First printed in Final Fantasy (2025)
Legendary Artifact
Black spells you cast cost 
less to cast.
If a nontoken creature an opponent controls would die, instead exile it and you gain 2 life.
, 
: Put target creature card exiled with The Darkness Crystal onto the battlefield tapped under your control with two additional +1/+1 counters on it.
- Illustrated by
- Pablo Mendoza
Legality
- Legal in
- Standard, Pioneer, Modern, Legacy, Vintage, Future Standard, Historic, Timeless, Alchemy, Penny Dreadful, Gladiator, Commander, Duel Commander, Oathbreaker, Brawl, Standard Brawl, Competitive Brawl
- Not legal in
- Pauper, Premodern, Old School 93/94, Pauper Commander, PreDH, Tiny Leaders
Rulings (5)
- If The Darkness Crystal leaves the battlefield at the same time as one or more nontoken creatures an opponent controls would die, those creature cards will be exiled and you'll gain 2 life for each of them.
- If a creature token an opponent controls dies, it goes to that player's graveyard as normal before ceasing to exist.
- To determine the total cost of a spell, start with the mana cost or alternative cost you're paying (such as a flashback cost), add any cost increases (such as kicker costs), then apply any cost reductions (such as that of The Darkness Crystal's first ability). The mana value of the spell is determined by only its mana cost, no matter what the total cost to cast that spell was.
- While you control The Darkness Crystal, abilities that trigger whenever a nontoken creature an opponent control dies won't trigger because that card is exiled instead.
- The cost reduction applies only to generic mana in the total cost of black spells you cast.
Prices
MTGO price: 0.006 TIX, the cheapest non-foil print (average sell price on GoatBots, 31 Oct 2026).
In Limited on MTG Arena
Win rates in Arena drafts and sealed, retrieved from 17Lands (CC BY 4.0).
| Set | GIH WR | vs set | IWD | Games |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Final Fantasy (FIN), Premier Draft | 54.3% | -1.4 | +1.3 | 6057 |
| Final Fantasy (FIN), Sealed | 56.5% | -0.9 | +0.1 | 853 |
- GIH WR
- win rate of the games in which the card was in the opening hand or drawn
- vs set
- points above or below the average win rate of all decks in the set
- IWD
- improvement when drawn: GIH WR minus the win rate when the card stayed in the library
- Games
- games in which the card was seen
Combos
22 combos, the most popular first:
- Infinite creature LTB, Infinite creature ETB…: Oathsworn Vampire + Phyrexian Altar + The Darkness Crystal
- Infinite creature LTB, Infinite creature ETB…: Chthonian Nightmare + Greedy Freebooter + Shambling Ghast + The Darkness Crystal
- Near-infinite lifegain, Near-infinite lifeloss…: K'rrik, Son of Yawgmoth + Mourning + Pontiff of Blight + The Darkness Crystal
- Infinite creature LTB, Infinite creature ETB…: Chthonian Nightmare + Patron of the Arts + The Darkness Crystal
- Infinite creature LTB, Infinite creature ETB…: Blasting Station + Haunted Crossroads + Priest of Gix + Rakdos, the Muscle + The Darkness Crystal
- Exile your library with the ability to play the exiled cards until your next end step, Infinite creature ETB…: Bloodthrone Vampire + Haunted Crossroads + Priest of Gix + Rakdos, the Muscle + The Darkness Crystal
- Exile your library with the ability to play the exiled cards until your next end step, Infinite +1/+1 counters on a creature…: Grimgrin, Corpse-Born + Haunted Crossroads + Priest of Gix + Rakdos, the Muscle + The Darkness Crystal
- Exile your library with the ability to play the exiled cards until your next end step, Infinite charge counters on a permanent…: Haunted Crossroads + Priest of Gix + Rakdos, the Muscle + Spawning Pit + The Darkness Crystal
- Exile your library with the ability to play the exiled cards until your next end step, Infinite +1/+1 counters on a creature…: Evereth, Viceroy of Plunder + Haunted Crossroads + Priest of Gix + Rakdos, the Muscle + The Darkness Crystal
- Exile your library with the ability to play the exiled cards until your next end step, Infinite +1/+1 counters on a creature…: Hammerhead, Maggia Boss + Haunted Crossroads + Priest of Gix + Rakdos, the Muscle + The Darkness Crystal
