Articles

Cycling through Mirrodin - A look at the Cycles.
By Fox Murdoch.

Hello again, last time I was here I took an All round approach to covering Mirrodin. This time I'm going to cover one of the more interesting aspects of magic (to me, anyway) through out the entire Mirrodin set; Cycles. From the obvious, such as mana Myrs, to the less obvious mini-cycles such as the Angels. I'll look at all of them and be pointing out the best one of each cycle and saying which one I think has the best artwork. Now, onto the cycles!

The Mana Myrs - Copper Myr, Gold Myr, Iron Myr, Leaden Myr, Silver Myr (Mirrodin)

The most obvious cycle in the entire set, the mana Myrs are a perfect example of a cycle. All cost two mana, have the same power and toughness and identical abilities and names. The only difference between any of them is the artwork and the colour of mana they produce.
Picking a best here would prove useless, as saying Leaden Myr's ability to produce black mana is no use to a blue mage. However I would have to say that the best card is Silver Myr, simply for it's rainy-day artwork.

The Golems - Cobalt Golem, Hematite Golem, Malachite Golem, Pewter Golem, Titanium Golem (Mirrodin)

Another obvious cycle, these five Golems all came with varying power and toughness, as well as activated abilities that required different coloured mana. Cobalt and Malachite Golem both gained evasive abilities (trampling counts, you can still deal damage through enough power) while Pewter, Titanium and Hematite got combat tricks in the form of regeneration, first strike and extra power. The weakest body goes to Cobalt and the toughest to Hematite.
So which makes for the best Golem? In this case - a lot like the Myr but perhaps not so well defined - it's up to the colour of mage you play as. My favoured Golem is Pewter, being a black mage and liking creatures with regeneration, but you may like Golems that soar over your opponent's creatures to flick them in the head. My favourite artwork would have to be a toss up between Pewter and Titanium Golem, but seeing they're both by the same artist, Paolo Parente (infact all five golems are by Parente), all the credit goes to the same person anyway!

The Affinity Golems - Dross Golem, Oxidda Golem, Razor Golem, Spire Golem, Tangle Golem (Darksteel)

Ranging in cost from five to seven, the Affinity Golems had different abilities that matched the type of land they had affinity with. Dross Golem had affinity for swamps and fear. Oxidda Golem had affinity for mountains and haste. Razor and Spire had affinity for plains and islands, with "doesn't tap to attack" AKA vigilance and flying respectively. Perhaps the oddest Golem of the cycle is Tangle Golem, seeing the only apparently green thing about it is it's massive size, 5/4. While this may make it a bad Golem in your eyes, I consider a free Spined Wurm to be quite a tasty treat.
The best Golem, in my opinion, is Oxidda. Your opponent can see what creatures you have at all times, so they know what's going to come rushing across the board. However there's nothing like a sudden two or three free Oxidda Golems rushing across the board to scare someone silly (if they say they didn't wet their pants after you put them all on the board, tapped and said "OK, who blocks?" check their chair after the game). Best artwork goes to Tangle Golem, seeing it looks like it really will smash you in the face.

The Kaldra Equipments - Sword of Kaldra, Shield of Kaldra, Helm of Kaldra (Mirrodin, Darksteel, Fifth Dawn)

Who wants some great Equipment? Though it comes at a bit of cost. These three pieces of Equipment all grant abilities to the equipped creature ideal for it's type of item, the Sword giving it's wielder +5/+5 and the ability to remove creatures from the game, the Shield making it's bearer indestructible - along with it's kinfolk Equipment. The Helm would have the least complicated Equipment bonuses (first strike, trample and haste) but it's the key to making the powerful Kaldra Avatar, a 4/4 who gets all Equipment attached to it upon entering play. This means you have a 9/9 indestructible, trample, haste, first strike creature, who removes blocking or blocked creatures from the game. Not bad for the one mana you paid to create it, huh?
The best piece of Equipment I would say is the Sword. While the Shield and Helm have good abilities, I prefer straight forward power/toughness advantage in combat. If you're playing a deck that aims to get the Kaldra Avatar into play, however, the Helm gets best piece. Favourite artwork is the Sword.

The Spellbombs - Aether Spellbomb, Lifespark Spellbomb, Necrogen Spellbomb, Pyrite Spellbomb, Sunbeam Spellbomb (Mirrodin)

Like all good cycles this lot of artifacts all feature identical names, costs and abilities. Don't need it? Draw a card. Have some spare mana? Put one down and let your opponent know you've got something to nip at them with.
Pyrite Spellbomb offers creature removal, Fther offers the same but not at a permanent rate. Necrogen is good if your opponent has let slip that they have a particularly nasty creature (and also combines well with Fther, bouncing and then discarding it) while Sunbeam offers a very nice mana for life conversation, one to five. Lifespark Spellbomb would have to be most outlandish of them, staying true to it's colour and animating land. For me, the Fther spellbomb takes the cake as best bomb. Best art goes to Lifespark.

The Slith - Slith Ascendant, Slith Bloodletter, Slith Firewalker, Slith Predator, Slith Strider, Arcbound Slith (Mirrodin, Darksteel)

Ever wanted chump blockers that could get real big, real quick? Then the Slith are your kind of creatures. All starting off as 1/1s, they get stronger the more they hit your opponent. This naturally makes the ones with evasion better than those without.
Ascendant and Predator are the only two with evasion, but Predator is too small from the start to trample into your opponent, making the Ascendant the quickest at growing. The next best would be Bloodletter as you can regenerate it, should your opponent have a quick one damage fix to your hungry creature. Having haste can give you the edge you need provided you get Firewalker out on turn two, leaving Strider at the bottom of the Slith pool, seeing I've only ever managed to attack for nothing, lose it and draw and card. Arcbound Slith is perhaps the most recyclable, considering the sharing aspect of its Modular ability. Best art goes to Arcbound, that thing just looks so kewl.

The Animation Artifacts - Blinkmoth Nexus, Chimeric Coils, Chimeric Egg, Darksteel Brute, Ensouled Scimitar, Guardian Idol, Stalking Stones (Mirrodin, Darksteel, Fifth Dawn)

Ranging in stats from 1/1 to 3/3 and 6/6 the animation artifacts are a diverse bunch of artifacts who like changing into something useful once in a while. While their activations grant various things from flying to permanent transformation there's very likely one to suit your deck type. Need a good beat stick? Darksteel Brute's your man - er, artifact. Evasion a problem? Blinkmoth'll take off and bat its ethereal wings at your opponent. Find yourself needing less Equipment and more creatures? A friendly Scimitar may find its way to jumping out of a creature's hand and standing up for itself (and you).
The best of the lot really varies on your situation. If you're on the defensive, the Brute is a real pleasure to block with turn after turn. While the Chimeric Coils, assuming you have enough mana, can match any trampling creature. However I'll go with Blinkmoth seeing they get the most coverage and praise all over the net. Best artwork goes to massive Chimeric Egg.

The Shards - Crystal Shard, Granite Shard, Heartwood Shard, Pearl Shard, Skeleton Shard(Mirrodin)

Who wants artifact recursion in a green deck? Trampling for their flyers? Bounce for their own creatures with Comes into Play abilities? The shards are your one-stop artifact shop in that case, as all come with no coloured mana to cast and two activation costs; one of a colour or three colourless.
So which ones the best? Trample and damage prevention are both nice, but artifact recursion is particularly useful in Mirrodin. Bouncing permanents is useful too, but only when it's not conditional and Crystal Shard is. Granite Shard counts are ping damage in any deck, so it gets a very high place in my heart, but the winner is the most broken of the lot; Skeleton Shard. You blow up my Ferropede? Fine, I get it back! I sacrifice Bottle Gnomes and gain three life, then also get them back too. Best artwork also goes to Skeleton Shard.

The Towers - Tower of Champions, Tower of Eons, Tower of Fortunes, Tower of Murmurs (Mirrodin)

Towers, towers, everywhere, so let's all have a look. Each tower boasts a rather good ability with a steep activation cost, but considering what you get you may think it's worthwhile.
The best of these towers, in my mind, is immediately Tower of Murmurs. With grinding set at eight cards for eight mana, you'll have your opponent drawing nothing in no time at all. Ten lives sounds most tempting after that, then four cards and finally a stronger creature. Best artwork goes to Tower of Murmurs (Is it just me, or do I seem biased towards black card's artwork?).

The Beacons - Beacon of Creation, Beacon of Destruction, Beacon of Immortality, Beacon of Tomorrows, Beacon of Unrest (Fifth Dawn)

Want plenty of Insects tokens and the chance to make them again? How about the constant threat of five damage to your opponents' head with every draw? Any card from any graveyard straight into play? The Beacons are similar to the Towers in that they can be used again and again, but with different effects no doubt.
The Beacon of Tomorrows seems to be the best for making combos that go off turn after turn and always get you an extra turn, while I feel the Unrest is the most beneficial. Get rid of your opponent biggest threat then steal it yourself. Of course the Beacon of Immortality demands some respect, doubling your life total means doubling it, so that makes negative life twice as negative, and if you've just cast Congregation and annoyed your opponents, you're likely to see them concede if you drop this bomb two seconds later. Best artwork goes to Beacon of Tomorrows, and may you never have to play against it.

The Bringers - Bringer of the Black/Blue/Green/Red/White Dawn (Fifth Dawn)

Another great example of what cycles are. All five Bringers have the same name, save for the colour word, five power and toughness, trample and an upkeep ability, plus a very Sunburst like ability. So which one's better? It comes to their most differentiating abilities, the upkeeps.
From the start I've thought that the Black Bringer has the best ability. Drawing two cards (with the Blue Bringer) may be a great deal too, but drawing precisely what you need for two life is precisely what any player could use. The Red Bringer's ability is the most outlandish seeing you take an opponent's creature for the turn, while the White appears weakest and the Green appalling. Free artifact or a 3/3 beast? I'll stick with knowing what I'm going to draw next and say Mr. Black gets Best of the Cycle. Best artwork goes to Mr. Red.

Life Gain Artifacts - Angel's Feather, Demon's Horn, Dragon's Claw, Kracken's Eye, Wurm's Tooth (Darksteel)

Another cycle that fits into every deck type. Two mana for an undetermined amount of life? Based on spells my opponents and I play? Sounds good, which is best?
Well just like the Myr (and the Artifact Land cycle) this really depends on your deck and own tastes. Putting one in your deck as opposed to another only changes the artwork and colour word appears on the card, so pick one for your colour and your opponents (if you know what colour your opponent is playing) or play it really safe and include one of each. Best artwork goes to Angel's Feather.

Artifact Lands - Ancient Den, Great Furnace, Seat of the Synod, Tree of Tales, Vault of Whispers (Mirrodin)

Want lands with an added "something Mirrodin"?
The best of these cards is just like that of the last cycle and the mana Myrs. Whichever colour deck you're playing is indicative of which one is best for you. Vault of Whispers snatches best artwork.

The Talismans - Talisman of Dominance/Impulse/Indulgence/Progress/Unity (Mirrodin)

Mana acceleration for any deck and a more flexible mana base? We love you Talismans!
The best of this lot depend on what kind of deck you're using once again. A Talisman of Indulgence would fit into a B/R stop removal deck like a hand into a glove, while a Talisman of Progress wants to be in a control deck. Just sure you pack extra life gain if you intend them for prolonged use. Best artwork sits happily in Talisman of Dominance's hands.

The Replicas - Elf Replica, Goblin Replica, Soldier Replica, Wizard Replica, Nim Replica (Mirrodin)

Someone's been trying to play God, and has succeeded as far as artificial creature are concerned. All have their own sacrifice ability and are ready to do your bidding now.
Who's the best? The most powerful ability is the Soldiers, dealing three damage, while the Goblins and most likely to see the most play, seeing half the set is artifact. The Nim's feels too weak for 3B, and the Elf's won't come up as relevant until Enchantments see more play. The wizard has evasion and a slight counterspell ability, so who's best? Goblin steals it, just as he ... no wait, he just blew himself up. Best art goes to the Skull-helmed Soldier in white.

The Coloured Equipment - Cranial Plating, Healer's Headdress, Horned Helm, Neurok Stealthsuit, Sparring Collar (Fifth Dawn)

Equipment, as per standard, can't be equipped at instant speed. Unless you have a Leonin Shikari, or these five lovely pieces of Equipment. Each one grants it's wearer an ability that's of a certain colour and can be moved at instant speed. First strike, damage prevention, trample and extra p/t, a mound of extra power or untargetability. Each one comes with a regular equip cost too, so they're all easily playable.
The pick of the litter? I think in the Mirrodin environment it goes to Cranial Plating without a doubt. Attack with your creatures, instant-equip any of your creatures that got through. In Limited play this will go pretty quick, after that comes first strike and trample. Both good combat tricks at instant speed, they leave the Stealthsuit and Headdress as Equipment that you'll use on your turn to further help your creatures attack. Prevent the next X x 2 damage your trample creature will take and attack. This card's reusability makes it ideal for players who want an aggressive push rather than a defensive hold. The Stealthsuit makes for great counter spells that aren't counter spells (if a card has no legal target upon resolution it's countered. And at the casting cost of a standard Counterspell card, too!) Best artwork goes to Cranial Plating.

The Clockwork creatures - Clockwork Beetle, Clockwork Condor, Clockwork Vorrac, Clockwork Dragon (Mirrodin)

Who wants cheap creatures, guaranteed to fall apart within several combat steps of casting them? We've got just the metallic clankers for you. Clockwork creatures are all 0/0 as printed but come with their little bag of +1/+1 counters, which get removed after every time they attack of block. Their up-side? Lower costed creatures. 1 for a 2/2, 4 for 3/3 flying, 5 for 4/4 trample and 7 for 6/6 flying dragon. The latter two of which can pump themselves up. They work great in affinity decks and seem to scream out for Modular creatures to die (so they can keep living, o' course) and assuming you have some way to move counters (Power Conduit, Dismantle) the Clockwork Dragon is great for pumping up any creatures you have, not just itself.
The best card would have to go to the Dragon, simply for being a flyer, Dragon and +1/+1 counter generator all in one. It also wins the best artwork.

The Echoing spells - Echoing Calm, Echoing Courage, Echoing Decay, Echoing Ruin, Echoing Truth (Darksteel)

The Echoing spells were a major feature of Darksteel, and rightly so. Ever wanted a counter measure to ravenous rats? Echoing Truth is a splendid way to send them out of play. What if the Rats are yours? Echoing Courage would serve as a great little kick, plus the bonus they already give themselves. The only Echo that isn't an instant is Echoing Ruin, but considering it's devastating ability, especially in Mirrodin, it makes for a fairer card. Who wants the 21 1/1 Myr tokens they just created with Myr Incubator to be blown up before they can even move out?
Despite it's slower speed Echoing Ruin picks up best card of this Cycle, with Courage and Decay coming 2nd together and Echoing Truth shouting up behind them. Echoing Calm ... can wait until Kamigawa, I believe. Best artwork goes to Truth and Ruin.

The Pulse spells - Pulse of the Dross, Pulse of the FieldsFields, Pulse of the Forge, Pulse of the Grid, Pulse of the Tangle (Darksteel)

The Pulses were Darksteel's other major featured spells. Alter your or your opponent's resources (either life, hand or creatures) and then compare totals. You still have less? How nice, the Pulse comes back to your hand. I've seen the best use made out of Pulse of the Forge and Fields, with games (and audiences) turning favour for who would win in single turns. The 3 revealed cards Pulse of the Dross gives are an extra little nicety that none of the other offer; while Pulse of the Grid and Tangle seem like the under-powered of the cycle. A 3/3 for 3 is good but your opponent needs to have 2 more creatures for you to get it back, and card drawing is all about having more cards than your opponent, so the Grid usually goes off once or twice before loosing it's beat. Best artwork goes the Pulse of the Forge. The old man looks so scared.

The Stations - Blasting Station, Grinding Station, Salvaging Station, Summoning Station (Fifth Dawn)

Fifth Dawn's "Great Machine" cards. Each one has a similar set up. Tap it for some effect, and untap them whenever something specific comes into play. With all four in play they work together to basically read "You win the game." There's going to be plenty of articles on the infinite possibilities of these cards for quite a while, and I daresay we'll be seeing Station decks in Constructed, so I'll leave the infinite side alone and look at the cards separately.
Straight to what I consider the best card, Blasting Station gives your creatures an extra little kick as they die. Everything can be used to deal an extra one damage, so your opponents need to think twice about who blocks who in combat. Grinding Station is the quickest working Mill card I've seen in ages, considering you can cast cogs (artifacts costing only zero or one mana) and sacrifice them to it immediately, seeing they trigger it's untap ability. Salvaging Station gets a cog out of your graveyard and into play, which is good for Equipment decks, and Summoning Station gives you a 2/2 chump blocker, who's very likely to die and untap Salvaging Station (that's part of an infinite, for sure). The best artwork, and this was the hardest to choose from, seeing they all look the same, goes to Salvaging Station. It, er...has the most red in it.

The Scry spells - Magma Jet, Serum Visions, Lose Hope, Tel-Jilad Justice, Stand Firm (Fifth Dawn)

Scry is the new mechanic of Fifth Dawn, and what better way to show it off then with a few cards that showcase typical abilities of each colour and let you order your deck, slightly? All cost one mana of their colour, save for Magma Jet and Tel-Jilad Justice, both costing one colourless more.
The best of the Cycle would look to go immediately to Tel-Jilad Justice, seeing half the board's a candidate. However you may feel more like picking off a two toughness creature and rigging your deck. Or drawing a card and rigging your deck a little. A rather fun cycle, whenever I draft I pick all the Scry cards I can. Best artwork rests at home with Lost Hope, that poor kitty...

And that's most of the Cycles in the Mirrodin set. Now I'm going to go over the smaller cycles, usually two or more cards that either reflect one another or have basically the same writing/ability. These are known as "mini-cycles".

The Angels - Luminous Angel, Platinum Angel, Pristine Angel (Mirrodin, Darksteel)

What makes the Angels a cycle? Not just being Angels, but also being 4/4 with flying, each of them. They all also have a very "white" ability, despite Platinum being no colour what so ever.
The best of the Angels is without a doubt Platinum Angel. Who could want a simpler worded card, then "You can't lose the game." Platinum also scoops up best artwork, without a doubt.

Vanilla Myrs - Alpha Myr, Omega Myr (Mirrodin)

Who wants a generic Myr so their Myr Matrix is even better? Get yourself either the first or last Myr you can. The only different between these two cards, game wise, is that they have swapped power and toughness. 2/1 or 1/2.
Which is best? I'm not gonna answer that, you decide. Best artwork for me sits on Omega's head.

The Destroy Cycle - - Terror, Purge (Mirrodin, Darksteel)

Possibly the cutest Cycle ever, these two cards are exact opposites of each other, one being black, the other white. One being very well known, the other being brand new. One being a serious card, the other being one big joke. With these two cards in hand you can destroy any creature in play (save for indestructible ones).
Best card goes to Terror, seeing it can destroy four out of the six different types of creatures that can be in play, while Purge only has two. However they both cost the same, and are both instants, so there's little reason to not pack both in your deck, save for mana restrictions. Best artwork is Terrors.

Chiss-Goria's cycle - Scale of Chiss-Goria, Tooth of Chiss-Goria (Mirrodin)

Both have affinity for artifacts, can be cast as instants and give a creature +0/+1 or +1/+0 when tapped. Whether the Tooth or Scale is better changes based upon what you'd prefer a creature to get and what style of game you're playing. What remains the most unknown about these cards is who is Chiss-Goria? I'd assume a legendary Dragon of Mirrodin, but we won't know until years have passed, Wizards have decided to come back to Mirrodin, and they need a conveniently pre-existent Dragon to present itself.
Best card goes to whichever one you like more. The Tooth looks better however, very pretty.

The 1/1 'when an artifact comes into play' Cycle - Disciple of the Vault, Leonin Elder (Mirrodin)

These two cards, much like the Tooth and Scale, are the same in every aspect save two small ones. Mana cost and abilities effect (though not ability trigger). Gain a life or have your opponent lose one whenever an artifact comes into play.
I guess the better one is determined upon which kind of game you're playing or what kind of player you are, but in Constructed and Limited the Disciple has seen much more play and killed many more players than the Elder has saved. Disciple gets best artwork.

The Emissary Cycle - Emissary of Despair, Emissary of Hope (Darksteel)

Like the previous few mini-cycles, these two cards are reflections of one another. The difference being again that, based on artifacts your opponent controls, you'll gain life or they'll lose life.
The Emissary of Despair is better here, just like the Disciple, and when it lands a hit it'll never deal it's 2 power in damage alone, usually coupling that with a few more artifacts for 5 - 7 more damage. Add Mycosynth Lattice to the mix for instant dead opponent, tasty!

The 'Equal to it's Power' Cycle - Auriok Bladewarden, Spikeshot Goblin, Viridian Joiner (Mirrodin)

There's a few weak creatures in Mirrodin who aren't neglected because of their weak power. It either means one damage to anything you like, one mana, or +1/+1 to any creature. Give them Equipment or some other power up and suddenly you find a Bonesplitter'd Spikeshot goblin dealing three damage for one red mana. Or an attacking trampler, who was surprise-blocked by an instantly cast Needlebug, suddenly finds they have another 3 power to deal lethal damage to the Needlebug and three to it's controller. And of course Mr. Elf gives you his power in green mana.
So who's the best? The one that I've seen most (and have regretted having to play against most) is Spikeshot Goblin. A non-artifact pinger who can be pumped up for more damage has made it a favourite for red mages, in particular in Limited. It also snatches the best artwork, because I think it's looking to fire a spike or two at me if I say otherwise...

The 'Large Creatures with a Drawback' Cycle - Leveler, Eater of Days, Desecration Elemental (Mirrodin, Darksteel, Fifth Dawn)

Now this Cycle nearly didn't make it. I looked for something in Fifth Dawn which was massive, 8/8, a creature, yep, and an artifact, nope. What's this? I thought. Why've Wizards jerked out on making a set-wide Cycle a set-wide Cycle? They jerked around the Angels (don't know if you noticed that, 2 in Mirrodin and none in Fifth Dawn) and they seem to have done it again with the Large Creatures/Large Drawbacks mini-cycle.
However, onto the goods. Who wants a 10/10, simple as that? OK, remove your library from the game. Mirrodin's Leveler, when first seen, had people dropping their mouths in shock, then again in even more shock as they realised what you had to do to get it. Darksteel's Eater of Days was the same deal, but with perhaps a less detrimental drawback. There are advantages to giving your opponent extra turns, such as enchanting their cards with things like Relic Bane and the such. Of course two free turns is still two free turns, and you want to make sure you'll live through it. Fifth Dawn's Desecration Elemental was in the same boat. I saw it and thought, 'Great, Fifth Dawn's biggest creature is black. And it has fear. And it only costs four! And it - hang on. Oh. Sacrifice a creature whenever someone plays a spell. Damn.'
NOTE: I've spoken to a few people about this Cycle and I've reasoned that the Kaldra Avatar is Fifth Dawn's Large Creature/Large Drawback. But this falls over at the fact that you need a card from each of the sets of Mirrodin, and the only drawback is how much you need to go to put it together. You can include it here if you want, but I haven't for the above reasons.
So which card of this lot is the best? If you can give it haste all three get better, but the only one without evasion is Leveler. Leveler's a good trick if you have Shared Fate in play as well, and Eater of Days can shove your opponent through a few upkeeps that you've peppered liberally with drawbacks. Which is best? I'll go with Desecration, seeing its drawback can take itself out at first given opportunity, and as such is the smallest drawback. Best artwork, however, gets eaten by Eater of Days.

The Duplicant Cycle - Duplicant, Death-Mask Duplicant (Mirrodin, Darksteel)

6 for the removal of any creature in play, or 7 mana and a removed creature from your graveyard. Either one sees you getting a creature as big as the affected card and in the case of the Death-Mask getting specific abilities, such as flying, trample, etc.
Which is better? Well for one mana more, but with an admittedly smaller zone for selection, the Death-Mask Duplicant can gain abilities as opposed to the power/toughness of the imprinted card. Best artwork goes to Death-Mask Duplicant, wearing that poor fallen Luminous Angel's wings.

The Swords Cycle - Sword of Fire and Ice, Sword of Light and Shadow (Darksteel)

Equipments like these should be illegal. +2/+2 and 2 damage plus a card; or +2/+2 and gain 2 life plus return a card from your graveyard to your hand. Both 3 to cast and 2 to equip, if these cards didn't whet your appetite for Equipment then I don't think anything would.
The cards work better on something with evasion, but who's ability is better depends on your style of play. Got sacrificing creatures? Light and Shadow. Wanna draw more cards? Fire and Ice. I personally prefer the Sword of Light and Shadow (incase you haven't noticed by now I'm a black player) as the life gain works well in a black and white deck, which in most cases will be being played when this Sword is used. Best artwork goes to Sword of Fire and Ice, surprisingly.

The Fangren Cycle - Fangren Hunter, Fangren Pathcutter (Darksteel, Fifth Dawn)

These two cards help you in combat immensely, either by permanently pumping up your creatures or by giving them all trample. Pathcutter changes your opponent's thoughts from 'OK, I have X creatures attacking me...' to 'OK, I have X damage coming straight at me...' The Hunter makes your opponent cringe the second it comes into play and makes them wish very hard for some straight forward removal.
The better card, I'd have to say, is Fangren Hunter, seeing it's ability is permanent, while the Pathcutter's turns off at the end of your turn. However seeing you're playing green I don't see why using both would be out of the question. Crush someone with sheer force today! Mr. Pathcutter takes best artwork.

The 'One Mana Life-gain Trickster Card' Cycle - Awe Strike, Hallow (Mirrodin, Darksteel)
"I attack with Tel-Jilad Chosen ."
"I cast Awe Strike."
"Alright, I also Fireball you for eight."
"OK, I Hallow that for eight."
These two little cards have managed to keep several players alive a little longer, and always made your opponent think twice about attacking next time, especially when you had a few plains open. This is normally an offensive attitude saved for blue, so it's good to see some colour confusion - of a sort - among players.

The better of these cards is Awe Strike, as the bigger the creature is the more life you'll gain, especially in Limited. Hallow wasn't as enjoyed as it's sibling. Best artwork struck me with awe, and was, naturally, Awe Strike.

The Baubles Cycle - Conjurer's Bauble, Wayfarer's Bauble (Fifth Dawn)

What would you prefer, a tapped land or some slow artifact recursion and a card draw? Both cost one to cast so you don't need to be too picky, infact why not use both so you can keep drawing cards and playing lands and returning them to your hand? What nice little Baubles.
However, which is better? Seeing Conjurer's has card drawing tacked on, and you can choose to search for zero cards to put on the bottom of your library (thanks to the wording "up to") you can pay one to draw a card, simple as. However the Wayfarer's Bauble looks better, more vicious. Something these cards don't seem to be at all, hmm...

The Ouphes Cycle - Brown Ouphe, Ouphe Vandals (Mirrodin, Fifth Dawn)

"Hey you young-punk whipper-snappers, get off o' my artifact. Gosh darnit, look, you gone and done blown it up!!" Both these cards do the same thing, counter an artifacts activated ability (activated abilities you need to pay for. Triggered ones just occur upon something happening, like "a creature coming into play"). The Vandal's counter an ability AND destroy the artifact, however they need to be sacrificed to use their ability. The Brown Ouphe only counters an ability, but is more re-useable then it's reckless brethren.
The better card? Considering the amount of artifact's that call for themselves to be sacrificed as part of the cost, I'd say that Brown Ouphe is better, due to staying in play after being used. The best artwork sits with the Vandals, however, as they look just about ready to jump on anything and attack. Memnarch should be scared.

The 'May As Well Be Unblockable' Cycle - Tornado Elemental (Fifth Dawn)
The second biggest creature in Fifth Dawn, this mammoth 6/6 (which rips the wings off every 6 toughness or less flying creature upon appearing) also has a very unique ability seen on few creatures to date. Lone Wolf was a 2/2 with "may as well be unblockable" on it. Rhox was a 5/5 regenerator with "may as well be unblockable". Tornado Elemental fits nicely into the mix, and I'm sure will be seeing some lovely Constructed play. Green mages rejoice! Chump blockers "may as well not be there."

Best card? Well for the purposes of this being a Cycle it needed more than one card, but considering that the only one from Mirrodin is Tornado Elemental, it wins by default.

The Rats Cycle - Chittering Rats, Relentless Rats (Darksteel, Fifth Dawn)

Plenty of people know the annoyance of Ravenous Rats. I gotta discard a card because of a 1/1 rat? OK. You cast another one? Fine. You Imprinted one on Soul Foundry? Instant speed discard? ARGH!! These nasty little creatures just got worse with two more fine additions to the mix. Chittering Rats makes your opponent's next draw cards they've already drawn (very bad in Limited) and Relentless Rats pack a ... well, packs a lot of themselves into one deck.
The best of Mirrodin's rats, I'd say, are the Chittering ones. They're nice to mix in with some bounce (so you can target your own rats and keep your opponent from ever drawing a new card) as opposed to the Relentless, who're just out to swarm and over-size your opponent. There's little tact required in that kind of a deck, and there's fixes for them, oh yes. (Does Mycosynth Lattice + Splinter work? Echoing Truth? Donating your opponent a Grid Monitor?) Best artworks goes to Chit - no wait, Relentless Rats just scrambled past and took the award from my hands. I would've fought back, but seven 8/8s aren't something to mess with, sorry Chittering Rats. Don't look at me like that. What? ARGH!!

And that's it! I didn't think this article would be that long, and I don't think I'll be doing another one until Kamigawa is well and truly out or until my arm heals from that Chittering Rat attack. Back to Kamigawa, once we've played plenty new deck styles (with rumours of poison counters seeing a revival and that most Broken of abilities Shadow), as well as made a few tweaks to our Constructed decks, I'm sure I'll be able to come up with a whole new swag of obvious and unobvious mini-cycles. I'd also like to thank AanAllein, PhluFePIG, NEil, Blamb, pikemania for their help in coming up with the cycles that featured in this article.

Thanks for reading,
Fox Murdoch.