Set Prospective
Bloomburrow
This article is part of our community-sourced Set Prospective series. We survey Cube designers before the set’s official release to document their first impressions of new cards.
One reason Cube is the best Magic format is that cube curators can get something out of every new set. For Bloomburrow, a Redwall-esque romp through an enchanted forest, we surveyed over 150 Cube owners to see which new cards excited them the most, and here are the results.
“the vibes are immaculate”
Results
With only 159 respondents, Bloomburrow is the least popular set of this year, but those who responded love the set: the median respondent is testing just as many cards (9) and rating them just as highly (2 cards given a high rating above 7.75) as for other Standard sets of 2024. Qualitatively, the set’s flavor has respondents raving, too.
| Card | Testers▼ | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| Emberheart Challenger | 28.3% | 6.4 |
| Fell | 25.8% | 7.3 |
| Kitsa, Otterball Elite | 24.5% | 7.1 |
| Shoreline Looter | 23.3% | 7.7 |
| Hired Claw | 22.6% | 6.7 |
| Iridescent Vinelasher | 20.8% | 6.9 |
| Darkstar Augur | 20.8% | 6.5 |
| Pawpatch Recruit | 20.1% | 6.3 |
| Mockingbird | 19.5% | 6.8 |
| Innkeeper's Talent | 19.5% | 6.5 |
| Plumecreed Escort | 18.9% | 6.3 |
| Stormchaser's Talent | 17.6% | 6.5 |
| Tender Wildguide | 15.7% | 6.2 |
| Feed the Cycle | 14.5% | 6.2 |
| Dour Port-Mage | 13.2% | 6.0 |
| The Infamous Cruelclaw | 13.2% | 5.9 |
| Stormcatch Mentor | 12.6% | 6.4 |
| Heartfire Hero | 11.9% | 6.9 |
| Zoraline, Cosmos Caller | 11.9% | 6.2 |
| Coruscation Mage | 11.3% | 7.0 |
| Jackdaw Savior | 10.7% | 5.5 |
| Dewdrop Cure | 10.7% | 5.4 |
| Hunter's Talent | 10.7% | 7.0 |
| Glarb, Calamity's Augur | 10.1% | 6.1 |
| Osteomancer Adept | 10.1% | 6.5 |
| Warren Warleader | 10.1% | 5.1 |
| Scavenger's Talent | 9.4% | 5.8 |
| Mindwhisker | 8.8% | 6.5 |
| Rottenmouth Viper | 8.8% | 6.0 |
| Galewind Moose | 8.8% | 6.9 |
| Diresight | 8.8% | 7.5 |
| Eddymurk Crab | 8.2% | 5.6 |
| Thought-Stalker Warlock | 8.2% | 6.1 |
| Brazen Collector | 8.2% | 5.5 |
| Hearthborn Battler | 7.5% | 5.5 |
| Keen-Eyed Curator | 7.5% | 5.0 |
| Hop to It | 7.5% | 5.6 |
| Fireglass Mentor | 7.5% | 6.1 |
| Scrapshooter | 6.9% | 7.0 |
| Burrowguard Mentor | 6.9% | 6.3 |
| Flamecache Gecko | 6.9% | 6.1 |
| Fountainport | 6.9% | 5.9 |
| Cruelclaw's Heist | 6.9% | 5.4 |
| Heaped Harvest | 6.9% | 6.4 |
| Spellgyre | 6.9% | 5.8 |
| Mistbreath Elder | 6.9% | 5.1 |
| Thundertrap Trainer | 6.9% | 5.8 |
| Salvation Swan | 6.9% | 5.5 |
| Season of Loss | 6.9% | 5.7 |
| Tempest Angler | 6.9% | 5.8 |
| Pond Prophet | 6.9% | 5.9 |
| Shrike Force | 6.3% | 5.7 |
| Carrot Cake | 6.3% | 5.6 |
| Huskburster Swarm | 6.3% | 5.6 |
| Gossip's Talent | 6.3% | 6.0 |
| Starfall Invocation | 6.3% | 6.4 |
| Seasoned Warrenguard | 6.3% | 5.1 |
| Maha, Its Feathers Night | 6.3% | 5.2 |
| Quaketusk Boar | 5.7% | 6.8 |
| Ral, Crackling Wit | 5.7% | 5.5 |
| Brightblade Stoat | 5.7% | 6.3 |
| Hugs, Grisly Guardian | 5.7% | 6.0 |
| Essence Channeler | 5.7% | 6.3 |
| Parting Gust | 5.7% | 6.0 |
| Builder's Talent | 5.7% | 6.2 |
| Sunspine Lynx | 5.7% | 5.3 |
| Blacksmith's Talent | 5.7% | 5.3 |
| Beza, the Bounding Spring | 5.7% | 4.6 |
| Fountainport Bell | 5.7% | 5.7 |
| Stocking the Pantry | 5.0% | 6.6 |
| Gev, Scaled Scorch | 5.0% | 5.8 |
| Season of the Burrow | 5.0% | 4.8 |
| Long River's Pull | 5.0% | 5.4 |
| Into the Flood Maw | 5.0% | 4.4 |
| Feather of Flight | 5.0% | 7.2 |
| Cindering Cutthroat | 5.0% | 5.4 |
| Savor | 5.0% | 6.7 |
| Heirloom Epic | 4.4% | 5.8 |
| Clifftop Lookout | 4.4% | 6.5 |
| Camellia, the Seedmiser | 4.4% | 5.6 |
| Bushy Bodyguard | 4.4% | 4.5 |
| Azure Beastbinder | 4.4% | 5.6 |
| Vinereap Mentor | 4.4% | 5.6 |
| Artist's Talent | 4.4% | 4.8 |
| Sugar Coat | 4.4% | 4.5 |
| Otterball Antics | 4.4% | 5.9 |
| Overprotect | 4.4% | 5.5 |
| Three Tree City | 4.4% | 6.3 |
Single Card Discussion
No cards from Bloomburrow crack the lists of more than a third of our respondents (usually there are at least a few with 33% or more, as much as 50%!). Perhaps this is a sign that BLB is truly unpopular, but I’m more willing to bet it is correlated with the way BLB’s Constructed impact so far has been outshone by a busted Modern metagame and a rotating Standard format. Fewer pros testing or popularizing new cards means less hype trickles into the Cube world.
The Clean Classics
“There's just a lot of clean little designs in this set.”
Even so, three critters ended up in a quarter of our cubes. Superficially, they all resemble the kinds of clean upgrades on power level which historically make an impact on our surveys: Emberheart Challenger is a pushed Prowess threat for aggressive decks, Fell is unrestricted removal, and Kitsa, Otterball Elite is a Merfolk Looter with a ton of upside. These cards exemplify a theme I noticed in BLB, an emphasis on extremely classic effects that have been in Magic since the 90’s. The cards themselves aren’t very different from the M10 or Llorwyn card files — it’s only the power level and flavor that have changed, rather than offering significant new synergy opportunities through mind-melting new mechanics.
Other Notables
To wit: most of Bloomburrow’s headline mechanics were tested only cautiously by our respondents. Pawpatch Recruit is the highest-tested card with the Offspring mechanic, itself the most popular new keyword from BLB (and can you blame them? the 1/1 tokens are both cute and totally backwards-compatible).
Shoreline Looter is the most tested Threshold card, a less-confusing riff on Looter il-Kor that again fills a classic role in cubes. Innkeeper's Talent is the most tested Class card.
Osteomancer Adept is the most popular Forage card followed by Feed the Cycle, while Emberheart Challenger nearly single-handedly buoys the Valiant mechanic in these results.
“It's nice that cube and the Magic cardpool have both expanded to the point that aesthetic preferences can be a valid consideration even for power-motivated environments.”
Finally, Dewdrop Cure is the most-tested card featuring Gift, a mechanic that had no standout cards by itself, but was the second-most-popular new mechanic nonetheless.
In my own opinion, BLB is easily the most underrated set so far this year. Classic effects with an instantly approachable flavor are exactly the kinds of cards that will hit with drafters with a wide spectrum of engagement and experience. As Cube continues to grow as a format, appealing to these players is increasingly important, and BLB is an incredible trove of resources in this regard.
But, whether I’m right or wrong, thank you to all of the respondents who give us a picture of the cube community with every set. Peace, love, cube.
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