Magic: The Gathering‘s latest set, Lorwyn Eclipsed, is a real sight to behold. It might be one of the prettiest card sets I’ve ever reviewed, with each card elevated by talented artists using bright colour palettes and whimsical styling.
There are cards that call to mind classic fantasy of the 1980s, like Labyrinth or The Dark Crystal, and you can certainly see why Wizards of the Coast recruited the Jim Henson Company to help with early marketing. There are also cards clearly inspired by classic fairy stories and modern mythology.
Lorwyn Eclipsed is a set packed with magic – tiny little critters, quirky-looking Kithkin (small, cute-looking humanoids), towering forces of darkness, Elves, Merfolk, Faeries and more. Each is well-defined by its artwork, and has a place in Lorwyn‘s overarching lore, which tells of a battle between light and darkness.
In this set, you’ll find a variety of cards aligned to these factions, with art and mechanics making clear whether characters belong to the light (Lorwyn) or the dark (Shadowmoor). There’s a strong sense of identity for both realms, and all factions. It makes Drafting and playing Commander feel higher-staked, and lends a sense of ownership and loyalty to battles.
MTG Lorwyn Eclipsed review – quick links
Pick-Two Draft highlights the synergies in each Lorwyn Eclipsed faction
Thanks to Wizards of the Coast, I was recently invited to a Draft Night which used the new, dedicated Draft Night set for Pick-Two Drafting (pick two cards, pass your opened booster pack along to the next player) to help everyone form factions, gather synergy, and head into tense one-on-one skirmishes.
While I have experienced draft before, Pick-Two ended up being pretty novel, as it does let you refine your early goals and pick cards with a view to forming a coherent faction, or otherwise corral synergy, before other players pinch the cards that would serve you well.
That isn’t to say I’ve refined my personal Draft strategy – I’m still working on matching talent with passion – but Pick-Two was a welcome change, and allowed me to grab cards for mana ramp, and to attack well with flyers.
While my typical strategy revolves around the graveyard, the nature of Drafting means you have to be agile with your choices. My first pack, I drew Oko, Lorwyn Liege, a powerful Planeswalker card that lets you temporarily turn creatures into Changelings, generate Elk tokens for defence, and buff your creatures with hexproof and vigilance. I ended up forming a strategy around green and blue cards, despite typically considering this the most annoying colour combination.
Annoying or not, the strategy proved fruitful.
In later rounds of the Draft, I was able to nab Great Forest Druid, a Treefolk that taps to add mana of any colour (great for ramp), Dawn-Blessed Pennant (an Artifact that adds life for every permanent of a chosen type that enters), and multiple Glamermite cards (a Faerie Rogue with Flash and Flying that lets you tap or untap target creatures).
My strategy formed around patience, and Flashing in Faeries to block attacks, while Oko generated Elks, and my Treefolk stood as defenders (with the added option of them tapping for extra mana).
Despite a lack of refinement in my draft pool, the experience showed off exactly how much synergy is within MTG Lorwyn Eclipsed, and how clever you can get by corralling individual factions, and those with shared goals, to create powerful teams of cards that work together.
Faeries have particularly good synergy here, if you can grab flitters like Glamermite, and combine it with cards like Illusion Spinners (as long as you control a Faerie, you can cast this card with Flash), or even Harmonized Crescendo (choose a Creature type, draw a card for each permanent of that type you control).
Within blue, Merfolk and Faeries also interact well. Pestered Wellguard was a great addition to my crew, as it generates 1/1 blue/black Faerie tokens whenever it becomes tapped. There’s also plenty of synergy with Changelings in this set, as they’re all creature types, and therefore benefit from the synergies of all factions.
Blight is a particularly useful mechanic in Lorwyn Eclipsed
Beyond the lighter vibes of this set’s blue cards, I’ve also been impressed by the synergy of the red-green-black cards, and particularly the Blight mechanic (which allows you to put -1/-1 counters on your creatures, or the creatures of your opponents).
Blight is a bit finicky, but once you understand how it works, there are so many cool things you can do. Some cards let you put -1/-1 counters on your own creatures (hopefully a big, powerful creature that won’t be made too powerless by this) for card draw, added abilities, or for spreading Blight to opponents. It essentially allows you to take a hit to your power and defence for added benefit – a sacrifice for the greater good.
It feels particularly fun when you can string -1/-1 effects for multiple abilities, such as destroying enemy creatures, while also getting cards or adding to your own power. You will need to look at ‘correct’ card deployment to maximise Blight abilities across the board, but once you see the flow, you can kick off a real snappy chain of events.
Pair any card that adds -1/-1 counters (Emptiness, Moonshadow, Blight Rot) with any cards that give you benefits from adding -1/-1 counters (Necroskitter, The Reaper, King No More, Auntie Ool, Cursewretch, Flourishing Defences) and the cascading impact is wonderful.
Bright, cogent cards buoy this magical new set
The combination of cool synergies in blue and black-red-green, very cool-looking and powerful creatures, and beautiful art makes MTG Lorwyn Eclipsed a wonderful addition to the world of Magic: The Gathering.
I’m not usually enamoured by high fantasy of this manner (Elves, Faeries and Merfolk don’t overly interest me) but with strong design choices and very fetching art styles across powerful new cards, I’ve been thoroughly convinced by this new set.
There’s real beauty here, and plenty of terror, too. It’s the perfect combination for tense, flavourful battles.
Magic: The Gathering’s Lorwyn Eclipsed set is available from 23 January.
Magic: The Gathering – Lorwyn Eclipsed Play Booster Packs, Collector Booster Packs, and a Commander Deck were provided by Wizards of the Coast for the purposes of this review.
