Vintage 101: A Return to Lorwyn
Howdy folks! It's time yet again for another edition of Vintage 101! I'm your host, Joe Dyer, and this week we're doing our set review for Lorwyn Eclipsed! In addition to that we've got some Challenges from this past week to take a look at.
Without further do, let's dive right in!
Return of the Lorwyn
We just wrapped up spoiler season on a new Standard set in the form of Lorwyn Eclipsed! This set is a return back to the planes of Lorwyn/Shadowmoor, and frankly there's not a lot of cards in this set for Vintage (which is sort of a good thing probably?) so this set review is actually going to be fairly short. We got a return of things like Kindred and Changelings, but many of the new mechanics just don't really sit in the world of Vintage.
That being said, let's talk about the cards that did catch my eye. If there's a card I might have missed here, please let me know!
Hexing Squelcher
My honest opinion of this card in a format like Vintage is rather low, frankly. It could possibly see play in some of the Breach builds for the mirrors since those decks don't tend to have a lot of removal main deck, but even that feels just okay. The ward cost really is not that restrictive (2 life is frankly nothing), and it just seems super easy to deal with if you have a way to get rid of it.
It is certainly possible that this could be good, but I do think the only deck that will like it is Lurrus Breach. There is also a possibility that Goblins could play it since it's another piece that can be deployed to protect the Conspicuous Snoop combo.
Either way, I don't see this redefining the format or anything, but it has some spaces it could show up.
Abigale, Eloquent First-Year
If Death's Shadow ever becomes a thing ever again, then this is pretty sweet. You could also put this into play on a massive Psychic Frog to get around effects like Clarion Conqueror since it will just naturally get flying. It doesn't even matter if this card gets exiled or bounced with Karakas (the best case scenario honestly), it does its thing immediately, and that's cool.
Taster of Wares
Goblins is typically straight Mono Red, but I think there's a reasonable notion to possibly move into Rakdos for certain effects. Having a Thoughtseize-like effect on a Goblin is kind of cool, and this is definitely strong disruption.
Vintage Challenge 32 1/8/2026
The first Challenge event of the week was the Thursday event. This event had 45 players in it thanks to the MTGO Vintage Discord.
You can find the Top 32 decklists for this event here and the data sheet here.
Both Initiative and Dimir Lurrus were very popular (12 copies EACH), but Initiative's win rate wasn't as good despite a Top 8 while Dimir Lurrus' win rate was very good. Sphere Shops did very well here too. Dredge did poorly.
Let's take a look at the Top 8.
| Deck Name | Placing | MTGO Username |
|---|---|---|
| Raker Shops | 1st | Caleb_Yetman |
| Dimir Lurrus | 2nd | SuperCow12653 |
| Dimir Lurrus | 3rd | J0hnWick |
| Sphere Shops | 4th | _Shatun_ |
| Lurrus Breach | 5th | morsaaa |
| Dimir Lurrus | 6th | bless_von |
| Dimir Lurrus | 7th | duke12 |
| Initiative | 8th | medvedev |
Lot of Dimir Lurrus here, but the event was won by Raker Shops.
Inventors' Fair was always a pretty sweet card back in the day, so I'm glad to see people are still playing around with it. Flexible tutoring is always pretty cool.
In Second Place, we had Dimir Lurrus.
I do think Wan Shi Tong, Librarian is actually really interesting in this deck. The nonbo of casting it from the graveyard for X>0 stinks, but it's a super powerful threat with evasion that grows.
At the bottom of the Top 8 we had Initiative.
This is probably one of the cleanest sideboards I've seen out of an MWI list. Sanctifier en-Vec as both a card that hits Dredge cards but also has pro black and red is kind of neat.
Vintage Challenge 32 1/9/2026
The second Challenge event of the week was the Friday event. This event had 42 players in it thanks to the MTGO Vintage Discord.
You can find the Top 32 decklists for this event here and the data sheet here.
A bunch of decks are tied for most played here. Dredge didn't look too hot, and both Initiative/Dimir Lurrus had less than 50% win rates despite Dimir Lurrus having a strong finish. Shops decks looked very good here.
Let's take a look at the Top 8.
| Deck Name | Placing | MTGO Username |
|---|---|---|
| Dimir Lurrus | 1st | Frejat |
| Lurrus Doomsday | 2nd | DEJAIR_LAMARCA |
| Dimir Murktide | 3rd | Sprouts |
| Raker Shops | 4th | crK |
| Initiative | 5th | Capitano_CL |
| Sphere Shops | 6th | _Shatun_ |
| Raker Shops | 7th | _Batutinha_ |
| Jewel Shops | 8th | JustABee5 |
Fair bit of Shops here, but at the end of the event, it was Dimir Lurrus that won.
Multiple Null Rod main deck is certainly a thing. Shops does feel very good at the moment, but it's also just shutting down a lot of other decks that try to get off the ground early with fast mana.
In Second Place, we had Lurrus Doomsday.
Unable to Scream is a super cool card. Being able to reduce anything to a 0/2 with no abilities for U is gas, but then you can also just recast it with Lurrus if you need to do so.
Also in this Top 8 we had... DIMIR MURKTIDE?!
Sprouts made a post about this, basically talking about wanting to exploit the Fatal Push metagame that the Dimir Lurrus decks tend to push by playing cards like Murktide Regent that can't be hit with Push. Seems like it worked pretty well.
Vintage Challenge 32 1/10/2026
The third Challenge event of the week was the Saturday event. This event had 57 players in it thanks to the MTGO Vintage Discord.
You can find the Top 32 decklists for this event here and the data sheet here.
Dimir Lurrus was the most played deck of the event, and it had a pretty good win rate overall. This being a bigger event meant more decks in the mix with pretty reasonable ups and downs. Of these, Raker Shops did not do great, with a 30% win rate.
Let's take a look at the Top 8.
| Deck Name | Placing | MTGO Username |
|---|---|---|
| Dimir Lurrus | 1st | gusti99 |
| Doomsday | 2nd | blub_blu |
| Dimir Lurrus | 3rd | Thalai |
| Initiative | 4th | sandydogmtg |
| Lurrus PO | 5th | Miharu_Fuyumiya |
| Tinker | 6th | Erik157751 |
| Dimir Lurrus | 7th | NeyMatoGrosso |
| Dimir Lurrus | 8th | _Babbuja_ |
Again, a lot of Dimir Lurrus, and it in fact won the event.
Snapcaster Mage is a pretty cool inclusion here. Being able to rebuy something by casting it from the graveyard late game is sweet.
In Second Place, we had Doomsday.
Pretty standard non-Lurrus Doomsday list here. I love that there's at least a few decks that want to play four Ponder out there.
Also in this Top 8 we had Tinker.
I still maintain that it's a really good thing that stuff like Mana Drain is seeing play in Vintage again. After being virtually nonexistent for a long time, it's a sweet card, and realistically, it's because Stock Up exists.
Vintage Challenge 32 1/11/2026
The final Challenge event of the week was the Sunday event. This event had 32 players in it thanks to the MTGO Vintage Discord.
You can find all of the decklists for this event here and the data sheet here.
Dimir Lurrus was the most played deck, and it had a pretty strong win rate. Dredge had a poor win rate despite a Top 8 appearance. Sphere Shops did very well on a single pilot.
Let's take a look at the Top 8.
| Deck Name | Placing | MTGO Username |
|---|---|---|
| Oath | 1st | Ecoscuro |
| Sphere Shops | 2nd | crK |
| Tinker | 3rd | Erik157751 |
| Dredge | 4th | Munchlax446 |
| Esper Lurrus | 5th | lordoflifegain |
| Dimir Murktide | 6th | burrarun |
| Dimir Lurrus | 7th | MultiformatSuperstar |
| Raker Shops | 8th | luvadepedreiro |
This is a pretty interesting Top 8 here. At the end of the event, it was Oath that won.
This looks like a pretty solid list here. Oath doesn't need to be complicated. Just needs to cast Oath and put Atraxa into play.
In Second Place, we had the lone Sphere Shops player of the event.
Super straightforward list. I absolutely love Scrawling Crawler. It was such a great card for Shops decks to get.
Also in this Top 8 we had Dredge.
Silversmote Ghoul continues to be the go-to aggressive threat in Dredge. One thing here to note is there's nothing like Wasteland or Strip Mine to deal with Tabernacle, but it feels like Tabernacles aren't being played a lot lately.
Around the Web
- Justin Gennari always has some things for us.
- FiretruckModo is questing with Katara. Check it out here.
- Kindamtg has an interview with ChessNight5030! Check it out here.
The Spice Corner
This list is pretty sweet.
Wrapping Up
That's all the time we have this week folks! Thanks for your continued support of the column and join me next week as we continue our journey into Vintage!
As always you can reach me at my Link Tree! In addition you can always reach me on the MTGGoldfish Discord Server and the Vintage Streamers Discord.
Until next time!
