When I made my way back to Magic: The Gathering (for the umpteenth time) it was during the Scars of Mirrodin block (specifically during the New Phyrexia set), which is fairly ironic because I stopped playing just before the original Mirrodin block released. My reasoning was there were way too many artifacts/artifact creatures and a new mechanic called Indestructible, which I felt was extremely powerful.

Little did I know the real... skirge... of the format would be a deck called Affinity, utilizing the game mechanic of the same name, leading to a banning of Skullclamp in the Standard format at the time.

Even more ironic was that when I came back, the deck I built was an artifact creature based deck using a card I mentioned before, Tempered Steel. So, I went from almost never playing with creatures to a creature heavy deck with an artifact theme that essentially made me leave Magic.

We won't even get into how I play Affinity in the Modern format...

Vault Skirge was one of the staples in my deck, along with Memnite, Signal Pest, and Tempered Steel. Isn't it cute?! If I could get Vault Skirge out soon enough (helped by its Phyrexian Mana — a payment of life instead of appropriate mana), along with a Tempered Steel, I was going to be doing pretty okay. It would net me anywhere from 1-3+ life each block or swing in to attack. If multiple were out on the board at once? All the better!

This little fella even gets a slot in my Modern Affinity deck (which only has one card with Affinity in it, I think?). I suppose most of his little buddies mentioned above do too, with the exception of Tempered Steel (depending on the build). I may have even used it in a Black/White token deck as well... Either way, I came to really like this card and am hoping it always finds an application, whether competitively or casually.

Foils are cheap, at only a few dollars, so I'll likely attempt to collect it soon!

Have you ever played with Vault Skirge? Did you play during the Mirrodin block? If so, which deck(s) did you play? What about during the Scars of Mirrodin? Do you have a favorite artifact and/or artifact creature? If so, which and why?