If you've been around long enough to remember Lorwyn and Shadowmoor, you probably did a double take at the newest Lorwyn Eclipsed (ECL) previews. Magic: the Gathering is leaning hard into nostalgia, and honestly, I'm here for it. (Fun fact: I made my first return to the game after taking a break after Invasion with Lorwyn!) This mini-wave of spoilers is less about reinventing the wheel and more about remixing some of the most beloved (and infamous) cards from that block.

So, come with me as I put on my nostalgia mask and let's dive in.

Bitterbloom Bearer

The callback here is obvious: this is Bitterblossom with wings and a sword. Instead of an enchantment draining you every upkeep, you now get a 1/1 flash, flying Faerie Rogue that carries the exact same upkeep trigger.

What's different is the vulnerability. A creature is easier to remove than an enchantment, but that's a tradeoff for the ability to flash this in while keeping your mana open for interaction. In EDH, Faerie kindred decks (Alela, Cunning Conqueror says hi) will love another source of evasive bodies, and Aristocrats decks can still take advantage of the steady stream of fodder.

Think of this as "Bitterblossom Lite": more fragile, but also more flexible.

Bitterbloom Bearer also has the honor of being Lorwyn Eclipsed's headliner card with a beautiful serialized art by Rebecca Guay. This printing will surely get collector's buzzing as there will only be 500 copies of it in the wild.

Mutable Explorer

If you ever sleeved up Mutavault back in the day, this one's for you. Mutable Explorer is a Shapeshifter with Changeling that creates a tapped Mutavault token when it enters. A land token that's every creature type? That's wild.

Commander players are going to have fun with this one. Kindred decks - whether it's Slivers, Zombies, or Elves - will welcome both the Changeling body and the pseudo-Mutavault. It's not the most efficient ramp spell, but it's flavorful and sneaky utility that kindred and token decks can absolutely exploit.

The fact that the Mutable Explorer itself is a Changeling makes it even more versatile. If you're brewing Miirym, Sentinel Warden, Cosmic Spider-Man, or Morophon, the Boundless or any other kindred general, this one's a slam dunk.

Figure of Fable

The glow-up from Figure of Destiny is here. Figure of Fable follows the same level-up style, but tuned for modern design sensibilities. You can slowly invest mana to make it a Scout, then a Soldier, and finally a massive Kithkin Avatar with protection from each opponent.

The protection clause is huge. Unlike its predecessor, this final form is much harder to answer and is almost guaranteed to smack someone for seven. In Commander, that makes it less of a grindy mana sink and more of a legitimate late-game threat.

Will it dominate Commander tables? Probably not. But it will make Kithkin fans smile, and in any deck that can spare the mana, it's a fun, scalable creature that threatens to take over if unanswered. Standard weenie decks of the future may want to consider slotting Figure of Fable in though as it has all the signs of being a beast in that competitive Constructed format.

Sygg, Wanderwine Wisdom // Wanderbrine Shield

Here's the big one. Sygg, River Guide is back, but this time as a double-faced legend.

• Front side (Wanderwine Wisdom): Unblockable 2/2 that grants Curiosity style card draw whenever a creature connects. That alone makes Sygg an excellent card advantage engine.
• Back side (Wanderbrine Shield): Flip it, and you get a 2/2 unblockable that gives one of your creatures protection from every color until the end of turn. That's a brutal shield against removal and opens the door for safe alpha strikes.

What makes this design sing is the tension: do you want cards, or do you want protection? Being able to pivot between offense and defense gives Sygg more play than most two-drop legends, and the unblockable body means it's never dead weight.

In Commander, Sygg is now a legitimate build-around - letting you lean into evasive card draw strategies, or protection-based Voltron setups. Expect to see this one making waves in Merfolk kindred decks.

A Strong Start

Lorwyn Eclipsed is Wizards of the Coast pulling on the heartstrings of players who remember Faeries grinding out games, Mutavaults swinging for lethal, and Figures of Destiny scaling up into win conditions. Each of these previews takes an iconic design and reimagines it for 2026 Magic. While it was said at MacicCon Atlanta's Preview Panel that these throwback cards aren't going to comprise a lot of the set... I certainly expect quite a bit more thoughtful reimaginings to be spoiled soon.

EDH players are going to experiment with all of these. Faerie and token decks get a new toy. Kindred decks get a sneaky ramp spell. Kithkin finally has a worthy Figure again. And Sygg? Sygg just went from role player to Commander frontliner.

If this is the tone for the rest of the set, Lorwyn Eclipsed is shaping up to be one big love letter to one of Magic's strangest, most flavorful blocks from the 2000s.