My top cards from Bloomburrow

Along with some thoughts on the mechanics and a top 6 list

Bloomburrow looks to be another exciting set for us Pioneer brewers, with a bunch of powerful cards that ask something new and interesting of you in deck construction to unlock their full potential.

Even more important for us Risen Reef diehards, there are a bunch of powerful elementals in this set! So let’s dive in.

Some thoughts on the supported Types

This is a typal matters set, with twelve featured types.

• WU: Birds

• UB: Rats

• BR: Lizards

• RG: Raccoons

• GW: Rabbits

• WB: Bats

• UR: Otters

• GB: Squirrels

• GB: Food

• RW: Mice

• GU: Frogs

• All colors: Elementals

Most of these types have little to not existing support in Pioneer, but a few do have existing cards that make me more interested in them.

Birds- Ledger Shredder is one of the best two drops in Pioneer. It doesn’t have anything that points to Birds matter, but creature type matters decks need good one and two drops and this is a start.

Rats- Ever since Karumonix was previewed I’ve been wanting to build a Rats deck, but there are just not quite enough good Rats. Unfortunately, the Rats seem like the weakest type in Bloomburrow, though there are a couple interesting ones and that may be all the deck needs.

Lizards- Similar to the Ledger Shredder point, Magebane Lizard is a good two drop Lizard ready to go for a Lizard deck. The 1/4 body in particular would benefit from typal synergies. Just being able to get it to 2/5 is a huge difference.

Food- Food is a highly supported type already and there have been extremely strong Food decks of different flavors across Pioneer’s history. Currently, there are not any, but I could easily see the Bloomburrow cards unlocking a top tier Golgari food deck. Bristlebud Farmer is also a recent Food matters card that people shouldn’t sleep on.

Elementals- Risen Reef is likely my favorite Magic card. It will periodically see Modern play, so the power is definitely there.

This set has a number of strong Elementals that are playable on their own. What I like so much about brewing with Reef, is you don’t need to go all in on Elemental synergies. Just the threat of one or two additional triggers from Reef makes the opponent look to aggressively remove it, which turns Reef into a tempo positive two for one.

Bloomburrow Cards

These are the cards I am interested in brewing with. That means they will be geared towards the competitive, interactive decks I tend to brew. I am going to breakdown by color, holding out my Top 6, which I will go through at the end.

White

Carrot Cake

A lot of my brews are around leveraging game objects, particularly sacrificing them. This is a card that plays great in that style, being 3 game objects for two mana. Even better it provides you card selection and life (chump blockers and the option to sac for life) that give you the time to leverage your game object synergies.

The obvious pair here is black with cards like Rite of Oblivion and Deadly Dispute.

Valley Questcaller

This card seems very pushed for a lord, which is something you should always take note of in a format with Mutavault.

Whiskervale Forerunner

What makes Valiant so interesting is triggering off of abilities, which lends itself to repeated activations in a more midrange shell than Heroic does. I have been brewing a bunch with Freestrider Lookout recently and Whiskervale gives me similar vibes.

Blue

Dazzling Denial

We know the Make Disappear style cards are already playable. Dazzling Denial seems quite good in a deck running a few birds. The nice thing is you do not need to be all in. A deck with Ledger Shredder and 4 of one other Bird may be enough for this card to feel high impact.

Eddymurk Crab

Tolarian Terror has been waiting for a partner in crime and I think Eddymurk might be it.

I think Eddymurk will play very well, especially in a deck full of 5/5’s. You flash in to stall while building up your board. Then later you flash in to tap down their blockers and attack for lethal.

The big limiter of these kind of cards is they play in a similar space to Treasure Cruise and don’t synergize with Cruise. They are also vulnerable to the Graveyard hate in the format.

The flip side is they play great with Up the Beanstalk as I talk about here.

Eluge, the Shoreless Sea

This is a wild card, that we don’t really have much in the way to compare it to. I’m not really even sure a number of things rules wise for how this plays.

I am also the foremost Blue Devotion Elementals player in Pioneer and it feels like this could fit there.

The cost reduction here is huge, especially when you get the second flood counter. Eluge also seems like it has the potential to pair great with Memory Deluge.

Kitnap

I play a lot of interactive Simic Decks. Almost no one else does because of the lack of creature removal in this color pair. One of the ways I try and get around this is by leveraging Blue Sun’s Twilight as my main form of creature removal.

But I will often find myself saying “why isn’t Mind Control legal in Pioneer”. And here we just got a Control Magic with Kitnap. I suspect this won’t be quite good enough, but it does have some good properties: a lot of cards you want to hit like Sheoldred you still get a meaningful impact even if tapped. This can be also be hit off Storm the Festival.

Plumecreed Escort

Solid rate for a nice effect and will not to take much in the way of Bird or other synergy for this to be good.

Black

Coiling Rebirth

You often want to be reanimating cards with powerful ETB’s, so the extra 1/1 copy here has the chance to be quite strong. Cards like Vaultborn Tyrant and Trumpeting Carnosaur jump to mind here.

Huskburster Swarm

I’m not sure this is good enough, but looking at exile is a big deal here. The core problem with these creatures that are cheaper based on X in the graveyard is they play poorly with Delve which is the main Pioneer graveyard strategy.

Here you can imagine a core of Stitcher Supplier, Huskburster Swarm, and Treasure Cruise and a bunch of other creatures leading to a strong deck.

Iridescent Vinelasher

Second time Freestrider Lookout is being mentioned in this article. The synergy between the two seems great, where Vinelasher is both crime enabler and grindy wincon.

Persistent Marshstalker

The good Rat card in the set and it seems quite good to me. We do not get many cards that can attack for 4+ on three. I think I will finally give the Rat deck a try with this.

It is hard to say how much the Threshold effect will matter. My guess is it will rarely come up, but will help post wrath when you are attacking with a Mutavault.

Rottenmouth Viper

This is likely not quite good enough, but it is an interesting card if you are running cards like Treacherous Blessing you actively want to sacrifice. It also does provide closing speed like I discuss in this article, so I think it is worth experimenting with.

Red

Heartfire Hero

Cacophony Scamp is very good and this is a good partner for Scamp.

Green

Clifftop Lookout

Every time I see this card I smile. Chump block while ramping is kind of all I want to do and this is a great version of that effect.

Heaped Harvest

More ramping. Similar to Carrot Cake above, if you combine this with cards that actively want to sacrifice the card this can start to play closer to a 3 for 1. Particularly being a Food in Green there are a number of natural Food sacrifice outlets. The big question is if those decks actually care about the ramp provided by Heaped Harvest.

Pawpatch Recruit

A pushed one drop for Green.

Scrapshooter

Four toughness with Reach or Flying is where you want to be for three in Pioneer thanks to Phoneix. There are not a ton of cards that fit that criteria, so it worth taking note of any. The ability to opportunistically take out a key artifact or enchantment is some solid upside.

This won’t win the game on its own, but its solid glue for high power stuff you are doing elsewhere in your deck.

Multicolor

Fireglass Mentor

Getting to choose from the top two cards instead of just exiling the top card is a big deal here, it massively reduces the odds of not getting a card you can use. This card can totally run away with some games, which is something you always need to take note of out of a two drop.

Gev, Scaled Scorch

This card is pushed. You can tell its pushed because it is worth considering playing even without any other Lizards. And it gets really strong with other Lizards. I am not sure there are enough Lizards for this to see serious play, but it is worth trying.

Ral, Crackling Wit

It seems like you will be in great shape if you can untap with Ral in play, which isn’t a bad place to be for a four mana Walker, that can plus to provide a chump blocker.

The minus ability does a nice job of digging for and fueling Treasure Cruise.

Camellia, the Seedmiser

I thought Experimental Confectioner was going to be a bomb…it was not.

But apparently I am not learning my lesson, because I’m putting Camellia here and am high on them. The bigger body and the squirrels entering untapped and able to block makes Camellia far harder to ignore than Confectioner when on the board.

Vinereap Mentor

Three game objects out of a two mana 3/2 seems like something we can work with!

Mabel, Heir to Cragflame

This is a Mutavault format, so you need to take note of any lord, especially if they are solid rate on their own. I also like that the Cragflame, reduces the cost of Rebel Salvo. If there is a deck that could pair Mabel with one other equipment in the deck I think you could have the makings of a solid aggressive midrange deck.

Dreamdew Entrancer

This card brings together two points I’ve made prior in this article:

• Simic doesn’t get creature removal, so you have to figure out how to work with the creature interaction you do get

• Four toughness and Reach is a well positioned stat line for Pioneer

Similar to the comments on Scrapshooter this is a glue card to allow you to buy time for the powerful things the rest of your deck is trying to do.

Glarb, Calamity’s Augur

As we’ve learned from Preacher of the Schism, 2/4 deathouch is a surprisingly good stat line. I am largely evaluating this not worrying about the mana value 4 or greater part.

Three colors is obviously going to hold this back, but if anyone wants to take a stab at Sultai midrange again, this seems like a totally reasonable card to consider in it.

Land

Fountainport

Mirrex is great. It is not obvious to me if Fountainport is worse or better than it. You may even want tor run a mix of Fountainport and Mirrex. Key thing is it is worth trying out.

Lupinflower Village

I’ve been playing a fair amount of Scene of the Crime recently (paired with Akroan War).

If you are running a reasonably aggressive deck, it’s very nice later game to be able to turn your land into a new card. Lupinflower Village does this as an untapped land and gives you selection (assuming you are running a deck of the appropriate types).

Rockface Village

Later game having your creatures enter with haste and getting this effect out of you land slot seems like a big game.

You can imagine where if you topdeck a creature you cast it, give it haste, and attack with it. If you topdeck a land you activate Den of the Bugbear or Ramunap Ruins. So you are constantly applying pressure no matter what you draw.

My Top 6 from Bloomburrow

6. Mockingbird

I play a lot of clone effects and this seems like one of the best. I’m envisioning running it in decks where I can copy cards like Risen Reef, but where I also don’t mind playing it for one mana turn one. Maybe paired with Dazzling Denial.

5. Pawpatch Formation

I had to double check this card multiple times to confirm that it is an instant. I’ve been playing Atraxa’s Fall some, which is a similar multi option card. Except Pawpatch has better options and is an instant!

Pawpatch is maindeckable thanks to the ability to cycle it and can act as some much needed removal for Green. It also can serve as Indomitable Creativity enabler.

4. Lumra, Bellow of the Woods

Lumra was one of the first cards previewed and I was convinced it would be the best card in the set.

Aftermath Analyst is a very strong card. Here we are getting that effect for same total mana, but tied to a massive creature with Reach. I think you build your deck to play Lumra, the body stabilizes, and the massive mana advantage Lumra creates allows you to take over.

Lumra is in many ways the perfect card for the Simic Elementals Ramp deck I talk about here.

3. Sunspine Lynx

Pioneer decks play a lot of nonbasic lands. I can’t wait for the long grindy game against control and Sunspine Lynx comes in and deals 9 damage.Then the 5/4 demands removal.

The “Players can’t gain life” clause is huge, particularly as maindeck hate against Amalia.

2. Fecund Greenshell

Yes, we’ve got a new Risen Reef! I kind of can’t believe how pushed this card is.

Here are some cards with toughness greater than power. Arboreal Grazer, Clifftop Lookout, Sheoldred, Cavalier of Thorns, Elesh Norn, and oh yes Yorion. This also gets hit off Storm the Festival.

The Reach and 6 Toughness is the ideal stat line for facing Phoenix. The +2/+2 effect turns this into a wincon all on its own.

1. Scavenger’s Talent

Play this with Cat/Oven and it acts as cheaper and more resilient Mayhem Devil that can be paired with any other color.

Can you imagine two Scavenger’s Talent on Level 2 with an active Cat/Oven.

Killing with Mill is also preferred as it is hard for opponents to stop and some decks like Phoenix and Amalia will do a lot of the work for you.

I suspect this is the card Golgari Food has been waiting for and could see it or Rakdos Sacrifice being a top deck on its back.