If you’d asked any Magic: The Gathering player five years ago about the chance for a return to Lorwyn, and they’d likely have said we’d be more likely to see Optimus Prime. Though the original Lorwyn block was lacklustre at best, the Celtic fantasy vibes of the world quickly cemented it as a fan-favourite.
Finally, almost 20 years later, we’re back in Lorwyn Eclipsed, and there are a few standout cards I’m definitely going to be keeping an eye out when ripping into boosters. If you're a fan of the series or enjoy partaking in the best card games, these are the five I'd recommend tracking down in MTG Lorwyn Eclipsed.
Eirdu, Carrier Of Dawn/Isilu, Carrier Of Twilight
After MTG Spider-Man and MTG Avatar: The Last Airbender, it’s nice to have a set with only a couple dozen legendary creatures. There’s a bunch I want to build Commander decks for, like Kirol and Tam, but Eirdu immediately sticks out as perhaps the strongest in the set.
Eirdu’s front side gives all creatures spells convoke, letting you go wide and keep tapping your creatures to play even more. But it’s the back face, Isilu, that is far more interesting, as it gives all your creatures persist (when they die, they come back with a -1/-1 counter on it if they didn’t have any already).
Anyone around since the original Shadowmoor set will know the combo potential of persist is incredible. Just drop down any creature with undying (the opposite ability that gives them +1/+1 counters instead), or a Mikaeus, the Unhallowed, and you’ve got an infinite sacrifice combo ready and raring to go.
Formidable Speaker
Isilu isn’t the only powerful combo enabler in Lorwyn Eclipsed. Formidable Speaker allows you to untap another permanent for a tap and one generic mana, giving you access to all the mana dorks, survivor triggers, and vehicle crewing you could need.
What’s more, Formidable Speaker is a 2/4 Elf for three mana - one of the top creature types at a fantastic rate. In Commander, this is going to pair very nicely with Foundations Jumpstart’s Dionus, Elvish Archdruid to get a second and third untap, especially in High Perfect Morcant decks that are also busy tapping to proliferate counters.
This is all completely ignoring the first line of text on Formidable Speaker, too. Just by it entering, you can go and tutor for a creature to put into your hand. It’s value on value on value, and easily one of the best Elf cards that has been printed in a good long while.
Bitterbloom Bearer
Bitterblossom is one of the best Faerie cards in Magic, thanks to its ability to give you a Faerie token in every upkeep. It sees play in not just Commander, but also Modern and even Legacy, thanks to how powerful it is at creating a virtually free flying token every turn.
And then Lorwyn Eclipsed just gave us another Bitterblossom, in the form of Bitterbloom Bearer. It has the downside of being an easily removable creature rather than an enchantment, but having flash means in exchange you get everything Bitterblossom offers at instant speed.
Flash this in on your opponent’s end step to ensure you at least get one Faerie token out of Bitterbloom Bearer, and then have it ready to swing and attack straight away. Creatures are also much easier to copy than enchantments, especially in Lorwyn Eclipsed with cards like Omni-Changeling and Mirrorform to boost how many Faeries you’re pumping out.
Meek Attack
Meek Attack has been one of the cards most hyped up before Lorwyn Eclipsed’s launch, and for good reason. You don’t often see a card that so perfectly launches a whole new deck archetype into Standard like this, and the payoffs it promises are downright hilarious.
As the name suggests, Meek Attack is kind of like Sneak Attack, in that you can use it to cheat a creature into play. However, the caveat with Meek Attack is that creature has to have a total power and toughness of five or less. It sounds like a downside, but it’s going to be an absolute menace to play against.
So far, the funniest play I’ve heard is to use it to cheat in a Threefold Thunderhulk. It enters, makes a load of Gnome tokens, attacks to make even more, and then dies to the sacrifice trigger at the end of the turn. Next turn, use Meek Attack to cheat in Daretti, Rocketeer Engineer to get the Thunderhulk back for good.
Hexing Squelcher
If any card from Lorwyn Eclipsed screams 'powerhouse staple,' it’s definitely Hexing Squelcher. For just one generic and a red, you get a 2/2 Goblin, which is already good enough for practically any Goblin deck before you’ve read its ability. And then you read the text, and it’s clear this is going to be one of the nightmare cards of this Standard season.
For just two mana, you have a way to stop any of your spells from being countered, and a way to protect your creatures with a universal ward cost of paying two life. This card only exists to make your opponent’s life miserable, and it’s almost impressive how well it succeeds in doing that.
Izzet is already causing problems in Standard and Modern, and having a way to shut down any interaction for the low, low cost of two mana is wild. This is undoubtedly the single best card in the whole of Lorwyn Eclipsed, and one we’re likely going to be sick of seeing by the end of the year.
Looking for ideas of what to play next? Be sure to drop in on our guide to the best board games, or the best tabletop RPGs.
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