Top 5 Favorite Cards from Lorwyn Eclipsed

If you learn my New Year’s gaming resolutions article, you already know that one in every of my objectives for this yr was to spend extra time speaking about Magic: The Gathering right here at Lords of Gaming. It’s a recreation that’s been a part of my life for a few years. Also, one which continuously finds new methods to shock me. Whether that’s by mechanics, world-building, or unforgettable card design.

We’re kicking off that renewed focus with one thing just a little extra private: my Top 5 Favorite Cards from Lorwyn Eclipsed. This isn’t about strict energy rankings or event dominance. Instead, this listing highlights the playing cards that stood out to me probably the most. Whether that’s due to their taste, their mechanics, or how completely they seize the spirit of Lorwyn’s return underneath a darker, extra mysterious gentle.

Lorwyn Eclipsed blends nostalgia with contemporary concepts, revisiting acquainted themes whereas pushing them in attention-grabbing new instructions. These 5 playing cards are those that caught with me the longest. They are those I stored coming again to whereas studying spoilers and imagining how they’d play throughout completely different codecs.

With that in thoughts, let’s dive into my prime 5 favourite playing cards from Lorwyn Eclipsed!

Honorable Mentions: The Elemental Incarnations

Before entering into my prime 5, I’ve to offer a shoutout to the Elemental Incarnations from Lorwyn Eclipsed. While none of them in the end cracked my closing listing, they’re far too attention-grabbing and much too intelligent to miss totally.

What actually elevates these Elementals is how effectively they play with the evoke mechanic, particularly standouts like Emptiness and Deceit. Casting them for his or her evoke price offers you instant entry to their highly effective results. Although the true enjoyable begins when you begin layering interactions on prime of that.

With one thing like Springleaf Drum on the battlefield, you may faucet these Elementals for mana earlier than their evoke set off forces you to sacrifice them. That small window opens the door to some very satisfying traces of play. Most notably, casting a spell like Not Dead After All in response. When the Elemental is sacrificed, it instantly comes again. Thus, letting you retain the big physique whereas nonetheless benefiting from its enter-the-battlefield impact.

It’s a clear, elegant interplay that feels completely at residence in Lorwyn: intelligent with out being overwhelming, highly effective with out being damaged. While the Elemental Incarnations didn’t fairly earn a numbered spot on my listing, they completely signify among the most enjoyable and flavorful design area in Lorwyn Eclipsed.

5. Brigid, Clachan’s Heart/Brigid, Doun’s Mind

Transform playing cards stay or die by how related either side are in precise gameplay. Brigid, Clachan’s Heart succeeds as a result of she by no means seems like a legal responsibility on both face. On the entrance aspect, Brigid represents Lorwyn’s extra hopeful, community-driven identification, providing regular worth and a stable board presence with out demanding an excessive amount of setup.

Importantly, Brigid isn’t troublesome to remodel, and that’s a superb factor. You’re not leaping by hoops or ready for an ideal storm; the cardboard naturally flips as the sport progresses. That accessibility makes her dependable relatively than gimmicky, guaranteeing you truly get to expertise each halves of the design in actual video games.

Once remodeled, Brigid, Doun’s Mind turns into the true payoff. The again aspect features virtually like a Gaea’s Cradle, rewarding you for merely doing what Lorwyn decks already wish to do: construct a large, creature-heavy board. Turning Brigid right into a repeatable supply of explosive mana adjustments how turns play out, letting you pivot from board growth into overwhelming benefit in a single step.

That mixture of a simple, natural transformation paired with a bottom that may utterly reshape your useful resource engine is what earns Brigid a spot at quantity 5. She’s flavorful, highly effective in the suitable shell, and quietly one of the satisfying playing cards to play in Lorwyn Eclipsed.

4. Bitterbloom Bearer

If there’s one creature sort that immediately earns my consideration in any return to Lorwyn, it’s Faeries! And Bitterbloom Bearer seems like a love letter to every thing that made that tribe particular the primary time round. It doesn’t simply reference Bitterblossom in title alone. It captures the identical philosophy of gradual, relentless benefit that outlined Faeries at their peak.

Much like Bitterblossom, Bitterbloom Bearer rewards you for merely letting the sport play out. You’re not racing to finish issues instantly. Instead, you’re constructing inevitability. Token era, incremental strain, and the fixed feeling that your board is quietly getting out of hand all echo the identical patterns that made Faeries such a irritating and beloved archetype.

What actually sells Bitterbloom Bearer for me is how effectively it matches into each taste and performance. Faeries in Lorwyn have all the time thrived on mischief, persistence, and management, and this card reinforces that identification completely. It’s not flashy within the second it hits the battlefield. If left unanswered, although, it turns into the sort of drawback that opponents rapidly remorse ignoring.

Bitterbloom Bearer earns its quantity 4 spot as a result of it understands what made Faeries particular within the first place. It’s not only a callback, it’s a continuation. For anybody who beloved Bitterblossom and the play patterns it enabled, this card feels immediately acquainted in the very best method.

3. Hexing Squelcher

Hexing Squelcher seems like a type of playing cards that quietly does a lot extra work than it appears like at first look, particularly in Commander. It’s the sort of disruptive creature that slots naturally into proactive decks with out forcing you to desert your recreation plan, which is strictly why it stands out to me.

In my Animar, Soul of Elements deck, Hexing Squelcher checks a number of containers without delay. It’s a creature, so it advantages from Animar’s price discount. Then it offers interplay that doesn’t depend on holding up conventional solutions. Instead of enjoying a purely reactive function, Squelcher helps you to advance your board whereas nonetheless making use of strain to opponents’ plans.

What actually pushes this card as much as quantity three is how effectively it matches into Animar’s most well-liked play sample: chaining creatures, producing worth, and making life awkward for anybody attempting to stabilize. Hexing Squelcher rewards you for doing what the deck already desires to do. That is popping creature sequencing into smooth disruption that scales as the sport goes longer. It may additionally influence different codecs as effectively.

There’s additionally one thing very Lorwyn about its design. The “hexing” taste feels mischievous relatively than oppressive, and the impact hits that candy spot the place it’s impactful with out instantly portray a goal in your again. In multiplayer video games, particularly, that subtlety issues quite a bit.

Hexing Squelcher earns its place at quantity three as a result of it embodies the sort of Commander card I like most: versatile, synergistic, and deceptively sturdy. It doesn’t demand to be constructed round, however when it finds the suitable residence, like Animar, it feels tailored.

2. Formidable Speaker

Some playing cards stand out due to uncooked energy. Others stand out due to what they signify. Formidable Speaker manages to do each, and that’s why it lands at quantity two on this listing.

Designed with enter from Jean-Emmanuel Depraz as his reward for profitable the Magic World Championship XXIX in 2023, Formidable Speaker carries a stage of authenticity that’s instantly interesting. This is a card formed by somebody who understands high-level play, and that have reveals in how versatile and deceptively deep the design actually is.

Its enter-the-battlefield skill features like a mini Survival of the Fittest, letting you sculpt your hand and creature suite with out demanding the complete funding or vulnerability of the unique enchantment. That alone can be sufficient to make Formidable Speaker attention-grabbing, particularly in Commander, the place consistency and tutoring usually outline total video games.

But the true magic occurs with its second skill: the flexibility to untap one other everlasting. That single line of textual content opens up an absurd quantity of synergy. Untapping one thing like Gaea’s Cradle can instantly translate into explosive mana turns, whereas focusing on Agatha’s Soul Cauldron pushes worth engines into overdrive. And in the suitable shell, that untap skill may even grow to be the spine of infinite loops, all centered on a single creature.

What makes Formidable Speaker particular is that none of this feels unintended. Every skill feeds into the concept of mastery. All organising your board, refining your sources, after which breaking parity in ways in which reward creativity. It’s highly effective, sure, however extra importantly, it’s expressive. It helps you to play your model of the sport.

That mixture of aggressive pedigree, versatile design, and combo potential is strictly why Formidable Speaker earns the quantity two spot. It’s the sort of card that invitations experimentation and rewards you each time you discover a new line.

1. Meek Attack

Some playing cards earn the highest spot as a result of they’re environment friendly. Others as a result of they’re highly effective. Meek Attack takes the primary slot as a result of it represents one thing I worth much more in Magic: The Gathering: a singular method to play the sport, wrapped in wonderful taste and memorable artwork.

Right away, Meek Attack makes its inspiration clear. It’s a intelligent callback to Sneak Attack, however as a substitute of brute power aggression, it reframes that impact by a extra delicate and really Lorwyn-like lens. The title, the artwork, and even the tone of the cardboard promote the concept that energy doesn’t all the time come from overwhelming power. Sometimes it comes from timing, deception, and figuring out precisely when to behave.

Mechanically, Meek Attack opens up an unimaginable vary of potentialities. Cheating creatures into play is all the time enjoyable, however this card shines due to what you select to place onto the battlefield. Dropping one thing like Agent of Treachery for instant worth, looping clones to repeatedly copy impactful threats, or abusing creatures with highly effective enter-the-battlefield results all really feel completely at residence right here. You’re not simply attacking. You’re organising moments that swing the sport in surprising methods.

That flexibility is what actually seals it for me. Meek Attack doesn’t push you towards one apparent construct or combo line. Instead, it invitations experimentation. Every deck that performs it might probably look completely different, and each recreation can unfold in a brand new method relying on what you determine to deploy. It rewards creativity, intelligent sequencing, and a willingness to discover unconventional traces of play.

For a participant who loves expressive deck-building and playing cards that inform a narrative each on the desk and within the artwork, Meek Attack is every thing I need out of a primary choose. It’s flavorful, nostalgic, and endlessly creative, and it completely captures why Lorwyn Eclipsed resonated with me so strongly.

Why Lorwyn Eclipsed Stuck With Me

Putting this listing collectively actually strengthened why Lorwyn Eclipsed resonated with me as a lot because it did. This set isn’t nearly revisiting a beloved aircraft. It’s about exploring new design area whereas staying true to what made Lorwyn particular within the first place. From intelligent callbacks to expressive, open-ended mechanics, it rewards gamers who get pleasure from discovering their very own traces relatively than following a single “correct” path.

What I like most about these 5 playing cards is that none of them really feel generic. Each one encourages creativity, whether or not that’s by intelligent sequencing, surprising synergies, or just letting taste and theme information deck-building selections. That sort of design is what retains Magic: The Gathering feeling contemporary for me in any case these years.

This listing can also be only the start. If you learn my New Year’s gaming resolutions, you realize I plan to spend extra time speaking about Magic all year long. Lorwyn Eclipsed felt like the proper place to kick that off. There’s lots extra to discover, debate, and rejoice, particularly when a set evokes this many various methods to play.

These are my favorites, however Lorwyn has all the time been a aircraft that hits in another way for everybody. I’m to see which playing cards stood out to you. Let me know!