Now that it’s had some time to settle in, it’s safe to say that Lorwyn Eclipsed is a banger of an MTG set. Plenty of the new cards are seeing play in numerous formats, with Commander in particular picking up a lot of great tools. Unfortunately, as is often the case in Magic, these powerful cards have big price tags to match. Thankfully, there are still some budget gems in Lorwyn Eclipsed that can make a big impact, especially on the Commander table.
Spry And Mighty
Not only is Spry and Mighty a potent draw piece, but it’s also a potentially game-ending pump spell to boot. In the modern Commander climate, where every slot counts, this gives it an edge right out of the gate.
Of course, in order to make use of these potent abilities, you need at least two creatures in play, with a reasonable gap in their power. Any deck that makes a lot of small tokens alongside a few big beaters, then, can slot it right in. Prossh, Skyraider of Kher, in particular, feels like an excellent home for the card. You can sacrifice five of the six Kobolds it makes to buff Prossh’s power up to 10, then cast Spry and Mighty on Prossh and the last Kobold to draw 10 cards and set up a near-lethal swing.
Specialist decks aside, Spry and Mighty is also good in any deck that runs mana dorks. These are all tiny creatures, Birds of Paradise in particular, so dropping a mid-range creature later will make it a solid draw spell. Considering its wide-ranging utility, it’s wild to see Spry and Mighty selling for just $0.25 right now, or $0.35 in its incredible Showcase variant.
Harmonized Crescendo
If there’s one thing MTG players can count in Commander, it’s the continued popularity of typal decks. While they’re rarely contenders in higher brackets, these strategies are the lifeblood of casual tables, and receive regular support as a result. Despite being one of the best typal support cards we’ve seen for a while, Harmonized Crescendo is flying under the radar price-wise right now.
For just $0.51, this is an instant-speed draw spell with serious potential. Thanks to Convoke, it’s possible to cast it for very little mana most of the time, or even free in go-wide Typal decks like Merfolk. It’s nice in Dimir Zombies lists, too, even more conservative lists like Elementals. Interestingly, it draws you a card for each permanent you control of the chosen type, which means Kindred cards like Firdoch Core and Bitterblossom can contribute to the count as well.
The fact that Harmonized Crescendo is an instant really pushes it over the edge. This means you can hold it up alongside countermagic, or use it in response to a board wipe to come out ahead. It also has excellent synergy with the new Adept Watershaper in that scenario, letting you protect your Azorius Merfolk board in a pinch. This feels like a new staple in the making, so at its current price, it’s undoubtedly one of the best budget Commander sleepers in Lorwyn Eclipsed.
Raiding Schemes
While Wort, the Raidmother from the original Lorwyn block didn’t get a new card in Eclipsed, her legacy lives on in Raiding Schemes. This new enchantment takes Wort’s ability, makes it even broader, and sticks it on a much more resilient enchantment. The result is a card with endless potential for shenanigans, especially in go-wide token decks.
Getting to copy your removal spells by tapping down creatures is great at a base level and solves the inefficiency problem with removal in Commander. This is just the start of the possibilities here, however, as you can also duplicate tutors like Eldritch Evolution to bring your whole combo out at once, or ramp spells like Farseek to accelerate into your endgame.
Raiding Schemes gets even more interesting when you factor in its ability to copy permanent spells as well. This means you can double down on your favorite artifacts and enchantments for serious long-term value. Nabbing an extra Guardian Project to draw a ton of cards, or an extra Impact Tremors to speed up the clock in Token or Aristocrats decks, are both great moves. The sky really is the limit with this one, which makes its current $0.32 price tag all the more beguiling.
Tam, Mindful First-Year
Tam, Mindful First-Year is a very easy card to underestimate. At first glance, it looks like a solid, if overcosted, take on a classic Mother of Runes type effect. It certainly does offer that with its tap ability, but Tam also just applies to your other creatures by default, meaning it protects your board just by sitting there normally. In color-intensive Commander decks like The Ur-Dragon, this is great standalone protection.
This is plenty powerful by itself, but Tam also has further synergy with colors-matter cards. It’s an easy way to get five mana out of Bloom Tender, for example, or to draw five with Chromatic Orrery. There’s even talk of Tam seeing play in Sisay, Weatherlight Captain decks in cEDH, since it can immediately get Sisay to 7/7 in stats, letting you tutor up any combo piece you want.
While it looks reactive on the surface, Tam’s proactive applications are fairly numerous. I expect a lot of Simic decks to embrace the card in the months to come, as a result, at which point its current $0.36 price tag will likely look very generous indeed.
Plenty More In Store
All of the cards we’ve looked at so far are great, but they’re really just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to budget bangers in Lorwyn Eclipsed. This is a set with a surprisingly deep suite of cheap playables, especially for Commander players.
Take Catharsis, for example. This is a brand-new mythic rare and a member of the set’s potent Evoke Elementals cycle. While the likes of Wistfulness and Deceit are commanding huge price tags, Catharsis is available for just $1.57. Considering how good it looks in aggressive Boros decks, it feels like a steal at that price.
Getting more specific, there are a ton of great typal cards you can snag for pennies in this set. Selfless Safewright is a stellar protection piece for Elf decks, which can also put in work for other green types like Bears, Treefolk, and Squirrels. At just $0.55, it’s a no-brainer pickup at present. You can also get the excellent new typal mana rock/draw engine Gathering Stone for a very reasonable $0.40.
Even some of the most-hyped cards in Lorwyn Eclipsed are super-cheap right now. New combo engine Meek Attack is just $1.48, while Landfall powerhouse Sapling Nursery is only $0.86. Many of the best new Commanders in the set, like Maralen, Fae Ascendant and Doran, Besieged by Time, are very affordable too, with that pair selling for $0.37 and $0.47, respectively.
With so many great low-cost options available, Lorwyn Eclipsed is an ideal set for the MTG Commander player on a budget.
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