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Magic’s Reality Fracture Revives a 16-Year-Old Commander Card From an Erased Timeline
Magic: The Gathering’s forthcoming Reality Fracture Commander release will introduce Darksteel Angel, a new card based on artwork created for Mirrodin Pure, an unrealised 2011 set. The card revisits an alternate outcome in which Mirrodin defeated the Phyrexian invasion, illustrating how Reality Fracture will use multiversal “what if” scenarios to revisit the game’s past.
Darksteel Angel is an enhanced version of Platinum Angel: it prevents its controller from losing, is indestructible, and stops creatures receiving -1/-1 counters. Its mechanics reference earlier Mirrodin lore, with indestructibility linked to the Darksteel set and the counter protection symbolising resistance to Phyrexian corruption; Mirrodin Pure had been publicly presented alongside New Phyrexia before Wizards of the Coast revealed that the latter was the actual concluding set.
In short
- Darksteel Angel revives art from abandoned Mirrodin Pure.
- The card depicts a Mirrodin victory over Phyrexia.
- Reality Fracture explores alternate Magic timelines.
Explained simply
Magic: The Gathering is a strategy card game whose story unfolds across different worlds, including Mirrodin, a metal world invaded by the Phyrexians. In the original storyline, the invasion ended with Mirrodin becoming New Phyrexia.
Wizards of the Coast, which makes the game, once presented Mirrodin Pure as a possible follow-up to the invasion story before choosing New Phyrexia instead. The unrealised set left behind artwork and an alternative version of events in which Mirrodin resisted its attackers.
Commander is a popular way to play Magic, using large decks built around a chosen card. The forthcoming Reality Fracture release explores “what if” versions of the game’s history, giving new context to past settings and ideas.