To say I have been amped for the new MTG set Bloomburrow is an understatement. I mean, mice and rabbits armed to the teeth with swords and bows – what more could one ask for?
Well, naturally, I headed down to Bea DnD for some pre-release action to check it out ahead of launch, and then I headed down twice more. You may already guess how I am feeling about this set so far.
What the heck is a pre-release event?
If you’re new, this is a weird part of TCGs that is kind of counterintuitive, but it’s actually a great way for them to support local game stores. Pre-release events are sealed events that give a player a box of six boosters and a promo card. You use them to construct a deck, which you then use to play a series of games in a tournament.
If you win, you get prizes; if you don’t do so well, it’s still generally excellent value. They are pre-release events because the official set doesn’t come out until next week. It’s a great way to check out and play the new set before it’s even online. Oh, and a super fun way to play Magic.
What’s Bloomburrow like?
So far, I am kind of loving this set. It’s far from the easiest set, thanks to heaps of keywords and some cards with far too much text.
Despite this, thanks to the use of animals, it’s a lot easier to figure out some archetypes to play with. Most animal types are in two colours, so if you stick to one animal type, you will likely naturally build some synergy. In sealed, it’s unlikely you will get enough of one animal to make the full deck, but it can guide the bulk of your building process.
Mechanics have some fun, like ‘offspring’. If a card has offspring, you can spend some more mana to create a 1/1 token of the creature. A 1/1 token may not sound like much, but it keeps their abilities. So if it’s pinging your opponent, double it. If it’s drawing you cards, double them. It also gives the cards some versatility. If you need to get a body out, you can get it out earlier, but if you don’t you can hold it for that sweet offspring.
Is Bloomburrow going to be a fun set?
This far, it’s looking that way. Everything, from the flavour to the mechanics, is awesome. Throw on top of that the fact that there are different kinds of synergies that can work across different colour combinations and creature types. Once I have more stuff and more time to play, I will be able to form a proper opinion. For now, though, I have no reason to think this won’t be the best set of the year.
