Magic: The Gathering’s Lorwyn Eclipsed teased by Mark Rosewater ahead of previews

Dozens of Lorwyn Eclipsed details revealed

Pre-release events for Magic: The Gathering’s next set, Lorwyn Eclipsed, begin Jan. 16, and while the full preview season is scheduled to kick off Jan. 5, Mark Rosewater just shared a long list of mechanical details that’ll appear in the set ahead of time — which he’s done regularly in the past.

In a Tumblr blog post published Dec. 15, Rosewater offered up a series of “teasers” that include only “partial information,” spanning everything from the types of counters in the set to specific card names. Let’s dive into some of the more significant reveals.

Lorwyn Eclipsed will include a “card that tutors every turn,” meaning there’s a permanent that searches your deck every round for something. This is likely either a creature or enchantment that costs a significant amount of mana to cast or otherwise has some kind of secondary condition. It could be something as modest as searching for a basic land card every turn, but a more exciting possibility is a tutor that scales with a creature’s power or another board state condition. It could be something like Land Tax, which allows you to search for up to three basic lands if your opponent controls more than you at the beginning of your upkeep.

Rosewater also mentions a new card that copies triggered abilities, which could be Kirol, Attentive First-Year, revealed in a Dec. 12 short story. By tapping two untapped creatures, Kirol can copy a triggered ability once per turn. We also know there’s a planeswalker that creates Kithkin creature tokens, and that the set at large focuses heavily on creature types, so it’s safe to expect a lot of board states that fill up quickly with smaller creatures of the same type.

Another standout is a piece of rules text on at least one card that will “counter all spells your opponents control.” While this doesn’t say “all spells cast this turn,” the wording suggests it could counter an arbitrary number of spells currently on the stack — an extremely powerful effect by modern Magic standards. In theory, Lorwyn Eclipsed could even provide a clean answer to turns that involve a massive number of instants, such as those enabled by the Firebending mechanic from the Avatar: The Last Airbender crossover set.

Rosewater also confirmed that the phrase “where X is the difference between its power and toughness” appears on at least one card. For most creatures, that split isn’t very meaningful — but in Lorwyn Eclipsed, it likely will be. Creatures with stat lines like 1/3 or 3/1 could suddenly become much more valuable. (Expect cards like the Jumbo Cactuar from the Final Fantasy set to shoot up in value because of this.)

There’s also a creature that enters the battlefield with six -1/-1 counters on it, suggesting either a massive base body or a design that revolves around removing or manipulating those counters over time. Either way, it reinforces the idea that -1/-1 counters — a hallmark of the original Lorwyn-Shadowmoor era — are doing real mechanical work again.

Another teaser includes the line “if this is the third time this ability has resolved this turn,” which strongly suggests a card that tracks repeated triggers. The language is reminiscent of Sephiroth, Fabled SOLDIER from the Final Fantasy crossover set, which transforms after a life-drain trigger resolves four times in a single turn.

Elsewhere in the post, Rosewater reveals that there’s a creature with this type line: “Legendary Creature – Elf Faerie Noble.” At a glance, this doesn’t seem all that significant, but when you consider the lore of Lorwyn-Shadowmoor, it’s a big deal. Within this plane at least, elves and faeries co-exist more or less in open war with one another. Elves see themselves as superior to other races. Unlike all the other races, faeries are able to freely move between Lorwyn and Shadowmoor. For there to be an “Elf Faerie Noble” might suggest breeding between the races or perhaps faerie royalty that assumes power of the elven hierarchy. Whoever winds up represented on this card will almost certainly be significant to the set’s story and overarching lore.

Other language from Rosewater’s reveals says, “As this artifact enters, choose Elemental, Elf, Faerie, Giant, Goblin, Kithkin, Merfolk, or Treefolk.” This confirms the core eight creature types that’ll return with the set, reiterating a tribal focus for the set at large.

Late in Rosewater’s rundown, he names “Bark of Doran,” which sounds like it could be a piece of equipment or a creature-adjacent artifact. Doran is the name of a massive Treefolk that appeared in the original Lorwyn set as Doran, the Siege Tower. A 0/5, Doran famously makes creatures assign combat damage equal to their toughness rather than their power — reinforcing the idea that Lorwyn Eclipsed may once again lean heavily on the difference between power and toughness.

Beyond those headline mechanics, Rosewater’s teaser list includes a wide range of smaller but still notable details. He notes several returning “kindred” reprints, referring to various artifacts, instants, sorceries, and enchantments that interact directly with specific creature types. The set also includes a wide variety of counters — including charge, dream, and more typical counters like flying, first strike, indestructible, and lifelink.

Rosewater also confirmed the return of a keyword first introduced earlier in 2025, along with cameo appearances from several Lorwyn- and Shadowmoor-era mechanics. The set will produce tokens ranging from 1/1 blue-black Faeries and colorless Shapeshifters to a 3/4 green Treefolk, further emphasizing creature-heavy board states.

Finally, Rosewater teased several card names — including Mirrorform, Moonshadow, Gilt-Leaf’s Embrace, and Chaos Spewer — offering early hints at the narrative directions Lorwyn Eclipsed will take when full previews begin next month. Mirrorform feels like a reference to the light and shadow selves that all residents of the plane take whenever they cross the boundary between Lorwyn and Shadowmoor. Gilt Leaf also references the strongest elvish tribe on the plane of Lorwyn. So these are mostly little nods to familiar entities from previous sets.

All told, it’s clear that Lorwyn Eclipsed isn’t just revisiting one of Magic’s most beloved planes — it’s testing whether modern Magic can handle the weirdness that made Lorwyn special in the first place.