The Ultimate Sealed Guide to Bloomburrow

Last updated on November 28, 2024

Vren, the Relentless | Illustration by MAMEZAWA

Greetings planeswalkers! We’ve had several cool Magic sets this year, but I have a distinct feeling that Bloomburrow is going to be my favorite. The theming and worldbuilding are on point, and the Bloomburrow Limited formats look fun, too.

As you’ve come to expect from me, I’ll be covering it in two guides; first here with a Day-0 guide aimed at Sealed, and in two weeks with a more detailed Bloomburrow Draft guide once I’ve drafted this set extensively myself.

Onward to furry adventures (no fur suit required)!

Introduction

Bakersbane Duo | Illustration by Raluca Marinescu

Bloomburrow is an adorable MTG set themed around anthropomorphic animals. Each of the set’s 10 color pairs is themed around one specific kind of animal, with a corresponding gameplan to match. Mice, for example, are an aggressive bunch with a unique mechanic that resembles heroic. On the other hand, frogs are a much more durdly typal deck that wants to bounce their creatures for value (i.e. Pond Prophet + Splash Portal).

These Limited archetypes form the core expression of Bloomburrow’s gameplay, though there are of course plenty of other things to do in the set.

Mechanics

Bloomburrow introduces five new mechanics to MTG. It also heralds the return of a couple of older ones like threshold and changeling.

Offspring

Offspring is a new kicker-style mechanic that gives you the option to pay an additional cost when you cast creatures with offspring. If you pay the additional cost (and the spell resolves), you create a 1/1 copy of the creature you cast once that creature enters.

Basically, the “parent” brings their “kid” to work if you pay the offspring cost. How useful this will be depends on the card.

Intrepid Rabbit is mediocre filler on its own (Herald of the Fair wasn’t even good eight years ago!), but kicking it is cheap and doubles its effect on combat that turn.

Rust-Shield Rampager is a solid card to begin with but has one of the most underwhelming offspring bonuses in the set. The abilities here just don’t transfer to a 1/1 particularly well.

Manifold Mouse would be a great card in a mice deck with no backup, but offspring is just filthy on a card like this. Doubling up with Manifold Mouse means double strike and trample every combat from one card!

Offspring isn’t specific to any color, creature type, or card rarity in Bloomburrow. Every color has at least one common, uncommon, and rare offspring card. I was personally expecting rabbits to have more for flavor reasons, but it’s a great mechanic to see in so many different forms.

Valiant

Valiant is a new ability word that greatly resembles heroic from Theros. Like heroic, valiant is all about targeting your creatures for boosts. There are some key differences though:

• Valiant works with both spells and abilities. A card like Brave-Kin Duo could trigger valiant for you over and over!
• Valiant is limited to only once per turn, so you can only grow your Heartfire Hero one counter at time.

Valiant is neither strictly better nor worse than heroic. The main gameplay differences are a lesser reliance on pump spells and auras, and a less all-in pacing. You may even find yourself aiming to trigger multiple valiant abilities in the same turn by targeting different creatures. Valiant is the core mechanic for Boros () in Bloomburrow and appears only on mice.

Forage

Forage is a keyword action that lets you exile three cards from your graveyard or sacrifice a Food, usually to pay for some kind of bonus (i.e. Treetop Sentries draws a card). Forage is the core mechanic for Golgari () squirrels in Bloomburrow. Other archetypes very rarely find themselves foraging, as it’s restricted to just six squirrels and one removal spell (Feed the Cycle).

Expend

Expend is a new rules term that counts how much mana you've spent to cast spells this turn. Expend is a core mechanic for Gruul () raccoons in Bloomburrow and appears almost exclusively on raccoons as “expend 4” (or “expend 8” for Muerra, Trash Tactician’s second ability).

Expend is a fairly easy mechanic to use that doesn’t require much direct building around. Simply spend 4+ mana on spells and reap some bonuses. If you want to optimize expend, keep in mind that:

• Running out of cards is your chief concern, assuming you have expend abilities that you want to trigger over and over.
• Including sources of card advantage is a good idea with this mechanic and plays well with RG’s midrange gameplan.
• It’s also a good idea to prioritize solid 4-drops, as you’ll be able to expend 4 by playing just one card.

Gift

Gift is another kicker-style mechanic with a unique twist; it involves giving stuff to your opponent for a bonus! Gift cards are almost all noncreature spells (Scrapshooter being the lone exception) with extra power/flexibility at the cost of giving your opponent something. What you’ll be giving your opponent is stated at the top of the card. There are four different types of gifts in the set:

• Gift a tapped Fish (your opponent gets a tapped 1/1 blue Fish creature token).
• Gift a Food (your opponent creatures a Food token).
• Gift a card (your opponent draws a card).
• Gift a Treasure (your opponent creates a Treasure token; note that this only appears on Blooming Blast).

Gift isn’t limited in the colors that use it, though it’s slightly more common in white than others.

It’s also not much of a build-around mechanic (aside from Jolly Gerbils), as almost all gift cards are interactive in nature. One last thing to note about gift is that your opponent will not get the gift if the spell doesn’t resolve.

Pawprint Seasons

This isn’t quite a full new mechanic per se, but pawprint seasons are unique enough that I wanted to cover it.

There is a cycle of mythic rare sorceries in Bloomburrow with a new pawprint symbol, which is used to represent points you can spend on various modes.

Each card is formatted this way: “Choose up to five pawprint worth of modes. You may choose the same mode more than once.” and then “Pawprint: [do something], Pawprint x2: [do something], Pawprint x3: [do something].” Season of the Bold is a good example in case that explanation didn’t make sense.

Because you can choose the same mode more than once, these cards are supremely flexible and give you a lot of powerful options. You won’t see Seasons often due to their rarity, but they all look quite powerful in Limited.

Threshold

Threshold is an old mechanic that references having seven or more cards in your graveyard. If you do, then you have “threshold” and gain various bonuses from threshold cards. This is a core mechanic for Dimir () Rats in Bloomburrow.

Tidecaller Mentor is one of the better reasons to care about threshold. Your graveyard fills up naturally over the course of the game, but to speed it up:

• Trade creatures with your opponent,
• Play removal spells,
• Play cantrips or card draw spells like Diresight,
• Mill yourself with cards like Daggerfang Duo,
• Surveil cards to your graveyard.

Threshold appears only on seven cards in total, all of which are rats.

Changeling

Changeling is another old mechanic introduced in Lorwyn. A creature with changeling has all creature types, which is relevant for Bloomburrow given how many typal bonuses there are.

Changeling doesn’t have a huge imprint on Bloomburrow, though: It appears on only two common artifact creatures: Three Tree Mascot and Barkform Harvester. Neither is particularly great, but you could do worse for early filler I suppose.

Archetypes

These mechanics don’t actually factor into Bloomburrow’s gameplay as much as most other sets. The core expression of Bloomburrow is all about animals and their various typal gameplans. Let’s start with WotC’s official commentary on them, then I’ll expand with a few examples for each one.

Source: https://magic.wizards.com/en/news/feature/bloomburrow-prerelease-guide

Azorius Birds

Birds are weird in Bloomburrow and might be the “softest” of the 10 main archetypes.

Cards like Plumecreed Mentor force you to pair them with non-flying creatures. Given that there are no birds in the set without flying, this usually means your deck will be mixing and matching various typal synergies. Focusing on general card quality is probably the way to go here. I’d expect to play 17 lands on average in this archetype.

Dimir Rats

Wizards’ description for rats is pretty good, though it’s worth noting that threshold varies in importance depending on your exact build.

The commons with threshold (Thought Shucker, Nightwhorl Hermit, and Mind Drill Assailant) don’t impress me. Expect to play the usual UB mix of removal spells, 2-for-1s (Diresight is excellent here), blockers, and bombs. I’d expect to play 17 lands on average in this archetype.

Rakdos Lizards

This seems to be one of the stronger archetypes in Bloomburrow at first glance.

Cards like Fireglass Mentor and Thought-Stalker Warlock are incredible on rate, and it shouldn’t be too hard to trigger them with the right support cards. It’s definitely an aggressive deck, but probably a bit more midrangey than something like RW Mice. I’d expect to play 16-17 lands on average in this archetype.

Gruul Raccoons

There aren’t actually that many big raccoons, it turns out!

Junkblade Bruiser, Teapot Slinger, and Rust-Shield Rampager are actually the only ones to cost 4+ mana.

As such, this is a great home for random fat uncommons like Galewind Moose and Quaketusk Boar. Raccoons also have some excellent early game creatures like Brambleguard Veteran and Bark-Knuckle Boxer. I’d expect to play 17 lands on average in this archetype, though you might go up or down one depending on your number of mana dorks.

Selesnya Rabbits

Wizards’ own description is apt, though there actually aren’t that many Rabbit token makers in Bloomburrow.

Hop to It and Season of the Burrow are incredible ones, but there are only a handful of others like Carrot Cake and Head of the Homestead. Prioritize these cards highly when drafting Rabbits or deciding to play it in Sealed! I’d expect to play 16-17 lands on average in this archetype, with 17 making more sense when you have Head of the Homestead or other 4+ cost cards.

Orzhov Bats

Mixing lifegain and life loss makes this an intriguing archetype to evaluate. Most cards work with both, though, so think of this as a lifegain/fliers archetype first and foremost.

There’s plenty of incidental lifegain to be found on bats like Lifecreed Duo, Moonrise Cleric, and Sonar Strike. I’d expect to play 17 lands on average in this archetype.

Izzet Otters

There are fewer otters than any other (primary) creature type in Bloomburrow, but that suits them just fine given their proclivity to noncreature spells.

Otters has the classic () quality of being neither wholly controlling nor wholly aggressive. A good Izzet Otters deck has a mix of prowess creatures, removal spells, and card draw (especially Pearl of Wisdom). I’d expect to play 16-17 lands on average in this archetype. There’s no Sleight of Hand or Consider in Bloomburrow, so trimming extra lands for more spells may be too risky.

Golgari Squirrels

Squirrels are very much doing their own thing in Bloomburrow.

No other archetype really cares that much about foraging or Food tokens, though I’d expect to see Treetop Sentries and Feed the Cycle played regardless. Cache Grab, Daggerfang Duo, Diresight, and Savor seem like important commons for this archetype. I’d expect to play 17 lands on average in this archetype.

Boros Mice

Mice are going to be the most aggressive deck in Bloomburrow Sealed or Draft, to the terror of durdlers everywhere.

There isn't much equipment available, so you’ll mostly be relying on cards like Might of the Meek, Brave-Kin Duo, and Intrepid Rabbit for your valiant needs. Prioritize aggressive 2-drop creatures and combat tricks, as you’ll have much more trouble winning games when the board stalls out. I’d expect to play 16 lands on average in this archetype, though lean builds might be able to get away with 15 lands.

Simic Frogs

This archetype looks to be the most fun to me, as I love a good do-nothing deck.

Cards like Pond Prophet, Sunshower Druid, and Clifftop Lookout are essential frogs. You’ll also need cards like Polliwallop and Dire Downdraft to stay afloat against aggro decks. I’d expect to play 17 lands on average in this archetype.

Whether or not Frogs will be a good archetype remains to be seen (as Bloomburrow looks lean and mean, and bouncing your own stuff is tempo negative), but I’m certainly going to try it!

Overlap

One of the unique things about Bloomburrow is how mediocre the overlap between non-factional cards is. While most creatures are playable anywhere as curve filler, there isn’t much mechanical overlap in Bloomburrow.

Take squirrels and rats for example; while both the archetypes use their graveyard, forage and threshold directly fight with each other for resources. Decks like otters, frogs, and mice are also very much doing their own thing.

In Sealed, it's important to identify which faction is strongest in your pool, as that’ll determine what you should be doing (plus your removal/bombs/splashed cards). In Draft, it’ll likely be essential to find the open lane for your seat, be it lizards, mice, birds, etc.

Set Overview

Now that we’ve covered the archetypes, let’s touch on some specific aspects of the set overall.

Sizing

As you might expect from the flavor, this is a smaller-sized MTG set than average! There are no common creatures above 5 mana. The closest analog to Colossal Dreadmaw I could find is Junkblade Bruiser.

Even at uncommon, the beef tops out with cards like Galewind Moose, Huskburster Swarm, Quaketusk Boar, and Hivespine Wolverine.

This is great news for direct damage removal like Take Out the Trash and Agate Assault, but it also makes cards like Repel Calamity a bit more unreliable than you’d expect.

Pacing

Pacing dovetails nicely with scaling, and 1-drops seem good and important in Bloomburrow.

There are three common 1-drops (Brave-Kin Duo, Ravine Raider, and Sunshower Druid), each of which seems playable in the right archetype. Most deck curves will probably top out around one to three 5-drops. I can’t say exactly how aggressive Bloomburrow will be yet, but I’d err on the side of caution with my curve.

Bridge Cards

One unique thing about Bloomburrow is its approach to making the creatures you need available.

Two cycles at common that help accomplish this are the Duo cycle (i.e. Treeguard Duo and Roughshod Duo) and the hybrid mana cycle (i.e. Seedpod Squire and Tempest Angler).

The Duos are decent creatures that provide two creature types at once, while the hybrids are just one type but very flexible in what decks can play them. Most of the hybrids work best in their specific archetype, while the duos are more flexible.

Removal

One saving grace for slower decks is that the removal in Bloomburrow looks pretty good.

Banishing Light is a strong, all-purpose white removal spell that’s likely to be the best white common. There are a few ways to blow these up (i.e. Nettle Guard, Early Winter, Hivespine Wolverine) but they look fairly safe on the whole.

Best in a bats deck but playable anywhere, Sonar Strike works well in races or when you’re not the beatdown, though it can’t remove blockers for you.

Dazzling Denial isn’t really “removal” per se, but this is a good Quench variant. Useful early on without birds, and close enough to Counterspell later if you have one.

Dire Downdraft is solid interaction that reminds me of Bury in Books. It doesn’t go second from the top unfortunately, but it’s also less restrictive to get the discount. You won’t answer anything long term with this, but it can buy crucial time and occasionally blow out pump spells.

Run Away Together is an odd tempo spell that seems best in a frog deck, where you can bounce your Pond Prophet and your opponent’s most threatening creature. Probably not a priority even in frogs, as it’s only good in specific situations.

Early Winter doesn’t impress, though I still expect to play this in Sealed sometimes. It’s best against slower decks with bombs, classes, and Banishing Light. It may be too slow altogether against decks like Mice and Lizards.

Nocturnal Hunger is much better than Early Winter! This is pretty close to an easier-to-cast Murder, though it comes with a slight downside for you to choose. Slower decks are more likely to promise the gift than aggressive ones.

Given the set’s small sizing, I expect great things from Savor. This picks off all sorts of 2-drops and leaves you with something extra for your troubles.

Agate Assault provides good removal at a fair price that exiles as a bonus. It kills every common except Junkblade Bruiser and Mind Drill Assailant, plus most uncommons and rares, too. Artifact removal is also a handy mode to have access to, though you won’t use it often.

Conduct Electricity is red’s take on Early Winter. It seems a bit better overall, as there are various Otter, Rabbit, and offspring tokens for you to snag. It’s never going to feel great to play, but a removal spell is a removal spell, especially in a deck like Otters.

I have Take Out the Trash slightly above Agate Assault in a vacuum. Most things in Bloomburrow die to 3 damage, and it’s also a cheap instant, too. The upside for the raccoon archetype is nice, but let’s be honest, you’re playing this, raccoons or not.

Longstalk Brawl is a strong Prey Upon variant that lets you rig the fight with a +1/+1 counter at the cost of a Fish. If you have good creature sizing, you’ll definitely want this card.

In a true frogs deck, Polliwallop is surprisingly close to a green Terminate! For everyone else, you’re paying 3-4 mana for a pretty mediocre removal spell. You might play this if you have to even without frog cards, but it gets dramatically better when you have ‘em.

Overall, the removal in Bloomburrow could have been worse. Prioritize the cheap ones highly, whether you’re aggressive or controlling, as managing the pace of the early turns in this format seems essential.

Mana Fixing and Splashing

Bloomburrow is by and large a 2-color set, though it’s definitely more splash-friendly than something like The Brothers’ War. In fact, you could say that splashing is a requirement for at least four cards in Bloomburrow:

• Wick, the Whorled Mind
• Baylen, the Haymaker
• Helga, Skittish Seer
• Glarb, Calamity's Augur

Outside of those, there are of course the usual assortment of great single-pipped cards you might want to splash, from bombs like Rottenmouth Viper to removal spells like Banishing Light.

But what kind of options does the set actually provide for this?

First among commons, Cache Grab falls short of true mana fixing, but you still get to look for whatever color you need. One of a couple cards that makes BG Squirrels more splash-friendly than other archetypes.

Heaped Harvest is Bloomburrow’s 3-mana Rampant Growth with upside. Most decks probably aren’t going to have a high enough mana curve for this, but it does happen to be a food for foraging.

Three Tree Rootweaver is a solid mana dork that enables splashes pretty easily. This should be one of green’s best commons despite not having a useful creature type.

Fountainport Bell is an interesting take on the usual Campus Guide style fixer. Instead of getting a 2-mana 2/1 (or 1/2, if you remember the awful Silver Deputy from Outlaws), you’re instead getting a cantrip, split into two payments of 1 mana. I’m bullish on this artifact and think it’ll be a generally solid playable and one of the better ways to splash in Bloomburrow.

Three Tree Mascot is curve filler that makes up for its unimpressive body with changeling and free mana filtering. I expect to play this much more in Bloomburrow Sealed than in Draft, as you’re more likely to splash and won’t have the option to prioritize 2-drops.

Surveil 1 was a nice boost to Unknown Shores, which had always been pretty bad fixing in Limited. Hidden Grotto works either as a 17th land in a 2-color deck (8/8/1 split), or as a way to help splash. Whatever you splash with this should ideally be worth overpaying for by 1 mana.

A reprint from Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty, Uncharted Haven is solid, flexible mana fixing that enters the battlefield tapped. I’d probably play one or two of these in your average 2-color deck if I had them, as being stuck on one color is never a fun way to lose a Sealed game or Draft. It’s an important card to look for when seeing how well your pool can splash.

Overall, I’d say Bloomburrow earns about a “C+” grade for general splashability in Draft or Sealed. You have some options for it (including ones that don’t force your mana base to be green), but many pools are better off being two colors. Expect to occasionally reach out for bombs and removal while mostly sticking to a dual-color baseline, as there are basically no incentives in the set for any 4-5c strategies.

Top Commons

Here I get to guess what the best commons for each color will be! This complements our look at Bloomburrow‘s top commons and uncommons, and I’ll be revisiting this in two weeks in the Draft Guide.

White

#1. Banishing Light

Great removal is great, not much more to say. Banishing Light is usually uncommon power level, and there’s plenty of stuff worth answering at a fair rate.

#2. Intrepid Rabbit

Intrepid Rabbit is Elderleaf Mentor with upside when kicked, which seems like a great place to be in white. It looks good in every archetype, too, not just rabbits.

#3. Warren Elder

Mass pump is great upside to have on Grizzly Bears. Warren Elder’s best in rabbits, but serviceable curve filler in anything white.

#4. Crumb and Get It

Crumb and Get It is an efficient combat trick that wins most combats and can even protect your creature from most removal spells if you promise the gift. You can’t usually fit too many tricks, but this is a good one.

Blue

#1. Dazzling Denial

The early turns seem crucial in Bloomburrow, so I’m down for a Quench with upside like Dazzling Denial.

#2. Dire Downdraft

Dire Downdraft provides nice defensive interaction that helps buy time. Blue appears somewhat passive in Bloomburrow (frogs and rats definitely are, and birds/otters are still slower than true aggro), so Dire Downdraft might be an important blue instant for not dying to aggro.

#3. Lightshell Duo

Good stats, free card selection, and prowess makes for a surprisingly efficient creature in blue. Lightshell Duo is one of the better common 4-drops in the format.

#4. Bellowing Crier

Bellowing Crier is an honest and solid 2-drop that should play well in most blue decks. It’s best in UG Frogs, but free consistency like this is hard to pass up.

Black

#1. Nocturnal Hunger

Nocturnal Hunger is instant, unconditional removal with a minor downside, and that’s too hard to pass up. One of the best reasons to be black in either Sealed or Draft.

#2. Savor

As I said earlier, I’m optimistic about Savor due to the format’s small sizing. Best at killing early game creatures, though you can use this black instant as a combat trick sometimes as well.

#3. Diresight

Though the format does seem fast, midrange decks and control decks will still need a way to get ahead on cards. Diresight seems like a great way to do this and can also enable threshold and forage, alongside cards like Bonebind Orator.

#4. Glidedive Duo

It’s not quite Vampire Sovereign, but the fact that I even find myself making that comparison should be good news for Glidedive Duo. I wouldn’t want too many of these black creatures, but it looks like a great curve-topper for any deck.

Red

#1. Take Out the Trash

Take Out the Trash at the top should be no surprise! Lightning Bolt variants are almost always the best red common after all.

#2. Agate Assault

Agate Assault is great all-purpose removal with upside. Sorcery speed isn’t optimal, but I’m still happy to play this anywhere.

#3. Alania’s Pathmaker

Easy 2-for-1s like Alania's Pathmaker are hard to pass up in Limited! This red creature trades down in combat, but the extra value should usually make up for it.

#4. Raccoon Rallier

Grizzly Bears with upside again, though in this case the upside is best with larger creatures and valiant mice. Either way, Raccoon Rallier seems like a solid guy to fill out your curve with.

Green

#1. Three Tree Rootweaver

Druid of the Cowl that taps for any color is a nice surprise, and Three Tree Rootweaver should be an essential piece of green midrange in Bloomburrow. I also like that this green creature increases my options to splash.

#2. Treetop Sentries

I respect the stat line and think that you can play Treetop Sentries even without other squirrels. It works great as a “delve” card of sorts for any grindy green deck.

#3. Longstalk Brawl

The upside here is real enough to make Longstalk Brawl meaningfully better than Prey Upon. Goes best with larger creatures of course, though you should have those in green after all.

#4. Stickytongue Sentinel

Decent base stats, reach, and a useful ability should make Stickytongue Sentinel one of the better 3-drops in the format. Playable outside of UG Frogs but definitely a top common for that archetype.

Hybrid

#1. Seedpod Squire

Bloomburrow doesn’t have a Modern Horizons 3 power level, so I’m kind of shocked to see Phantom Monster with upside at common like this. Seedpod Squire is the best curve-topper for aggressive white decks and should be great anywhere that can cast it. Don’t forget it triggers valiant, too!

#2. Pond Prophet

Absolutely essential in the frogs deck! Pond Prophet’s a bit less impressive elsewhere though, as a hard-to-cast Elvish Visionary doesn’t seem particularly busted.

#3. Moonrise Cleric

Similar to Pond Prophet in that Moonrise Cleric is excellent in a bats deck but mediocre elsewhere due to its awkward mana cost. It’s a top common for that archetype, though, and substantially better than something like Starlit Soothsayer.

#4. Head of the Homestead

Best in GW Rabbits of course, but three bodies in one card (with 5/4 in stats overall) is just a good rate. It’s also easier to cast a double-pip 5-drop on time than a double-pip 3-drop, so Head of the Homestead plays in a wider variety of decks.

Bad Commons

WotC actually isn’t really in the business of printing truly bad commons these days.

I’ll say that War Squeak looks unplayable outside of a very aggressive mice deck and leave it at that. Most of the weaker stuff (i.e. Thought Shucker, Nightwhorl Hermit, and Waterspout Warden) is still curve filler at worst.

I’m not high on mediocre tricks like High Stride either, but I wouldn’t consider that even close to “unplayable.” It may even over-perform due to how lean the format looks, as winning combat trick fights might prove important.

Great Rares

One of the most important things to know in Sealed is which cards are worth bragging to your friends about opening!

You can think of this as a mini “What to splash in my Sealed pool” section; if it’s here and single-pipped, you might want to consider splashing it.

Mythics

Beza, the Bounding Spring

Beza, the Bounding Spring is an amazing card for catching you up if you fall behind on board, as getting two Fish plus 4 life from this shouldn’t be too hard. The other modes are also useful but less important.

Season of the Burrow

All the Seasons look bomby to me in Limited, and Season of the Burrow is no exception. The main modes I expect to use are five Rabbits or three Rabbits + exile my opponent’s best thing, though mode three could be great with the right setup.

Warren Warleader

A great 4-drop that gets even better if you can kick it, as two triggers will completely take over combat. Also, have you seen the token for Warren Warleader? It’s adorable!

Kitsa, Otterball Elite

I guess this is what a Merfolk Looter looks like these days! Kitsa, Otterball Elite won’t win you the game on its own, but it’s just too efficient to not list here. Excellent in any deck but even better in UR Otters thanks to prowess. Note that you only need to cast two spells to copy one (as prowess triggers make it a 3/5 before the other spell resolves).

Season of Weaving

I’m almost tempted to just say “Seasons are great” rather than describing them individually. This one usually copies two things of yours and draws a card, though you can also draw two + bounce in an emergency. Note that Season of Weaving doesn’t target; once it resolves, you can choose creatures and your opponent can’t respond!

Maha, Its Feathers Night

Undoubtedly one of the scariest rares in the entire set and one of the best cards in Bloomburrow. Maha, Its Feathers Night’s a huge flier that makes combat absurdly dangerous and also costs your opponent two cards even if they can remove it. The dream is to combine it with Wildfire Howl!

Rottenmouth Viper

I wouldn’t prioritize discounting this much (maybe a Food or rabbit here and there), but even at Rottenmouth Viper is still a great creature. It gets a bit of immediate value and quickly ramps up into disastrous territory for your opponent.

Season of Loss

Season of Loss closely resembles Damnation if you choose the first mode enough times. You can also get some value with mode two, especially if you don’t need the full five. Mode three is fringe but makes this a potent finisher in a long game, as you can combine it with two instances of mode one for maximum damage.

Dragonhawk, Fate’s Tempest

Mythic dragons have a pedigree for being top Sealed or Draft bombs, and Dragonhawk, Fate's Tempest is no exception. You’re looking at a huge flier that gets a little value now and insane value if you can untap with it.

Season of the Bold

Season of the Bold is probably the weakest of the cycle, though I still expect great things from it. I’d mainly think of it as an impulsive draw-four (plus a Treasure), though you can also use the “yolo” mode plus two cards and hope for the best. Untapping after mode three could just be game over for your opponent’s board, though there’s of course some variance with how good your follow-up will be.

Lumra, Bellow of the Woods

On average, you’re probably getting about 1.75 lands from Lumra, Bellow of the Woods, so the baseline is a 7/7 with vigilance/reach + Rampant Growth. That’s definitely good enough for Sealed, so Lumra, Bellow of the Woods will be a strong draw towards a bigger green deck.

Season of Gathering

Probably the strongest Season overall, as you're getting a truly incredible package here. Season of Gathering is one part Overrun and one part massive card-draw spell. You’re unlikely to use the second mode much in Sealed or Draft, though Banishing Light might occasionally merit it.

The Infamous Cruelclaw

The Infamous Cruelclaw is a dangerous, high variance creature with good base stats. I probably wouldn’t splash it, as it’s best early on before the board is too congested.

Hugs, Grisly Guardian

Massive baseline + scalability makes for an excellent mythic, though is tough enough to make this badger warrior unsplashable. Hugs, Grisly Guardian is sure to be the most groan-inducing topdeck in the format!

Ral, Crackling Wit

Ral, Crackling Wit seems like one of the strongest reasons to be UR Otters. I’d also happily splash this planeswalker in other decks, assuming it was convenient and I had a decent number of noncreature spells.

Ygra, Eater of All

I’m not actually sure if Ygra, Eater of All is a true bomb, but it’s notable enough that I wanted to mention this elemental cat. You can view its ward ability as “sacrifice a creature” due to how it turns everything into food. It lacks evasion, so expect this to be chump-blocked a lot if it sticks around, as your opponent can not only chump it but chump + sacrifice to gain 3 life. Try to combine it with Hunter's Talent or Overprotect if you can!

Helga, Skittish Seer

Fragile and three colors, but the upside here is high enough that I’m interested. You’ll need to include 4+ mana creatures for Helga, Skittish Seer, though, so it works best alongside other ramp like Three Tree Scribe.

Glarb, Calamity’s Augur

Glarb, Calamity's Augur is probably the single best card to splash in the format. This is Courser of Kruphix on steroids, and an absolutely amazing block/value engine.

Rares

Jackdaw Savior

Jackdaw Savior is very efficient, even with few other fliers. A 3/1 flying baseline + “get back a 2-drop when this dies” is already far above rate!

Salvation Swan

3/3 flash and flying for is a strong rate, since this can eat various Grizzly Bears and live to tell the tale. Salvation Swan gets even better if you can blink stuff like Pond Prophet for value. Since it can’t target birds, it may actually be best as a splash in a frogs deck!

Starfall Invocation

Starfall Invocation is the best rare in the format, period. Wrath of God that returns your biggest thing into play is just an unreal card in Sealed, and you also have the option not to give a gift, too.

Valley Questcaller

Valley Questcaller is a highly efficient typal lord that works for a wide variety of strategies. It also provides excellent virtual card advantage with repeatable scry 1 triggers. Best in a rabbits build but A+ everywhere else.

Whiskervale Forerunner

Whiskervale Forerunner is the single strongest valiant card in Bloomburrow Limited! Every time you target this mouse bard, you’re potentially drawing and playing a full creature's worth of cardboard. It gets out of hand in a hurry and also has decent enough stats to be playable even if you're short on valiant triggers.

Azure Beastbinder

Azure Beastbinder nerfs your opponent’s best creature every turn while being very difficult to block. It won’t kill them quickly, but it’s efficient and annoying enough that I expect it to overperform.

Dour Port-Mage

Dour Port-Mage is one of the best engine cards available for a frog deck. Also has okay base stats and a generally useful ability, though the dream is very much to play it with synergies. Note that you’ll end up drawing a card from this if something else is exiled by Early Winter or Agate Assault, which is a cute bonus!

Kitnap

Mind Control is a very dangerous card in Sealed or Draft, so even nerfed versions like Kitnap are quite bomby. You’ll have the option to either accept the creature stunned for a while or give your opponent a card to use it faster. Both options are viable depending on the situation, so choose carefully.

Stormchaser’s Talent

Stormchaser's Talent is slow to upgrade, but its base mode is a 1/1 prowess so it’s pretty much all upside. One of the better otter cards in the set.

Valley Floodcaller

Another excellent otter, Valley Floodcaller can deal a ton of damage out of nowhere, and also makes cards like Agate Assault, Fell, and Splash Portal much better.

Darkstar Augur

What’s better than one Dark Confidant? How about two! I wouldn’t always offspring Darkstar Augur, but either way it’s a great flier with a powerful ability. Bats of course will often have lifegain to offset the loss of life from this bat warlock.

Iridescent Vinelasher

Iridescent Vinelasher is first and foremost a 3-drop in Sealed, but it’s quite a good one! It doesn’t take too long to burn your opponent out when each land you play is a full Shock‘s worth of damage.

Valley Rotcaller

This squirrelock can do an incredible amount of damage with the right support. Valley Rotcaller’s also annoying to block and even attacks for 2 damage on its own.

Wick, the Whorled Mind

You’ll need red mana to maximize Wick, the Whorled Mind, but it’s a top-notch rats incentive either way. The base rate (2/4 + a 1/1 for 4) is okay without other rats as well, though admittedly mediocre.

Byway Barterer

Flooding out seems very difficult with Byway Barterer in play. It also has solid base stats as a 3/3 with menace, so I like this rate quite a bit.

Emberheart Challenger

Emberheart Challenger is one of the best mice in Bloomburrow. It draws cards from valiant and attacks for a lot of damage out of nowhere.

Manifold Mouse

Another incredible incentive to be in the mice deck. I like to think of Manifold Mouse as a 4-drop in Draft or Sealed, as most of the power is in the ability rather than the base stats. Getting free valiant triggers every turn from this is pretty remarkable!

Valley Flamecaller

Decent base stats + free damage on many of the types in Bloomburrow is an incredible deal for only . Valley Flamecaller gets even better with other lizards, which often have ping effects.

Fecund Greenshell

A cantripping 4/6 with reach would be a remarkable Limited card even with no other abilities, but the fact that Fecund Greenshell draws off other creatures is unreal! I wouldn’t feel pressured to build around it too much, though it’s of course nice to prioritize toughness-slanted creatures when you can.

Innkeeper’s Talent

Innkeeper's Talent is an insane bomb rare, similar to other insane bombs like Outlaws of Thunder Junction‘s Ornery Tumblewagg and Zendikar Rising‘s Luminarch Aspirant. It’s so good I might even reach for Early Winter out of desperation!

Pawpatch Recruit

Like Iridescent Vinelasher, Pawpatch Recruit is an excellent rare that works better as a 3-drop than a 1-drop. It’s a lot of value for opponents to contend with, especially if they end up needing to use removal spells on other creatures.

Valley Mightcaller

Champion of the Parish is amazing when it has trample and works for four different types! Valley Mightcaller is incredible in frogs, rabbits, squirrels, and everything really.

Kastral, the Windcrested

Kastral, the Windcrested is one of the best bird incentives in the format. You don’t even need too many birds for it, as the saboteur combat damage trigger is for “one or more” birds anyways. Even with no other birds, I’d still splash/play this!

Vren, the Relentless

Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet anybody? Vren, the Relentless is an awesome creature that plays great with removal spells and other rats.

Gev, Scaled Scorch

Gev, Scaled Scorch is a terrifying 2-drop and one of the best lizard incentives in the format. There’s a recurring theme here, as almost all the multicolor rares seem excellent for their respective decks.

Muerra, Trash Tactician

Muerra, Trash Tactician is a great blocker/source of lifegain that can also take over in the late game. It also provides quite a bit of mana in concert with other raccoons.

Finneas, Ace Archer

The dream is turn 1 Seasoned Warrenguard, turn 2 Finneas, Ace Archer, and turn 3 Hop to It to immediately draw a card! Even without that dream, this is a great rate for 2 mana, and well worth going rabbits.

Zoraline, Cosmos Caller

I like Zoraline, Cosmos Caller more as a 5-drop than 3-drop in Sealed or Draft, as getting value before this dies seems important. It’s a tremendous threat either way, and obviously a top-notch bats card. Note that it makes a poor splash due to effectively costing .

Camellia, the Seedmiser

Camellia, the Seedmiser is an awesome squirrel lord of sorts that makes your squirrels larger and hard to block. I wouldn’t splash it outside of that deck though, as its abilities are pretty specific.

Mabel, Heir to Cragflame

Mabel, Heir to Cragflame was one of the first cards spoiled from Bloomburrow! It’s interesting to see how it plays with the larger whole, as it's a mouse lord and a great source of valiant with its Cragflame equipment. Mabel’s an excellent reason to be RW, as you’d expect.

Clement, the Worrywort

Clement, the Worrywort is arguably the best frog deck incentive in the format. This is an incredible engine that provides both value and mana if it sticks around.

Dreamdew Entrancer

Dreamdew Entrancer is an excellent rare in general that gets even better in frog decks, which can target their own stuff with this for value then bounce whatever was stunned! I’d consider splashing this even with no flicker synergies, as the rate is quite good.

Baylen, the Haymaker

Baylen, the Haymaker is a powerful token incentive that usually goes in a rabbits deck splashing red. The dream is to play this then Hop to It and draw a card!

Fountainport

Fountainport is an awesome value land that should be worth the risk of including a colorless land in your deck. You’ll mostly be making Fish for life, though you can of course sacrifice them for value or alternate Treasure/cards when you’re low on life. It’s not a true bomb or anything, but I’d be happy to have it in Sealed.

“Mythic” Uncommons

Feed the Cycle

Murder with upside is amazing for Limited. You don’t need to be squirrels at all for Feed the Cycle to be one of the best cards in your deck.

Fell

Sorcery Murder for 2 mana is another amazing Limited card. Fell is likely to be one of the most uncommon splashes in the set.

Thought-Stalker Warlock

Thought-Stalker Warlock is shockingly close to an uncommon Grief in a Standard-legal set. Even if you can’t get the damage trigger, it’s a 2/2 with menace Burglar Rat at worst.

Wildfire Howl

Wildfire Howl isn’t always going to feel like a “mythic uncommon,” but I did want to note it since sweepers like this are few and far between in Sealed or Drafts. I’d definitely expect great things from this in certain matchups (particularly vs. rabbits), so keep it in mind if you open it.

Bushy Bodyguard

If you can double forage Bushy Bodyguard and kick it, it’s a 4/3 + a 3/3 for just , which is an absurd rate in Limited. Even without that, the flexibility and power makes this one of the best squirrels in Bloomburrow.

Galewind Moose

There aren’t many big fatties in Bloomburrow, which makes getting ambushed by Galewind Moose all the more painful. I expect excellent things from this due to a lack of competition at the top of the curve. Be careful attacking into 6 mana against green decks!

Hunter’s Talent

Hunter's Talent is my pick for the best uncommon in Bloomburrow. It’s a Rabid Bite baseline + upside + even more upside, which is just frankly ridiculous in Limited. Definitely play this class enchantment if you open it, as it’s honestly better than most rares.

Starseer Mentor

Of all the signpost uncommons, Starseer Mentor is probably the one I’d be most likely to splash. Vigilance is particularly great on a well-stated flier like this.

Patchwork Banner

Manalith with upside is nothing new, but having that upside be a typal Glorious Anthem is! Patchwork Banner is a great in-between card that should be great in any deck that's mostly concentrated in one creature type. I look forward to casting a turn-4 Head of the Homestead after playing this one.

Bad Rares

Stormsplitter

Even in UR Otters, I’m not expecting good things from Stormsplitter. The initial body is just too bad, and you aren’t getting enough upside from casting a few spells to compensate for that.

Dawn's Truce

Mass hexproof isn’t great for , and being forced to give your opponent a card for mass indestructible also isn’t inspiring much confidence for Dawn's Truce.

Portent of Calamity

Portent of Calamity is an odd but ultimately overcosted draw spell that I won’t recommend playing. You’d need to pay an absurd amount of mana (say X=9) to have a real chance at getting anything for free off this.

Wishing Well

Not always bad, but most pools aren’t going to have the instant/sorcery count to play Wishing Well. More of an odd build-around for Draft than a Sealed card.

Scavenger's Talent

Even in Squirrels, Scavenger's Talent barely does anything for you. It’s a mediocre source of Food and self-mill that takes way too much investment to do anything relevant.

Artist's Talent

Completely unplayable in 40-card formats (and probably 60-card formats as well, if we’re being honest). Artist's Talent takes far too long for this to do anything, and you won’t have enough burn spells for Level 3 anyways.

Festival of Embers

I like Festival of Embers a tad better than Wishing Well I think, though they’re both pretty similar. If you have 10+ good instants and sorceries, by all means play this, but most decks won’t.

For the Common Good

Strange tokens card that wins the award of “most depressing card to have fizzle,” since a single well-timed kill spell can stop For the Common Good entirely. I’m just not interested in it, even in rabbits.

Mistbreath Elder

Mistbreath Elder is likely great in the nut frog deck. In any other deck, it’s stone unplayable, since it isn’t a “may” ability!

Special Guests

One last weird thing worth covering are the 10 Special Guests, which have been an inclusion in sets since The Lost Caverns of Ixalan. These are select cards from older sets that occasionally sneak into your packs, though they’re quite rare. They vary immensely in quality from bombs to stone unplayables.

Swords to Plowshares

Swords to Plowshares is absolutely insane removal, even in 2024. Arguable candidate for the best kill spell ever printed in Magic's history, and a windmill slam splash P1P1. Getting blown out by this isn’t going to feel good given how rare it is!

Ledger Shredder

Ledger Shredder is a great creature that coincidentally rotates out of Standard with Bloomburrow. It’s not unbeatable in Sealed, but certainly efficient enough that I’d love to open it/play it.

Rat Colony

Not sure what WotC is thinking by putting a card you need multiples of in a mythic rare slot, but hey, it’s cool for collectors at least. Rat Colony is a vanilla 2/1 in 99% of cases, so don’t play it.

Relentless Rats

So nice! They did it twice, I suppose? Relentless Rats is even worse since it’s a 2/2 at base.

Kindred Charge

Kindred Charge looks wildly inconsistent. I can see this being good on a stalled board in a specific deck, but I wouldn’t call it a true bomb as it might just do nothing in other games. Worth trying though if your deck is mostly all one type and in red, I suppose.

Sylvan Tutor

Card disadvantage is a big enough deal here that I’d only consider playing Sylvan Tutor with an insanely good tutor target, like Maha, Its Feathers Night.

Toski, Bearer of Secrets

Toski, Bearer of Secrets is a powerful squirrel that oddly enough probably works best in a non-Squirrels decks, as it really wants evasive creatures and tokens. I’d still play Toski in just about anything green though, as when it’s good, it is quite good.

Frogmite

Frogmite is 100% unplayable, as there’s basically no artifact component to this set. Cool flavor text, at least!

Sword of Fire and Ice

Sword of Fire and Ice competes with Swords to Plowshares for the title of “Best Special Guest.” Swords are a little clunky by 2024 MTG standards, but dear Garfield, is this card busted when it’s good. If you have the misfortune of being UR and losing to this, you have my full permission to complain to anyone who’ll listen! This does at least die to Agate Assault, I suppose…

By the way, Sword of Fire and Ice also looks like one of the most expensive cards you can open in a Bloomburrow pack, so always nice to see it!

Secluded Courtyard

The last Special Guest actually provides pretty decent mana fixing in a set like Bloomburrow! Secluded Courtyard’s nothing revolutionary, but I imagine most type-focused decks would be happy to start this over a basic.

Seven Steps for Prerelease Success!

1. Open your Play boosters and sort your cards by rarity and color. Note any exceptional cards (bombs, removal spells, multicolor cards, mana fixing, etc.).
2. Set weak cards aside, then assess which of your colors are deepest. Look for synergistic clusters of cards, especially ones that provide standout synergies for Bloomburrow’s big 10 archetypes.
3. Start laying out builds and try to include your best cards. Your baseline should be two colors with at least seven sources for each primary color (more is better).
4. Consider colorless costs and whether splashing makes sense for your pool. The best cards to splash are usually single-pip bombs, removal spells, or sources of card advantage.
5. Keep working on your deck, aiming for a good balance of bombs, removal, card advantage, and mana curve. If you’re worried about the clock, you can mitigate time anxieties by having a baseline done early (i.e. “I know I’m playing UR because I opened Ral, Crackling Wit and Stormchaser's Talent, but which non-creatures should I include…”).
6. Settle on a final product, then battle it out. Feel free to change your deck between rounds to fix errors and/or try new things.
7. Don’t forget that you can use Draftsim's Sealed pool generator to practice the set before attending your pre-release!

Wrap Up

Warren Warleader | Illustration by Zack Stella

And that’s it! We’ve reached the end of our furry little adventure, at least until the Draft Guide is out in a few weeks.

I thank you very much for reading and wish you the best of luck with your packs and games. Leave your thoughts on Bloomburrow’s Sealed environment in the comments below, and if you have any questions (or good battle stories to share!) stop by the Draftsim Discord for a chat.

Until next time, may your bombs always be unbeatable!