Standard Set Review: Lorwyn Eclipsed

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

With previews wrapped up, our review season at Cards Realm begins, where we highlight the most significant new additions of the expansion for Magic's major formats. In this article, we cover Standard!

The lack of Flash means Adept Watershaper doesn't work as well for combat protection and/or against sweepers, but it interacts well with the mechanics proposed for Merfolk in the new set with Deepway Navigator to extract maximum value from the Lifelink mode of Sygg’s Command while still having blockers available the following turn if needed.

Outside of Merfolk, The Wandering Rescuer might be a better choice for go wide Aggro strategies.

The new Ajani seems quite efficient for his cost. He protects himself, interacts with Caretaker’s Talent and Enduring Innocence, and possesses a finisher ability that could close out games in the right list—and Mono White Tokens variants, which have been distant from the top of the competitive chain, can extend the game long enough to activate Ajani's ultimate, although this seems a bit win-more.

Brigid, Clachan’s Heart offers four power for three mana and, upon transforming, can considerably accelerate your plays when combined with an early mana dork and/or Badgermole Cub. The extra mana can be used to ramp Elspeth, Storm Slayer, or to further amplify the go-wide strategy with Ouroboroid + other cheap drops.

It has potential for a Selesnya/Bant Aggro deck, and possible applications in Airbending decks wouldn't be surprising.

Maha, Its Feathers Night is probably the best card for trying to abuse Lorwyn Eclipsed's -1/-1 counter mechanic, so there seems to be little room and potential for Curious Colossus.

The Convoke ability of Eirdu, Carrier of Dawn probably comes a bit too late since it doesn't have Convoke and is competing in the five-mana slot with Elspeth, Storm Slayer and Aang, at the Crossroads.

On the other hand, its transformation grants Persist to all your creatures, which means forcing recurring two-for-one trades or effective protection against sweepers alongside Ouroboroid—provided the opponent doesn't destroy Eirdu first.

Kinscaer Sentry is another payoff for go-wide Aggro lists in Standard and interacts with ETB effects that remove blockers and with cards that have global abilities affecting your board.

Since it doesn't interact with Ouroboroid and doesn't benefit from most creatures used in that shell, not to mention the lack of support for Kithkin outside Lorwyn, it might take some time to find space in the competitive Metagame.

Morningtide’s Light can be read as Protection Against Aggro that invalidates all the board progression that Ouroboroid and Elspeth, Storm Slayer achieve with +1/+1 counters. Often, it will be used as a pseudo-Time Warp for four mana, given that it also protects against damage spells from Mono Red.

The design team learned the lesson that Evoke needs ETB effects with attached "mana costs," so Personify doesn't work with them. Outside of that, there don't seem to be decks today that would take great advantage of a Blink effect exclusive to creatures, and Charming Prince would already be better if the purpose isn't to protect a creature from removal.

Speaking of protection, Rhys, the Evermore ensures a creature returns to the battlefield if destroyed for a low cost. The card uses the same pattern as other creatures that have turned games in Standard in the past, with the bonus of a decent body and flexibility in casting.

A near-sweeper with Convoke could have applications if we had a white archetype heavily based on the same creature type, but we don't have that strategy in the competitive scene at the moment, and six mana is a relatively high cost.

Potential staple. Flitterwing Nuisance functions as an Enduring Curiosity for a turn while also being the ideal one-drop to replace Spyglass Siren in Dimir Midrange, as it has the same functionalities in terms of power and can also "generate value" with Kaito, Bane of Nightmares while providing more redundancy in card advantage sources.

Glen Elendra Guardian has a half-Negate, half-Dream Fracture attached to a flexible body with Flash. It could be an option for Dimir Midrange and Azorius Tempo, especially for protecting against sweepers without giving up board pressure or straining mana costs.

The fact that Glen Elendra’s Answer only targets the opponent's triggers means we can't break it. On the other hand, having a complement to Tishana’s Tidebinder that can't be countered could have some relevant sideboard applications, especially when it also functions as stack interaction and a way to definitively solve all the problems of a "counter war."

Harmonized Crescendo interacts with Unstoppable Plan if we have enough creatures sharing the same type. It might be worth some testing, but it seems more geared towards a Commander/Casual card than Standard.

At first glance, the lack of Flying, protection, and the extra mana investment to activate Loch Mare's abilities seem to make it a bit too conditional for current blue decks in Standard.

Oko, Lorwyn Liege can come down as early as turn two with Llanowar Elves, grows beyond most early combat damage ranges, and puts six power on the board for the following turn.

Its drawbacks, however, involve the +2 ability being virtually irrelevant in most cases, coupled with the fact that the "six power" impact requires a full turn to work, removing its ability to create immediate board presence when it enters.

Silvergill Mentor is a variant of Silvergill Adept, and the extra board presence makes sense in a set where they are based on Convoke, but it seems less relevant for the archetype's viability in Standard.

Potential staple.

Spell Snare changes the play/draw dynamic for any blue archetype in the format today: against Izzet Lessons, it provides a clean answer to Artist’s Talent and Accumulate Wisdom while countering the majority of the archetype's spells. In Izzet Looting, it deals with aggressive openings with Duelist of the Mind while also answering Spider-Sense and other two-mana counterspells in Game 2.

Green decks will also have more trouble resolving a Badgermole Cub without executing a two-for-one trade, while Deep-Cavern Bat is an easy target for Dimir Midrange to avoid giving too much information to the opponent, and against Mono Red Aggro, the most explosive openings with Emberheart Challenger and Razorkin Needlehead.

There is no shortage of targets for Spell Snare, and while it seems doubtful it will be a 4-of in any archetype capable of playing it, it's quite likely that at least two copies will appear in the maindeck of these archetypes in Standard, with more or fewer being necessary as the Metagame adjusts.

Sygg, Wanderwine Wisdom provides another source of card draw that interacts with your one-drop to return to its owner's hand and clears the way for larger threats to attack as the game extends.

It doesn't seem to have many homes now due to its "one-shot" effect, but it has some potential.

With Formidable Speaker, it's likely that Sultai Reanimator's consistency issues will be properly addressed and there won't be a need for another three-mana draw/discard spell, but Thirst for Identity seems like a good addition for these strategies and might find a home if some Flash archetype opts for it over Consult the Star Charts.

The new Bitterblossom variant has a dozen pros and cons compared to the era when the enchantment stood out as one of the best cards of all time.

Bitterbloom Bearer has the advantage of being playable at instant speed and generating immediate value the next turn when cast at the opponent's end step, plus being an extra body to pressure the board in one of the most common areas where Blossom excelled: inevitability in winning games if we interact enough with the opponent.

However, the new Faerie is a creature with an X/1 body, just like its tokens, making it much easier to deal with using Fire Magic and the like, not to mention the Metagame is notoriously more aggressive and has more punitive cards that bypass an "infinite chump block."

It could be a staple, but, unlike the original Lorwyn era, Standard today is much better prepared to handle this type of effect, and it wouldn't be surprising if Bitterbloom Bearer's fate was the same as Dark Confidant in Standard.

Adding -1/-1 counters to your creatures can be negligible in a format with Earthbending and Ouroboroid, and Dawnhand Dissident offers effective maindeck graveyard hate with additional effects besides dealing with problematic cards.

Requiring a bit more board presence than ideal and needing to untap to function as hate might diminish its usability in that line, but it still keeps it as a potential recursion tool in Golgari lists.

Before being a staple of Izzet Lessons, Monument to Endurance starred in a deck in Standard and Pioneer that used Guardian of New Benalia as a source of recurring discard to trigger the artifact's abilities every turn—Iron-Shield Elf offers the same potential, but in a different color, allowing new possible interactions with the artifact and with Mayhem cards like Carnage, Crimson Chaos.

Moonshadow has a pseudo-Descend that can interact with the discard effects of Iron-Shield Elf and complement Stalactite Stalker as aggressive drops in a deck that easily removes its counters.

It's worth noting that the new creature triggers per instance of permanents going to the graveyard and not per number of cards, which hinders potential explosive interactions with Overlord of the Balemurk and Town Greeter.

Without so many relevant Behold cards that function on their own, or without many tribal decks that seem very relevant for the current Metagame, Nameless Inversion loses much of the potential that made it a staple in original Lorwyn.

Potential staple. Requiting Hex, on the other hand, is one of the best black removal spells printed for Standard this season.

A pseudo-Fatal Push would already be enough to address some of the problems posed by current Metagame threats—although it doesn't handle some larger creatures that Cut Down would—and the Blight cost seems a fair trade against Mono Red Aggro and Burn, especially if we continue to have a creature in play after casting it and if that creature has an ability like Flitterwing Nuisance to benefit from the -1/-1 counter.

Potential sideboard staple. Boulder Dash handles Badgermole Cub and the Earthbending token with the same card, or Gene Pollinator and Llanowar Elves, or any combination thereof. It will be relevant while the format is oriented towards these creatures, but it will hardly be a four-of due to its lack of breadth.

At sorcery speed, Cinder Strike seems less impressive than Torch the Tower or Firebending Lesson, but the potential to deal four damage for one mana should not be underestimated, especially if we can benefit from or ignore the Blight 1 cost.

It's hard to imagine decks capable of using a card that always requires negative mana to destroy a creature being interested in the exile effect of End-Blaze Epiphany over the versatility of damage range and/or more reliable card advantage effects.

Hexing Squelcher trades immediate impact for a free pass against Counterspells and punishment against spot removal, with the bonus of the Ward ability stacking for each extra copy on the board.

There are currently about four to eight flexible slots in Standard's Red Aggro decks, and the new Goblin seems like an easy addition in more interactive matchups and the mirror, despite the lack of a punitive effect for the opponent's natural actions that don't involve interaction, like Razorkin Needlehead and Magebane Lizard.

Impolite Entrance offers an effective cantrip for Leyline of Resonance decks in the same slot that grants Haste and Trample to a threat, making it a possible addition alongside Slickshot Show-Off.

Outside that version, it probably won't see play at this time.

Meek Attack enables a combo with Famished Worldsire and other creatures whose power and toughness can be increased in other ways.

In the case of Worldsire, we can use the Devour ability, sacrificing our lands, and due to its ETB, even generate a Ramp since we're talking about something between 12 and 15 power on the board and 12 to 15 cards revealed from the deck, but other threats and/or more lands in play are needed to deal lethal damage.

Sear trades the exile effect of Obliterating Bolt for instant speed, making it an essential piece of interaction for the coming years, given its flexibility. Potential staple for both maindeck and sideboard, especially if the format's focus shifts away from small tokens back to larger threats.

The "five-mana dragon" of Lorwyn Eclipsed turns all your removal into two-for-one trades while being a relevant threat on the board. Spinerock Tyrant enters the list of interesting cards as a complementary threat for Izzet Lessons, but it's competing with Quantum Riddler for that slot, and I believe Riddler has the advantage.

Almost all cards with the new Vivid keyword interact in some way with Leyline of the Guildpact. Aurora Awakener requires a very high mana investment, but it transforms into one of the best ways to cheat on mana costs in the format, or one of the worst, depending on your luck in revealing bombs or lands.

For all its high cost, Bloom Tender adds alongside Leyline of the Guildpact, enabling some of the most explosive openings in Standard with the appropriate payoffs. Outside that strategy, it might benefit from the breadth of two- or three-color cards in decks like Bant Airbending.

The reprint of Blossoming Defense is an excellent addition for Leyline of Resonance and directly competes with Snakeskin Veil in Landfall lists, where the +1/+1 counter might make a difference for Mossborn Hydra, while Defense works better at protecting Mightform Harmonizer and other cards whose mechanics don't depend on counters.

Bristlebane Battler can get huge quickly with the right support and by doing something green decks already naturally do in their lists: playing many creatures. The mix of Trample and Ward ensures an effective early-game threat, but we can't ignore that it tends to be a terrible topdeck.

Possibly the best card in the set and perhaps the most impactful in the short term.

Formidable Speaker is the consistency that Reanimator decks needed to discard Bringer of the Last Gift to find Superior Spider-Man, ensuring it functions without "losing to itself" so often.

Speaker also provides an effective toolbox for any green strategy containing a decent number of creatures, but it will work best in archetypes that can meet all its requirements: utilize the graveyard in some way for the discard, have a relevant permanent to untap, and find a bomb at any point in the game.

Although not the most effective ramp, Mutable Explorer virtually adds two creatures to the board while accelerating mana for the next turn and triggering another Landfall. It might be worth testing in current lists of that archetype because the Mutavault token functions as a complementary threat without compromising the mana base.

Having an Elf in the graveyard can be an easy task when every green deck uses at least a set of Llanowar Elves, and Trystan, Callous Cultivator has a decent body and a relatively useful package of abilities for strategies like Insidious Roots.

Unforgiving Aim appears to be a worse card than Pawpatch Formation in current Standard, and its higher cost would only be justifiable if it functioned as a Naturalize to also handle artifacts.

Wildvine Pummeler can be played on turn two with Leyline of the Guildpact in play, enabling another line of explosive opening for a deck based on this interaction. It might be worth testing if we find the right home for it.

Think of any creature that has a static ability that is detrimental. Abigale, Eloquent First-Year turns it into a considerable threat while reducing the risks it poses to you. Today, in a Magic where most creatures have a benefit to be used—and those that don't, like Moonshadow, don't interact well with Abigale—it's hard to imagine it having much competitive impact, but the soup of keywords this card offers can be used aggressively to turn games against Aggro.

In most cases, Ashling’s Command will be used as a Pyroclasm that draws two cards for five mana or as a Ramp + draw 2 for the same cost. It seems flexible enough to deserve some testing, as it hardly has a matchup where it becomes a dead card.

Despite the high cost, we've seen Lifegain decks appear occasionally in Standard, and Bre of Clan Stoutarm offers an effect that benefits from lifegain triggers on ETB and also from gaining life in combat to increase the pressure and card advantage of a Boros version.

For three mana at sorcery speed, Brigid’s Command seems underwhelming compared to the other cycle cards, given that most of the time it will be a spell that gives +3/+3 and has the target creature fight another—both effects relatively weak for the cost.

Catharsis is half Raise the Alarm and half Goblin Bushwhacker in the same card. At its Evoke cost, it has the flexibility to put early pressure on the board or set up a lethal attack, but if we reach six mana, it represents eight power with Haste attacking, capable of turning games around or even ending them after a sweeper.

Deceit seems quite strong for Reanimator, which can take advantage of both its modes and still reuse it with Superior Spider-Man by paying the right costs, besides functioning as board and hand interaction and an extra finisher for the archetype.

I don't believe Merfolk have enough to function in Standard now, but Deepchannel Duelist and Deepway Navigator should serve as support in case future expansions bring more support for the archetype.

The times when Doran, Besieged by Time's ability was a great novelty and a 5/10 for four mana seemed good ended over a decade ago. The first Doran was a major staple of its era, but it seems time hasn't been generous to it, both in and out of the lore.

Emptiness is great removal in the early game and can turn the game around as it extends if we have an Orzhov Midrange base that can accommodate its costs and take advantage of both cast triggers to destroy a creature while returning, for example, a Preacher of the Schism or Unstoppable Slasher from the graveyard to play.

Requiting Hex practically invalidates any effort to make Figure of Fable work, given that the mana investment in it is easily negated by a one-mana removal spell.

Grub’s Command seems slow and inefficient for five mana at sorcery speed, but perhaps the fact that it copies Goblins could make it relevant in some way alongside Hexing Squelcher.

Kirol, Attentive First-Year seems like a decent option for archetypes that can keep many creatures in play at the same time while having various triggers, such as Selesnya Cage or Mono White Tokens.

Despite the legendary subtype, Lluwen, Imperfect Naturalist seems like an excellent complement to Town Greeter and Overlord of the Balemurk, with the bonus of functioning as a Worm Harvest in the late game for archetypes that naturally put many lands into their own graveyard due to self-mill effects.

Removing a blocker and drawing a card, or granting Lifelink to your creatures while turning an opponent's creature or drawing a card, makes Sygg’s Command an interesting piece against Mono Red Aggro for decks like Bant Airbending or Azorius Tempo.

A green/blue Giver of Runes for two mana is relatively new territory for Standard, and therefore it's not that difficult to imagine where exactly Tam, Mindful First-Year can function best in the current format.

Simic Ouroboroid might want one or two copies of it, just as some Landfall lists might also choose to use it as protection against removal, but it wouldn't be surprising to see Tempo decks and/or lists like Bant finding room to include a copy or two.

Of all the new Commands, Trystan’s Command is probably the most versatile and, consequently, the one most likely to see substantial play in Standard.

The combination of Badgermole Cub with mana dorks makes six mana a manageable cost when one of the spell's modes untaps your creatures and provides a half-Overrun for them. Combined with board interaction and another way to reuse creatures and other permanents in the mid-to-late game, it does a little of everything this color combination could want.

The best way to evaluate Vibrance is by the payoff for its full cost: if we pay all the mana values, the Elemental offers a Lightning Strike and two life, with the next turn's land returned to your hand—that's a lot of value for five mana, and the 4/4 body or the ability to split those two effects via its Evoke costs make it perhaps one of the best in the cycle.

Potential staple. I believe Wistfulness is the best Elemental of the new cycle. Its body compensates for the cost, it helps filter your hand at any stage of the game, and the current Standard landscape has enough prevalence of artifacts and enchantments for its ETB to hardly ever be irrelevant.

Someone will try to mix Chronicle of Victory with Elves to create a viable deck. It might work, but given the diversity of sweepers and other board interactions in Standard, it's unlikely to be a very competitive archetype.

Turning any creature into mana dorks with a cheap artifact might give Springleaf Drum another chance to show its potential in Standard, although it has never received much spotlight in the format in the past.

Instant staples. The Shock Lands cycle is now complete for another three years in Standard and will likely remain staples throughout their new tenure in the format.

That's all for today!

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

Thanks for reading!