Welcome back!
Thanks for reading. I’m excited to bring to you… The Lorwyn Eclipsed Set Review! Here’s how we’ll do this: I’m going to review my favorite cards from each mono-color, plus a general multi-color category and colorless category, that I think YOU should play!
Black: Scarblade’s Malice is one of the best instants in Lorwyn Eclipsed’s Limited Environment. Being able to kill a creature, gain back some life, and replace the body you just blocked with is very handy. That said, I’m cheating here, so you don’t have to take my word for it: The Professor of Tolarian Community College recommends this card as well. For Commander, I think it will be very interesting in decks that copy cards to target every creature, like ones helmed by Zevlor, Elturel Exile.
I think Scarblade’s Malice also synergizes well with other ways that Black wants to play in Lorwyn Eclipsed, specifically instant speed for our Fairy friends and profiting off death triggers for the Goblin gamers.
Target creature you control gains deathtouch and lifelink until end of turn. When that creature dies this turn, create a 2/2 black and green Elf creature token.
Blue: Sunderflock is probably one of the best bombs in Lorwyn Eclipsed Limited. The fact that it reduces itself the more elementals you have is nice, especially if you can pair it with one of the Elemental Incarnations, but even still, 7 mana for an asymmetrical boardwipe and 5/5 flyer is hard to deny.
While it is somewhat underwhelming, I think that matches Blue’s vibe in this set. Fairies received relatively less support than other archetypes in the set, as did Elementals, Elves, and Goblins, which are doing quite well as archetypes. With very few counterspells and interaction, it’s not surprising that some of the best Blue could do in this set is a Big Bird.
This spell costs {X} less to cast, where X is the greatest mana value among Elementals you control.
Flying
When this creature enters, if you cast it, return all non-Elemental creatures to their owners’ hands.
Colorless: Every time this card was played against me, it turned on a powerful typal engine that was hard to stop. Gathering Stone is a must-have if you plan on picking up any of the typal strategies available in Limited or in Commander. The fact that this card triggers on ETB means it’s way better than Herald’s Horn.
As this artifact enters, choose a creature type.
Spells you cast of the chosen type cost {1} less to cast.
When this artifact enters and at the beginning of your upkeep, look at the top card of your library. If it’s a card of the chosen type, you may reveal it and put it into your hand. If you don’t put the card into your hand, you may put it into your graveyard.
Green: Selfless Safewright is the latest attempt to add a staple card (heroic intervention) to a creature's body. That said, the Convoke mechanic is super interesting here, as Green often dips into strategies that benefit from having multiple creatures, which is true in Lorwyn Eclipsed as it is in Commander. I’ll be adding Selfless Safewright to my decks, although not necessarily typal decks. What I think is interesting about Selfless Safewright is that it doesn’t protect itself EVER, even if you name Elf or Warrior as the creature type.
Flash
Convoke (Your creatures can help cast this spell. Each creature you tap while casting this spell pays for {1} or one mana of that creature’s color.)
When this creature enters, choose a creature type. Other permanents you control of that type gain hexproof and indestructible until end of turn.
Multicolor: There were a LOT of multicolor cards worthy of a shout-out, especially among the Elemental Incarnation series. Lorwyn has always had some multicolor creatures, one of my favorites among them being Overbeing of Myth from Eventide, the original Lorwyn block. That said, I think Vibrance takes the cake for me in Limited. Wistfulness is currently getting its time to shine, but witnessing Vibrance in the Lorwyn Eclipsed Prerelease showed me how busted it can be. At the evoke price, you can bolt any target or jump ahead in land and life. Doing both effectively puts you two steps ahead, and with such a happy up depicting Vibrance, it’s hard not to list this card as the multicolor representative.
When this creature enters, if {R}{R} was spent to cast it, this creature deals 3 damage to any target.
When this creature enters, if {G}{G} was spent to cast it, search your library for a land card, reveal it, put it into your hand, then shuffle. You gain 2 life.
Evoke {R/G}{R/G}
Red: I was incredibly excited to crack open a copy of Goliath Daydreamer. Often, red creatures that stockpile your used instants or sorceries are, well, not very tough. The fact that Goliath Daydreamer triggers off the attack with a 4/4 body gives her and those playing with her a lot more breathing room. It also allows her to take on a few -1/-1 counters for the Blight players out there.
Whenever you cast an instant or sorcery spell from your hand, exile that card with a dream counter on it instead of putting it into your graveyard as it resolves.
Whenever this creature attacks, you may cast a spell from among cards you own in exile with dream counters on them without paying its mana cost.
White: Maybe it says something about me that two of the cards I like are asymmetrical board wipes. Like many cards in this set, Winnowing is another card that takes a classic Magic card (Tragic Arrogance) and puts a Creature Type spin on it, which is hard not to love. This might mean you need to spend a second to think about how you’re using it, especially in Limited, where there are Changelings to consider.
Convoke (Your creatures can help cast this spell. Each creature you tap while casting this spell pays for {1} or one mana of that creature’s color.)
For each player, you choose a creature that player controls. Then each player sacrifices all other creatures they control that don’t share a creature type with the chosen creature they control.
Thanks again for reading. That’s all for today, but I’ll see you on Friday for the weekly card review! PS, in case you haven’t seen, there was a Ban Announcement for Commander today. Lutri, Spellchaser (that damned otter) is now legal in Commander (except as a companion), and Biorhythm is back on the menu! You can read more here > > >