Cute animals are a staple in Magic: the Gathering, but through the Standard-legal Bloomburrow set, they’re adorable, collectible, and a blast to play.
The last MTG set at Prerelease without a bonus sheet was Murders at Karlov Manor, and I can’t remember the last time there weren’t five or more bombs from The List or Special Guest cards in the Limited format. For the first time in a long time, I enjoyed deckbuilding and gameplay alike at the Bloomburrow Prerelease events.
I had a slight advantage heading into the Bloomburrow Prerelease weekend, having played in the July 24 early access content creator event on MTG Arena. Playing against some of the best players in the world is a great introduction to a format’s meta. Most of my time during the MTG Arena Streamer Event was spent in Draft but I did sneak in a few Sealed rounds. Between early access and games at my LGS, here are four things I think everyone should know before playing the Sealed Bloomburrow meta.
Bloomburrow is a high tempo aggressive format
Aggro players are thriving in Bloomburrow Limited, even in Sealed. Mid-range is very much alive, as is some Control, but aggressive decks are favored with the stats to back up the build choice.
- One-drops are important. In Draft, the priority of one-drops is higher but you still need a solid Curve in Sealed.
- Missing Curve is equal to flooding out. Both feel awful and will let your opponent take control of the board state.
Color splashing is risky in Bloomburrow Sealed
Playing three or more colors in Sealed is practically a requirement, but not in Bloomburrow. Unfortunately, there will be times when it’s unavoidable.
- If you have to splash, make Green one of your primary colors. Green is the mana liferaft color in Blloomburrow. Relying on lands to help you splash is a mistake.
- Synergy is more important than combos. Craft your build around synergies like reanimation (primarily found in the MTG colors White and Black and targeting your own creatures (dominantly found in White, Blue, Red, and Green).
Play to strengths and not bombs in Bloomburrow Sealed
Limited bombs in Bloomburrow are strong but only reach the illustrious status of being a bomb if the pieces are there to support it. Look for high-rarity cards that synergize with your pieces rather than standalone cards that are an obvious threat.
- Lifegain matters in Bloomburrow. Between Aristocrat strategies through Bats and BR and aggressive dual-color builds, gaining life is a must.
- Bombs matter less. Most of the Bloomburrow bombs aren’t strong without the proper synergy. Forcing bombs is a mistake that will make your deck clunky and slow.
Don’t sleep on graveyard reanimation in Bloomburrow
My initial assessments of reanimation in Bloomburrow were off as I downplayed the power of reanimation until I crafted builds using Scavenger’s Talent in conjunction with Mudflat Village. I also found Dewdrop Cure useful in Rabbits and Whiserkvale Forerunner a hot commodity in the Mouse Bloomburrow archetype.
For a deeper dive into the MTG Bloomburrow Limited Draft and Sealed format, we have guides for archetypes like Mice and Birds, with more to come. The Standard-legal set will digitally launch through MTG Arena on July 30, featuring a new Constructed meta and Limited events.
