Steal Artifact

Steal Artifact was first released in the Limited Edition Alpha set of Magic: The Gathering in 1993, later appearing in the Fourth Edition base set in 1995. Designed by Richard Garfield, the card was part of the original core set that defined the game's early mechanical identity, emphasizing the interaction between players and their opponents' permanents. Its inclusion in Fourth Edition marked a transitional era for the game, as Wizards of the Coast moved to standardize card frames and clarify rules text for a rapidly expanding global audience.

The card's iconic original illustration was created by artist Amy Weber, one of the original twenty-five artists hired for the game's debut. Weber employed a vivid, somewhat surreal aesthetic that characterized much of the early card pool, using bold colors to convey the literal act of magical theft. Within the game's design, the card served as a powerful tactical tool in Blue, designed to punish opponents for deploying high-value artifacts, and it remains a well-recognized piece of Magic's visual history.