Goblin Dirigible

The Goblin Dirigible was released in 2003 as part of the Mirrodin set, the first expansion in the Mirrodin block for the Magic: The Gathering trading card game. This set introduced the plane of Mirrodin, a world constructed almost entirely of metal, and placed a heavy mechanical focus on artifacts, which comprised a significantly larger portion of the set than in traditional expansions. The Dirigible reflects the chaotic, industrial aesthetic of the plane's goblin population, who scavenged and cobbled together scraps to create makeshift flying machines.

The card illustration was created by artist Greg Staples, who aimed to capture the precarious and ramshackle nature of goblin engineering. His work portrays the dirigible as a heavy, clunky vessel sustained by questionable ingenuity rather than streamlined physics. Upon its release, the card was noted for its flavor and mechanical role within the artifact-heavy environment, serving as an evasive threat that required players to carefully manage their board state due to its taxing drawback.