by Johnny Cycles, January 2nd, 2026
Happy New Year! This month Lorwyn Eclipsed releases, nearly 20 years after our first trip to Lorwyn. Back in 2007, Magic was far from my thoughts as I was right in the middle of my graduate work studying Russian Literature. However, I know enough about Lorwyn to know that Lorwyn Eclipsed will be hard pressed to live up to that groundbreaking set. I even made a short video about five ways Lorwyn changed the game forever.
That’s right. Wizards introduced Planeswalkers in Lorwyn! You can read about the origin of the idea here. However, Lorwyn also brought some now iconic cards not of the Planeswalker variety.
And there is a whole host of others, from Faeries to Giants, from Elves to Goblins, from Kithkin to Elementals, the tribal flavor of the set was amazing. Furthermore, Lorwyn brought the Command cycle of spells, Hideaway lands, and more 5-color legendary creatures.
All of this is to say that the bar has been set extremely high. If Lorwyn Eclipsed lives up to it, I’ll be worried about just how much more power creep Wizards has introduced into the game to achieve this seemingly impossible accomplishment.
Nevertheless, I’m excited for my first trip to Lorwyn and I can’t wait to see the spoilers (set to begin January 5th).
In the meantime, I have another viewer-submitted deck and some Avatar: The Last Airbender cards I want to try out.
Schedule
January 2nd – Off – Happy New Year!
January 9th – Keeping Modern Janky – Werewolf Tribal
January 16th – Keeping Modern Janky – Azorius Airbending
January 23rd – Lorwyn Eclipsed – TBD
January 30th – Commander Clinic Contest – Bumi, Unleashed – winner announced!
The Usual Blurb
My goal is to publish an article between Wednesday and Friday every week. I am a stay-at-home dad of three with a part-time job, though, so there may be weeks that life gets in the way. Whenever possible, I’ll publish articles and videos when they’re ready. Published articles with edited game play are pretty time-intensive, hence the once-a-week-schedule. However, I’ll publish videos of unedited practice matches to my YouTube channel when I can and when it makes sense. Be sure to check there if you’re looking for a match but it isn’t yet on the site.
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About Me
I’m a former Russian literature professor who specialized in 19th-century Russian literature. I love Dostoevsky more than Tolstoy, but both will change your life. I’m currently a stay-at-home dad of three with a part-time job. I love fantasy fiction, mysteries, and horror movies. If you’re surprised at the length of my articles, hopefully my history as an academic plus my love of fantasy help explain it…
Thanks for reading! I look forward to reading your comments on my articles, Russian literature, or the best fantasy series ever written (Tolkien, Jordan, Sanderson?).
