Everything You Need to Know About Imagine: Courageous Critters Cards in Bloomburrow

Last updated on August 22, 2024

Karn, the Great Creator | Illustrated by Mike Burns

Bloomburrow is a weird–if furry–Magic plane. It's not just that there are no humans on it: No humans can be on it.

Just ask everybody's favorite lightning-crackling Izzet () guild master, Ral Zarek, who upon planes-waltzing onto Bloomburrow, found himself turned into a walking, talking (and still lightning-crackling) otterfolk: Ral, Crackling Wit.

According to Bloomburrow‘s canon storyline, Ral is the only human (that we know of) that has journeyed to Bloomburrow thus far, and perhaps Jace visited earlier.

But, what if… in an alternate timeline, many of Magic's most iconic creatures and characters, from Jace and Liliana to Birds of Paradise and Baleful Strix, were Bloomburrow's natives?

That's exactly what Bloomburrow‘s Imagine: Courageous Critters is all about!

What Are the Courageous Critter Cards in Bloomburrow

Domri, Anarch of Bolas | Illustration by Edgar Sánchez Hidalgo

Imagine: Courageous Critters are alternate-art reprints of 24 iconic creatures and planeswalkers that put furry faces on familiar friends (and foes).

For example, Jace, the Mind Sculptor appears as a cunning fox, and Liliana of the Dark Realms as a somewhat grumpy squirrel.

Note that, unlike Ral, Crackling Wit – which is a new card that shows up in Bloomburrow‘s main set and is part of the canon storyline – the Imagine: Courageous Critters reprints are not canon.

In other words, they’re more of a “What if any of them, instead of Ral, had shown up on Bloomburrow?” alternate-timeline reimagining of iconic Magic cards.

How Many Courage Critter Cards Are in BLB?

Twenty-four in total.

Twenty can be found in Bloomburrow‘s Collector boosters, while the other four come with Bloomburrow‘s Commander precons.

List of Imagine: Courageous Critter Cards in Bloomburrow

• Karn, the Great Creator
• Luminous Broodmoth
• Jace, the Mind Sculptor
• Narset, Parter of Veils
• Ink-Eyes, Servant of Oni
• Liliana of the Dark Realms
• Marrow-Gnawer
• Ant Queen
• Birds of Paradise
• Chatterfang, Squirrel General
• Gilded Goose
• Nissa, Who Shakes the World
• Squirrel Mob
• Baleful Strix
• Derevi, Empyrial Tactician
• The Gitrog Monster
• Ishai, Ojutai Dragonspeaker
• Kwain, Itinerant Meddler
• Kykar, Wind's Fury
• Teferi, Time Raveler
• Elspeth, Sun's Champion
• Domri, Anarch of Bolas
• Garruk, Cursed Huntsman
• Tamiyo, Field Researcher

Are Courageous Critter Cards in Play Boosters?

Nope! Not a single one of them!

You won't find any of the Imagine: Courageous Critters cards in Play boosters.

You may crack open a Ral, Crackling Wit, but that's a card from the main set (Courageous Critters are all alternate-art reprints from older sets).

Where Can You Open Courageous Critter Cards?

Twenty of these Imagine: Courageous Critters reprints can be found in Bloomburrow‘s Collector boosters, and only in those boosters.

The other four can only be found as part of the 99 in each one of Bloomburrow‘s Commander precons, namely:

• Tamiyo, Field Researcher is part of the Peace Offerings precon,
• Garruk, Cursed Huntsman is part of the Squirreled Away precon,
• Domri, Anarch of Bolas is part of the Animated Army precon,
• Elspeth, Sun's Champion is part of the Family Matters precon.

All Imagine: Courageous Critters have the BLC expansion code, and they have “Imagine: Critters” written in the lower-left corner, right above the artist's name.

Are Courageous Critters Standard Legal?

No. Courageous Critters aren’t Standard-legal.

As reprints with their own set code (BLC, rather than BLB, which is Bloomburrow‘s main set code) they’re legal in whichever formats they were already legal in.

But they aren’t playable in Standard.

Will Courageous Critters Come to MTG Arena?

Yes!

WotC has confirmed that all of them will come to MTG Arena.

Source: https://www.reddit.com/r/MagicArena/comments/1e4w2nd/courageous_critters_confirmed_for_arena/

Around a dozen of these cards already exist in MTGA (in their original art versions). The rest will be brand-new for the platform. WotC has stated in an Arena announcement that all Courageous Critters cards will be available on Arena (with one rebalanced card), and each will have to be crafted with wildcards (they will not be present in Play boosters). These cards are expected to be legal in Arena's Timeless format, Historic, and Brawl.

Wrap Up

Tamiyo, Field Researcher | Illustration by Justin Gerard

Bloomburrow looks like one of the cutest MTG sets ever, but artists and designers have gone a long way in making sure that it's not all unicorns and rainbows. And although Imagine: Courageous Critters aren’t really canon, they do cement the idea that, fuzzy and plushy as many things may be around this plane, in Bloomburrow you really shouldn't let your guard down.

What about you? Are these a pass for you? Or are these the kind of cards you just need to build a deck around? Let me know in the comments or over at the Draftsim Discord.

Good luck out there!