If you’re getting ready to build your next Magic: The Gathering deck for Standard play, but aren’t quite sure which cards should be leading the way, we can offer a helping hand.
While most Standard decks are constructed to the 60-card minimum, there are typically only a few truly game-changing cards in each deck. It could be down to how they synergize with other cards, or featuring a broken mechanic, but these are the cards you need to keep an eye on in Lorwyn Eclipsed.
Hexing Squelcher
A card that caught everyone’s eye the moment it was revealed, Hexing Squelcher is a two-drop red creature that can’t be countered. It also makes your spells immune to counters and comes with a two-life ward that applies to all your other creatures.
We’ve already seen some major aggressive combos coming out on MTG Arena, and this early aggro play can completely stifle control decks that need at least two or three turns before they can really get going.
Magic: The Gathering – Complete Lorywn Eclipsed Drafting Guide
If you need help getting the best out of Lorwyn Eclipsed on draft night, we can help you assemble a powerful deck to take down your opponents.
Moonshadow
Remarkable value for just a single black mana, Moonshadow is a 7/7 creature that comes into play with six -1/-1 counters on it,
Alternatively, Moonshadow is a great target for Blight counters, as it can simply remove them when you sacrifice other creatures, or lose creatures.
If you team this up with a card like High Perfect Morcant, or your opponent is also playing a Blight deck, then counters can start flying off Moonshadow at a concerning rate.
Ajani, Outland Chaperone
We were 50/50 on including Ajani, Outland Chaperone on this list, but ultimately, a three-mana planeswalker who can fill the board with tokens or take down big early-to-mid-game creatures is hard to argue against, and we can see this being quite a heavily countered spell due to its potential impact.
Planeswalkers are steadily returning to the meta, but be wary of targeted removal spells that could catch you out if you have no counter or protection spells.
Ajani will fit comfortably into any Kithkin or general aggression decks, but one big weakness is the lack of protection spells and counters available in white and green mana.
Sear
Red and Izzet decks aren’t exactly short on removal spells, but one aspect they’ve not been able to deal with effectively is planeswalkers, and Sear fixes this without an exorbitant cost.
Sear is a two-mana spell that deals four damage to a creature or planeswalker, offering much more versatility to target more than just creatures or your opponent. The struggle might be trying to fit it into the existing removal rotation without leaving yourself with too many spells, or not enough copies of Sear.
High Perfect Morcant
Elf decks just got a major boost thanks to High Perfect Morcant, a 4/4 creature that makes your opponents Blight when it hits the battlefield, and every time an Elf does too.
With the right mix of creatures and token-makers, your opponents will struggle to handle the volume of -1/-1 counters heading their way, making it hard for their own creatures to take a foothold and deal any meaningful damage. Just consider taking in some spells to protect High Perfect Morcant to ensure it has a chance to get rolling.
Vibrance
Vibrance is the standout elemental incarnation from Lorwyn Eclipsed, offering massive versatility to Gruul decks thanks to its dual threat evoke cost.
You can Vibrance via evoke using two red mana to deal three damage to any target, or if you pay two green mana, you can search your deck for a basic land, reveal it, place it in your hand, and gain two life.
If you hard cast Vibrance using two green and two red mana in the total five-mana casting cost, you can activate both of these abilities, all while not having to sacrifice the 4/4 creature immediately. Evoke essentially turns it into a hybrid instant/creature card that has a fairly major impact regardless of when you cast it during a match.
Honorable Mention – Shock Lands
The return of shock lands is big for mana aggression, as each card allows you to place a dual color land untapped at the cost of two life points, or it can enter tapped with no charge.
Playing a shock land on turn two and paying the life cost, then passing the turn, is a great way to make your opponent think you are holding counter spells, removal, or a card with the flash ability.
This is a huge help to the likes of Rakdos aggro and Azorious control decks, as they tend to fall short on early mana, given the number of dual lands in the deck, all of which typically hit the battlefield tapped. Other deck archetypes will benefit too, but these are two that will receive the biggest uplift to bring them back into the meta.
Magic: The Gathering – Best Lorwyn Eclipsed Archetypes To Use
There’s plenty of choice for your next MTG deck, but here are the archetypes that are set to dominate in Lorwyn Eclipsed.
