Magic: The Gathering‘s latest set takes players to the Valley on August 2, 2024. With only anthropomorphic animals as our characters, Magic: the Gathering – Bloomburrow is the first Plane devoid of human characters. The story itself takes place in the Valley which is threatened by elemental forces that have begun to rage out of control. But the protectors of this land are the smallest of creatures.
The story of the Players will put their best paws forward, fighting alongside mice, frogs, bats, birds, and myriad other critters to restore the balance of peace—and prove bravery comes in all sizes. Unlike the humanoid animals that are showcased on other Planes, the animalfolk of Bloomburrow are animals first and foremost.
The creature types include woodland creatures, with a focus on Bats, Birds, Frogs, Lizards, Mice, Otters, Rabbits, Raccoons, Rats, and Squirrels as the 10 Types that make up the draft archetypes. Other woodland creatures include Badgers, Hamsters, and Fish. Bloomburrow introduces the Skunk and Weasel creature types as well for players. The animalfolk of Bloomburrow are the size of regular animals of their species, and that is what makes their fight against the Elemental Calamity Beasts all the more epic. The smallest of animalfolk take on Calamity Beasts that appear as Bears, Birds, Elk, and Wolves—natural predators adapted to tell the story.
When it comes to the cohesive story, Bloomburrow is the first set in the Dragonstorm Arc. Here, we follow a ragtag team of animalfolk adventurers, Mabel, Gev, Hugs, Finneas, and Zoraline, as they work to redeem their world. who must band together to save their realm from elemental calamity beasts and the Great-Night Owl.
While there are raised-foil anime-style special cards, the overall artistic style of Bloomburrow taps into classical woodland whimsy. Bloomburrow’s art offers a seriousness to the work with its watercolor-inspired style that balances the card set’s whimsy against more adult sensibilities, a style very similar to the children’s books and animation of the 70s and 80s.
One of the elements that struck me about Bloomburrow was the concerted effort that the team put into balancing these adorable creatures with adding layers of depth to lore and play. More importantly, the artwork captures the naturally cute aesthetic that woodland creatures inspire but with swords, shields, and magic that perfectly captures Magic: The Gathering’s high fantasy world.
What Are the Animalfolk in Bloomburrow?
At the preview event, we didn’t see all of the animalfolk that will be making appearances, but we did see quite a bit.
Mousefolk: Plucky, loyal, and seekers of adventure and glory, the Mousefolk are focused on an aggro strategy. The Mousefolk are the smallest creatures that we will see in the Valley, which makes their reliance on combat tricks important to get an advantage.
- Gift: When you play the Gift card, you must decide if you are going to promise the gift or not. Based on the promise, an action will happen after the spell is resolved. If the spell is blocked from resolving, the player does not get the Gift that was promised. While it is a “friendly” card on the surface, the ability to use it as a strategy becomes important.
Rabbitfolk: Rabbits thrive on the Go Wide Strategy, summon more of them and keep the community together to build a stronger force. Rabbitfolk are talented ches and community-focused farmers.
- Offsrping: With Offsrping, you can pay mana to summon a 1/1 copy of the creature you just called forth.
- Valley Questcaller: Mono-color cards bundle together all of the creatures that touch in one color of their pair. This allows you to call forth multiple creator types, allowing you to bundle them together and play across your favorites.
Batfolk: Starworshippers, the Batfolk are eccentric and mysterious nocturnal defenders. Highly religious and slightly spooky, the Batfolk are all about gaining and losing life when it comes to their playstyle.
Racoonfolk: The largest animalfolk, the Raccoonfolk, are all about using their magic to animate another person’s trash into your treasure—projectiles, armor, or weapons.
- Expend: The mechanic checks how much mana you have spent during your turn and offers rewards with the more that you spend. Because the Racoonfolk is the largest animalfolk in Bloomburrow, they are all about big spells.
Lizardfolk: Cantankerous fire-worshippers, the Lizardfolk are expressive artists and are an aggressive strategy type that offer you bonuses if you have dealt damage during your turn.
Squirrelfolk: A midrange strategy-type, they utilize Forage, a new mechanic for Bloomburrow. Additionally, they push back against the cute stereotype you would assume by being skilled necromancers who worship the bones of Calamity Beasts.
- Forage: This taps into your graveyard and food, allowing you to pick where to “feed” and pull off large moves.
Ratfolk: Isolationists and keeps of secrets (and ancient relics), the Ratfolk manage extensive underground libraries. While they aren’t immediately easy to warm up to, they do have the best interest of the animalfolk at heart.
- Threshold: A returning mechanic, Threshold will count seven cards in your graveyard and return one to your hand.
Otterfolk: Clever and fun, they seek out storms and Calamity Beasts to fight them on their own.
Frogfolk: Their strategy is all about blinking and bouncing. They are the Augers of Valley, using the water to see the future and predict the paths of Calamity Beasts.
