The last day of Modern Horizons spoiler season has been filled with powerful cards. The earlier look at Marit Lage’s Slumber makes it clear that Wizards saved some of the best for last. This trend continues with Paulo Vitor, or pvddr, spoiling Mirrodin Besieged on his Twitch channel today.
[irp posts=”24873″ name=”MTG Modern Horizons Day 9 Roundup | All Spoilers for May 29″]
I thought Mirrodin Besieged was a set?
Some more seasoned players of Magic might recognize the name of this card. However, Mirrodin Besieged isn’t a reprint. The card is named after a previous set from 2011. Mirrodin was the previous name of the plane New Phyrexia, before it was attacked by the Phyrexians. Both the Mirrans and Phyrexians had an affinity for artifacts, just different forms. The set of Mirrodin Besieged focused heavily on the battle between the Mirrans and Phyrexians, and it created/expanded on two artifact-driven abilities. The abilities in question are Metalcraft and Living Weapon.
Breakdown
Mirrodin Besieged is an enchantment that follows a form similar to that created in Fate Reforged. Upon entering the battlefield, the player must choose one of two modes for the enchantment. For this card, the player can choose either Mirran or Phyrexian, the two warring factions.
If the player chooses Mirran, they gain the first effect on the card. This effect creates a 1/1 colorless Myr whenever the player casts an artifact spell. This ability calls back to Myrsmith, which would do the same if the player paid one generic mana. This effect can be extremely powerful for artifact decks that want to go wide or that care about the number of artifacts on the board.
Contrarily, if the player chooses Phyrexian, they gain the second effect. This effect triggers every end step, causing the player to draw a card then discard a card. This is a powerful filter effect in itself, as it allows the player to go through their deck more quickly. However, this is not the end of the ability. The second half of it says that after discarding the card, if there are 15 or more artifacts in your graveyard, you win the game. Most win-conditions like this are paired up with an effect that gets the player closer to the win condition. Some of the most notable of these are cards like Revel in Riches and Mechanized Production.
How to utilize Mirrodin Besieged
Mirrodin Besieged really helps out artifact-themed decks. One main deck that might utilize this card thoroughly would be an eggs deck. Eggs is a deck that utilizes artifacts that draw or filter through the deck on entering the battlefield and then can be “cracked,” or sacrificed, for mana. Mainstays in decks like this include Lotus Bloom and Prophetic Prism. These style decks will enjoy using the Phyrexian mode of this card.
The Verdict
Mirrodin Besieged is a powerful enchantment for any artifact themed decks in modern or legacy. With the unfortunate ban of Krark-Clan Ironworks, this card loses a little bit of its power. However, this might just be the card that can bring decks similar to KCI back into the meta.
