We’re just a few hours in and MagicCon: Amsterdam is already off to a cracking start. We’ve seen a brand-new Core set coming later this year, a huge batch of Duskmourn spoilers, and even confirmation that Archenemy products will be returning! It would be easy to be dazzled by this news, and forget that Bloomburrow is actually the next set due to be released.
As if to remind everyone, Wizards graced us with some MagicCon Bloomburrow spoilers as well. If you need some wholesome content after the raw terror of Duskmourn, then you’ve come to the right place.
Carrot Cake
Kicking things off we have five commons, one for each color. These cards don’t form a cycle, but they do all point to different themes and ideas we’ll be seeing in the full set. Carrot Cake, for example, is a two mana Food that comes with a 1/1 Rabbit token and a Scry trigger.
Excellent art aside, (something you could likely say for every card in this article) this seems like a Limited signpost common more than anything else. Two mana for a 1/1 and a Scry just isn’t a great rate, even with the promised Rabbit Typal synergies in the set. The card is a Food, which will likely give it some extra utility, but that may not be enough.
Ultimately, this is a fun card that shows off the themes of Bloomburrow well. You won’t be seeing it much in Standard, but you likely will in Commander. In one of the many Cute Animal decks enabled by the set. It does confirm that Food is back, however, which is good to know. Always great to see one of Magic’s goofiest card types getting more support.
Pearl Of Wisdom
Much more exciting is the blue common revealed today, Pearl of Wisdom. This is a Divination at a base level, but it comes down to two mana if you control an Otter. We’ve only seen one Otter so far, in Bria, Riptide Rogue, but already it’s clear that the creature type will care about casting noncreature spells. In such a deck, Pearl of Wisdom should slot right in.
Anyone who has played with Chart a Course can tell you how good drawing two cards for two mana is. Pearl of Wisdom has the potential to be even better since its full value condition is only tied to controlling a creature, not declaring an attack. Whether this is playable in Standard or not really depends on whether we get a good one-drop Otter. It’s hard to believe they wouldn’t include one, however, if only because of this card.
Outside of dedicated Otter decks, this effect is generically useful enough to see play elsewhere. Any kind of Aggro or Tempo deck that can afford to include some Otters will likely throw this in too. It may look like an unassuming common, but this is the kind of card that ends up on Standard ‘Most Played’ lists more often than you’d think. Don’t sleep on it, is my Pearl of Wisdom for you.
Early Winter
Next up in this batch of MagicCon Bloomburrow spoilers is Early Winter. This one is interesting in that, unlike the other four commons revealed, it doesn’t synergize with a particular creature type. Instead, it’s a fairly generic black removal spell, with a fun twist. For five mana, at instant speed, Early Winter either exiles a creature, or forces an opponent to sacrifice one of their enchantments.
Enchantment removal is notoriously hard to find in black. Hence the hype around Feed the Swarm. Early Winter gives you an expensive, unreliable new option in this regard. Admittedly it does exile the enchantment it hits, which is more than Feed the Swarm does. On the other hand, it lets your opponent choose which enchantment to exile. This makes it fairly weak against go-wide Enchantress-style decks.
The mana cost here also rules the card out of Standard play immediately. Where Early Winter will shine, then, is as an answer to specific crutch enchantments in Commander. Particularly graveyard hate cards like Rest in Peace. Graveyard decks fold hard to cards like that, and Early Winter gives them an on-color way to push through. Alternatively, it can permanently deal with a non-Commander threat for five mana. Hardly a bad deal in many cases.
Might Of The Meek
We all knew RW Mouse Aggro was going to be a thing coming into Bloomburrow, as soon as Mabel, Heir to Cragflame was revealed. Might of the Meek is the next piece in that puzzle, and it seems remarkably solid. In a Mouse Typal deck, it gives a creature +1/+0 and Trample and draws you a card. All at instant speed.
It’s worth noting that the creature receiving the +1/+0 buff doesn’t need to be a Mouse itself. You just need to control a Mouse in order to receive it. It’s also worth noting that even without the Mouse-dependent power boost this is quite a solid card. Trample is a form of evasion, after all, and drawing a card is good in every possible scenario.
Typically, cards like this are good in either hyper-Aggro lists or Combo decks. With the Bloomburrow Otters, also in red, having a noncreature spells theme, this card could easily cover both bases in the new Standard meta. In any case, it’ll likely be an auto-include in Mouse Typal. A deck I foresee being very popular, be it for aesthetics or power level.
Sunshower Druid
The last common we saw today was the green one, Sunshower Druid. This is a 0/2 Frog Druid that lets you place a +1/+1 counter on a creature when it enters. It also gives you some nice incidental lifegain in the process. In a vacuum, this seems fairly underwhelming. A one mana 1/3 is great against early Aggro creatures but falls off quickly in most games. Where this card may shine is in its interactions with other Frog creatures in Bloomburrow.
Frogs are confirmed as the blue/green creature type in the set. This means they’ll likely have more than a few ways to leverage the power of a +1/+1 counter. They may even have cards that come with extra effects if you gain life. If that’s the case, then Sunshower Druid will be a cornerstone enabler for any Frog deck. If not, then at least the art is very cute.
It’s typically not a good idea to rule out one-drops quickly in Magic. Their low costs allow them to be played early, or late alongside other spells. That said, I’m fairly confident in calling Sunshower Druid a Limited-only card. Of course, I’d love to be wrong. Just look at his little face!
Salvation Swan
Stepping up a few rungs on the rarity ladder now, next in our batch of MagicCon Bloomburrow spoilers is Salvation Swan. Long-time players will recognize this as a new take on Restoration Angel: a card that absolutely dominated during its time in Standard. There are some crucial differences here, however. Swan brings the creature it bounces back at the end of the turn, rather than right away. It also gives it a Flying counter when it comes back in.
There are different ways to spin it, but for the most part, returning the creature at the end of the turn rather than right away is a downside. It removes the potential for disgusting combo plays, at any rate. It’s better than Restoration Angel in response to a board wipe, but you are then losing your 3/3 flier, so it’s still not a great deal. The Flying counter is excellent, though. Turning a big value creature into an evasive beater is huge. Especially if you can get something out of bouncing it too.
Ultimately, the power of cards like this comes down to their versatility. You can bounce a creature purely for value, to give it Flying for next turn, or to dodge a removal spell. Salvation Swan also lets you re-use its trigger whenever another Bird enters, too, which seems very abuseable in the right deck. Value cards like this may not be as good as they were in Restoration Angel’s day, but Salvation Swan could still do serious work in Standard.
The Village Land Cycle
The last Bloomburrow spoilers we saw at MagicCon were these beauties: a full cycle of new mono-colored lands. These Village lands share a lot in common. They all enter untapped, can tap for colorless, and can tap for a specific color only to cast creatures. They also all have an activated ability, which works with four of Bloomburrow’s creature types.
The abilities on lands like these are typically wildly overcosted, so it’s refreshing to see that these all cost one or two mana. The fact that they enter untapped is also a plus, and all but guarantees that these are staples in the Animal Typal decks they support. Personally, I think the red, green, and blue Villages are the best. One mana land abilities are insane, and the fact they don’t need to sacrifice to use them is even better. Lilypad Village, in particular, seems very good. Even comparable to Spymaster’s Vault, a card just released in Modern Horizons 3.
I’m less excited about the black and white Villages since their abilities cost two mana and ask you to sacrifice a land to use them. Granted, they do provide card advantage, which is great in long games. For the most part, I think the other three will be the big Standard players, though. They’re locked to Typal decks, of course, but I think that’s actually a good thing. It stops generic lists from using them and gives a suitably powerful reward for repping your favorite animal.
Retro Frame Ravenous Squirrel
Now this isn’t technically one of the MagicCon Bloomburrow spoilers at all. It was revealed right after them, however, and it ties in thematically, so I’m covering it anyway. This rather dashing Retro Frame Ravenous Squirrel will be the Open House promo for Bloomburrow. This means that if you attend an Open House event between the release of Bloomburrow and Duskmourn, you’ll receive a copy of this card. Or two, if you bring a friend along.
What of the card itself? Ravenous Squirrel is a reprint from Modern Horizons 2. It’s not a particularly powerful card, only really seeing play in Squirrel Typal decks in Commander. Given the amount of support those are about to get in Bloomburrow, though, a promo now makes sense.
Another notable thing about this promo is that it’s only the second-ever hybrid mana card to be printed with a Retro Frame. The first is Deathrite Shaman in Ravnica Remastered. This puts it in very esteemed company indeed. It may not be the most exciting reprint of all time, but it’s only a fun promo card, so it’s not a huge deal in the grand scheme of things. Squirrel Typal players will love it, and that’s what really counts.
Read More: MTG Bloomburrow: Release Date, Spoilers, Commander Decks
