Weal and woe weave together once more as we return to one of Magic's most iconic planes in Lorwyn Eclipsed, bringing with it a host of new typal payoffs and wacky designs. Not everything is as it seems in this set, and it and includes mechanics both new and revisited, with a number of callbacks to the original block. In this article we’ll talk about those mechanics, and offer some thoughts on what they mean for Commander and other formats.
Lorwyn Eclipsed will release to Magic: the Gathering Online and Arena on January 20th, and to the tabletop on January 23rd. Commander: Lorwyn Eclipsed will release on the same date.
Last time we covered the Multicolored Cards, and this time we'll be taking a look at the set's White, Blue, and Black cards. As usual we won’t be looking at every card, but what we will be looking at we’ll be looking at primarily but not exclusively with an eye for Commander play. This includes both the main set, and the Commander decks, released as a pair for Lorwyn Eclipsed.
Credit: Wizards of the Coast
Adept Watershaper
Saffgor: In a set with Sygg's Command, the threat of two of these tapped in Standard is very real, and in Commander it represents an extremely pushed bit of protection that isn't just one-time, ala Selfless Spirit. Absolute slam dunk for Vehicles/Spacecraft/Planets as well, I like this card a great deal!
BPhillipYork: This is pretty all around solid. Sort of funny that it won't protect creatures with Vigilance, or the increasing bevy of creatures that untap themselves for another combat or some such. But for protecting a go-wide deck, or for Merfolk, or to protect mana dorks, or so many things, solid all around card. Fits white really nicely.
Credit: Wizards of the Coast
Ajani, Outland Chaperone
Saffgor: This is textbook Planeswalker design, and that isn't a compliment. Make a blocker, remove a thing, probably win on ult. Snore.
BPhillipYork: Funny how well the ult will scale into Commander, if you can somehow get to 8. Which isn't that hard with so many Doubling Season effects running around. But aside from those options, it's just kind of unplayable in Commander.
Credit: Wizards of the Coast
Belonging
Saffgor: While it is expensive, this is a card that allows silly typal things to occur. As an example, I've been working slowly on putting together Zubera typal...this works there, where few other things would.
BPhillipYork: This is a great way to make 3 and then 9 creatures of any particular creature type. Pretty great with Reaper King.
Credit: Wizards of the Coast
Burdened Stoneback
Saffgor: I'm always interested in cards that remove their own counters, with respects to Finality counters or similar. This is slow, given it's Sorcery-speed, but there's perhaps a home in Enrage decks? ...Maybe not, now that I say it.
BPhillipYork: This is kind of meh to me.
Credit: Wizards of the Coast
Champion of the Clachan
Saffgor: Kithkin lord effect, it will go in those decks and nowhere else.
BPhillipYork: Fine for a Kithkin. Targeting something with an ETB or leaves battlefield effect hopefully, or some other way to get value out of it, otherwise hard to see it competing with so many other ways to buff your creatures.
Credit: Wizards of the Coast
Curious Colossus
Saffgor: This is an ideal Bracket 2 finisher, for flicker decks that can actually ramp into it. Also nasty for Hashaton, so don't get any bright ideas.
BPhillipYork: This costs a lot, but it turns all your opponents creatures into 1/1s, so it's a decent haymaker. But for 7 mana, you really should be winning the game.
Credit: Wizards of the Coast
Flock Imposter
Saffgor: There's a number of combos this enables, as while it's a poor effect for the cost, a type like Eldrazi doesn't have it in spades currently. Be on the lookout, because this card will pop up in places you'd little expect.
BPhillipYork: Nobody is going to look at that blue monstrosity and think its one of those other weird birds. Not a very good shapeshifter. This is like an off-brand sort of thing. Like the Aqua Teen Hunger Force Episode where they "copy" Shake. But as a card, it's fine, a pretty expensive flash changeling that also lets you bounce something else. Fairly toolboxy since it's a may, and useful to regenerate ETB effects.
Credit: Wizards of the Coast
Kinbinding
Saffgor: This is a fixed Cathars' Crusade which doesn't cause issues with memory & counters, and the fact it supplies its own buff is lovely. Great card for its purpose, but definitely for low-power Commander.
BPhillipYork: Really expensive for what it does, compared to other buffers, so unless you're cheating it out somehow especially with Opalescence or something like that, probably better off with other kindred enablers.
Credit: Wizards of the Coast
Kinscaer Sentry
Saffgor: If you squint, this is White ramp, and I'm not being facetious when I say that. You need to get the cards in hand and on board to make it work, but First Strike isn't easy to block in the early game, and this will quickly cheat 2, then 3, etc mana.
BPhillipYork: Wow, that's potentially dumping out something really big in a go-wide deck. Like, yeah its pretty vulnerable, but white has lots of ways to protect things. And this lets you turn a horde of 1/1s into something really dangerous suddenly by dumping something out. It's also so dangerous it's just going to draw fire, this is the kind of card I'd easily hit with a Swords to Plowshares in response to a Wheel of Fortune.
Credit: Wizards of the Coast
Moonlit Lamenter
Saffgor: Repeatable White card draw, and this counting any counter lets it be a genuine engine for decks that can supply the necessary fuel. Awesome to have, and a wonderful card to sit under Agatha's Soul Cauldron.
BPhillipYork: This is okay, really 2 mana to draw a card is pretty below par given all the great, free, triggered card draw. If you have a way to keep putting out counters, then it's potentially okay, but it's pretty b-tier card draw even for white.
Credit: Wizards of the Coast
Morningtide's Light
Saffgor: Sorcery is what gives me pause here, as it's very reactable-to by your opponents, and not losing the game doesn't mean you're winning. This will be overplayed, and you will see it on Game Knights, but that doesn't make it good. At least it wipes your opponents' tokens?
BPhillipYork: Pretty solid for blink decks, but it's sorcery speed so kind of bad.
Credit: Wizards of the Coast
Personify
Saffgor: For 1 more mana than Cloudshift, you get a Changeling, and for decks that want that this card seems wicked. Beyond the typal synergies, an Instant-speed blocker that resets a body on board isn't shabby, even for constructed 60-card.
BPhillipYork: This is a really solid blink effect that also gives you a changeling. I can't imagine you'd ever do anything but blink something to get it's triggers again or to protect it.
Credit: Wizards of the Coast
Slumbering Walker
Saffgor: This is so close to being excellent, but 5 mana means it's a hair slow as an engine piece. No Finality counter is awesome, and so is End Step versus upkeep, but maybe I'm just jaded in terms of game pace. This is probably good, but I'm paranoid it's too slow.
BPhillipYork: 5 mana is okay for this if you can proliferate or get other counters on it. Distributing shield or other ability counters around to get more value out of this set seems like a strong strategy. As a way to keep reanimating something nasty, or something like Gary (Gray Merchant of Asphodel) it's great.
Credit: Wizards of the Coast
Rhys, the Evermore
Saffgor: The face that launches a million combos, it's actually harder to build a Rhys Commander deck without infinites than it is to include them (which you'll see in an upcoming Commander Focus). I love toying with counters (See Fain), and Rhys makes for a wonderful head to that weird archetype, so obviously I'm a fan. Cheap, Flash-speed, combo enabler...and even cracks an Earthbent Dark Depths.
BPhillipYork: It's okay enough for just recurring something, and there's ways to loop this or just use it as a value engine.
Credit: Wizards of the Coast
Wanderbrine Preacher
Saffgor: This is rarely bad in a lifegain deck, given how flexible the trigger is, and I expect some of the archetype's loyalists to find a worthy combo with the preacher man...fish.
Credit: Wizards of the Coast
Winnowing
Saffgor: If you're casting this for 2-3 mana, it's close to a Split Up, in that you can kind of avoid it, kind of kill the things you need to, but kind of hate the card. Bearish on this as a board wipe unless you're truly freecasting it.
BPhillipYork: Cards like this are kind of a headache and tend to cause decision paralysis as you are constantly looking at creature types and stuff. It's potentially a sort of wrath effect, but then like, there are so many Wrath of God cards, why bother? Especially when vs certain decks this will do nothing.
Credit: Wizards of the Coast
Champions of the Shoal
Saffgor: For Merfolk decks interested in combat, and not able to make their bodies unblockable, this looks solid enough, but I worry that the classically good Merfolk Commanders already provide enough evasion that this is too resource-intensive to make work.
BPhillipYork: I can't imagine paying this much for this effect.
Credit: Wizards of the Coast
Disruptor of Currents
Saffgor: This is basic, but pushed. Like with Winnowing, if you're freecasting it the card will feel awesome, but outside of that it's probably just...fine.
BPhillipYork: Flash Convoke makes it pretty solid to use as a defense against removal or to generate another ETB.
Credit: Wizards of the Coast
Flitterwing Nuisance.
Saffgor: If you can activate this multiple times, suddenly it can represent a massive swing in card advantage, but even at its worst it's a 1/1 Flying for U, a body plenty of decks appreciate. Great, flexible card with a lot of homes.
BPhillipYork: Reconnaissance Mission just seems better than this. It is a faerie rogue, which are both useful creature types, and there might be ways to get more counters you could remove, but you can't just proliferate since it's a 2/2, it just seems too complex and spendy for what it does - unless all you really care about it is a 1/1 flyer for 1.
Credit: Wizards of the Coast
Glen Elendra Guardian
Saffgor: It's more expensive to activate than Glen Elendra Archmage, its obvious inspiration, and gives them a card in return. For that reason, this likely isn't worth your time, even if it's potentially more repeatable.
BPhillipYork: This it's another Glen Elendra counterspell things, which is solid enough. 5 mana to counter something is pretty meh, though you could easily get more counters onto this and then it's pretty solid. Expensive but playable.
Credit: Wizards of the Coast
Glen Elendra's Answer
Saffgor: If you're in a deck that needs either Faeries, or bodies to close out the game, this is maybe worth it at 4 mana. I really like the idea of a Dovin's Veto with the reach of a Flusterstorm, and it hosing Storm decks is delicious. It's hard to make a 4 mana Counterspell playable, but this gets close. Real close.
BPhillipYork: These spells are always potentially really hilarious. I like that this is a spell you cast that once in a blue moon does something crazy. It creates games that everyone remembers, and Commander is really a social game for fun, so even though it's probably only really so-so, I think it's a great include in decks that are okay hanging back a bit and can benefit from a horde of flyers.
Credit: Wizards of the Coast
Harmonized Crescendo
Saffgor: For Instant-speed card draw, the baseline is 1 fewer cards than mana spent, so if you're paying 4 for this to draw 3, that's not the worst. If you're doing more than that, which you certainly will in decks playing this, dear lord it's pushed. If this draws more cards than mana spent, you'll be very happy, and I expect this to be slammed in a lot of go-wide typal lists.
BPhillipYork: Strong in decks it's strong in, obviously like kindred decks that go horde. For Faeries, Merfolk, Sprites, Serpents (okay maybe not Serpents) Octopus (okay probably not Octopus they are expensive... ocotpi...octopuses).
Credit: Wizards of the Coast
Loch Mare
Saffgor: Sexy control finisher, right here. If Standard is too fast for this to be playable I'll be weeping, because my gut tells me it's probably not good enough elsewhere. Maybe Danny Pink, which I covered in a Focus here?
BPhillipYork: This seems good in constructed and not Commander.
Credit: Wizards of the Coast
Mirrorform
Saffgor: One of my paper decks is Urza, Powerstone Prodigy, and a core win condition of that deck is Masterful Replication on a relevant Artifact, once you're rife with tokens. This is like that, but better. I don't think playing this for value is going to be a real use case, this will be aiming to win the game when it resolves, functionally. I'm sure it will, in the right decks, and with some stellar Wayne Reynolds art to boot.
BPhillipYork: These are always potentially really crazy, and there's enough effects like this now that let you mass duplicate something, but you need 6 mana for this. And then probably even more mana for something else, and then you've got a win con once you've already got the thing you want to copy. And then enough creatures to make it worthwhile, but it can't be a commander due to the legends rule, unless you have something like Mirrorbox to get around that. Which is just too many moving pieces. But maybe you should dump out some mana dorks then cast a big beater, and then make them copies and wipe everyone.
Credit: Wizards of the Coast
Omni-Changeling
Saffgor: I've been spoilt in terms of tools for decks I actively play, because another good clone for Princess Yue is just what the doctor ordered. If you can cast this for ~2 mana, it's a great rate, but even 3 would be passable. Awesome Uncommon.
BPhillipYork: It's a cool clone + effect, with convoke stapled on makes it really at parity or even better with the classic Clone, so I can easily see using it. The name bothers me because it should copy everything at once right?
Credit: Wizards of the Coast
Pestered Wellguard
Saffgor: Baby's first Intruder Alarm enabler, but it being in-color is nice. Give this a tap ability and away you go.
BPhillipYork: Well it's solid in constructed I bet, except it's probably off the curve.
Credit: Wizards of the Coast
Rimefire Torque
Saffgor: It's efficiently-costed, has a reasonable payoff, but likely just requires too much of you. Great design for Commander...circa ~2020. If this has a realistic combo line, let me know!
BPhillipYork: This is a decent copy ability, but probably too hard to get it going, unless you are generating truly insane amounts of creatures. Charge counters in particular though are easy to manipulate and generate or move around, so it has additional utility there.
Credit: Wizards of the Coast
Subterfuge
Saffgor: First off, love the art on this, as an amalgamation of Blue-ish Creature types. As for the effect, the rate isn't that far off at 5 mana, and if you're drawing 4+ cards I wouldn't be mad to see this. That Encore is less realistic, but still kind of inevitability. Neat card!
BPhillipYork: Yes, you could draw a lot of cards, but that's a lot of mana to pay for the privilege.
Credit: Wizards of the Coast
Sunderflock
Saffgor: Realistically speaking, in Standard, this will cost 4 when it needs to, and that price for a 5/5 Flying body with a one-sided wipe is obscene. Please let Standard be slow enough to make this playable. Please.
BPhillipYork: Well it's a super annoying inclusion into Elemental kindred decks. Aside from that, maybe you want to pop your stuff back and this is a way to do it.
Credit: Wizards of the Coast
Unexpected Assistance
Saffgor: This only warrants mention for being free draw with enough bodies, especially if you're looping off or making an infinite quantity.
BPhillipYork: Wow convoke is everywhere. Good enough in go wide decks, otherwise probably not. Even then it's a bit weak unless you want the ability to put cards into your yard.
Credit: Wizards of the Coast
Wild Unraveling
Saffgor: It's quite close to a real Counterspell, and a few Creatures can turn that downside into upside. Will find a home.
BPhillipYork: Amazing how strong Counterspell still is given how pushed so many things are now. Decent enough, especially if you will sometimes want blight, since you have cards that benefit from removing tokens.
Credit: Wizards of the Coast
Lamentation
Saffgor: 6 mana for a Chupacabra in 2026? Nah dude.
BPhillipYork: Solid but expensive removal, great for 5-color elemental decks, or decks that just want to encore this for some reason, especially for like aristocrats type effects or just serial reanimation.
Credit: Wizards of the Coast
Abberrant Return
Saffgor: 6 for 3 bodies isn't bad, and it's from any yard. Bracket 2 bait, but could make for some awesome comebacks.
BPhillipYork: If you are reanimating a 3-piece or 2-piece combo after Buried Alive this is amazing. Also just as a value ticket in certain kinds of decks. Also really solid in general aristocrats decks since you probably want things to die again, even if they enter with 0 toughness they will enter the battlefield, then die.
Credit: Wizards of the Coast
Bitterbloom Bearer
Saffgor: If this were just Bitterblossom on a body it would be worse, given it's more easily removed. Having Flash helps, though, and being double-pip matters for things like Devotion in Pioneer, if that format persists.
BPhillipYork: Yeah uh, this is great. Obviously.
Credit: Wizards of the Coast
Bloodline Bidding
Saffgor: If you can Convoke this it likely doesn't matter as much, given you've already got a board. Compare to Patriarch's Bidding, though, and it's one-sided for 3 more mana; if you can cast this for Bidding's price (e.g., Convoke for 3), it starts making sense.
BPhillipYork: Generally you want your creatures into play, though with convoke here and attrition and whatever, could be really solid. 3 more than Patriarch's Bidding to make it a single creature type, which makes it much more unidirectional. I can certainly see playing this, and even building decks around it, things like Golgori Elves.
Credit: Wizards of the Coast
Boggart Mischief
Saffgor: One of the big things Lorwyn Eclipsed has done is allow for Bx Goblin decks, and this is a huge help in that regard. I want to see people brew Golgari Goblins, Orzhov Goblins, etc.
BPhillipYork: Wow. Really really strong.
Credit: Wizards of the Coast
Champion of the Weird
Saffgor: Alarm bells are ringing, folks that is repeatable Blight! Combo enabler, but requires some Goblins so it's not going to see play in every single list it theoretically could. Weird design, powerful effect—Soul Cauldron this.
BPhillipYork: There's definitely a loop you can build out with this, and various ways to negate -1/-1 counters, in which case it gets fairly nasty though there is the life loss.
Credit: Wizards of the Coast
Dawnhand Dissident
Saffgor: The Blight here is only a cost if you have a small board, given you're removing the -1/-1 counters anyway to cast exiled cards. This is also gravehate, though, and you'll find this isn't far from a Deathrite Shaman...perhaps even better.
BPhillipYork: This is interesting design, you really need some fatties to put some counters onto, but then it lets you make a slow value engine, though I have a hard time your opponents will just let you sit there patiently exiling and then re-casting. Also it's "this creature" as opposed to some kind of counter, so if your Dawnhand Dissident gets killed and reanimated or something all your previously exiled creatures are lost.
BPhillipYork: This is potentially really solid, for toxic, blight, infect and various other black archetypes it just gives them a bit of oomph.
Credit: Wizards of the Coast
Gloom Ripper
Saffgor: This card is good for one Commander, and that's Nadier, Agent of the Duskenel. Yes it can pump a Lathril, but that's asking for trouble, and at 5 mana it's a big potential loss if not pushing you to endgame.
BPhillipYork: Neat effect but probably too expensive to be really worth it.
Credit: Wizards of the Coast
Grave Venerations
Saffgor: Boring as sin, but good. The epitome of 'shit, I have an extra slot', but won't disappoint new players who just want good enough rate cards. You'll see this around.
BPhillipYork: Yet another aristocrats trigger on an enchantment is just solid. It's always going to get you at least one creature back, really solid all around card.
BPhillipYork: I'm sure this has uses, some really solid ones, funny with Melira, Sylvok Outcast though even then probably not enough juice for the squeeze. If you just need a lot of counters to remove for other effects, it's obviously amazing.
FromTheShire: This card is ridiculous, and is immediately being slammed into everything from Legacy aggro to Modern Hollow One to Standard Grixis Occulus, multiple flavors of Reanimator and Self Mill... Turning a Likeness Looter into a 7/7 flying beater for 1 mana is something to expect to see a lot, likely in a deck with Abigale, Eloquent First-Year also scamming with The Ancient One.
BPhillipYork: I don't really think I wanted to have this effect duplicated, but there it is.
Credit: Wizards of the Coast
Oft-Nabbed Goat
Saffgor: Amazing name, amazing flavor, but kind of a dogshit card. This is made for Bracket 2 games with friends, and little else.
BPhillipYork: This is a neat twist on the Coveted Jewel mechanic, I like it. Nice with sacrifice effects on your side to protect it though at say 3 counters.
Credit: Wizards of the Coast
Shimmercreep
Saffgor: Mentioned here because it's not far off of a Gray Merchant of Asphodel with full Vivid, and that's been very Standard playable in years past.
BPhillipYork: This is like diet Gary, and it's solid enough if you are going to hit 5 with vivid generally, so like 5c Elementals maybe or some other 5-color reanimation focused deck, which is a neat archetype.
Credit: Wizards of the Coast
Sinister Gnarlbark
Saffgor: The best Phyrexian Arena effect for -1/-1 counter decks, but unexciting beyond that.
BPhillipYork: Solid enough if you have a good way to use the counters or remove them, though probably not as strong as other Bob and bob-like effects.
Credit: Wizards of the Coast
Taster of Wares
Saffgor: Wildly interesting design, and I think quite a good one! They either need to hide their castable Spells, or allow you as the go-wide player to rob them of their board wipes.
BPhillipYork: It's fine for a Goblin deck if you've got black. Nothing to get super excited about but a solid enough include.
Credit: Wizards of the Coast
Twilight Diviner
Saffgor: Oh uh, wow. If you're getting this trigger 2x per turn cycle it's going to feel amazing, and even at a slower rate it's a solid body with filtering. I feel like I haven't heard enough about this one during Spoiler Season, I love what it's doing.
BPhillipYork: Wow that's a huge powerful creature without much fanfare. Doubling creature recursion is pretty amazing.
Next Time: The Set’s Red, Green, and Colorless Cards
That wraps up our look at the White, Blue, and Black cards of Lorwyn Eclipsed! Join us next time as we begin reviewing the final cards of the set, picking out our favorites, and talking about future build-arounds.
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