Darksteel, the second set in Mirrodin block, is notorious for driving off more Magic players than any other set, even the Urza block. It contained high-power cards for Affinity that did not require finesse to win with. It was like UG Madness in that the best deck was cheap, easy to play and frustrating to metagame against.

Kyle Kloster offers us a brief report on how he earned 2nd place at the recent StarCityGames Legacy open event, a look at Reanimator’s appeal and optimal play, and suggestions for optimizing the deck.

Sometimes, decks have a pretty solid theme and plan. When you’re building the Ib Halfheart, Goblin Tactician deck you know it’s going to be both a burning blade of doom and gooey pile of in-your-own-face explosions. See what Carlos has been cooking with for for weeks!

Usman’s farewell article shares why he believes there’s more to cubing than just optimization and winning.

In a special holiday-timed post, Usman breaks down two of the latest presents from our glorious Wizards overlords and shares some of the key steps he takes in making the most of every look at cards for cubes!