Summary
Bloomburrow is a unique plane in the pantheon ofMagic: The Gathering’s unique worlds. It’s full of clerical Bats and Warriors Rabbits, completely devoid of Humans, and the denizens have a particular affinity for Fish. So, basically a normal Magic plane, but with more tails and fur.
Bloomburrow’s Limited environment is shaped around the core creature types in the set. Each two-color pair is centered around a a loose typal theme, complete with its own unique mechanical identity. Some of the all-star bombs in the set play into those themes, while others stand out completely on their own merit, regardless of what deck you put them in.
10Kitsa, Otterball Elite
The Peyton Manning Of Otter Sports
Kitsa’s bomb status comes from the combination of a bunch of small abilities that add up to something you’re never passing in a Draft.Vigilance is a great keywordto attach to a looter, and prowess is a defining feature of the blue/red Otter archetype.
The copy ability is the real draw here. If you can pump Kitsa a few times, whether via prowess,equipment, or counters, you can copy your next instant or sorcery for the turn. That’s usually enough to turn the tides in a game you’re losing, or lock up a game you’re already ahead in.
You only need to cast two noncreature spells to fulfill the three-power condition. Prowess from the second spell will pump Kitsa upbeforethe second spell resolves.
9Darkstar Augur
Greatness, But At A Cost
Darkstar Augur promises a huge amount of card advantage, but with the risk of accelerated life loss. It’ll be best in the hands of players who know how to maximize it. Aim for a low-curve deck, and try to trade it off if your life total starts to slip.
The real skill-tester is choosing whennotto use offspring, even when you have the mana to do so. Sometimes it’s better to preserve your life total, lest you get too greedy and die to your own Augur triggers.
8Maha, Its Feathers Night
A Large, Fatal Flier
Maha is a traditional Limited bomb:huge flying creaturewith upside and aform of protection. Ward’s not going to save it from most of the catch-all removal in the set, but it means you’re almost always guaranteed a two-for-one even if your opponent deals with Maha immediately.
Maha’s static ability is similar to giving all your creaturesdeathtouch. Even your worst creatures now trade up against anything they engage in combat with, and simple burn spells,fight spells, and black removal like Savor now kill any target they’re aimed at.
7Rottenmouth Viper
A Spiraling Problem For Your Opponent
Black rares are no joke in Bloomburrow, with Rottenmouth Viper representing a phenomenal wincon for any black deck, regardless of your archetype. It’s perfectly reasonable to just cast it for the full six mana, but you’ll often have some Food or expendable creatures hanging around to make it cheaper to cast.
The enters and attack trigger gives your opponent a few options, which minimizes the Viper’s immediate effectiveness, but the effect compiles with each additional attack. By the time you make your second attack, your opponent has been faced with this punisher decisionsix times. That adds up fast.
6Season Of Loss
A Black Board Wipe With Incredible Modality
Season of Loss stands out from the rest of its cycle ofmodal spells, which are all defensible spells in their own respective colors. The black version isfunctionally a board wipe, but has so much more flexibility than that.
You should default to thinking about this as a five-mana spell that makes each player sacrifice five creatures. From there, you can trim on the first ability to add in the others as needed, adjusting the spell to the current boardstate. Sometimes, combining multiple instances of the first mode with the third mode might immediately end the game.
5Dragonhawk, Fate’s Tempest
Don’t Forget The Obligatory Big Mythic Dragon
‘Big dumb Dragon with extra text’ is usually a foolproof blueprint for a Limited bomb. Five mana for a 5/5 flier still holds up in modern Limited Magic, and any amount of upside is going to be enough to push that over the top.
Dragonhawk essentially draws extra cards each turn. There’s a short window in which you can actually play these cards, but you get to convert any unused cards into damage, so it’s win-win either way. In fact, you’ll actively choosenotto cast the exiled cards if it means killing an opponent a turn sooner.
4Innkeeper’s Talent
A Tried And True Effect With Some Class
The +1/+1 counter effect on Innkeeper’s Talent is almost always an indicator of a Limited bomb. Think cards like Luminarch Aspirant, Fight Rigging, and Ornery Tumblewagg. A free +1/+1 counter every turn is game-changing, even when it’s coming from a noncreature source.
Level two isn’t much to brag about, but it’s fairly easy to slot in the green mana at some point just to get it there. Level three’s also nice to have, but totally unnecessary to make Innkeeper’s Talent worth playing. Level one is enough to justify the card, everything else is just upside.
Class enchantmentsdon’t use counters to denote their level. Level two of Innkeeper’s Talentwill notgive itself Ward 1.
3Warren Warleader
You’ll Be Very Hoppy To Open This
Offspring is a very powerful Limited mechanic, so much so that it single-handedly takes subpar creatures and makes them amazing. In many cases, it’s the deciding factor that makes a strong card strong, though some offspring cards are already powerful enough without the mechanic.
Warren Warleader, for example, is an excellent four-drop, with solid stats and a modal ability that affects combat immediately. Offspring’s all upside, and amplifies the card significantly. For six mana, you now get two copies of the attack trigger, and you can mix and match abilities as you see fit.
2The Infamous Cruelclaw
Hand Up, And May Or May Not Get Hurt
Magic’s a game of variance. Sometimes you miss your third land drop, other times you draw ten lands in a row. Small amounts of variance even out over time, making it much more bearable to accept variance in the broad scheme of things. Then there are cards like The Infamous Cruelclaw.
A 3/3 withmenacefor three is a great starting rate, but sometimes Cruelclaw will end the game if it connects in combat. It’s hyperbolic to think that’ll happen very often, but it’s possible, and at worst you’re almost always gettinga ‘free’ spelleach time Cruelclaw connects.
1Kastral, The Windcrested
An Incredible Reason To Draft Birds
Kastral has evasion, huge stats, and an egregious damage ability that can trigger the turn it enters. It’s not very subtle in its bombiness, so draft it highly, warp your deck around it, and fight tooth and nail forblue/white Birds.
Kastral’s abilities are conveniently listed in the order you should prioritize them.Reanimatinga Bird is huge game, and pumping up your flock can close out a game in a hurry. Drawing is always a nice fallback mode, and jumps ahead of the +1/+1 counter ability if you don’t have much board presence already.
