Top 10 Best Lorwyn Eclipsed Cards

Lorwyn Eclipsed Gives Us Cards New And Familiar

I remember playing the original Lorwyn; it was one of the first sets I ever played. After so much time, it’s kind of surreal to return to the plane. Back then, I didn’t understand much when it came to strategy, deck construction, or even some of the finer points of the rules. Now, I write about Magic: The Gathering as part of my job. I wonder what young me would think of that…

But enough about then. Let’s talk about Lorwyn Eclipsed. I barely understand the lore (it’s almost assuredly about the barrier between night and day breaking down) but I do understand the cards—and how good a few of them are. Lorwyn Eclipsed has all these new Blight cards and fun hybrid mana creatures, but the true all stars for Standard are efficient, cheap, and often stand-alone engines. Some of these slot into existing deck archetypes, and some demand being the centerpieces of new/revised strategies. I’ve not only collected the ten cards that I think are the best but opened myself up to possibly being very wrong in the future by putting them into a top ten list, with number one being—I think—the best overall card in the set.   

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10. Goliath Daydreamer

This card sits at number ten on my Lorwyn Eclipsed list because if you can’t set it up right, it’s just a 4/4 creature that exiles your instants and sorceries. But if it’s working well, it’s a double-casting machine, easily turning removal spells into a problem for your opponent. Goliath Daydreamer also has the nice bonus of not being tied to a specific copy of the card. If they kill one, another copy can still use the exiled spells.

9. Bre of Clan Stoutarm

There’s a very small chance this card can go wrong—simply because you don’t shuffle back the other cards. They remain exiled. But in the usual life-gain decks, I don’t see that being an issue. Most life-gain cards seem to be three or lower in cost, and most life-gain decks can easily gain three life a turn. Also, that first ability can just win you the game if you get a creature big enough.

8. Meek Attack

They made a weaker version of Sneak Attack. They put Sneak Attack into Standard with so few rails. I don’t know the combos people are going to find with this card, but it’ll be its own combo deck. There are so many cards in Standard; this card will end up broken somehow.

7. Bitterbloom Bearer

I honestly expected a card like this in Lorwyn Eclipsed. It just seems fitting. I’m a little surprised they didn’t also do Thoughtseize, but maybe that would’ve been too good. In any case, this card is a solid backbone for a lot of different tempo or tribal decks. I’m almost certain it’ll become a common play pattern to Flash this in on your opponent’s end phase and then start building up your little flying army.   

6. Kinscaer Sentry

Two mana. Two mana? The engine ability alone would be absurd; you just keep up pressure. This is not a card meant to cheat out powerhouses like Meek Attack can but is instead a way to dump your whole hand with such speed your opponent will be left spinning. I see this as a very common turn two play in a variety of Blight decks, regular aggro decks, and weird burst decks.

5. Bristlebane Battler

It’s because it has Ward that it made the list. I love the idea of a creature that gets bigger and bigger as the game goes, and—if you are going to utilize Blight cards—it’s a good option to give -1/-1 counters to, but it’s also so slow. You have to play this in a token heavy strategy to really get the maximum aggro potential.

4. Moonshadow

I wish this one had Ward, but it’s still better than Bristlebane Battler. In the right deck, you can get this card up to very high stats very quickly. It honestly feels like a new Death’s Shadow. I’m almost certain we’ll see a deck that wants this card on turn one every game it can.

3. Sapling Nursery

Affinity for Forests means that in the decks I see running this, it’s half-costed at all times. You can usually play this on turn four, if not earlier. And once you do, you can just make so many Treefolk. And they are pretty well-stated Treefolk at that. If Faeries end up dominating Standard, having a continuous source of creatures with Reach is important.

2. Formidable Speaker

This Lorwyn Eclipsed card opens up a level of tutoring I’ve rarely seen. Decks with high-end finishers will be ultra-consistent, able to set up blowouts like clockwork. I’m sure that second ability is also pretty good, but that’s not why it’s on this list.

1. Ajani, Outland Chaperone

I didn’t want to put this at number one, but I feel like it’s just so subtly good. It makes dudes every single turn—and we’ve seen how useful that can be for a few different decks—and it can snipe creatures when needed. The ultimate is obviously busted, but that doesn’t matter. Ajani, Outland Chaperone is just efficient and effective. It adds to a variety of decks and is so low costed it won’t mess up an existing strategy to include it. Sometimes, the best card in a set is not the flashiest card, and I declare Ajani the best card of Lorwyn Eclipsed.

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