Lorwyn Eclipsed brings two new Precons in Dance of the Elements and Blight Curse. Across these two Precons are 24 brand new cards – but which are the ones to get excited about? Join us as we look at the ten best new cards from the Lorwyn Eclipsed Precons.
THE BEST CARDS IN LORWYN ECLIPSED PRECONS
Dance of the Elements is a five-color deck that plays with the Evoke mechanic, letting you double dip when you pay the Evoke cost on your creatures. Blight Curse deals in all things -1/-1 counters in red black and green (Jund). If you like Elementals or Changelings, Dance of the Elements might be for you. If you like decks like Hapatra or The Scorpion God, then Blight Curse might be worth a look.
Otherwise? Here are some cards that might be worth picking up.
ABERRANT RETURN
I wouldn’t have described a return to Lorywn as aberrant, but I guess not everyone feels the same. Aberrant Return is a handy reanimator spell that reminds me of Command the Dreadhorde. In some decks, paying life is easy (or even synergistic). Otherwise, it can feel a little pricey. This sorcery instead lets you have your choice of up to three creatures in yards, and also gives a little -1/-1 synergy as a treat/downside.
OFT-NABBED GOAT
Oft-Nabbed Goat is the Goat of multiplayer fun. I love cards like this that encourage interaction and engagement from the rest of the table. One mana to draw a card is an enticing offer, and folks are sure to fight over this ruminant value engine. It doesn’t matter who is in control of it when it dies, by the way – it’s the owner of the card that will get the hand refill and lose life, not the controller.
SUBTERFUGE
I don’t know about you, but I really liked Starwinder in Edge of Eternities. If you also liked it, then check our Subterfuge. Super flavorful that it feels like Subterfuge when you jump a creature and draw a bunch of cards, right? This is a powerful hand refill in the midgame, and in the endgame? Well, for nine mana you get to jump (up to) three creatures and draw scores of cards. Usually the cards won’t matter then, as the combat damage in the air will help to end a game.
GRAVE VENERATIONS
The Court cycle of Enchantments that give you bonus effects on your upkeep if you’re the Monarch are highly played. Grave Venerations is another riff on this, combining a static life drain effect with getting to fish out key creatures from your yard if you’re the Monarch on your End Step. I like this one quite a bit for the defensive decks that like to use the Monarch, and it also helps decks like Starscream have extra ways to get the Monarch and benefit from it.
IMPULSIVITY
Impulsivity echoes previous creatures (mainly in blue) that let you cast from any graveyard – think Dilluvian Primordial. Seeing this in red is a welcome boon for the color, especially given this can be blitzed or warped or otherwise slung into play with ritual or treasure mana way ahead of curve. The Encore ability is icing on the cake, and should help you to close games.
SPRINGLEAF PARADE
Springleaf Parade is pretty cracked, and might be one of the highlight cards from these precons. It’s a way to make as many Changelings as you have mana, and it’s also Cryptolith Rite for your tokens? If you have any way to give your creatures haste, or ways to bounce this enchantment, you can do some silly things. Above all, it’s a key piece in Changeling decks, providing bodies and fixing.
FERRAFOR, YOUNG YEW
Ferrafor, Young Yew comes in at a hefty seven mana, but you’re in green. That’s like turn four, right? Ferrafor acts in a somewhat similar vein to Avenger of Zendikar, but has a much higher ceiling when it comes to token generation, and isn’t tied to landfall. He only doubles the counters on one creature, true, but even so – that can be exactly what you need. I can see this coming down and making upwards of twenty tokens in most games.
NEW BICYCLE AND TANGO LANDS
With Edge of Eternities it was the turn of Boros and Golgari, and now with Lorwyn Eclipsed it’s the turn of Simic. Rain-Slicked Copse gives us an UG “Bicycle” land, and Sodden Verdure gives us the UG “Tango” land (because it takes two). These are welcome additions to brewers everywhere, whether you’re in just UG or in more colors.
AUNTIE OOL, CURSEWRETCH
Of the different possible Precon Commanders, it’s Auntie Ool that has us most excited. She brings together the disparate Rakdos and Golgari counters decks and puts them under one “blighted” banner. The aforementioned Hapatra and Scorpion God are pages you should check out on EDHRec for inspiration when upgrading this precon, and it’s sure to be a lot of fun to play.
ABUNDANT COUNTRYSIDE
Abundant Countryside is probably going to be one of the most in-demand new cards from these Precons, as it’s a very good land in Commander. Creature heavy decks in 3+ colors love the fixing, and it’s a desperate mana sink late-game too. The fact it also taps for colorless when you don’t want to or can’t tap it for colored mana makes it a very good land indeed.
END STEP
The Lorwyn Eclipsed precons look like a lot of fun, but if they’re not up your street, then these are the singles that might be worth a look. Did we miss any in your Top 10? Let us know.
Kristen is Card Kingdom’s Head Writer and a member of the Commander Format Panel. Formerly a competitive Pokémon TCG grinder, she has been playing Magic since Shadows Over Innistrad, which in her opinion, was a great set to start with. When she’s not taking names with Equipment and Aggro strategies in Commander, she loves to play any form of Limited.