Zero mana artifacts are prevalent in the likes of Modern and Legacy, with Mox Opal, Lotus Petal, and Mishras Bauble all seeing heavy play
Ezuri, Renegade Leader gives the elves deck a win condition in the command zone, and some protection from board interaction
Even cheap cards like Mire Triton or Guildsworn Prowler can stop terror decks from getting thanks to Deathtouch The rest of the meta is around the same, as Pauper has many viable options, and it's very diverse with a pool of different decks you can choose from
The one innovation was that, while Innistrad only had DFCs that were a creature on both sides (and one planeswalker on both sides at mythic rare), Dark Ascension had two DFCs that started as artifacts, one of which wasn't even a creature on the back face
it will remain firmly in our sights