Metagame: Lorwyn Eclipsed's First Week in Tournaments

With the start of the Lorwyn Eclipsed season in the competitive scene, players across various formats spent last week trying out cards from the new set and identifying the top performers in tournaments.

From multi-format staples like world champion Jean Emmanuel-Depraz's card, Formidable Speaker, and the new Evoke Elementals to specific role-players like Bitterbloom Bearer in Standard and Pioneer or Moonshadow in Modern and Legacy, the set showed enough potential to shake up the Metagame in early 2026.

In this article, we compile the standout cards, new decks, and additions to established strategies that Lorwyn Eclipsed brought to Magic's main competitive formats, with an analysis of their impact!

Formidable Speaker and the cycle of Elementals were the main highlights Lorwyn brought to Standard, boosting green decks to the top of the Metagame and dethroning, at least for this first week, the reign of Izzet Lessons.

At the core of Ouroboroid decks, Speaker complements Nature's Rhythm and makes it easier to build an effective toolbox. This includes a finisher in Craterhoof Behemoth alongside specific role-players like Sentinel of Lost Lore and Keen-Eyed Curator for graveyards, Wistfulness and Reclamation Sage to handle artifacts and enchantments, plus Mockingbird as extra copies of any relevant card on the board.

Oko, Lorwyn Liege also saw heavy play in Simic lists, both in the maindeck and sideboard. Apparently, playing it early and putting two 3/3 Changelings on the board the next turn while Oko stays in play to pressure the opponent into answering does enough work to secure another Standard cycle for one of Magic's most infamous Planeswalkers.

The winning deck of the Portland Regional Championship maximizes the interactive potential of a toolbox with Formidable Speaker and Nature's Rhythm, including white and a light splash for Explosive Prodigy as removal on a creature.

Despite the new colors, this list is, at its heart, a "turbo Badgermole Cub" deck: the primary goal is to put several copies on the board, even copying it with Mockingbird to generate enough mana to go off with Craterhoof Behemoth and a dozen mana dorks, rather than following the Ouroboroid line — in the worst case, multiple Quantum Riddlers can also close out games.

Speaker was also featured in Bant Airbending, which, like other combo strategies, benefits from an unconditional "tutor" while also being able to use the archetype's key ability to reuse its ETB, finding all the pieces to assemble the combo.

Speaking of combo, the Elementals Deceit and Wistfulness stood out alongside Depraz's card in Reanimator lists, which now have a far more versatile Midrange-Toolbox plan than previous variants, perhaps becoming the biggest winner from Lorwyn Eclipsed this first week.

And where there's Evoke, there will be Not Dead After All. The synergy that led to the banning of Grief and Fury in Modern may not double the ETBs of the new Elementals, but the mere act of having a Deceit for three mana after stripping a piece from the opponent's hand or delaying them a turn does enough for this variant to deserve a mention.

One advantage the Elementals have when they stay on the board for so little mana is the cost reduction they provide for Sunderflock, which costs between three or four mana with an Evoker in play and provides a one-sided pseudo-River's Rebuke plus a massive body.

Deceit was also a key piece in other Reanimator variants in Dimir and Grixis colors, which can use Superior Spider-Man as a way to "reuse" its ETB trigger after casting an Evoke spell.

On the Dimir side, Flitterwing Nuisance and Bitterbloom Bearer were the main standouts. The pair of Faeries interacts directly with the archetype's game plan, offering cheap threats with medium- to long-term value that synergize with Kaito, Bane of Nightmares, Enduring Curiosity, or even each other to bury the opponent in value.

Requiting Hex was also present in various archetypes but found plenty of slots in Dimir Midrange lists, which prioritize mana efficiency and needed more effective early-game interaction.

Mono Red Aggro found room for Hexing Squelcher, whose low-cost body helps protect threats by punishing spot removal with a Shock. On the other hand, some versions found an answer against Badgermole Cub and other cheap creatures in Boulder Dash, and Sear was a common sideboard staple in both Mono Red and various Izzet Lessons and Izzet Looting lists.

Landfall gained Sapling Nursery. The enchantment complements the archetype's game plan by providing more attrition in exchange for fewer explosive turns, similar to what Selesnya lists did previously with Felidar Retreat.

Among rogue decks, Flitterwing Nuisance was present in more aggressive Nurturing Pixie / Boomerang Basics lists, complementing a strategy focused on flying creatures and copying Sage of the Skies.

No established typal deck posted major results this week, but Goblins appeared in one of the Challenges with a Rakdos Aggro/Sacrifice variant, making the most of a dozen new tools Lorwyn Eclipsed brought to the archetype.

Formidable Speaker was also the standout from Lorwyn Eclipsed for Pioneer and served to boost Abzan Greasefang back into the competitive Metagame, as well as slotting into other Combo and Big Mana decks.

The new creature does everything Greasefang needs: discard a card — preferably a Parhelion II — to find Greasefang, Okiba Boss and have the full setup to execute the combo the following turn or the same turn. It allows the archetype to move away from various Self-Mill effects to focus on small toolbox additions, ensuring the strategy is consistent without relying so heavily on Overlord of the Balemurk and Witherbloom Command to put all the pieces in the graveyard.

Speaker has a similar role in Scapeshift lists, where discarding a land to find The Wandering Minstrel, Lumra, Bellow of the Woods, or Aftermath Analyst adds consistency. The absence of Thassa's Oracle as a one-of in the list above is somewhat surprising, since it also enables some win conditions that could be easier with it in hand rather than in the graveyard.

Wistfulness and Vibrance also had a presence over the weekend alongside Speaker in Goodstuff lists running Up the Beanstalk and alternative costs to generate card advantage, given that Evoke costs fit this category.

Nykthos Ramp also took advantage of the addition of Vibrance and the ability to generate red with Leyline of the Guildpact to use both of the card's modes, with the bonus of it being a cheap way to trigger Kiora, Behemoth Beckoner and Outcaster Trailblazer while ensuring your land drop. It wouldn't be surprising to see Wistfulness — currently at the Sideboard — find a maindeck slot in the future.

Bitterbloom Bearer found slots in Mono Black Midrange, where it operates as a constant stream of threats for cheap. The creature's life loss is easily mitigated with Gifted Aetherborn, Sheoldred, the Apocalypse, or the combination of Mutavault and Unholy Annex, providing another payoff for the archetype's high-risk, high-reward plan.

Among typal decks, Goblins had the most notable results with the addition of a splash to the already established version running the Agatha's Soul Cauldron combo with activated abilities from Draconautics Engineer, Krenko, Mob Boss, and Howlsquad Heavy.

Mudbutton Cursetosser was the key addition enabling the second color, but Champion of the Weird also deserves a mention for its activated ability that lets you control the battlefield, and Taster of Wares in the Sideboard works as hand disruption while synergizing with the archetype's overall strategy.

Merfolks were present in Bant, Simic, and Mono Blue variants, but none posted notable results, and the version with the best performance still seems to be Simic, which included relatively few cards from Lorwyn Eclipsed.

It's no surprise that the pair of Elementals and Formidable Speaker are the main standouts in Modern and are potential staples for Living End lists, but Moonshadow showed up in various Tempo and Death's Shadow decks in last weekend's Challenges.

Moonshadow — a card we considered in our Modern review to require too much work compared to Nethergoyf or Death's Shadow — surprised in the first Challenges as another aggressive one-drop for Shadow lists, complementing the package of cheap threats.

There are a few distinct routes you can take with this card. For example, the Grixis Shadow version has Lazav, the Multifarious, who can copy Moonshadow without getting the -1/-1 counters, turning it into a 7/7 with Menace for two mana. This same version runs the creature as a complementary threat to Nethergoyf, widening the number of threats to punish the opponent's removal.

The Golgari variant follows the same logic of increasing the threat count and complements Fetch Lands, Street Wraith, and Mishra's Bauble with Overlord of the Balemurk and Grist, the Hunger Tide to trigger Moonshadow. The list also features the Invasion of Ikoria toolbox to find the one-drops and increase the redundancy of threats and potential "combos" with Abigale, Eloquent First-Year.

Versions without Death's Shadow also looked for ways to utilize the new creature. This Dimir Tempo list leverages the interaction with Psychic Frog to try and trigger Moonshadow more consistently by discarding other creatures and/or lands, but without abandoning the base plan of cheap spells and without risking the life total in the same way Death's Shadow demands.

Formidable Speaker provided more lines of play for Living End decks, offering targeted answers and even potential "Reanimate" targets that can be discarded and/or found by it, like Atraxa, Grand Unifier, which in the worst-case serves as fodder for Force of Negation. The card also made it easier to include Halo Forager as a fifth Living End in the graveyard that can be found with it.

Wistfulness and Deceit were almost obvious additions to the archetype for their interaction and ability to answer hate and filter your hand or extract information from the opponent with the same card, plus providing more bodies on the board and even a resilient "fair" game plan.

Eldrazi lists also added Speaker as it makes it easier to find the right threat while "ramping" alongside Ugin's Labyrinth. As in other archetypes, it also facilitates the inclusion of specific one-ofs like Endurance or Soulless Jailer to hold off Living End and other graveyard-dependent archetypes.

On the more ambitious side of Modern, a Domain Reanimator list posted results over the weekend running the new Aurora Awakener and the combo of Vivid cards with Leyline of the Guildpact, complementing the Persist and Archon of Cruelty package with common Domain Zoo threats like Scion of Draco and Territorial Kavu.

New card appearances in Legacy were — as expected — more subtle than in other formats. Wistfulness was a relevant addition to Up the Beanstalk lists and also featured in a Sultai deck alongside Moonshadow.

An important detail of the deck above is that it runs only the mana base as enablers for Moonshadow, either through the combination of Fetch Lands with Surveil Lands, or by activating Wasteland.

Variants of Mono Red Stompy tested the new Hexing Squelcher as another hate tool against the format's blue decks, and in a list with Chrome Mox and Simian Spirit Guide, it's not difficult to cast it on the first turn and ensure any follow-up bomb with a Sol Land resolves.

In the combo spectrum, Hexing Squelcher served as a protection piece in Echo Storm, an archetype already known for using Defense Grid to avoid Force of Will and other stack interactions during its turns.

Finally, Formidable Speaker saw play in Welder Painter, where it functions as an engine to discard the piece Welder can return to the battlefield while finding Painter's Servant or any other piece to close out combos. The list also includes Agatha's Soul Cauldron, which can give Goblin Welder's activated ability to any creature with a +1/+1 counter.

The new set was notably quiet in Pauper, and no cards appeared in the weekend's Challenges. In the Leagues, the only notable inclusion was Burning Curiosity as a "Draw 3" for a Gruul Storm variant, which uses cost reducers alongside cards that create Treasures to chain spells and finish the game with the combination of First Day of Class and Seize the Storm.

That's all for today!

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

Thanks for reading!