Pauper Set Review: Lorwyn Eclipsed

The Magic: The Gathering 2026 release season has begun! Lorwyn Eclipsed, the first of the three in-universe expansions this year and the first of seven releases scheduled for 2026, takes players back to a plane teeming with mystical creatures and fables, marking a return to the iconic home of Elves, Goblins, Faeries, Kithkin, and Elementals.

With previews wrapped up, our Review season here at Cards Realm kicks off, where we highlight the biggest additions of the expansion for Magic's major formats — in this article, we cover Pauper!

For two mana, Keep Out is a decent alternative to Destroy Evil if the future Metagame moves away from large creatures like Tolarian Terror and focuses more on strategies where single-target removal matters more than sweepers against smaller threats. A solid inclusion, but not for Pauper's current state.

Mono White Aggro or Boros Bully might eventually benefit from having a 5/6 that can be cast for free. We've seen how Boros Convoke in Pioneer and Standard was enabled by this package of threats and tokens, and Sun-Dappled Celebrant seems to offer that alternative for the current Metagame.

One of the most interesting cards to build around in the new set.

Speaking of Convoke, Wanderbrine Preacher lets you gain life when paying costs that turn into Crew, Flashback from Battle Screech or Prismatic Strands, or even when attacking. It's a good two-drop alternative when we need a more aggressive stance against Red Aggro without giving up recurring lifegain.

Meeting of Minds sees play in some Familiars lists, and Unexpected Assistance, despite costing more — and requiring an additional blue creature to be cast for free — allows you to dig a bit deeper for the options you need. It also interacts with Deep Analysis and Archaeomancer to generate value from the discard.

Auntie's Sentence provides an effective discard effect against archetypes reliant on key permanents we need to interact with, like Affinity, while also working as early-game spot removal. It seems like a good one-of or two-of inclusion in decks like Golgari Gardens and Dimir Terror.

A direct upgrade to Festering Goblin, Bile-Vial Boggart might warrant testing in Rakdos Goblins lists heavily based on sacrifice to reach their combo. It's also a valid option in Mono Black Sacrifice lists if you expect many X/1 creatures in your Metagame.

Between the Lifelink/Deathtouch combo and the fact it replaces the target creature with a 2/2 if it dies, Scarblade's Malice could serve as a supplement for Sacrifice decks against more aggressive archetypes, or as a way to deal with Tolarian Terror / Cryptic Serpent and still leave a 2/2 behind.

Outside these cases, Toxin Analysis still seems like a better option for other decks that usually want this kind of effect.

A board full of Goblins with Boneclub Berserker and Fling / Temur Battle Rage is a win condition, but for four mana, you'll probably be sacrificing Goblins with Skirk Prospector to pay its cost — which, in turn, reduces its power and diminishes the potential to win games.

A Goblin that makes more Goblins always deserves an honorable mention, even when competing with Dragon Fodder and Goblin Instigator for this slot. In Pauper, I believe the higher cost for one extra power works against Elder Auntie's potential in the format, given how much this strategy prioritizes mana efficiency.

Dawn's Light Archer is an Elf with Flash that trades up against Faeries while also taking down larger creatures in combat. It might warrant some testing due to its creature type. Otherwise, it would probably be irrelevant.

Extra copies of Cache Grab. I believe Pauper already has enough green self-mill effects to not need Midnight Tilling, but redundancy is always welcome.

Wildheart Invoker is most likely a better card for Elves, even though Safewright Cavalry dodges Lightning Bolt.

Another in the series of modal Pauper spells, Unforgiving Aim deals with flying threats and enchantments without losing the utility of putting a body on the board. For three mana and not handling artifacts, I believe its cost is too high for the format, but it is still an addition.

In theory, it's possible to cast Wildvine Pummeler on turn two with the right combination of Wild Cantor and a three-color permanent like the Blades cycle from Alara Reborn. However, making this card work requires a setup that doesn't interact well with anything in Pauper right now, and the cards needed to enable it don't do enough on their own to justify their inclusion.

Very fun in theory, but in practice, it requires too much effort to work.

The ETB of Rooftop Percher is useful enough to warrant testing in archetypes that can pay its mana cost, like Jeskai Ephemerate and Golgari Gardens. The extra life is relevant, and the fact it's an Elf might matter for the archetype's sideboard.

If Stalactite Dagger equipped to the token it creates when it enters, the artifact would be an excellent flex slot in some Faeries versions, as it would guarantee a body that trades with Ninja of the Deep Hours while also interacting with Spellstutter Sprite and making your Ninjas survive creatures with two power.

It might still be considered because the equipment increases toughness, turns Ninjas into Faeries, and makes key creatures survive Breath Weapon. However, paying four mana at sorcery speed for a 1/1 and the possibility of giving it +1/+1 on an empty board seems to significantly reduce this card's usability.

That's all for today!

If you have any questions, feel free to leave a comment!

Thanks for reading!