At long last, the spoiler season for Lorwyn Eclipsed is finally here. Thanks to a new experiment, this spoiler season only lasts four days, so Wizards isn’t waiting around. During the set’s official debut, Wizards unveiled tons of powerful cards and soon-to-be-Commander staples. Between these reveals and all the leaks we’ve seen, Lorwyn Eclipsed is looking like one hell of an MTG set.
Chronicle of Victory
If you’ve got a Commander deck built around a specific creature type, Chronicle of Victory is the card for you. For six mana, not only do you get a very respectable buff, but it’s also an insane card draw engine. By replacing any spell you cast of the chosen type, Chronicle of Victory can easily allow you to flood the board on a massive turn.
Notably, without a Haste enabler, Chronicle of Victory isn’t an all-in-one wincon, but it still does more than enough. Much like Banner of Kinship, Door of Destinies, and Coat of Arms, this card will be everywhere. After all, literally any deck with a strong focus on one creature type can make use of this card.
Considering the typal trio above are all staples in Commander, Chronicle of Victory is bound to be expensive. Even if it doesn’t make a splash in any competitive format, including Limited, Commander demand will be through the roof. Since it’s a mythic, we can only hope Wizards gets around to reprinting this sooner rather than later.
Selfless Safewright
While typal strategies are often able to snowball out of control, keeping them safe is a different story. Thankfully, Lorwyn Eclipsed has an elite option to solve this problem in Selfless Safewright. For effectively two mana, this Elf can potentially give your entire board Hexproof and Indestructible.
Being an Elf, Selfless Safewright should naturally be an auto-include within any Elf-Typal Commander deck. Beyond that, however, it should also work wonders within any green-aligned strategy. Cats, Dogs, Slivers, and even Dragons can benefit from the protection this card provides.
Glen Elendra’s Answer
If Glen Elendra were asked if she hates Storm decks, it’s pretty clear the answer would be “Yes.” Much like Last Word, this four-mana counterspell stops the entire stack, completely shutting down a Storm win. While this is already enough to make Glen Elendra’s Answer interesting, it also flips the table on your opponent.
In response to a Grapeshot win attempt, for example, Glen Elendra’s Answer can flood the board with a lethal number of 1/1 Faerie tokens. Since your opponent will presumably go all-in on this attempt, cracking back for the win should be easy. While this sounds like a competitive certainty, four mana is a lot.
Sadly, due to its cost, it’s unlikely that Glen Elendra’s Answer will see much play in Modern. Even in Commander, while cost isn’t an issue, the turn order and board wipes could foil any reversal. Thankfully, even if you’re not going all in on countering a Storm deck, getting value out of this card isn’t hard.
Between Counterspell wars and triggers off cards like Rhystic Study, you can easily get tons of tokens. Thanks to this, don’t be surprised if you see Glen Elendra’s Answer a lot within control-focused decks, especially at higher brackets.
Vibrance
Out of all the new Evoke Elementals in Lorwyn Eclipsed, Vibrance definitely looks like the strongest so far. Each of its two abilities offers fantastic utility for any Gruul deck. In particular, the ability to grab any land, not just basics, is a huge swing for two green mana.
While this ability isn’t quite Crop Rotation, it is a useful alternative to Sylvan Scrying. Offering life gain, a body in the graveyard, or an optional Lightning Strike instead, this card has tons of utility. The only real downside attached to this is the expanded color identity, which somewhat limits its Commander potential.
Until Wizards of the Coast changes the rules around hybrid mana, Vibrance can’t go in a mono-green or mono-red deck. Thankfully, this isn’t the end of the world, so don’t be surprised if you see Vibrance running amok soon.
Bloom Tender
Despite not being a new card, Bloom Tender is easily one of the most impactful spoilers from the Lorwyn Eclipsed debut. First seen in Eventide, this returning Elf can generate up to five mana per tap. Routinely selling for around $21 at minimum, Bloom Tender is already a staple in Commander and cEDH.
Now that it’s coming to Standard, Bloom Tender could do serious work within Simic Ramp decks. Easily offering two mana every turn, this Elf could be an impressive speed boost for this archetype. If that’s not fast enough, there’s also synergy with Leyline of the Guildpact, letting you tap Bloom Tender for five.
Thankfully, even if Bloom Tender doesn’t end up seeing competitive play, this new reprint should bring the price down somewhat. Considering it’s not a cheap staple at the moment, this is definitely good news.
Curious Colossus
While very expensive at seven mana, Curious Colossus can completely turn the tide of a Commander game. By shutting down and shrinking all of your opponent’s creatures, this Colossus sets up hugely destructive plays. Whether you’re Trampling through with Craterhoof Behemoth or clearing the board with Blazing Volley, there’s tons of potential.
Notably, unlike most regular boring ol’ removal, Curious Colossus handily shuts down decks that rely on creature abilities, potentially keeping Commanders stuck in play. While this is good news, it is still incredibly mana-intensive, which rules it out of most formats. Even in Commander, there are better and cheaper ways to effectively clear the board, although they don’t come with a 7/7 attached.
Aurora Awakener
Sadly, it seems that expensive Giants being rather underwhelming is a bit of a theme in Lorwyn Eclipsed. Much like Curious Colossus, Aurora Awakener is a 7/7 for seven that’s useful, but not amazing. At best, this card can give you five free permanents, potentially setting up an easy win. Realistically, though, between the seven mana cost and the need for Vivid, most decks won’t maximize Aurora Awakeners’ potential.
Within a five-color Commander deck, however, Aurora Awakener will do a ton of work. Since it guarantees that you hit five permanents, there’s very little chance you don’t get good value. Tack on the 7/7 body on top of this, and Aurora Awakener should be a decent upgrade to the archetype. Hell, it could even be a viable bomb for optimistic Domain Ramp decks in Standard, alongside Bloom Tender.
Notably, there is a small chance that, in a deck without many permanents, Aurora Awakener could be a combo enabler. Since this card can find and trigger itself, you could easily put 28 Hasty power into play out of nowhere. While this opens the door for some bizarre combo decks, the build restriction is rather harsh. Still, this could be a seven-mana finisher to a new control strategy.
Lavaleaper
By accelerating the game for both you and your opponents, Lavaleaper probably isn’t a good MTG card. The potential for this to blow up in your face is exceptionally high, especially in Commander. That being said, while definitely risky, this derpy Elemental actually has tons of potential.
Thanks to the abundance of nonbasic lands in every MTG format, you can easily build around Lavaleaper. Mono-Red decks, in particular, could use this card as a massive ramp engine that effectively doubles your mana. In theory, untapping with access to 10 mana on turn five is well within the realms of possibility.
Unfortunately, while Lavaleaper could pull its weight within a Mono-Red Midrange deck, this archetype isn’t really popular anywhere. Lavaleaper isn’t likely to make it happen, either, since four mana isn’t that cheap. Ultimately, this unusually adorable card may end up underplayed, but we applaud anyone who tries it.
Mornsong Aria
In a similar vein, Mornsong Aria is an incredibly dangerous MTG card with huge upside potential. If you can build around it with relevant support, you essentially get to tutor something up every single turn. Should you just play this and pass, however, each of your opponents gets to tutor first, putting them massively ahead.
Thankfully, so long as you have Opposition Agent, you can steal your opponent’s cards and give them nothing. If you can pull off and protect this two-card synergy, any game of Commander is effectively over. Attempting this, however, will definitely make you public enemy number one around any Commander table, so be warned.
Realistically, even with this incredible potential, Mornsong Aria is too dangerous for its own good. Unless you can Flash it in just before you draw, your opponents stand to gain too much. Much like Lavaleaper, this may cause Mornsong Aria to end up fun but forgotten.
So Much More
With all of Lorwyn Eclipsed being revealed in four days, Wizards revealed an absolute ton of content in the debut event. Not only are there tons of exciting new Commander options, combo engines, and incredible reprints, but there’s a mountain of leaks, too. As if this all somehow wasn’t enough already, we’ve even got two Commander decks being revealed today and tomorrow. It may be quick, but Lorwyn Eclipsed’s spoiler season is bound to be exciting.
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