Magic: The Gathering Wilds of Eldraine Review

If you have been checking out the site recently, then you will have likely seen that I am currently getting knee deep into MTG. The MTG Newbie series of articles is basically a way for other newbies, or potential newbies, to watch and learn from my journey. With that in mind, an awesome new set called Wilds of Eldraine recently dropped, which naturally means that is where I have spent most of my time.

So this review will cover my thoughts on the set, but keep in mind as a newbie to the game, it will have that perspective. So if you want to know how Wilds of Eldraine stacks up against Fallen Empires, I don’t know. That set came out 29 years before I held my first Magic card. So with that in mind, let’s dive into the Wilds of Eldraine.

Wilds of Eldraine

Wilds of Eldraine is inspired by fairy tales, which is an awesome idea. As someone new to the game where almost all of the MTG characters are a blur of letters, having something recognisable really helps you connect to the world. A lot of the characters’ names and the images are different enough to be unique and fun. Ruby, Daring Tracker for example, is clearly Little Red Riding Hood. 

So as a set of its own, it blends the fairy tale characters with the MTG characters perfectly. It’s not like the random Transformers cards that can appear in The Brothers War boxes where it’s clearly an addition to the world. Wilds of Eldraine feels like one awesome world.

Artwork

Magic: The Gathering is known for some absolutely incredible artwork, and Wilds of Eldraine is no exception. The new cards have amazingly detailed images that are a peach to look at. I mean you only have to look at the Eriette of the Charmed Apple card to get a slice of what you are in for. She is the face of the set, as you will see with her being on the front of everything. Eriette is clearly the Evil Witch from Snow White, but looks badass as hell. 

The set also has reprints from previous sets, but they have some unique art styles. There are the anime cards, which feel slightly less like they fit, BUT, I’m a nerd and so I like them anyway. The other major style for reprints are the old fairy tale book art. They have a strong Mary Blair vibe. I am not the biggest fan of it, but it’s an awesome idea and the cards do look unique and well designed.  So I am still happy keeping these quirky cards in my collection.

The different packs

If you know MTG packs then you will for the most part know what is available here. There are of course the Draft Boosters which come with 15 cards with a rare, and the set booster that comes with a more random selection of commons to rares, as well as possible art cards, etc. Collector Boosters are the same with shiny stuff. You can see a full breakdown here!

For Wilds of Eldraine, I checked out a bunch of Collector Boosters and Set Boosters and had a great time with them. The art is amazing, and the land shinnies look nice. Trying to work out which ones were from fairy tales, and which fairy tales added to this fun.

The Bundle box comes with a ridiculously nice life spin down dice, and a bonus promo card which makes that a great value option. Thanks to the amazing art, the box the bundle comes in is definitely a keeper too. The prerelease pack has a smaller spin down die, draft boosters, and a promo card, also making for great value. I picked that one up at Bea DND for a pre-release tournament, and between the awesome style cards and the fun of the tournament, that’s an experience you should have.

I also checked out one of the two Commander decks. Fae Dominion is a blue and black deck that is lead by the Commander Tegwyll, Duke of Splendor. Inside is a handy guide on how to play the deck, and some basics for the Commander format. It comes with a nice enough thin cardboard deck box, and a Collector Booster sample pack. That means you get 2 fancy shiny cards to use in the deck, or just add to your collection.

Sadly there are no Jumpstart Boosters for Wilds of Eldraine. The new starter kit was released at the same time, but given how much I love Jumpstart Boosters, and am loving Wilds of Eldraine, I am still gutted.

Should you start with Magic: The Gathering Wilds of Eldraine?

Hell yeah! If you want to get into MTG the Wilds of Eldraine is a fun as hell one. If you want to get into the story underlying it all then you can read the story episodes here or listen to them on YouTube. That will be a lot to try to care about for a newbie, but the cards are great fun.