Eater of Days

Eater of Days was released in 2004 as part of the Darksteel set, the second expansion in the Mirrodin block for the Magic: The Gathering trading card game. The set's thematic focus centered on the mysterious, indestructible metal known as darksteel that dominated the plane of Mirrodin, shifting the game's mechanics toward artifact-heavy strategies. This creature was designed to embody the sheer, overwhelming power of the plane's synthetic inhabitants, pairing immense combat statistics with a debilitating drawback that requires players to skip their next two turns upon casting.

The card was illustrated by Greg Staples, whose artistic style captured the nightmarish, biomechanical aesthetic synonymous with the Mirrodin environment. Staples focused on the creature's massive, imposing scale and alien physiology, creating an image that conveys the destructive potential of a Phyrexian-influenced construct. Upon release, the card gained a reputation as a high-risk, high-reward piece, often viewed by the community as a quintessential 'Timmy' card—a powerful, splashy creature that requires creative deck-building to circumvent its significant downsides.