According to the developers on-stage, they were designed to feel like the " ultimate prize ": according to the team, they look and feel like real gold
Extort lets your disruptive piece pressure your opponents for some clean utility
When there are many artifacts on the board, Mycosynth Golem either acts as a massive cost reducer or even allows you to cast artifact creatures for free
The moment you start adding Fabled Passages or DFC lands to your deck to enable a second colour, both the hit-rate and the Augur play patterns get muddied and weakened as a result
Once the card game Duel Monsters was introduced though, the series took a major shift and largely focused on that, with much of the story and its mysteries becoming intertwined with it
But were not just giving it a place on this list because of this its position is well earned