Modern is in a bit of an interesting spot right now. With the next round of regional championship qualifiers (RCQs) just a few days away, players are waiting for a certain Bird Wizard to eat the ban hammer. Until Nadu, Winged Wisdom hits the banlist, there is a clear number-one choice in the Modern format. However, WotC is scheduled to make its next ban announcement on August 26th, and it seems inevitable that Nadu’s days are numbered. With that in mind, the format is bound for a shake-up, and some Bloomburrow cards have a chance to make an impact in Modern.
Though the power level of this set rests more in its cute animal art than its gameplay (especially compared to MH3), there are a few interesting pieces from Bloomburrow that I have my eye on. If you’re the type that likes to buy low on these cards before they break out in a format, head over to Mana Pool for a great selection of Bloomburrow singles, sealed, and over seven million other cards in stock. Thanks to Mana Pool for sponsoring today’s post!
Best Bloomburrow Cards for Modern
1. Into the Flood Maw
Some of the most impactful cards from Standard sets in eternal formats tend to be the most unassuming. Into the Flood Maw isn’t exactly exciting unless you’re a combo player staring down a hate card. I can see this slotting into a deck like Izzet Breach or Dredge as a way to bounce troublesome permanents like Leyline of the Void on the cheap. Notably, this can bounce any nonland permanent at instant speed for the low price of a tapped 1/1 fish token. That creature is essentially irrelevant in the eyes of a combo deck.
I expect the Nadu ban to free up some room for other combo decks in the format. Phlage, Titan of Fire’s Fury remains one of the premier cards in the post-MH3 meta, so decks that play around it have a good chance of succeeding in the aftermath of Nadu’s demise. Should a blue-based pure combo deck rise up in the months to come, expect Into the Flood Maw to have a home in its sideboard.
2. Keen-Eyed Curator
To be clear, Keen-Eyed Curator isn’t going to become the new go-to graveyard hate card in Modern. That said, it has some interesting upside that’s worth monitoring. An upgraded Scavenging Ooze, it allows you to slowly pick apart your opponent’s yard without the strict green mana requirement. Though you lose the life gain aspect, Curator’s first three lines of text could give it a home in some Modern decks.
“As long as there are four or more card types among cards exiled with Keen-Eyed Curator, it gets +4/+4 and has Trample.”
It’s pretty trivial to find four different card types in a game of Modern, especially considering that you can dip into your own graveyard as well. Upgrading your Keen-Eyed Curator into a 7/7 with Trample automatically turns it from a graveyard hate piece to a game closer. Once Nadu gets the axe, we could see some hate-filled grindy decks try to make a comeback alongside the combo players. I like Keen-Eyed Curator as a sideboard slot for something like Jund Saga.
3. Lumra, Bellow of the Woods
Amulet specialist Dom Harvey shared a post on X highlighting one of Bloomburrow’s Calamity Beasts, Lumra, Bellow of the Woods. Reminiscent of Standard all-star Aftermath Analyst, Lumra gives you a similarly powerful effect while leaving a giant body behind. Dom shoved Lumra into an Amulet shell and found immediate success.
A note of caution, however, is that this deck is painful to click through on MTGO. If you want to explore the archetype, it’s probably best to do so in paper. Regardless, Lumra is a promising addition for lands-matter style decks and there is plenty of room to explore in a post-Nadu world.
4. Helga, Skittish Seer
Frogs! Up the Beanstalk is back, and this time it comes in the form of the three-mana Bant legendary, Helga, Skittish Seer. This card allows you to abuse the power of the Evoke elementals (thank goodness we can finally do that!) in the same way you could with Beanstalk. Whenever you cast a creature spell with a mana value of four or greater, you draw a card, gain a life, and put a +1/+1 counter on Helga. That’s a lot of value when you’re pitching cards to play Solitudes or Subtleties. Helga can also tap for mana to cast those creature spells later in the game as her power grows.
There are few drawbacks. For one, Helga only taps for one color of mana, so don’t get the big idea of casting Omnath off the second ability. This card also doesn’t draw a card when it enters like Up the Beanstalk, nor can you cascade into it with the usual three-drop cascaders. On the plus side, though, it does pitch to three of the four unbanned elementals (sorry, Grief) which is great for when you draw multiples.
Ultimately, Helga is a very strong draw engine that gains life along the way and conveniently slots into four-color shells.
5. Iridescent Vinelasher
Modern is a format all about fetch lands. Iridescent Vinelasher is a Lizard Assassin meant to capitalize on them. Each time a land you control enters, Vinelasher deals one damage to a target opponent. What makes this card exciting is that it costs just one black mana to cast. However, you can also pay its Offspring cost as you cast it (yes, it’s all kicker) to make an additional 1/1 token copy of it when it enters.
Doing the math, this means for three mana, you get two bodies that will deal four damage total for each fetch you play and crack. This lines up nicely for a black aggro deck that wants to drain the opponent’s life total with a thousand cuts. It also continues to do so in the late game, where many other one-drops fall short.
It’s not clear where Vinelasher belongs right now. However, it’s a very powerful card that plays nicely with Modern’s most powerful lands. It’s hard to imagine that Vinelasher won’t be at the helm of a Modern deck in the near future.
Conclusion
Modern is in a weird spot right now, and Bloomburrow has its work cut out if it wants to make an impact. However, there are several promising new cards that could find a home in the format once Nadu is gone. Hopefully for all of us, that’s sooner rather than later. Keep an eye on these Bloomburrow cards in Modern as you head out to your next RCQs, and be sure to let us know if you see any of them (or something else) making a splash! Until next time. Cheers!
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