Overall a bit of an insular set with tribal archetypes. The -1/-1 counter mechanics are at odds with my cube's +1/+1 synergies.
A few cards I thought were interesting:
Impolite Entrance - I think this is my favorite version of this effect. Probably not going to run it but. Iron-Shield Elf - Some people are playing Seasoned Hallowblade. This is the same guy in a better colour for getting value from this effect. Unwelcome Sprite - My pick for the best card in the set but that's not a high bar. In between blue's high volume of playable instants and flash themes that some people run I think this will see play. Voracious Tome-Skimmer - Similar although Black isn't the colour I would have picked to pair this with. I think this is one of the better hybrids.
I also thought Flock Imposter was a playable alternative to similar cards until I realised Loyal Gryff came out over 4 years ago and was played by *checks notes* 1 person in the 2025 average cube survey. I guess Sunpearl Kirin has mostly invalidated the 3drop versions of these cards.
Also Fire Covenant got a (normal) modern border print for the first time if anyone cares about that.
Glad to see a conventional magic world again. This is the first one since what, Tarkir last April?
Unwelcome Sprite - Although I'm not sure what I'd cut to make room for it. We've gotten a lot of 2-cmc 2/1 fliers in the last few years.
Voracious Tome-Skimmer - Curious how this will perform since it is a bit weird for the "second draw matters" theme I have going on.
Sear - Probably will try this out over Flame Slash. I'll see if the additional mana cost is more prohibitive than sorcery speed.
Midnight Tilling - I've wanted a cleaner replacement for Malevolent Rumble for a while now, and Cache Grab comes with that additional squirrel clutter. It sucks to lose the blocker/ramp but more Syr Konrad interaction is cool.
After a very abbreviated spoiler season, the return of Lorwyn is upon us with Lorwyn Eclipsed. The obvious question with any typal-focused set is whether any goodies will sneak down to Peasant or if the synergy is too thick for us to navigate?
As an early post in this thread, I will discuss the major themes in this set and what they usually mean for us.
Typal Support / Changelings - Very few cubes run dedicated support for specific creature types, but there are a few outliers which are good enough on their own that might boost some cards in this set, specifically the new Goblins.
Changelings benefit by getting all the various typal benefits lying around, although the true merits of the card is going to be how it stands along.
Convoke - Convoke is a cool ability that magnifies the benefits of 1-drops and token production, so it is pretty cool to see it back. That said, one of the two colors for Convoke is blue, which typically lacks both those features. Although blue has been getting more token production via the Draw 2 Archetype.
Blight - Blight is a weird mechanic because it plays like sacrifice with small creatures but also still works with large creatures getting shrunk. I think the versatility in paying Blight costs means the power is not there for us. The retail set also finds some ways to acquire extra value from the -1/-1 counters and we are missing those upsides too.
As per tradition, I have put together a Way Too Early Top 20 list for Lorwyn Eclipsed. I think the absolute coolest thing about this set is how they crept the power up on a few effects that were showing their age and getting dropped from more and more cubes. This does mean there are way fewer unique and novel effects to significantly impact Peasant, but I like quite a few different cards.
Let us dance between the light and darkness and discuss individual cards. My cube sits at 512 cards, which is maximized for power with 6 spells and 3 lands per guild. Here is my Too Early Top 20 for Lorwyn Eclipsed!
20) Tweeze - It costs one more than the fringe Volcanic Spite, but it actually discards the card and it hits players. Someone may find that to be enough upside for their cube.
19) Virulent Emissary - The life gain might give this effect more power as a defensive card but would really shine with a lifegain focused archetype.
18) Sourbread Auntie - A card that likely plays like a 2/1 Beetleback Chief but could play better if you can Blight onto another creature. Of course, at that point you are (kinda) down another creature to get one net 1/1 creature.
17) Personify - A cheaper (and weaker) version of effects like Flickerwisp that is accompanied by a weaker token. First two-mana version of this effect that comes with a body (as far as I can tell).
16) Glamermite - A Pestermite with extra toughness. Technically, it has the same power/toughness as Faebloom Trick with a better effect although most people would probably rather have the two tokens instead.
15) Unexpected Assistance - A convoke spell that costs 2 mana more than you want to pay but also fits in spectacularly with the Draw 2 archetype. Making tokens to reduce the cost of the effect that makes more tokens is excellent.
14) Pummeler for Hire - As someone who has never taken the card off Blossom Prancer, this is a better Blossom Prancer. If you like taking that card sometimes, it may be a bit worse. Also has a nasty drawback of gaining no life when killed in response.
13) Bark of Doran - I tried hard to find anything that felt fresh and new and found this card that is pretty strong on any creature with higher toughness than power and aggressively mediocre otherwise. Looks killer on Dalkovan Packbeasts, though.
12) Brambleback Brute and 11) Reaping Willow - This set has lots of cards that start with -1/-1 counters and then lose them for some effect. A lot of those cards feel like too much effort for too little impact. Brute at least goes in one clear direction- forward. Clearing two blockers and ending with a 4/ 5 creature is an enticing package that may end the game quickly. Reaping Willow also has a lot of value through returning a small creature to the battlefield and I cannot think of many defensive bodies that I like more than a 3/6 with lifelink.
From Dusk to Dawn - Cards that perform either a little worse than great cards or a little better than good cards
10) Darkness Descends - A really interesting variant on black’s mini-sweepers. Looks nice as a way to permanently shrink an opponent’s entire board but loses the ability to break symmetry with your board.
9) Requiting Hex - A card that looks to have less upside than Fatal Push but still has a little upside if you are able to gain life.
8) Thirst for Identity - Another good option for blue to draw cards at three-mana. Blue decks probably have fewer creatures than basic lands with Thirst for Discovery, but this hits pretty well if you are hyper-focused on reanimation.
7) Boulder Dash - The slightest of upgrades over Arc Trail by being able to also hit Planeswalkers
6) Sear - An instant speed answer for red against 4 toughness creatures. A really nice effect that probably suffers from comparison to Flame Slash and Galvanic Discharge at one-mana and then a cavalcade of options at two-mana.
5) Chomping Changling - A power/toughness swap to Reclamation Sage that also picks up rare buffs for having all creature types (no Shoot the Sheriff!).
4) Rimekin Recluse - Adding 1 power to Man-o-War is a pretty substantial upside and probably means more than bouncing any non-land permanent.
Rising Suns - New cards with interesting, powerful new effects. No guarantees that any of these cards will pan out long-term but I am more excited about these cards than anything else.
3) Iron-Shield Elf - First, a small aside on reanimator in Cube. As power has crept up all over the cube, reanimator has not followed. A lack of easy ways to put reanimation targets in the graveyard has led me to cutting most 6+ mana creatures that cannot self-discard. Iron-Shield Elf does give me hope of finding more respectable discard outlets to justify playing better reanimation targets. And a color-shifted Seasoned Hallowblade is just fine on its own.
2) Encumbered Reejerey - A two-mana creature without any synergies other than turning sideways three times. This might not work if you either cannot get a good first attack or if you draw this late as a 2/1 but I think getting a chance at a two-mana 5/4 without needing to spend any other resources is very good.
1) Wanderbrine Trapper - A new 2/1 for W with a cool late-game ability. This is a lot to pay for a single tap but I imagine being a 2/1 early will make up for that.
EDIT: I honestly did not even consider Unwelcome Sprite for this list at ALL. I suppose I think you are not that likely to cast a lot of spells on an opponent's turn, but I suppose I would be reasonably happy with Surveil 2 twice.
This set's focus on kindred, -1/-1 counters, and vivid mean that there weren't a ton of cards I was interested in. I'm perfectly happy to have a light set considering how many we're getting this year.
However, this set is getting me to consider moving my flash archetype from Simic to Dimir, as all the flash payoffs are in Dimir (see Voracious Tome-Skimmer and Nightmare Sower). The only thing holding me back from that is that Green has much better flash creatures than black.
As of now I don't think I'll add any ECL cards in my cube. I think -1/-1 counters are a bit clunky alongside +1/+1 counters, dices on different cards meaning different things. My cube also has no support for kindred, much less vivid.
There are a couple of really interesting cards, but due to the multiplayer nature most of them either add too much clutter to the board (such as Darkness Descends having to place dice on every creature that survives it).
I really like a lot of designs. I just don't think they're a good fit for my cube currently. Dakness Descends is one of my favourites, since it can play as a sweeper for small creatures at the same time it severely shrinks bigger creatures so they become lesser problems.
Noggle Robber looks great, too. It's an efficient body with a relevant ETB and dies trigger. Having it ramp your curve to 5 on turn 4, trade for something and ramp you again for 1 is good value.
I don't really dig Bark of Doran's effect, but having more peasant options for big butt matters is a good thing.
Most Blight cards seem to play nicely as soft sacrifice (small creatures die, but bigger creatures can be blighted more than once). I think these cards wil play nicely with Amonkhet's designs based around -1/-1 counters. This, however, needs a bit of effort to be relevant in cube, so I think I'll keep it in mind for my next battlebox or otherwise smaller project. Having too many kinds of counters irks me. My favourites are Sourbread Auntie, Blighted Blackthorn and Burning Curiosity. Blight Rot also looks awesome. I dislike the mana cost a bit, but being able to remove smaller creatures while also being able to severely maim a bigger creature seems valuable in lower power environments. Of course, for 2 mana you get a lot of hard removal with no strings attached, but maybe I'll take a lower power approach in future projects.
Chaclan Festival looks kind of ok? I don't know, it looks like a weirder Recruit the Worthy to me. You get better rate for the 2 first tokens, then get to slowly creep up the board while not needing to spend any other cards. I'll keep it in mind if both Recruit the Worthy and Sprout Swarm end up being liked in my multiplayer experience.
A bit more support for casting big spells with Enraged Flamecaster, Flaring Cinder, Kulrath Mystic and Tanufel Rimespeaker, along with Etherium Spinner we now have a good base for UR spells with MV>=4. If we add the Expend 4 R Raccoons from Bloomburrow we get an even bigger base for this archetype. Add a couple of treasures here and there and it looks kinda good. I'm running Up the Beanstalk on my cube as an incentive for bigger plays, but it's not an archetype in itself.
I think Giantfall is no Abrade, but it does seem like a cooler card. Higher upside. Might consider it later.
Iron-Shield Elf looks amazing for quick reanimator shenanigans. Not supported on my cube, sadly, but it is a sweet addition to B. Shoutout to Thirst for Identity as well.
Lasting Tarfire could really be something. My cube supports +1/+1 counters, especially in G. Having further modified support for RG is very feasible. I'll consider it.
Personify looks pretty good. It's far from outvaluing Ephemerate or Momentary Blink, but if I were to run an additional instant with this effect, that might be it unless I were to add slow flicker such as Mistmeadow Witch or Turn to Mist to evade sweepers.
I feel like the cards with abilities that trigger when tapped, Pestered Wellguard in particular, might have place in a cube that features crewing/convoke/enlist. I'll be sure to come back to them when devising my Whacky Races battlebox in the future, in which crewing will be a core aspect of gameplay.
The new flash payoffs (Voracious Tome-Skimmer, [carta=Unwelcome Sprite[/card], etc) add to a very interesting base of cards for casting spells in your opponents' turns. Along with Outlaws of Thunder Junction's cards that trigger when you pass the turn without casting anything, this archetype might be well positioned. I'll give a deeper look later, but it's possibily more interesting than second draw/second spell. For multiplayer, however, slow and steady value wins the race.
I think this set has a lot of potential for specific cubes and battleboxes, so that Vivid is thoroughly supported. I could see some Lorwyn/Shadowmoor cube featuring ECL and the older sets with A LOT of emphasis in hybrid cards and typal payoffs. The new Kithkin stuff particularly seems wild.
Full spoilers are up.
Overall a bit of an insular set with tribal archetypes. The -1/-1 counter mechanics are at odds with my cube's +1/+1 synergies.
A few cards I thought were interesting:
Impolite Entrance - I think this is my favorite version of this effect. Probably not going to run it but.
Iron-Shield Elf - Some people are playing Seasoned Hallowblade. This is the same guy in a better colour for getting value from this effect.
Unwelcome Sprite - My pick for the best card in the set but that's not a high bar. In between blue's high volume of playable instants and flash themes that some people run I think this will see play.
Voracious Tome-Skimmer - Similar although Black isn't the colour I would have picked to pair this with. I think this is one of the better
I also thought Flock Imposter was a playable alternative to similar cards until I realised Loyal Gryff came out over 4 years ago and was played by *checks notes* 1 person in the 2025 average cube survey. I guess Sunpearl Kirin has mostly invalidated the 3drop versions of these cards.
Also Fire Covenant got a (normal) modern border print for the first time if anyone cares about that.
Glad to see a conventional magic world again. This is the first one since what, Tarkir last April?
Draft it on Cubetutor here, and CubeCobra here.
Treasure Cruise did nothing wrong.
Unwelcome Sprite - Although I'm not sure what I'd cut to make room for it. We've gotten a lot of 2-cmc 2/1 fliers in the last few years.
Voracious Tome-Skimmer - Curious how this will perform since it is a bit weird for the "second draw matters" theme I have going on.
Sear - Probably will try this out over Flame Slash. I'll see if the additional mana cost is more prohibitive than sorcery speed.
Midnight Tilling - I've wanted a cleaner replacement for Malevolent Rumble for a while now, and Cache Grab comes with that additional squirrel clutter. It sucks to lose the blocker/ramp but more Syr Konrad interaction is cool.
As an early post in this thread, I will discuss the major themes in this set and what they usually mean for us.
Typal Support / Changelings - Very few cubes run dedicated support for specific creature types, but there are a few outliers which are good enough on their own that might boost some cards in this set, specifically the new Goblins.
Changelings benefit by getting all the various typal benefits lying around, although the true merits of the card is going to be how it stands along.
Convoke - Convoke is a cool ability that magnifies the benefits of 1-drops and token production, so it is pretty cool to see it back. That said, one of the two colors for Convoke is blue, which typically lacks both those features. Although blue has been getting more token production via the Draw 2 Archetype.
Blight - Blight is a weird mechanic because it plays like sacrifice with small creatures but also still works with large creatures getting shrunk. I think the versatility in paying Blight costs means the power is not there for us. The retail set also finds some ways to acquire extra value from the -1/-1 counters and we are missing those upsides too.
As per tradition, I have put together a Way Too Early Top 20 list for Lorwyn Eclipsed. I think the absolute coolest thing about this set is how they crept the power up on a few effects that were showing their age and getting dropped from more and more cubes. This does mean there are way fewer unique and novel effects to significantly impact Peasant, but I like quite a few different cards.
Let us dance between the light and darkness and discuss individual cards. My cube sits at 512 cards, which is maximized for power with 6 spells and 3 lands per guild. Here is my Too Early Top 20 for Lorwyn Eclipsed!
19) Virulent Emissary - The life gain might give this effect more power as a defensive card but would really shine with a lifegain focused archetype.
18) Sourbread Auntie - A card that likely plays like a 2/1 Beetleback Chief but could play better if you can Blight onto another creature. Of course, at that point you are (kinda) down another creature to get one net 1/1 creature.
17) Personify - A cheaper (and weaker) version of effects like Flickerwisp that is accompanied by a weaker token. First two-mana version of this effect that comes with a body (as far as I can tell).
16) Glamermite - A Pestermite with extra toughness. Technically, it has the same power/toughness as Faebloom Trick with a better effect although most people would probably rather have the two tokens instead.
15) Unexpected Assistance - A convoke spell that costs 2 mana more than you want to pay but also fits in spectacularly with the Draw 2 archetype. Making tokens to reduce the cost of the effect that makes more tokens is excellent.
14) Pummeler for Hire - As someone who has never taken the card off Blossom Prancer, this is a better Blossom Prancer. If you like taking that card sometimes, it may be a bit worse. Also has a nasty drawback of gaining no life when killed in response.
12) Brambleback Brute and 11) Reaping Willow - This set has lots of cards that start with -1/-1 counters and then lose them for some effect. A lot of those cards feel like too much effort for too little impact. Brute at least goes in one clear direction- forward. Clearing two blockers and ending with a 4/ 5 creature is an enticing package that may end the game quickly. Reaping Willow also has a lot of value through returning a small creature to the battlefield and I cannot think of many defensive bodies that I like more than a 3/6 with lifelink.
From Dusk to Dawn - Cards that perform either a little worse than great cards or a little better than good cards
10) Darkness Descends - A really interesting variant on black’s mini-sweepers. Looks nice as a way to permanently shrink an opponent’s entire board but loses the ability to break symmetry with your board.
9) Requiting Hex - A card that looks to have less upside than Fatal Push but still has a little upside if you are able to gain life.
8) Thirst for Identity - Another good option for blue to draw cards at three-mana. Blue decks probably have fewer creatures than basic lands with Thirst for Discovery, but this hits pretty well if you are hyper-focused on reanimation.
7) Boulder Dash - The slightest of upgrades over Arc Trail by being able to also hit Planeswalkers
6) Sear - An instant speed answer for red against 4 toughness creatures. A really nice effect that probably suffers from comparison to Flame Slash and Galvanic Discharge at one-mana and then a cavalcade of options at two-mana.
5) Chomping Changling - A power/toughness swap to Reclamation Sage that also picks up rare buffs for having all creature types (no Shoot the Sheriff!).
4) Rimekin Recluse - Adding 1 power to Man-o-War is a pretty substantial upside and probably means more than bouncing any non-land permanent.
Rising Suns - New cards with interesting, powerful new effects. No guarantees that any of these cards will pan out long-term but I am more excited about these cards than anything else.
3) Iron-Shield Elf - First, a small aside on reanimator in Cube. As power has crept up all over the cube, reanimator has not followed. A lack of easy ways to put reanimation targets in the graveyard has led me to cutting most 6+ mana creatures that cannot self-discard. Iron-Shield Elf does give me hope of finding more respectable discard outlets to justify playing better reanimation targets. And a color-shifted Seasoned Hallowblade is just fine on its own.
2) Encumbered Reejerey - A two-mana creature without any synergies other than turning sideways three times. This might not work if you either cannot get a good first attack or if you draw this late as a 2/1 but I think getting a chance at a two-mana 5/4 without needing to spend any other resources is very good.
1) Wanderbrine Trapper - A new 2/1 for W with a cool late-game ability. This is a lot to pay for a single tap but I imagine being a 2/1 early will make up for that.
EDIT: I honestly did not even consider Unwelcome Sprite for this list at ALL. I suppose I think you are not that likely to cast a lot of spells on an opponent's turn, but I suppose I would be reasonably happy with Surveil 2 twice.
https://cubecobra.com/cube/list/Peasantsnowcube
-- Updated with Edge of Eternities
However, this set is getting me to consider moving my flash archetype from Simic to Dimir, as all the flash payoffs are in Dimir (see Voracious Tome-Skimmer and Nightmare Sower). The only thing holding me back from that is that Green has much better flash creatures than black.
Definite Adds
- Rimekin Recluse - Extra point of power (and better flavor) puts this over the flexibility Spider-Byte, Web Warden
- Thirst for Identity - I think I want this over Thirst for Discovery? I'll test it out
- Iron-Shield Elf - Should be one of black's better discard outlets
- Noggle Robber - Nice ramp support for GR
ConsideringThere are a couple of really interesting cards, but due to the multiplayer nature most of them either add too much clutter to the board (such as Darkness Descends having to place dice on every creature that survives it).
I really like a lot of designs. I just don't think they're a good fit for my cube currently. Dakness Descends is one of my favourites, since it can play as a sweeper for small creatures at the same time it severely shrinks bigger creatures so they become lesser problems.
Noggle Robber looks great, too. It's an efficient body with a relevant ETB and dies trigger. Having it ramp your curve to 5 on turn 4, trade for something and ramp you again for 1 is good value.
I don't really dig Bark of Doran's effect, but having more peasant options for big butt matters is a good thing.
Most Blight cards seem to play nicely as soft sacrifice (small creatures die, but bigger creatures can be blighted more than once). I think these cards wil play nicely with Amonkhet's designs based around -1/-1 counters. This, however, needs a bit of effort to be relevant in cube, so I think I'll keep it in mind for my next battlebox or otherwise smaller project. Having too many kinds of counters irks me. My favourites are Sourbread Auntie, Blighted Blackthorn and Burning Curiosity. Blight Rot also looks awesome. I dislike the mana cost a bit, but being able to remove smaller creatures while also being able to severely maim a bigger creature seems valuable in lower power environments. Of course, for 2 mana you get a lot of hard removal with no strings attached, but maybe I'll take a lower power approach in future projects.
Chaclan Festival looks kind of ok? I don't know, it looks like a weirder Recruit the Worthy to me. You get better rate for the 2 first tokens, then get to slowly creep up the board while not needing to spend any other cards. I'll keep it in mind if both Recruit the Worthy and Sprout Swarm end up being liked in my multiplayer experience.
A bit more support for casting big spells with Enraged Flamecaster, Flaring Cinder, Kulrath Mystic and Tanufel Rimespeaker, along with Etherium Spinner we now have a good base for UR spells with MV>=4. If we add the Expend 4 R Raccoons from Bloomburrow we get an even bigger base for this archetype. Add a couple of treasures here and there and it looks kinda good. I'm running Up the Beanstalk on my cube as an incentive for bigger plays, but it's not an archetype in itself.
I think Giantfall is no Abrade, but it does seem like a cooler card. Higher upside. Might consider it later.
Iron-Shield Elf looks amazing for quick reanimator shenanigans. Not supported on my cube, sadly, but it is a sweet addition to B. Shoutout to Thirst for Identity as well.
More basic landcycling is always good in my book. Kulrath Zealot looks really solid. Stratosoarer wouldn't take Traumatic Visions or Mental Journey's place that easily, though.
Lasting Tarfire could really be something. My cube supports +1/+1 counters, especially in G. Having further modified support for RG is very feasible. I'll consider it.
As mentioned before in this thread, Midnight Tilling is a very welcome simplified Malevolent Rumble/Cache Grab and improved Grapple with the Past. I like it. I'm adding it to my graveyard matters battlebox in a heartbeat.
Personify looks pretty good. It's far from outvaluing Ephemerate or Momentary Blink, but if I were to run an additional instant with this effect, that might be it unless I were to add slow flicker such as Mistmeadow Witch or Turn to Mist to evade sweepers.
I feel like the cards with abilities that trigger when tapped, Pestered Wellguard in particular, might have place in a cube that features crewing/convoke/enlist. I'll be sure to come back to them when devising my Whacky Races battlebox in the future, in which crewing will be a core aspect of gameplay.
Love the new Run Away Together art. Sear seems fine, albeit not exciting.
The new flash payoffs (Voracious Tome-Skimmer, [carta=Unwelcome Sprite[/card], etc) add to a very interesting base of cards for casting spells in your opponents' turns. Along with Outlaws of Thunder Junction's cards that trigger when you pass the turn without casting anything, this archetype might be well positioned. I'll give a deeper look later, but it's possibily more interesting than second draw/second spell. For multiplayer, however, slow and steady value wins the race.
I think this set has a lot of potential for specific cubes and battleboxes, so that Vivid is thoroughly supported. I could see some Lorwyn/Shadowmoor cube featuring ECL and the older sets with A LOT of emphasis in hybrid cards and typal payoffs. The new Kithkin stuff particularly seems wild.
My Casual (Shared) Graveyard Matters Battlebox