ARKON'S AXE
6 Artifact
3T: target attacking creature gains +2/+0 until end of turn. Any creature damaged by target creature gains a +0/-1 counter. If target creature leaves play before end of turn, Arkon's Axe is buried.

Not much to say about this card except for a comment on the illustration itself. While searching thru my collection of fantasy art images, I noticed this drawing of an axe that played a trick upon my eyes. While scanning over it, I thought I saw a stylized skull within the shine of the axe blade. While this initial impression was little more than a mirage, some PhotoShop alterations made the dream reality!

ARKON'S ORB
2 Artifact
Pay up to 2 less whenever casting a Summon spell. Pay 1 more whenever casting a non-Summon spell

For the longest time, I've seen MtG slipping away from what I personally thought to be the fundemental nature of the game itself - that of dueling mages summoning various monsters to do the fighting for them. The thought of viable tournament decks without a single creature rather bothered me. Hence, Arkon's Orb.

PORTABLE DOOR
3 Artifact
1T: target creature cannot be blocked by walls until end of turn. If that creature is put into the graveyard before end of turn, destroy Portable Door.

This is one of my favorite overall card designs; the image, the card effect, even the design work of mine seem to click into place. First of all, the image is perfect for the card (an image taken from the old AD&D collectors cards - 1992 run, I think). The concept of the card is, IMO, very nice, and a needed addition to the game. Heck, even my normally sloppy design work looks pretty good in this case.

SPEAR OF DESTINY

My only unfinished design in the Artifact category, the image in question caught my eye but failed to provoke much in the way of inspiration. As with all my unfinished pieces, feel free to offer suggestions on what this card should evolve into.

THRONE OF VARN
6 Artifact
4T: Put a Swamp token into play. Treat this token as a basic swamp.

My initial idea concerning this card was to create a series of artifacts that produced land tokens, having such a cad for each color. I simply never got around to designing the four other colors, and doubtfully will do so now. An interesing idea, altho I think the cost of the card (both casting and special effect costs) should've been a little steeper, in retrospect.