After a wild two weeks, Bloomburrow preview season is finally winding down. We’ve seen amazing new cards, even better art, and flavor richer than what we’ve become accustomed to. Overall, the set is looking like one of the best Magic has seen in years. As always, a few last cards were revealed during the Bloomburrow Card Gallery dump yesterday.
This final spoiler dump was around the same time as the Commander deck reveals, so you may have missed them. But worry not: I’ve gathered the best of them here for your consideration. Some last-minute Bloomburrow spoilers that could make waves in Commander and Limited.
Jolly Gerbils
There’s a lot to love about Jolly Gerbils. It’s the first ever nontoken Hamster in Magic for a start, following in the tiny footsteps of the venerable Boo. It’s also a two mana 2/3, which is solid even in 2024. What’s most interesting about the card, though, is how it rewards you for engaging with Gift, one of Bloomburrow’s signature set mechanics.
Normally, Gift lets you boost the power of a card by giving your opponent a small benefit in exchange. Be it a Fish token, a Treasure, or a card drawn from their deck. With Jolly Gerbils out, however, every Gift you give will be a self-Gift too. You’ll get an extra draw each time you dole out a Gift, which makes doing so a no-brainer.
In all honesty, this card is unlikely to see play outside of Limited. The pool of cards it interacts with is fairly small, and the Hamster type, while cute, prevents it from synergizing with the rest of Bloomburrow’s animal factions. In Commander though, where Gift will really shine as a political tool, it could be a potent draw engine indeed. Especially alongside Rolling Hamsphere from the Animated Army precon deck.
Dire Downdraft
Cute animals are great and all, but you know what else is great? Cards that can wipe them off the board. Dire Downdraft does just that. It’s a removal spell, which means it’s almost always going to be a high pick in Limited, no matter how much it costs. A good thing too, because at four mana this isn’t particularly appealing.
You can easily snag a 25% discount on the card if you’re targeting a tapped or attacking creature, however, which makes it a lot more palatable. It also puts the card on the top or bottom of your opponent’s deck, which is one of the best forms of removal out there. It gets around Indestructible, doesn’t trigger dies effects, and gums up your opponent’s next draw. Sure, they can choose to put the card on the bottom, but then it’s really gone for good.
Don’t get me wrong: this is a Limited common, through and through. But it’s a better removal spell than it looks at first glance and one that many blue decks will be happy to play. Especially if they’re leaning into the Otter spellslinger synergies.
Savor
Speaking of removal spells, Savor is a very nice one indeed. Not just art-wise, either. Though it is an excellent piece, and shockingly dark considering the chipper tone of Bloomburrow as a whole. For two mana, Savor gives a creature -2/-2 and creates a Food token. Very simple, and very effective.
Bloomburrow as a set has a higher-than-average number of powerful one and two drops, the majority of which can be answered by Savor. In Limited, this can curb an opponent’s aggressive start hard by removing their creature and giving you a Food to heal with later on. In Standard, it actually has a chance at seeing play in Squirrel decks that lean into the Forage mechanic. -2/-2 for two is just about efficient enough to be worth it, and the Food can fuel all your Osteomancer Adept shenanigans.
It’s unlikely that Savor will see Constructed play outside of such decks. Especially with Fell running about now as a truly unconditional two mana removal spell. That said, role players like this are great for deck diversity, and I’m glad it’s in the format. Even if it doesn’t see all the play in the world.
Sazacap’s Brew
Sazacap’s Brew is a card that raises more questions than it answers. Who exactly is Sazacap? Why are they cooking up Fish stew with a live Fish? What does any of this have to do with looting effects? The mysteries pile on and on. Put the intrigue aside, however, and you’ll find the card is a very interesting piece for Aggro decks, in Limited and potentially beyond.
If you just cast this spell normally, it’s a classic red ‘discard one, draw two’ effect. Nothing we haven’t seen a million times before. That alone is serviceable in Limited, however, where games can grind on and you’d give anything to trade that topdecked land for a real card. If you Gift your opponent a tapped Fish, however, it’s also a combat trick. A combat trick that only gives +2/+0 and no keywords, admittedly, but it’s a combat trick nonetheless.
In an aggressive deck full of Valiant creatures, this is a great way to push for extra damage and trigger your abilities, all while sculpting your hand. The fact that the Fish comes in tapped means it won’t get in your way if you’re using Sazacap’s Brew for an alpha strike, either. If the Mono-Red decks in Standard start jamming a lot of the Valiant red Mice, this may even see play there too. Though that one in front of the red in the mana cost makes that a long shot at best,
Heaped Harvest
Though this list was arranged in color order and not power order, we have still managed to save the best card of the Bloomburrow Card Gallery dump for last. Spooky or what? Heaped Harvest feels surprisingly strong for a common, and may actually end up being a Commander ramp staple when all is said and done.
Basically, it’s a three mana Food that puts a basic land from your deck into play when it enters and when you sacrifice it. That means it is, at minimum, two lands and three life for five mana. That’s the least exciting way to use the card, however. What you really want to do is find another way to sacrifice it, so you can turn a clunky ramp spell into a super-charged Cultivate.
There are plenty of ways in both red and black to do this, in Standard alone. The new Calamity Beast Rottenmouth Viper certainly springs to mind. Once you do, this starts feeling very good indeed. That’s to say nothing of Commander, where sacrificing this is trivial and land ramp is an easy path to victory. The fact that it’s a Food gives it all sorts of extra synergies too, from Cauldron Familiar to Gilded Goose. Basically, Heaped Harvest is a very pushed common, and you can expect to see it in a lot of Commander decks from here on out.
Read More: Showcase: Bloomburrow Secret Lair Drop Debuts The Glorious Bat Sorin
