Magic: The Gathering Bloomburrow is the darn cutest set ever and all about tribal colour teams

Magic: The Gathering Bloomburrow has had a positive buzz for any MTG set of 2024. And I think it’s for a simple reason. It’s an adorable set with critters instead of human/human-like characters. Of course, the inspirations here are Redwall or Mouse Guard, but the set feels unique even with that. Cowboys was cool, but it ain’t standing a chance against an otter wizard.

Mechanics

Many new mechanics are introduced in Bloomburrow, and they’re all built around combat. The ‘a great set to start the game at’ phrasing is thrown around a lot, but this one really has fun and easy-to-learn mechanics built into fighting.

Offspring

Offspring is an additional cost you can pay when casting some cards to get them to enter the battlefield with a copy of the cast card, except it’s a 1/1 instead. This is a great new mechanic that plays very heavily into the theme of this animal set, but it also plays well in games where you have more options for your mana. Sometimes, using it all to play one card and get triggers of it, ETB can be the right play.

Gift

Be a nice player and draw and let an opponent draw a card, or get a 1/1 fish. Obviously, the card is a big one, and it doesn’t cost you anything, but it may make some of your cards more powerful with additional text saying “if you gave a gift.” This makes this mechanic a lot of fun in Commander because you can literally gift your way to a truce with another player if you want.

Valiant

Very similar to ‘Heroic’ from Theros, this triggers on creatures the first time they’re targeted each turn by a spell or ability.

Forage

Tied into the squirrels in the set, foraging is about either exiling cards in your graveyard or sacrificing food tokens. Different squirrels have triggered abilities for if you forage.

Expend

This is for the raccoons, and they have triggered abilities when you “expend four mana” for the first time in a turn, which means spending/using four mana on something.

Pawprints

Several powerful cards in Bloomburrow let you choose “five pawprints worth of modes.” In its simplest terms, you have 5 points to assign and use however you wish across that card multiple abilities. You can use the one pawprint option five times, the 3 and 2 pawprint options, and the 3 and 1 pawprint option twice. Or whatever you want, as long as it equals five or fewer pawprints and no, you can’t save or use them for another casting later in the game.

Artwork

I really like the creature design in Bloomburrow; that is very obvious. But it’s more than just the cutie creatures; the passion and overall thematic unison seem to flourish with this set. Opening a boost has you stopping to enjoy every card without a single sore thumb, which feels odd to have been included in this set. The world created and seen within the art is primed for an art book on its way.

Allow me to share some of my favourite cards from the set below.

Bloomburrow

For the older MTG fans, Bloomburrow might not be what you’re after, with minimal cards that are going to have an effect on older formats or even Commander. When it comes to limited, the decks to draft are heavily focused on the tribal aspects and designed around turning cards sideways and attacking your opponents. There’s not much here for those wanting a deep limited mode, especially anyone looking for control decks. Personally, I don’t care, and the very rudimentary design around basic MTG design, paired with the world design of Bloomburrow itself, works perfectly for what this set is trying to do.