• 'Confrontational' tactics questioned
The Magic raced out to 16-8 lead through some superb passing from goal attack Jodi Brown and marvellous defensive work from one-woman wall Casey Williams.
The Steel spent the rest of the match playing catch-up and put the home side under enormous pressure but fell short, losing 50-42.
Steel coach Robyn Broughton was quick to pinpoint her side's sluggish start as the cause for the Steel's demise.
"We were eight down at quarter time and we were eight down at the finish," she said.
"When you play catch-up you change your game.
"You're more anxious than you should be because you have not got a lead. So I think it had a huge effect."
Steel captain Megan Dehn had a strong performance and played her heart out, landing 24 of her 25 attempts on goal.
And while she never gave up she agreed with her coach's assessment.
"I thought we picked ourselves quite well and we pushed hard most of the game," she said.
"But when you are trying to catch up all the time and the bounce of the ball goes their way or an umpiring call goes their way then you are down again by four, so it does take its toll."
The Magic will play the New South Wales Swifts in Newcastle on Sunday with the winner going on to play the Adelaide Thunderbirds in the grand final the following week.
"It's all on," a happy Magic coach Noeline Taurua said.
The Swifts were rocked by a shock loss to the Thunderbirds in the major semifinal and bouncing back will be difficult.
The Magic had to weather a spirited comeback from the Steel and the pressure will have served them well going into the Swifts game.
Trailing by eight goals, the Steel scored nine unanswered goals in the second period and got itself back into the match.
But there is often very little between success and failure.
And the Steel got the little things wrong early, a couple of stray passes, some clumsy penalties and the odd mis-communication handed the Magic the initiative.
Brown has had her critics, with some suggesting she is not as fit as she needs to be.
But the former Silver Fern made some telling touches.
She opened the Magic's account with a nice shot from deep in the circle.
But where she made her mark was in her superb passing game, firing some inch-perfect bullets.
No sooner had the ball reached Irene van Dyk, it was dropping through the net, with the ace sniper landing all 13 attempts in a devastating opening quarter by the home side.
Down the other end, goal keep Williams emerged from nowhere to grab a brace of intercepts.
Her best play, though, was a block shot she managed to regather.
The Steel took the lead briefly during the third quarter.
Back-up shooter Julianna Naoupu replaced Daneka Wipiiti and the Magic was slow to adjust.
But with Williams directing the show at the back, the Magic was quickly back into stride.
They scored nine goals to two to round out the quarter and took a 38-32 lead into the final 15 minutes.
It proved too big a gap for the Steel.
