cEDH - Lorwyn Eclipsed Review

Whenever a new set comes out, we review it with cEDH in mind, and Lorwyn Eclipsed is no different! Today, we'll go through a few cards I sincerely hope are playable in this format as well as a few that have real potential... Can you tell which is which?

In any case, Lorwyn Eclipsed actually brought us an impressive array of cards that should impact cEDH. Wizards of the Coast managed to perfectly capture the duality of light and darkness, so emblematic for this plane, with mechanics like Blight and Vivid, both in terms of playability and how in tune they are with this set's main theme. They might not be that playable in cEDH, though... Well, let's get to the point!

Highlights

Hexing Squelcher

Yay! Another Spider-Punk for all who don't play green or white! And this time it is actually good! It makes only your cards immune to counters and has Ward, which makes it a lot more viable. Yeah, it's no Grand Abolisher or Voice of Victory, but I still believe it will see play in nearly all red decks.

We know that Ward - 2 Life is practically nothing in commander. Still, it's better than nothing. This 2-mana red goblin represents an exceptional amount of value for any deck that plays red.

Formidable Speaker

This card is absurd, probably the best card in the set, so... Next!

Jokes aside, let's take a deeper look at it. It's a tutor. Done.

Formidable Speaker is a versatile Elf that lets you get a creature from your deck and put it in your hand. However, it also forces you to discard a card to put it in play before you use this effect. For just one colorless mana, you can also tap it to untap a target permanent.

Individually, these abilities might not seem that great (unless you have... I don't know, a Gaea's Cradle in your deck), but, together in a 2/4 three-mana creature, they make it an essential piece in green decks in general. It also enables a few strategies with Eldritch Evolution.

Eirdu, Carrier of Dawn // Isilu, Carrier of Twilight

Eirdu should be an extremely powerful commander, particularly because of its other side, Isilu, Carrier of Twilight. Granting Persist to all creatures is incredibly strong and enables infinite combos.

This card can create an infinite combo with any creature with Undying and a sac outlet. Geralf's Messenger works as a pretty easy win condition. Mikaeus, the Unhallowed is particularly great in this case, as it grants Undying to all non-Humans. This way, practically any creature can be part of the combo.

Its front side is also nothing to scoff at, as granting Convoke to your creatures lets you unload your entire hand on the board pretty quickly. I know this commander has a lot working against it, particularly its mana cost (five) and the fact you have to wait a rotation to take advantage of its combo potential. It's a lot. But its powerful effects might make it playable.

Versatile Cards

Celestial Reunion

Initially, Celestial Reunion seemed to be designed exclusively for kindred decks because of its additional cost, that is, to Behold two creatures of the same type. However, a closer look reveals this is simply a tutor that might be useful eventually.

Beholding is quite convenient because you don't need to have those creatures in play. They can be on your board or in your hand, all you'll have to do is reveal them. Compared to Nature's Rhythm and Celestial Reunion, it is clearly worse, but it's still a tutor, and tutors are always great.

Glen Elendra Guardian

Glen Elendra Guardian is a smaller, adapted version of Glen Elendra Archmage (which sees play in some Kinnan, Bonder Prodigy lists). Archmage might counter two noncreature spells for a cheaper cost, but this Guardian has some advantages!

It is bigger, as it starts as a 2/3 and grows into a 3/4 after you remove its counter. Its Flash is extremely relevant because it lets you play it at the end of the opponent's turn and thus keep other counters available.

Its biggest disadvantage is that this card gives your opponents a card when you use it to counter one of their spells. However, this ability states you may remove "counters", not a -1/-1 counter in particular. This means you can remove any counter, including Shield counters and +1/+1 counters. I doubt you'll be playing these counters in cEDH matches, but it is a possibility.

Moonshadow

If you read any of my other articles, then you know that, whenever a new set comes out, I get a card for Tayam, Luminous Enigma, no matter how absurd it is. This time is no different except for the fact that the card I picked is actually good.

This creature comes into play with six -1/-1 counters and, whenever one or more permanents are put in your graveyard from anywhere while it has a -1/-1 counter, you'll remove a counter from it. So, it's a counter farmer for Tayam. It gives this commander six counters to use straight away, which is a lot. The fact it eventually becomes a 7/7 isn't that relevant, but it can be useful.

It has a natural synergy with Tayam: you can use Tayam's ability to exile three cards with counters (including Moonshadow itself) and reanimate permanents. All while you activate its ability to remove counters. With time, Enace will grow constantly as you execute your game plan.

Cards that Might Be Good

Abundant Countryside

Abudant Countryside is an easy addition to any deck that plays lots of creatures. It fixes your mana for creature spells and is great in the long term, as it creates a 1/1 Changeling token for 6 mana. This ability might be a bit expensive, but it is actually an excellent mana sink in grindier decks.

Brigid, Clachan's Heart / Brigid, Doun's Mind

Hey, Gaea's Cradle with a body! Yes, we know Circle of Dreams Druid practically doesn't see any play, but this card has a few advantages. The first one is that it doesn't die to a single Orcish Bowmasters ping.

Its front side puts a few Kithkin in play, while its back side turns the board into a powerful mana engine. It is perfect for creature-centric strategies that want to scale into bigger plays, and interacts really well with cards that create tokens, like Chatterstorm.

Before we finish, I'd like to mention I haven't been able to play Kirol, Attentive First-Year yet, but I see potential in it. In all, Lorwyn Eclipsed was a great achievement for Wizards of the Coast. The artworks and the names of the cards are incredible and fit this plane perfectly. Mechanically speaking, Blight and Vivid do an excellent job at representing the duality of light and darkness in Lorwyn, and I pray more cards from this set find space in my favorite format, cEDH.

This set actually includes more than a few viable cards for cEDH, from powerful combo pieces to versatile support cards. With cards like Hexing Squelcher offering us accessible protection and Eirdu enabling new combos, we can say Lorwyn will be quite relevant for this competitive format.

What do you think? Tell us your thoughts in our comment section below.

Thank you for reading, and see you next time!