MTG Salvation

Darksteel Plate

I KNOW this card is good, but for whatever reason I run it in virtually none of my decks. I'm not sure why but I was never happy drawing it back in the day when I did.

What are your thoughts? does anyone else experience this similar feeling?

I used to run it in a lot of my decks, but it was eventually cut from most of them.

I used to just slot in Darksteel Plate simply because wraths are everywhere in EDH and indestructibility was almost a necessity to get an attack step with a creature. I have since learned just how amazing haste is.

These days, I only play it in Damia and Kaalia, where protecting the commander is vital.

Darksteel Plate is a great card, and I do love using it, but it certainly doesn't fit everywhere. In particular, it can be pretty annoying for your opponents if you use it on your hexproof general. Ever face an indestructible Lazav with counter mana up? It is...gross, to say the least.

darksteel plate i run in Nin. Along with Shield of Kaldra
Both allow me to target my own guys for nin's ability. And with pariah's shield and Coalhauler swine... its GG (with darksteel plate).

But really only run it if you have a use, otherwise forget it. If you have no use, it becomes a dead draw.

I have a love/hate relationship with the card. I love attaching it to creatures of mine that can't be targeted. I hate having creatures equipped with it stolen by U mages when I haven't made it untargetable yet.

I liked it more when I first started playing EDH. However, I soon discovered that exile is a thing.

Quote from ChimericPisces

I hate having creatures equipped with it stolen by U mages when I haven't made it untargetable yet.

I liked it more when I first started playing EDH. However, I soon discovered that exile is a thing.

This. Indestructible =/= untargetable. I find Lightning Greaves + recursion more generally useful/annoying than having a guy who lives through Wrath of God.

It's a great card when your metagame has been getting complacent about removal. If a standard removal suite for decks in your area has become "Oblivion Stone and three or four cards that can tutor it up/recur it", equipping this on a win-con will probably give you the game.

I'll admit it's not the strongest protection spell out there, though. That honor (IMO) goes to Vanishing; get this card to stick on a creature and as long as you don't get greedy and keep at least UUUU available, opponents are going to have a really tough time getting rid of it.

Quote from donfuan

You can just equip it on another creature on your turn: they gain control over the creature, you remain in control over darksteel plate (although it switches sides together with the creature).

I'm aware, but most of my decks run very few creatures. I often have nothing to equip it to, and that's assuming my creature isn't countered by the U mage who stole it!

Quote from Neo1715

I used to just slot in Darksteel Plate simply because wraths are everywhere in EDH and indestructibility was almost a necessity to get an attack step with a creature. I have since learned just how amazing haste is.

I still run it in decks with commanders that aren't really trying to attack, but I want to live longer than a turn or two. Zedruu the Greathearted for example.

Its particularly annoying on hexproof generals. Especially when you cant make them sacrifice permanents... luckly BSZ is a thing.

Quote from gromgrom

Its particularly annoying on hexproof generals. Especially when you cant make them sacrifice permanents... luckly BSZ is a thing.

Hallowed Burial is also a thing.

I run a plate in my Boros equipment deck. Not the best card in there, but great wrath protection.

Quote from Neo1715

These days, I only play it in Damia and Kaalia, where protecting the commander is vital.

I will echo this. It's generally best in decks that either a) Wrath a lot(Destroy wrath of course, not Terminus or Hallowed Burial) or b) Have a general that needs to be out for multiple turns. Or both.

Right now out of my (4) decks it's only in my Kresh deck, but it's used to good effect there.

Quote from DeadManSeven

This. Indestructible =/= untargetable. I find Lightning Greaves + recursion more generally useful/annoying than having a guy who lives through Wrath of God.

+1

If a deck really makes creature defense an aspect of its game plan in this format, the subversion of simple "destroy" effects is the very first obstacle that those decks will anticipate. Decks that are just running some creature defense might be affected, but generally creature removal is in there to supplement some kind of game plan, and so getting a creature to survive a wipe might not do everything you need.

So against true creature-control decks, you'll run into Exile, Tuck, Negative Toughness and Bounce, both targeted and untargeted. In fact, this might be close to 100% of the removal you face from them. This is a dead card against that. Being strictly dead, this card actually makes your deck worse against these decks because it doesn't increase your creature density or make your creatures faster at doing their thing.

Against other decks that just happen to have creature removal, they'll have to continue on with their game plan with few or zero ways to get rid of your creature. The problem here is that they see they can't interact with you, and so they go after you, hoping you have no way to interact with them either. If you don't, it's basically a race. And Plate doesn't help you in this race that it caused. You dumped 5 mana into it, used up a card. So unless you have a creature like Kresh whose in-built power enhancements are absolutely enough on their own, an equal-level deck with equal or better draw-power and mana will still beat you, even in the event a third deck doesn't wipe you both out.


So essentially, this is a passive card that seems like it wants to get used in active strategies. Better is to just use active cards with active strategies. Recursion plus Haste is a good example. ETB abilities and self-bounce are another. You want to be able to use your countermeasures actively against decks that don't engage you, and use mostly creatures that give you value even when they die.

Quote from Justice1337

+1

If a deck really makes creature defense an aspect of its game plan in this format, the subversion of simple "destroy" effects is the very first obstacle that those decks will anticipate. Decks that are just running some creature defense might be affected, but generally creature removal is in there to supplement some kind of game plan, and so getting a creature to survive a wipe might not do everything you need.

So against true creature-control decks, you'll run into Exile, Tuck, Negative Toughness and Bounce, both targeted and untargeted. In fact, this might be close to 100% of the removal you face from them. This is a dead card against that. Being strictly dead, this card actually makes your deck worse against these decks because it doesn't increase your creature density or make your creatures faster at doing their thing.

Against other decks that just happen to have creature removal, they'll have to continue on with their game plan with few or zero ways to get rid of your creature. The problem here is that they see they can't interact with you, and so they go after you, hoping you have no way to interact with them either. If you don't, it's basically a race. And Plate doesn't help you in this race that it caused. You dumped 5 mana into it, used up a card. So unless you have a creature like Kresh whose in-built power enhancements are absolutely enough on their own, an equal-level deck with equal or better draw-power and mana will still beat you, even in the event a third deck doesn't wipe you both out.


So essentially, this is a passive card that seems like it wants to get used in active strategies. Better is to just use active cards with active strategies. Recursion plus Haste is a good example. ETB abilities and self-bounce are another. You want to be able to use your countermeasures actively against decks that don't engage you, and use mostly creatures that give you value even when they die.

While I agree with just about everything you said, I think everyone should also keep in mind that Indestructible goes beyond just 'wrath-prevention' and also happens to make for extremely good blockers and/or fearless attackers.

Read: Good for combat as well.

Agreed. Darksteel Plate (and to a lesser extent, Shield of Kaldra) are both great cards in aggro-centric decks if for no other reason they allow you to block or attack without trepidation. It's just a nice bonus that they make your wraths one-sided, opening up the pathways to deal damage at will.

Plus, it's for the lolz with Palisade Giant.

seems that unanimously this card is best in decks that either need metalcraft, or are starving to protect their general. I still think it's really solid as it does protect a card from a lot of things, mostly wrath effects, which is where I used mine in the past back when I had a wrath-happy meta.

Glad to see others have similar thoughts on it.

I go back and forth over whether or not I really wanna keep it in Lazav.

It's not one of the equips I usually search for when I am tutoring with Tezz or something, at least not at first (I rather grab SoFaI or Jitte or something), but it is damn nice having this on my general or Bob or something relevant that I rather not lose.

In the group I play with, people still use tons of destroy and damage effects. Indestructible matters there. That said, I only run this in my Jaya deck.

Just pay the equip cost. (1) The equip cost can be paid while the equipped to a creature. (2) When an opponent gains control of a creature, they don't gain control of any equipment equipped to that creature, however they remain equipped. So all you have to do is pay that cost, and find away to rid them of that creature if you don't want them to have, which should now be a lot easier.