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Bloomburrow was recently released on August 2nd, less than two months ago, and while Duskmourn is now out, there's still a lot of action coming from the furry set.
Today we're going to take a look at some of the Bloomburrow cards that have had the best impact on Constructed formats so far!
Lumra, Bellow of the Woods
Lumra has proven to be an absolute house in multiple formats, especially in decks that are built to take advantage of her generous ability (like with her bff, Aftermath Analyst). In addition to having vigilance and reach, and assuming she will be at least a 6/6 when she hits the battlefield, usually her ability is bringing back four or more lands to the battlefield, making her just an absolute force to be reckoned with. This is also why she's one of the more expensive cards in the set.
Caretaker's Talent
Caretaker's Talent, along with most of the other "talents" in the set, is a strong one. All three of the modes are very good. The first acts as a kind of Mentor of the Meek, letting you draw an extra card every turn in your decks with token strategies. The second mode lets you copy your best token, while also drawing a card off of it. That's a great deal for one mana. The final level is basically a doubled Intangible Virtue.
The best part about all of the Class cards is that they have all these modes that you can level up if you want to, or just use the first one. Totally up to you, but feeling like you get the effects of three possible cards in one makes them very versatile.
Fountainport
Last year we saw Mirrex, which was doing its best Vitu-Ghazi, the City-Tree impression, for those of you that are currently having back problems. This year we got a bit of an upgrade in Fountainport. While the port is going to cost you a life to make a creature this time, that creature can also block. Fountainport also has two other really useful abilities, including drawing you a card for a sacrificed token, and making a treasure.
Fountainport kind of feels like a land version of Staff of Domination, and that's pretty cool. It also doesn't come into play tapped, and it produces mana immediately and consistently. There's very little downside to this guy.
Zoraline, Cosmos Caller
Okay, before we go any farther, I simply need to point out how absolutely adorable this entire set is, and how tragic it is that we only get the one set for it. If there was ever an argument for going back to some sort of block structure, even if it's only two sets, Bloomburrow makes a good case for it.
All that being said, Zoraline is a great value here as a 3/3 flier for three mana with numerous abilities. She's found a home in the Standard Black-White Midrange value deck, along with one of the other cards on this list that we'll get to.
Being able to repeatedly reanimate your smaller permanents, including noncreatures, for two mana is a pretty sick ability. Kind of surprised Zoraline isn't a mythic, in fact. Getting back cards like Loran of the Third Path, Liliana of the Veil, and Preacher of the Schism turn after turn is brutal.
Beza, the Bounding Spring
Beza is another really cool design. First we had Timely Reinforcements. Then we had Sunset Revelry. Now we have Beza, which comes with a huge 4/5 body, all for four mana. Considering it takes into account land, life, creatures, and cards, you're..."bound" to hit on at least two of these when Beza enters the battlefield. This is just a great value creature. Considering how much play cards like Timely Reinforcements and Revelry have seen in the past, it makes total sense that Beza would be an all-star.
Emberheart Challenger
Come on. Just look at this little guy. The Challenger is the perfect Red creature, and it does everything that red wants to do. It has a haste, it has good stats for its rate, it has prowess for all your cheap spells, and it draws you cards the way red draws cards. Emberheart Challenger has been a Standard and Pioneer hero in the prowess decks in those formats, pairing with things like Monstrous Rage and Callous Sellsword.
In addition to Emberheart Challenger, Heartfire Hero has also found a home alongside him in most decks. As two cheap, red creatures that get buffs when targeted, they end up going really well together. Lots of heart, these two.
Bloomburrow ended up being a super impactful set with a lot of great designs. The art direction and flavor was also just so enjoyable. It's really unfortunate that we didn't get another set from it. I'm sure one day we will, but probably not for several years.
Thanks a ton for reading and I'll catch ya next time!
Frank Lepore
