Magic: The Gathering Lorwyn Eclipsed – Preview

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The newest set, Lorwyn Eclipsed, revisits the world of Lorwyn, a plane originally introduced in the mid-2000s that features both light and shadow. After a quick appearance during the Phyrexian Invasion story arc, Lorwyn Eclipsed brings us back to this constantly changing world and its magical inhabitants.

What’s New & Returning In Lorwyn Eclipsed

Like every new Magic: The Gathering set, Lorwyn Eclipsed introduces a few key mechanics in addition to the game’s established rules. These mechanics in Lorwyn Eclipsed are Behold, Blight, Changeling, Convoke, Evoke, Kindred, Persist, and Vivid. Here’s a quick look at how each one works:

Keyword Ability
Behold As an additional cost to activate the spell, the player needs to reveal a specific card or card type to the opponent.
Blight Put -1/-1 counters on creatures, usually as a cost to activate a spell or ability.
Convoke The player can tap creatures to provide mana for a spell.
Changeling A card with Changeling is considered to be all creature types at once.
Evoke A card can have multiple functions, depending on if certain colors of mana were used to cast it.
Kindred Allows non-creature cards to have creature types.
Persist If a creature with Persist dies and it has no -1/-1 counters, it returns to the battlefield with a -1/-1 counter.
Vivid An ability whose result is equal to the number of colors among permanents on the board

Some cards feature a ‘Transform’ ability, changing into a different card when certain requirements are fulfilled. This mechanic represents the shifting nature of the Lorwyn-Shadowmoor setting, where cards have both a light and a dark side and can switch between them.

Most transformation cards focus on quickly evolving into one powerful form. However, the cards from Lorwyn Eclipsed are different – they can switch back and forth between forms, letting you use whichever ability is most helpful at the moment.

Rainbow Decks Dominate In Lorwyn Eclipsed

Okay, so how does Vivid actually play? It really needs a carefully built deck to shine. That’s why one of the Lorwyn Eclipsed Commander decks goes all-in with all five colors – it maximizes what Vivid can do. If you try to build with fewer colors, you lose a lot of its power, and most decks probably only run one, two, or three colors at most.

Staying true to its fantasy theme, Lorwyn Eclipsed centers around a few key creature types: elves, goblins, kithkin, giants, elementals, faeries, and merfolk. The introduction of Kindred and Changeling creatures in this set makes it much simpler to build decks focused on specific creature types.

I’ve noticed something interesting in my games lately – even those plain, colorless cards are starting to show up in some pretty powerful combos. One example is Changeling Wayfarer – it’s a cheap creature that can find you a basic land when it hits the battlefield, and that’s actually really useful. It seems like creature types that care about being the same – like Elves, Kithkin, Merfolk, and Goblins – are really benefiting from this, because they have a lot of cards that get stronger when you have a bunch of the same type out.

The ‘Behold’ ability can be risky because it reveals information about your hand to your opponent. While it’s okay if you plan to play the revealed card soon and don’t expect your opponent to have an immediate answer, it’s generally a significant drawback. Fortunately, many cards with ‘Behold’ don’t actually need it – they can be played by simply paying their mana cost instead.

The Convoke ability is a strong element in the Lorwyn Eclipsed set. Using tapped creatures to gain advantages has been a recurring theme in Magic: The Gathering, especially after the introduction of the Station mechanic in Edge of Eternities, and it works seamlessly within Lorwyn Eclipsed. Convoke also complements the set’s focus on duality. It’s a bit disappointing, though, that it doesn’t appear as frequently as another prominent mechanic in the set.

Lorwyn Eclipsed Is All About The Power Of Curses

A key feature of the Lorwyn Eclipsed set is the use of blight and -1/-1 counters. Many cards appear powerful for their cost, but they enter the battlefield with a number of -1/-1 counters that must be individually removed through specific actions.

Bristlebane Battler is a powerful green creature that costs 2 mana and has 6 attack and 6 health. However, it starts with five weaknesses that are removed one by one each time you play another creature.

Using Blight and its counters is a clever way to balance gameplay, encouraging players to think more strategically instead of just focusing on power boosts. The concept of ‘cursing’ your own creatures also nicely complements the fairytale setting, especially when you can remove them to gain advantages.

What are the strongest and most likely to be game-breaking cards in Lorwyn Eclipsed? Two stand out: Bloom Tender and Hexing Squelcher.

Bloom Tender is a green, two-mana creature – a 1/1 Elf Druid – with a special ability called Vivid. Vivid creates mana of each color already present in play, and this can quickly generate a lot of mana if you build your deck right.

Hexing Squelcher is a particularly strong card and is likely to be banned soon. This red creature costs 2 mana, is a 2/2 Goblin Sorcerer, and has three key abilities: it can’t be countered, it prevents your other spells from being countered, and it gives your other creatures Ward 2 (meaning opponents must pay 2 extra mana to target them with spells).

This card has way too many powerful effects for its low cost, and it’s likely to be a problem for blue-based strategies in Magic: The Gathering (though many players probably won’t mind!). Expect changes to address this.

The Lorwyn Eclipsed set is enjoyable and references the original Lorwyn sets, offering powerful cards with interesting restrictions. Unlike the Final Fantasy set, these limitations don’t make the cards overly strong as the set progresses.

It’s disappointing the story of Lorywn and Shadowmoor won’t continue immediately. Magic: The Gathering will be heading back to Strixhaven in 2026, meaning we’ll likely have to wait quite a while before revisiting the world of light and shadows.

Lorwyn Eclipsed launches January 23, 2026, with prereleases starting January 16.

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2026-01-16 22:41