imaginarymatter]

So many cards in this set were a blight.... steel in so many formats.

[@DAsrada]

Unban Sundering Titan in Commander!!

[@kevinbowyer7205]

Darksteel is what pushed me out of Magic. To date I call bullshit on the story behind Skullclamp (it was totally known and allowed to exist with its lowered cost). I had played since Revised but once I lost my 5000th game against Ravager Disciple. I called it quits. I've popped back in occasionally to play limited here and there but I never got over where the design team went starting with Darksteel.

[@davidlundquist1979]

I don't know, considering that current designers didn't see why Nadu would be a problem, I can believe that designers 20 years ago didn't playtest adequately. It's probably a good thing I was only a casual, kitchen table player back then. I didn't get fed up after playing affinity mirror matches for months on end.