10 Wilds of Eldraine Cards to Keep an Eye on Post-Rotation

Standard rotation is coming. Starting with the prerelease of Edge of Eternities, the expansions from Dominaria United to March of the Machines: Aftermath leave the format and, with them, a range of preexisting options and staples that have solidified in recent years: Temporary Lockdown, Cut Down, Atraxa, Grand Unifier, Monastery Swiftspear, Sheoldred, the Apocalypse, the pain lands and half of the fast lands are just a few examples.

With this blank space and the clear changes in the Metagame caused by them, it is natural that some cards that were previously irrelevant may gain more space in Standard, whether due to their power level, interaction with a specific mechanic, or simply because their deck becomes more viable without certain cards in the Metagame.

In this series of articles, we're listing cards from each set that will remain in Standard that are worth a second look for next season, and we start today with Wilds of Eldraine.

Spellbook Vendor

Spellbook Vendor has seen some success this season through its interactions with Valiant and Optimistic Scavenger, where you only had to pay one mana to trigger their abilities.

Without Monstrous Rage to hyper-speed up Aggro and also with the exclusion of Cut Down, Vendor could gain more space as a sort of Luminarch Aspirant that interacts with Scavenger's themes to establish new versions of Boros Auras, or even become a relevant two-drop in Selesnya Cage to manipulate the power of creatures and trigger Collector's Cage faster.

Elusive Otter

Monastery Swiftspear leaves Standard with The Brothers' War, and while the recent bans should hold Prowess decks back from what they once were, the archetype remains very much alive after rotation in different variants.

For the more aggressive variants, Elusive Otter is the closest thing to Swiftspear that we have, with the bonus of being an Otter for any interaction with them in Bloomburrow, and with the bonus of carrying Astrologian’s Planisphere better than many other creatures, since increasing its power permanently also means removing blockers from its path.

Twining Twins

It is possible that blink effects will be more relevant with Edge of Eternities, perhaps even preferable to Bounces. In that case, there are currently three options in Standard that will not leave the format, and of these, Twining Twins is the one that offers an evasive creature with a decent body in addition to its main effect for a low cost.

It would not be surprising if it and Parting Gust eventually become staples in a specific archetype, but it depends on what the next set has to offer to benefit blink effects.

Ego Drain

Ego Drain isn't on the list specifically for "Post-Rotation," but because Lorwyn Eclipsed will be the first set of 2026, and Faeries have a history in Lorwyn that should be closely watched when there's a Thoughtseize that cares about this type in Wilds of Eldraine.

It's likely that the design team will avoid the same mistakes they made with Faeries in the original Lorwyn — especially with Bitterblossom — so perhaps Ego Drain won't do anything on its own, but between Soulstone Sanctuary and the breadth of possibilities the new set has to offer, it deserves an honorable mention.

Lord Skitter, Sewer King

Lord Skitter, Sewer King is a recurring graveyard hate in a decent body that resembles the functionality of Graveyard Trespasser, but instead of draining life, it puts more bodies on the board every turn.

The rat had its moment of brilliance in Esper Legends last season, but was completely overshadowed for almost the entire Dominaria-Final Fantasy season — perhaps, due to the needs of the Metagame or a decrease in the clock and speed of the matches, Skitter has room to prove its potential again.

Virtue of Persistence

Virtue of Persistence is already a powerful card that had relevant results during a part of the current season, but it has been losing ground as the need for instant-speed interaction has grown.

Without Cut Down, it is likely that one way to “compensate” for the lack of one-mana removal against Aggro is to gain some life in addition to dealing with a creature.

In addition, one of the main promises for post-rotation Standard at the moment is the Yuna, Hope of Spira deck with enchantment creatures such as Overlords and Summon: Knights of Round. In one of these versions, players run Virtue of Persistence as Yuna’s main target to generate value each turn with the reanimation effect, while also ensuring that if destroyed, Yuna will return — because of this archetype and the life compensation when interacting with a cheap creature, it is possible that Virtue of Persistence will become a staple again.

Decadent Dragon

Sheoldred, the Apocalypse and Archfiend of the Dross are leaving and this opens up space for many four-drops in Standard, especially in colors that don't run Kaito, Bane of Nightmares.

In the Rakdos versions, Decadent Dragon is one of the options for players to try in the new Metagame. In addition to its body, cost and decent ability, the Eldraine dragon offers a great resource in Midrange mirrors with its adventure.

Raging Battle Mouse

Raging Battle Mouse benefits from the two possible routes that Mono Red can follow after rotation: if the archetype goes for a go wide line with Hired Claw, Kellan, Planar Trailblazer, Tersa Lightshatter and even Goddric, Cloaked Reveler, it will be the ideal turn two for a follow up between a one-drop and a three-drop on the following turn.

If it still tries a line with Mice, despite the ban of Heartfire Hero, the possibility of playing Emberheart Challenger followed by Manifold Mouse for one mana or even a one-drop followed by Mabel, Heir to Cragflame are viable possibilities that make it a decent two-drop.

These same possibilities apply to two-color decks, since its cost is easy to splash. For example, I can imagine a first turn of Hired Claw or Kellan, Planar Trailblazer followed by Raging Battle Mouse to, on the next turn, play another one-drop or even an interaction and pay for Lightning, Army of One, putting a lot of pressure on the opponent during the next turn.

The Huntsman’s Redemption

The Huntsman’s Redemption never had much space in Standard, but it is an excellent card for aggressive Midranges that want more flexibility with creatures and/or even the possibility of using a small toolbox in their maindeck.

At base, a 3/3 for three mana isn't impressive, but sacrificing even the token it created or a Mosswood Dreadknight to get another creature and still be able to play the Adventure again is a lot of value for three mana, and the mini-Overrun puts pressure on the opponent.

Plus, this saga offers a cheap way to extract value from cards like Jenova, Ancient Calamity while also helping you get it if needed — and it's proving to be strong enough for Midrange decks.

Agatha's Soul Cauldron

Agatha's Soul Cauldron allows your creatures to do some crazy things, and there have been archetypes around it since its release. Recently, however, the list ran by Paulo Vitor Damo da Rosa in Pro Tour Final Fantasy stood out as a potential new iteration of the archetype, where creatures with +1/+1 counters gain the ability of Vivi Ornitier to generate free mana.

There are countless possibilities with the interactions between Cauldron and any activated ability and/or mechanic that puts +1/+1 counters, and having an established, potentially promising deck that only loses one card from the maindeck to Standard post-rotation definitely puts it as a potential staple for next season.

That's all for today!

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

Thanks for reading!