General [ECL] Lorwyn Eclipsed

[StrionicAdventurer]

Delighted by these cards because I genuinely think they will cost 50 cents apiece by July, and I want them all for my bar cube. Nice simple abilities that aren't too niche (nobody here is proliferating or anything like that) and just look at the wonderful weirdo art! What a great cycle.

 

[TrainmasterGT]

I think a tapper for 1 is already a totally fine Cube card. Goldmeadow Harrier and the like are staples in Peasant/Pauper Cubes for a reason, and totally serviceable at higher power levels too. But when you make it a Savannah Lion as a baseline? Wow! It more than makes up for requiring another untapped creature to use, even if that's admittedly a big cost.

I think I like the gameplay value of this higher than any of the Savannah Lions printed in the last five years, to be completely honest, and it'll likely be joining Descendant of Storms for me.

It's hilarious to me how conservative they are with giving Savannah Lions new abilities. We get Snowballing Threats and Looters that become Ancestral Recall Creation Devices at one mana now, but for some reason, they're afraid to give the Savannah Lions variants compelling use cases for when they can't attack. I don't think my aggro deck would be looking to tap two threats in order to tap a single blocker very often.

While I'm not saying this card should have literal Goldmeadow Harrier text at 1, I wish it had been costed more like Gavony Trapper, Checkpoint Officer, or Frostbridge Guard. We've actually never had a decoy effect that costs to activate; this would have been a cool place to introduce that cost for this effect.

 

[Schafkurai]

It's hilarious to me how conservative they are with giving Savannah Lions new abilities. We get Snowballing Threats and Looters that become Ancestral Recall Creation Devices at one mana now, but for some reason, they're afraid to give the Savannah Lions variants compelling use cases for when they can't attack. I don't think my aggro deck would be looking to tap two threats in order to tap a single blocker very often.

While I'm not saying this card should have literal Goldmeadow Harrier text at 1, I wish it had been costed more like Gavony Trapper, Checkpoint Officer, or Frostbridge Guard. We've actually never had a decoy effect that costs to activate; this would have been a cool place to introduce that cost for this effect.

I am not even sure what would be stronger in most cases, and tapping a creature or just . Sure, it's terrible, if you don't have another creature. But if a 2/1 can't attack into an enemy 3/3 or something like that, then your other 1-2 drops won't be able to either, so tapping them is not that bad. What I like is that you can also tap summoning sick creatures. Turn three play a two drop and tap something down eot does not seem too bad. At least in my cube the mana efficiency could be more important than the additional cost? Who knows .

 

[ravnic]

Hot take: Swat Away is as good as old Venser, Shaper Savant, probably better, since it can often answer a creature or instant for .

 

[Seeker]

Some interesting ones all around - I'm surprised I don't hate the WR member of the evoke cycle, and things that come in with counters are doing interesting stuff.

 

[MilesOfficial]

Slumbering Walker is somewhat exciting to me. I like that you get the first power 2 dude on the turn you cast it.



I really like Twilight Diviner.

It's not a card for dedicated reanimator decks (though it is a perfectly acceptable 23rd card there): it's a value midrange card. Works great with Nethergoyf, Gravecrawler, Forsaken Miner, Cult Conscript, etc. and I love getting extra value out of Unearth, Helping Hand, and the like. Very excited about this one.

 

[TrainmasterGT]

Hot take: Swat Away is as good as old Venser, Shaper Savant, probably better, since it can often answer a creature or instant for .

Based take??

Honestly, I think Venser is mostly still popular due to nostalgia and LSV glaze at this point. I think most Cubes could do better (unless they're specifically looking for the nostalgia hit, of course!)

 

[TrainmasterGT]

I am not even sure what would be stronger in most cases, and tapping a creature or just . Sure, it's terrible, if you don't have another creature. But if a 2/1 can't attack into an enemy 3/3 or something like that, then your other 1-2 drops won't be able to either, so tapping them is not that bad. What I like is that you can also tap summoning sick creatures. Turn three play a two drop and tap something down eot does not seem too bad. At least in my cube the mana efficiency could be more important than the additional cost? Who knows .

Honestly, this might just be a case of poor card evaluation on my part, I'm not entirely sure!

I just don't understand why they're so careful with fixed-value Savannah Lions variants in a post-Ragavan world (that is also full of snowballing 1-drops with other statliness). It seems like a place with a lot of cool unexplored design space!

 

[LadyMapi]

things that come in with counters are doing interesting stuff.

I appreciate that WotC decided not to specify which counters you can remove.



Mmm, tasty Finality counters...

...



I'm kinda bummed that the reference to Wort, the Raidmother is commander-bait expensive. Conspire's a super fun mechanic and can be pretty strong (it copies a spell, that's pretty much always good), but "tap two creatures that share a color with the spell" is also a big enough cost that I'm not sure a card that just gives stuff Conspire needs to cost .

 

[ravnic]

This might be my favorite big cycling creature in red. He's cool for lower powered reanimator.

 

[LadyMapi]

Honestly, I think Venser is mostly still popular due to nostalgia and LSV glaze at this point.

Venser does get a bunch of points for being super clean. Sure, there are stronger 4-drops in blue these days, and there are better cards at doing what Venser does, but Venser just does the thing. Gotta love cards that just do the thing without faffing around with restrictions or conditions.