Lorwyn Eclipsed - Cardboard Corner

Its the new year at Pandemonium (and presumably everywhere else,) and since we're giving ourselves the patience and grace to breathe and re-evaluate, here in the Cardboard Corner we're going to try to extend that same kindness to Magic the Gathering. The first set of the year is right around the corner, and we're kicking the party off with a return to fan-favorite plane Lorwyn, where who you are by night and by day are as different as... well, night and day.

Lorwyn used to be a plane who shifted from light to dark aspects once every 300 years, but after Oona, Queen of the Faerie was defeated, the cycle broke in such a way that Lorwyn and its darker half Shadowmoor became patchwork, with shifting borders that transform those within. Now its denizens reckon with their new planar lot, and also the emerging eclipsed zones where one's Lorwyn and Shadowmoor aspects exist at the same time, creating identity crises for those caught in the wake, and confusion for those outside the perimeter.

To my mind, this feels like a great foundation for a set to explore mechanically, and with preview season here again, many of the spoilers show that indeed the designers found this challenge to be quite delicious. In lieu of getting too rose tinted, I'll instead say thank you for joining us today, and I hope you enjoy the tastes, sights, and other sensations of today's ruminations on Lorwyn Eclipsed!

 

First, we have a very good dog, who despite not being typally a dog, is a still the bestest boy, yes he is. Mechanically, Vibrance is a callback to the hybrid modal spells of Shadowmoor and Eventide, who's effects are determined by the color of the mana that was used to cast the spell, and the Evoke mechanic which is perhaps one of the most well known abilities from the original Lorwyn block. If you have the flexibility, Vibrance has a great deal of flex itself, being either a lightning bolt or a sylvan scrying, or both and also a 4/4 for good measure. I personally think its funny that this elemental cycle can also whiff, as if you can't pay RR or GG, you can still evoke it and sacrifice it immediately. 

This strange tech feels like it has deep strategic application, since even though you don't get anything out of the card you played, you get what could be a relevant enters, dies, or leaves trigger, and a 5 or 6 cmc creature into your graveyard. While this won't appeal to cheating the creatures out of your graveyard, since their abilities are dependent on being cast for mana of specific colors, this could interact nicely with collect evidence or other threshold mechanics.

Another awesome returning Lorwyn touchstone is Kindred (previously Tribal) which grants noncreature cards creature types, helping smooth some Typal-centric tutoring while also pinging off enters, casts, leaves and dies triggers (circumstances dependant.) Boggart Mischief here is maybe my favorite degenerate engine piece of the last few years, since oftentimes the best thing for a goblin to do is well... die? Like some cosmic slapstick routine, Magic has established that goblins are plentiful, gooft, and good at going splat, so why not reward the natural order of things and put an Ill-Gotten Inheritance-like effect on a goblin-dies trigger. If you need me, I'll be in the back, brewing Goblins like its 2001.

On the subject of little friends, here's Mutable explorer, who brings a Mutavault with him whenever he shows up. We love ramp, manlands, and the changeling mechanic, and already I see this card being 2 kool 4 school. With recent sets we've seen lands that are mans (temporarily) get anti-feelbad clauses so that when they're exploded in combat or by removal, you can get the land back, but Explorer's Mutavault dodges that bullet with the "easy come, easy go" attitude of "well I only make colorless." I am personally fascinated by land tokens, but Mutable Explorer seems super abusable, especially with it's changeling status. Imagine what would happen if this bean were to hang out with the frogs of Bloomburrow?! Madness! Madness in the streets I tell you!!!

Double sided cards might be a new thing to Lorwyn/Shadowmoor, but Blight is an interesting new keyword action that takes the latter's -1/-1 counters and lets you distribute them among creatures you control for a boon! We love this fresh implementation for aristocrats builds, getting our creatures below certain targeting thresholds, and for giving our counter-spending creatures more ammunition for their abilities. That last one is probably the most relevant benefit in this environment, where plenty of creatures enter with -1/-1 counters, which they can later remove for their abilities. This can sometimes feel like Exhaust from Aetherdrift, but with handy blight triggers on creatures and spells throughout Lorwyn Eclipsed, you're likely to able to reset some of those powerful abilities for second and third helpings in any given game.

Auntie Grub is also a goat, because sure her heat shimmer ability is sick, but also because her text box includes the word blighted, which is funny, but also is interesting design space as she cares about who she's smacking. End of thought.

I love all the different fingers. To me, this art piece feels like a Scott Hampton painting, and is adorable for its in-universe patchwork quality. I need eight of them.

Clones are classic Magic design fare, but this one really takes the iridescent cake.  The convoke cost reducability is a huge selling point for me, since in the right build its free, and it absorbs any lord buff and enables any type gate. As is tradition though, Clones are only as good as the thing they're copying, so hopefully there's some good zhoug to smear on this thing.

Oh hey, the good zhoug!

I think this dual faced, first main phase flip theme is a really great replacement for the day/night mechanic from Innistrad Midnight Hunt, which admittedly many of us were worried would rear its head given the nature of Lorwyn. 5/5 flying lifelink for 5 on its own feels pretty strong, but those are my antiquated sensibilities talking. Really the appeal here is that Eirdu and Isilu support the go wide strategies, giving your friends convoke so they get on the board, and persist so they stick to it. I'm curious to see how the rhythm plays out with these double faced cards, but I like the cadence they all have in a vacuum. Hopefully they're just as rad in play as they are on the screen!

I haven't figured out how to use this guy yet, but it reminds me of Devoted Druid with that 4 toughness. Outside of that, its really nice to see creature types that are ordinarily represented on more expensive cards find design space to be involved in early game-play. Like with dragons, I consider treefolk to be higher cmc even though there are 8 cards with the type at 2 or less. You know, for the little guys cube.

Speaking of little guys with significance, Hexing Squelcher here is the spiritual successor to Vexing Shusher, except its broader and constant instead of selective and costed. The Fraggle vibe is strong though, and with that pedigree of mischief, I'm sure this little hooligan will wind up in some hatebears build sooner or later.

What a funny little engine this is, for getting your cool kids out of the graveyard. The elf-graveyard relationship in this set is very odd, but Creakwood Safewright makes a really great one, two punch on turn three, so long as you've got a three drop in the bin waiting to pop out and say hello. We love this little conspiratorial team up.

While at time of writing, I've yet to spot one of my favorite Shadowmoor mechanics conspire, it is cool to see behold taking its place (and arguably clash's too since that JTCG minigame didn't really stick in our collective memory too well.) By revealing from your hand or pointing to a creature of the chosen type in play, you can soup up your cards' abilities, like here where you turn a Citanul Flute activation into a Green Sun's Zenith, all for playing typal! You know, the thing you wanted to do anyways!

Twink Death has many scholarly definitions, but the one I'm using today is "the utter disinterest in a twink because you know them too well, which is a negative multiplier against their hotness." Oko was fun in Eldraine, but Thunder Junction was ugh, and this is oof. I don't care if he's good in game, on a redemption arc in lore, or doing a David Bowie on the card, but for whatever reason he's here now, it sure feels... weird. Having a planeswalker's abilities locked behind a transformation is nothing new, but having it mana gated is, since you'll have to pay the mp1 tax to use Oko's other set of abilities. This could be strong actually, but 

This one goes out to all you split second fans and Last Word appreciators. What if you could counter your opponent's half of the stack, and then get 1/1 fliers for each countered piece? Well you won't have to imagine for long, since for 4 mana, this is literally that. Sorry storm players, I hope you enjoyed your fun while it lasted.

I kinda dig this hybrid Strixhaven cycle of First-Year students, but this one especially since HURRAH! I FOUND IT! I FOUND THE CONSPIRE! But back to the cycle, there's something very toyetic about the portrayal of all these characters, perhaps especially with Sanar, the Prismari/Izzet goblin who looks like your mom's Troll Dolls. I still need to read the story, but art direction decisions like this make me wonder what we're squaring up for in the year to come with our return to Strixhaven in a few set's time. 

To end the survey of all these cool new cards, here's a nifty little design that's been illustrated by Omar Rayyan, one of my favorite Magic artists of all time. I love how colorful the piece is, especially in interplay with the hard white light, where it creates shapes for the colors to dance around the edges of. This in conjunction with the humble linework, unsure but considerate of all the peaks and valleys of skin and cloth, make the piece feel rich, and considered, and homesome. It also has a neat effect, where it catches your instants and sorceries after you've cast them, and then when Goliath Daydreamer attacks, you get to cast them from exile to graveyard for free. On top of that, it reminds you to rest often, dream big, and be a whimsical little guy, and that's a lesson I'm planning on bringing into my 2026. What about you? Are you ready for a fresh start, to follow your heart, and play some Lorwyn Eclipsed?

Well, you can do at least one of those the week of January 16th through the 22nd. We'll be holding prereleases most days, and signups are here if you're curious, interested, and ready to explore.

Also, no pressure on filling your heart with joy or whimsy, or on following your heart. There's plenty of time, and we're just getting started. Much love, y'all

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Ben Doane has been a member of the Pandemonium Team since 2019, and has been playing wargames, rpgs, and tcgs since 2004 and earlier. When not blogging, Ben runs the wargames and mailing departments, and also puts together the store's newsletters. Her current favorite Magic format is Scrabble Cube.