What are the Lorwyn Eclipsed Cards that Standout?

If you read my New Year’s gaming resolutions article, you already know that one of my goals for this year was to spend more time talking about Magic: The Gathering here at Lords of Gaming. It’s a game that’s been part of my life for many years. Also, one that constantly finds new ways to surprise me. Whether that’s through mechanics, world-building, or unforgettable card design.

We’re kicking off that renewed focus with something a little more personal: my Top 5 Favorite Cards from Lorwyn Eclipsed. This isn’t about strict power rankings or tournament dominance. Instead, this list highlights the cards that stood out to me the most. Whether that’s because of their flavor, their mechanics, or how perfectly they capture the spirit of Lorwyn’s return under a darker, more mysterious light.

Lorwyn Eclipsed blends nostalgia with fresh ideas, revisiting familiar themes while pushing them in interesting new directions. These five cards are the ones that stuck with me the longest. They are the ones I kept coming back to while reading spoilers and imagining how they’d play across different formats.

With that in mind, let’s dive into my top 5 favorite cards from Lorwyn Eclipsed!

Honorable Mentions: The Elemental Incarnations

Before getting into my top five, I have to give a shoutout to the Elemental Incarnations from Lorwyn Eclipsed. While none of them ultimately cracked my final list, they’re far too interesting and far too clever to overlook entirely.

What really elevates these Elementals is how well they play with the evoke mechanic, especially standouts like Emptiness and Deceit. Casting them for their evoke cost gives you immediate access to their powerful effects. Although the real fun begins once you start layering interactions on top of that.

With something like Springleaf Drum on the battlefield, you can tap these Elementals for mana before their evoke trigger forces you to sacrifice them. That small window opens the door to some very satisfying lines of play. Most notably, casting a spell like Not Dead After All in response. When the Elemental is sacrificed, it immediately comes back. Thus, letting you keep the large body while still benefiting from its enter-the-battlefield effect.

It’s a clean, elegant interaction that feels perfectly at home in Lorwyn: clever without being overwhelming, powerful without being broken. While the Elemental Incarnations didn’t quite earn a numbered spot on my list, they absolutely represent some of the most fun and flavorful design space in Lorwyn Eclipsed.

5. Brigid, Clachan’s Heart/Brigid, Doun’s Mind

Transform cards live or die by how relevant both sides are in actual gameplay. Brigid, Clachan’s Heart succeeds because she never feels like a liability on either face. On the front side, Brigid represents Lorwyn’s more hopeful, community-driven identity, offering steady value and a solid board presence without demanding too much setup.

Importantly, Brigid isn’t difficult to transform, and that’s a good thing. You’re not jumping through hoops or waiting for a perfect storm; the card naturally flips as the game progresses. That accessibility makes her reliable rather than gimmicky, ensuring you actually get to experience both halves of the design in real games.

Once transformed, Brigid, Doun’s Mind becomes the real payoff. The back side functions almost like a Gaea’s Cradle, rewarding you for simply doing what Lorwyn decks already want to do: build a wide, creature-heavy board. Turning Brigid into a repeatable source of explosive mana changes how turns play out, letting you pivot from board development into overwhelming advantage in a single step.

That combination of an easy, organic transformation paired with a backside that can completely reshape your resource engine is what earns Brigid a spot at number five. She’s flavorful, powerful in the right shell, and quietly one of the most satisfying cards to play in Lorwyn Eclipsed.

4. Bitterbloom Bearer

If there’s one creature type that instantly earns my attention in any return to Lorwyn, it’s Faeries! And Bitterbloom Bearer feels like a love letter to everything that made that tribe special the first time around. It doesn’t just reference Bitterblossom in name alone. It captures the same philosophy of slow, relentless advantage that defined Faeries at their peak.

Much like Bitterblossom, Bitterbloom Bearer rewards you for simply letting the game play out. You’re not racing to end things immediately. Instead, you’re building inevitability. Token generation, incremental pressure, and the constant feeling that your board is quietly getting out of hand all echo the same patterns that made Faeries such a frustrating and beloved archetype.

What really sells Bitterbloom Bearer for me is how well it fits into both flavor and function. Faeries in Lorwyn have always thrived on mischief, patience, and control, and this card reinforces that identity perfectly. It’s not flashy in the moment it hits the battlefield. If left unanswered, though, it becomes the kind of problem that opponents quickly regret ignoring.

Bitterbloom Bearer earns its number four spot because it understands what made Faeries special in the first place. It’s not just a callback, it’s a continuation. For anyone who loved Bitterblossom and the play patterns it enabled, this card feels instantly familiar in the best possible way.

3. Hexing Squelcher

Hexing Squelcher feels like one of those cards that quietly does a lot more work than it looks like at first glance, especially in Commander. It’s the kind of disruptive creature that slots naturally into proactive decks without forcing you to abandon your game plan, which is exactly why it stands out to me.

In my Animar, Soul of Elements deck, Hexing Squelcher checks multiple boxes at once. It’s a creature, so it benefits from Animar’s cost reduction. Then it provides interaction that doesn’t rely on holding up traditional answers. Instead of playing a purely reactive role, Squelcher lets you advance your board while still applying pressure to opponents’ plans.

What really pushes this card up to number three is how well it fits into Animar’s preferred play pattern: chaining creatures, generating value, and making life awkward for anyone trying to stabilize. Hexing Squelcher rewards you for doing what the deck already wants to do. That is turning creature sequencing into soft disruption that scales as the game goes longer. It could also impact other formats as well.

There’s also something very Lorwyn about its design. The “hexing” flavor feels mischievous rather than oppressive, and the effect hits that sweet spot where it’s impactful without immediately painting a target on your back. In multiplayer games, especially, that subtlety matters a lot.

Hexing Squelcher earns its place at number three because it embodies the kind of Commander card I love most: flexible, synergistic, and deceptively strong. It doesn’t demand to be built around, but when it finds the right home, like Animar, it feels tailor-made.

2. Formidable Speaker

Some cards stand out because of raw power. Others stand out because of what they represent. Formidable Speaker manages to do both, and that’s why it lands at number two on this list.

Designed with input from Jean-Emmanuel Depraz as his reward for winning the Magic World Championship XXIX in 2023, Formidable Speaker carries a level of authenticity that’s immediately appealing. This is a card shaped by someone who understands high-level play, and that experience shows in how flexible and deceptively deep the design really is.

Its enter-the-battlefield ability functions like a mini Survival of the Fittest, letting you sculpt your hand and creature suite without demanding the full investment or vulnerability of the original enchantment. That alone would be enough to make Formidable Speaker interesting, especially in Commander, where consistency and tutoring often define entire games.

But the real magic happens with its second ability: the ability to untap another permanent. That single line of text opens up an absurd amount of synergy. Untapping something like Gaea’s Cradle can immediately translate into explosive mana turns, while targeting Agatha’s Soul Cauldron pushes value engines into overdrive. And in the right shell, that untap ability can even become the backbone of infinite loops, all centered on a single creature.

What makes Formidable Speaker special is that none of this feels accidental. Every ability feeds into the idea of mastery. All setting up your board, refining your resources, and then breaking parity in ways that reward creativity. It’s powerful, yes, but more importantly, it’s expressive. It lets you play your version of the game.

That combination of competitive pedigree, flexible design, and combo potential is exactly why Formidable Speaker earns the number two spot. It’s the kind of card that invites experimentation and rewards you every time you find a new line.

1. Meek Attack

Some cards earn the top spot because they’re efficient. Others because they’re powerful. Meek Attack takes the number one slot because it represents something I value even more in Magic: The Gathering: a unique way to play the game, wrapped in excellent flavor and memorable art.

Right away, Meek Attack makes its inspiration clear. It’s a clever callback to Sneak Attack, but instead of brute force aggression, it reframes that effect through a more subtle and very Lorwyn-like lens. The name, the art, and even the tone of the card sell the idea that power doesn’t always come from overwhelming strength. Sometimes it comes from timing, deception, and knowing exactly when to act.

Mechanically, Meek Attack opens up an incredible range of possibilities. Cheating creatures into play is always fun, but this card shines because of what you choose to put onto the battlefield. Dropping something like Agent of Treachery for immediate value, looping clones to repeatedly copy impactful threats, or abusing creatures with powerful enter-the-battlefield effects all feel perfectly at home here. You’re not just attacking. You’re setting up moments that swing the game in unexpected ways.

That flexibility is what really seals it for me. Meek Attack doesn’t push you toward one obvious build or combo line. Instead, it invites experimentation. Every deck that plays it can look different, and every game can unfold in a new way depending on what you decide to deploy. It rewards creativity, clever sequencing, and a willingness to explore unconventional lines of play.

For a player who loves expressive deck-building and cards that tell a story both on the table and in the art, Meek Attack is everything I want out of a number one pick. It’s flavorful, nostalgic, and endlessly inventive, and it perfectly captures why Lorwyn Eclipsed resonated with me so strongly.

Why Lorwyn Eclipsed Stuck With Me

Putting this list together really reinforced why Lorwyn Eclipsed resonated with me as much as it did. This set isn’t just about revisiting a beloved plane. It’s about exploring new design space while staying true to what made Lorwyn special in the first place. From clever callbacks to expressive, open-ended mechanics, it rewards players who enjoy finding their own lines rather than following a single “correct” path.

What I love most about these five cards is that none of them feel generic. Each one encourages creativity, whether that’s through clever sequencing, unexpected synergies, or simply letting flavor and theme guide deck-building decisions. That kind of design is what keeps Magic: The Gathering feeling fresh for me after all these years.

This list is also just the beginning. If you read my New Year’s gaming resolutions, you know I plan to spend more time talking about Magic throughout the year. Lorwyn Eclipsed felt like the perfect place to kick that off. There’s plenty more to explore, debate, and celebrate, especially when a set inspires this many different ways to play.

These are my favorites, but Lorwyn has always been a plane that hits differently for everyone. I’m interested to see which cards stood out to you. Let me know!