After months of waiting, we finally got the latest set of Magic: The Gathering on our hands: Bloomburrow. In a land filled with cute rabbits, squirrels, and otters, what is there to find? Well, lots of fighting and offensive magic thrown here and there. With that said, is Bloomburrow a set worth looking out for? Is there anything to be found in it aside from the aesthetically appealing facade? Is it a set you should get into? Read this MTG Bloomburrow review to know more!
Bloomburrow continues the easy to access and simplistic abilities found in the previous set, Outlaws of Thunder Junction. As you can see below, the unique abilities introduced in this set are easy to understand and play with, making it a good set for beginners.
Cards multiply like rabbits in this set! Offspring is an optional cost that you can pay when playing the card. When you pay it, you get to create a 1/1 token that has the abilities of the card. A great mechanic that somewhat doubles the effect of a single card.
In Bloomburrow, generosity is key even to your enemies. Gift is a new mechanic that allows you to optionally “promise” something to an opponent as you cast a spell. This gift may be them drawing a card as part of the spells effect or giving them a token that they can use in the battlefield. Although it sounds generous, Gift cards often have mechanics that would further bolster its effects if you promise a Gift to your opponent. Use them wisely as they can either spell your doom or ensure your success.
Expend is a new keyword that activates after you spend a specific amount of mana. For permanents such as creatures, they should be in the battlefield as you “expend” your mana to activate its effects. In the case of Muerra, Trash Tactician, whenever you spend 4 or 8 mana per turn, its two abilities activate. Note that expend does not only cover mana costs of playing cards but also paying for abilities and alternative costs.
Forage is an ability that allows you to mill three cards from your deck or sacrifice a Food token in exchange for something. Pretty simple and easy to use if you’re into generating multiple Food tokens or are looking to thin up your deck for graveyard shenanigans or combos. There are a lot of ways to take advantage of the Forage mechanic so best be on the look out for possible combos and tricks!
Your creatures are inspired by acts of heroism in the new mechanic called Valiant. Whenever your creature gets targeted by a spell or ability you control for the first time in a turn, they get the effects stated in their Valiant text. Note that Valiant can also get triggered during the opponent’s turn.
Seasons are cards that give you five “pawprints” as a resource that you can use to spend to select any of the effects in a Season Card. You can select any choice multiple times, except the last one for obvious reasons. These cards are available in the five base colors and you can use them during the latter turns to turn the tables to your favor.
As always, we get the re-imagining of some familiar characters in this plane filled with rats, squirrels, otters, and rabbits. Famous planeswalkers such as Jace, Elspeth, and Garruk have been re-imagined to fit the theme of the setting. Jace as a fox may be a phrase left unsaid before this set but now you can finally see one. Aside from these planeswalkers, the seasons are now portrayed with the different basic land cards in this set. If you’re after collecting MTG art, this deck is something you should really look out for.
We have four commander decks for Bloomburrow. Each deck contains the following items:
Removed from the commander decks in this set are the life wheel and the thick carton commander card. Instead, you basically get more cards when you buy a commander deck. Is that a better deal? Yes.
As mentioned above, you also get reimagined cards of planeswalkers as part of the deck. Note that opening packs also nets you with other reimagined planeswalkers.
While it may be a contentious subject, the current direction of Magic: The Gathering allows it to freely explore different genres that are yet to be seen in this high fantasy genre. This direction to delve into anthropomorphic figures based on children’s tales is definitely a breath of fresh air. It shakes things up and opens the game to various themes that have not yet been explored.
Given the simplicity and wording of the mechanics found in Bloomburrow, we can definitely say that it’s a good place to start if you’re thinking of playing MTG. Mechanics such as Gift, Valiant, and Offspring are easy to understand and build around. MTG also made sure that some words in this set are shorter, simpler, and easy on new players.
Bloomburrow offers much as a set. It has great cards with good mechanics that you can take advantage of with older decks or even with contemporary ones. In terms of card prices, Bloomburrow has a mix of reprinted must-haves, new shiny cards, and alternate art cards of famous cards. In addition to all those mentioned, the set is also good for those looking to being their MTG journey as the set mechanics and card descriptions are all tailored around simplicity. Simply put, this deck is something you should consider if you’re in it for the value or for starting your first MTG deck.
The Bloomburrow set is now available and can be bought either online or in local hobby shops and toy stores. You can buy the boosters as packs or even the commander decks to kick start your adventure in the game mode.
For our review of the previous set, read our review of the Outlaws of Thunder Junction. For more info on this set, check out the official page here.
