Magic: The Gathering is heading to fantasy realms both light and dark with its latest set, Lorwyn Eclipsed, which is set for pre-release on 15 January. Ahead of this debut, Wizards of the Coast has teamed up with the Jim Henson Company to introduce the set, releasing a magical, puppet-based short film to illuminate tone and flavour.
As suggested, Lorywn Eclipsed is a high fantasy-themed set that features two opposing (but joined) lands: the bright land of Lorwyn, and the dark and twisted Shadowmoor. Both are home to creatures of all kinds, including elves, merfolk, boggarts, elementals, kithkin and shapeshifters, all of which are vying to realise their own goals.
With its menagerie of strange creatures and its bright, colourful worlds, Lorwyn Eclipsed brings to mind Jim Henson’s The Dark Crystal and Labyrinth – inspirations which are made clearer by the newly-released collaboration film.
MTG: Lorwyn Eclipsed set – quick links
Watch the MTG: Lorwyn Eclipsed teaser
What is the MTG: Lorwyn Eclipsed set about?
‘Cross the boundry into the eternal day of Lorwyn, where the many creatures live in order and harmony under the watchful eye of their sun god Eirdu – while the twilight god Isilu resides across the border where day becomes night,’ reads the official Lorwyn Eclipsed preamble.
‘Brave the twisted landscape and wild Magic of Shadowmoor, a world cast in forever night and filled with creatures of a more chaotic ilk. Discover your true self under the perpetual moonlight of this dual-aspect plane.’
In this new set, players will be able to collect and play with creatures from both Lorwyn and Shadowmoor, as well as returning favourites. Alongside new cards, there are neat reprints, including for powerful lands like Blood Crypt and Steam Vents.
Most cards will align with light or dark, allowing for flavourful matchups. To enhance the difference between Lorwyn and Shadowmoor and the creatures that live there, MTG: Lorwyn Eclipsed will also introduce an array of new mechanics.
New mechanics in MTG: Lorwyn Eclipsed
Creatures from Shadowmoor and Lorwyn will have opposing abilities relating to darkness or light. Here’s the breakdown:
- Vivid – This is a new ability keyword that accompanies abilities that care about colours. Each Vivid ability is different, so you’ll want to pay attention to the text that follows this keyword.
- Blight – This is a new keyword action that lets you place -1/-1 counters to use a particular ability. Blight is typically noted as ‘Blight [number]’ followed by an ability you can perform.
The MTG: Lorwyn Eclipsed set also features a new host of Changelings, with this keyword appearing on many cards. A Changeling is a creature that is every creature type. This means it’s affected by any abilities that impact any creature type.
Kindreds will also feature in Lorwyn Eclipsed. Kindred is a card type that features on certain non-creature cards that allows them to have creature types for the purpose of particular abilities.
This set will also feature an array of other established mechanics, including convoke (using creatures to pay for card costs), behold (reveal a card), evoke (alternative cost) and persist (return a creature to the battlefield after it dies).
Highlights of the newly-revealed cards
Amongst the newly-revealed cards, there are plenty of exciting prospects in this set, particularly for those who enjoy fairy stories, cutesy critters or cool beasties.
There’s a host of cool goblins and elves to find, many of which have ultra-cool treatments in borderless, foil, and fracture foil cards. For this set, there’s a new borderless art style which looks like a papercraft cutout. There are full art watercolour-painted cards, including some rendered in a rare, glittery fracture foil.
Five hundred lucky collectors will also get a special variant of the Bitterbloom Bearer which features a gorgeous, painterly art style of high contrast and lush colours.
In a word, it’s all very pretty. MTG‘s new Lorwyn Eclipsed set dives deeply into the world of high fantasy, wielding strong aesthetics and colours to create a compelling and artful vibe. Whether you’re keen on pretty cards or you’re just a fantasy enjoyer, there are plenty of eye-catching reasons to pay attention to this set release.
You can check out the full list of newly-revealed cards on the Magic: The Gathering website.
As announced, you’ll be able to start collecting MTG: Lorwyn Eclipsed in pre-release from 15 January, although the official full release is on 23 January.
