Bloomburrow (BLB) Limited Guide: Black

Note: This article was translated from Chinese by AI and may contain errors. Read the original Chinese version.

Bloomburrow (BLB) holds its Prerelease on July 26, 2024, and is officially released one week later on August 2, 2024. Want to know more about how each card rates in Limited and what to pick? Then check out this series of BLB Limited guides!

For the mechanics, see this article: Bloomburrow Mechanics Breakdown
For a first look at the Limited archetypes, see this article: Bloomburrow Limited Preliminary Look

This series of Limited guides is primarily about the ratings; some average cards, or cards with relatively simple abilities, will not get a specific comment.

Rating Scale

5.0: Unconditional first pick
4.5: Unconditional first pick if you are in the right colors
4.0: Worth a first pick
3.5: Strong enough, but not necessarily a first pick
3.0: Above average (you will really want it in your final deck)
2.5: Average; maybe around the 6th or 7th pick in a draft
2.0 to 1.0: Below average (you would rather not play it than play it)
0.5 to 0.0: Unplayable (basically never play it; it will only help you lose)

Card Ratings

082	083	084

2.5	3.0	2.5

Comments:

Bandit’s Talent: Two-mana discard of one nonland card (or two land cards) with an extra effect is not bad and would be worth 3.5, but the level 2 and 3 effects only become good enough in the very late game, so in a star-studded black it rates a bit lower, probably only 3.0.

085	086	087

1.5	3.5	3.0

Comments:

Coilong Rebirth: Although making an extra copy is strong, this set has few bombs with high-value enters abilities, and the copy being limited to 1/1 essentially just earns you a second enters effect, so most of the time it is still a five-mana reanimation spell.
Consumed by Greed: Makes the opponent sacrifice their greatest-power creature, so most of the time it handles the biggest threat on the board, and when you have a high-value creature in your graveyard (worth more than a random card from the opponent’s hand), the gift effect can bring a big advantage in the resource war.

088	089	090

2.5	2.5	1.0

Comments:

Cruelclaw’s Heist: A card with a very high ceiling, but effects that look at the hand generally perform mediocrely in Limited, and you have to decide whether to give the opponent a card before seeing their hand. If the opponent’s hand is ordinary and you do not get a strong enough card, it is a big loss.
Darkstar Augur: This card needs a very long explanation, as follows:
In the team that took part in the joint ratings, 7 people rated this card in total. Two gave it 2.5 or above and five gave it 0.5 or below (the final score is the average). I personally gave it 0. The opinions are extremely polarized, which makes it a card very much worth discussing.
The reason for giving 2.5 or above is more intuitive: although it has the downside of losing life, as a three-mana 2/3 flyer with decent stats that can earn cards every turn, it brings enough threat and resources and leads to victory.
The reasons for giving 0.5 or below are more complicated, but they mainly revolve around the life-loss downside:
1. Its life-loss effect is basically a copy of Dark Confidant. Dark Confidant has been studied extensively with data in the past, so I will only give the conclusion. In a format where the starting life total is 20, keeping the average mana value (lands included) between 1.2 and 1.3 lets this kind of effect work best, 1.5 and above starts to get dangerous and you should consider leaving it out, and 1.7 and above it basically cannot make the deck. In Limited the average mana value easily exceeds 1.7, so the life loss from putting it in your deck is far greater than the benefit of drawing a card.
2. Compared with constructed formats, high-powered cards in Limited tend to cost more. In Modern, for example, each trigger costing 2 life might bring in a Tarmogoyf with 4 or more power. With the expectation of flipping a card that costs 3 or less, the overall card strength in Limited is not enough to trade for a winning advantage.
3. Limited games easily turn into board stalls or life-total races, and in those situations this card is one that makes you “lose”.
In summary, after combining the opinions of all our writers, we still lean toward not recommending that readers play this card in Limited.

091	092	093

3.0	2.5	2.0

Comments:

Diresight: Cards that earn the value of two cards from one card are not bad in Limited. Although it has the downside of losing life, being able to surveil first also increases the value of the draw.

094	095	096

3.5	3.5	3.0

Comments:

Feed the Cycle: Although early on it is easily just a three-mana removal spell, as an instant-speed answer to any creature it is still very powerful in Limited.
Fell: Two-mana unconditional removal is just too strong.

097	098	099

3.0	3.0	3.0

Comments:

Iridescent Vinelasher: Playing it on time on turn 1 is already strong, and on time on turn 3 is even stronger; every land after that deals 2, forcing the opponent to deal with it, but it is worse when drawn in the mid-to-late game.

100	101	102

5.0	2.5	3.0

Comments:

Maha, Its Feathers Night: Five mana 6/5 flying and trample, with ward, and it also makes the opponent’s creatures all have 1 toughness. Without a doubt a 5.0 bomb.
Nocturnal Hunger: A Murder that is even less demanding on colored mana. The downside of giving a Food is small, and as a common its value is higher still.

103	104	105

4.0	3.0	2.5

Comments:

Osteomancer Adept: A two-mana 2/2 deathtouch has pretty good stats, and its ability keeps earning value in the mid-to-late game and reusing bombs, which is excellent.

106	107	108

2.0	5.0	2.0

Comments:

Rottenmouth Viper: Try not removing it. It can also reduce its cost with Food and small fry, and if you see it and it is not dealt with that turn, you are probably dead.

109	110	111

2.5	2.0	2.5

Comments:

Scavenger’s Talent: The once-per-turn restriction on the level 1 effect lowers its strength. If it could trigger multiple times a turn, it would be very strong in creature combat or when leveling up to level 3 to trigger its effect.

112	113	114

4.0	3.5	3.0

Comments:

Season of Loss: A card that can help you come back from behind or close out the game, but because the first mode makes both players sacrifice creatures, it will not perform well if you do not have enough low-value creatures of your own or the opponent has too many small creatures.
Sinister Monolith: It can keep widening the life gap, and this set has a “lose or gain life” theme that it can trigger steadily every turn. Even in the very late game it can be converted into card resources, making it a versatile, good card.

115	116	117

2.5	2.5	3.0

Comments:

Thornplate Intimidator: One of the few high-value enters abilities in this set. Combined with the fair number of flicker effects in this set, it can gain a very nice resource advantage.

118	119	120

3.0	3.0	3.0

Comments:

Valley Rotcaller: A two-mana creature with ordinary stats whose value only goes up if you have enough creatures of the specified type in your deck.
Wick, the Whorled Mind: A four-mana 2/4 plus a 1/1 is not bad on its own, and given that Rats are concentrated in blue-black, it will perform better in the blue-black theme. However, this set is a Limited environment where multicolor is hard to achieve, and the second ability specifying three colors makes it hard for it to have an effect.

121	###	###

3.5	None	None

Comments:

Wick’s Patrol looks a bit off as a six-mana 5/3, but if you think of it as a four-mana 5/3 with 2 points of removal attached, it is very powerful, especially since one card earns the value of two cards, enough to make it key in the resource war.