The next stop on 2024’s theme park tour through worlds new to Magic: The Gathering is an adventure into the friendly and fierce Valley of Bloomburrow. Setting this upcoming release apart is its anthropomorphised reimagining of elements and characters from Magic. Jace, one of Magic’s most famous Planeswalkers, has had quite the glow-up by transforming into a foxy little guy alongside many others. Players have had plenty of opportunities to build decks around cats, dogs, birds, etc. Now, Bloomburrow is enticing the animal lovers among us (all of us) with the promise of decks themed around players’ furry favourites by drilling down on animal creatures who may have previously been under-represented. So while we put goblins, dragons, and merfolk aside for a moment as Wizards prepares us for August 2, we’re instead getting treated to a veritable vegan roster of magical mammals and more.
Without further ado, here is an exclusive reveal of artist Gaboleps’ Coruscation Mage. Take a moment to appreciate this excitable, whiskered little friend. Of note here is that this is, obviously, an otter. Otters are a recent addition to MTG, making a small appearance in 2020’s Ikoria release. This preview suggests Wizards may have more otters hidden away in the Valley which could make the Coruscation Mage a staple for a possible otter-flavoured deck. More importantly, this otter spends its work time tinkering with the arcane. A wizard during the 9-5 and a responsible parent around the clock.
As a low-cost, one red and one miscellaneous mana-creature, Coruscation Mage is a desirable draw for anyone whacking a red standard deck together in sealed play. Not only is the two power/two toughness a handy deterrent if played on an early turn, but getting the Coruscation Mage onto the battlefield early will also lend a nasty benefit to all subsequent noncreature cards played by the summoning player while the otter is still fighting. Glossing over to the second ability block reads:
Whenever you cast a noncreature spell, this creature deals 1 damage to each opponent.
Aside from playing lands and casting further creatures, you’re going to be launching an unpleasant thorn into the sides of all opponents every time. Oh dear, that darling otter is going to have quite a target on its back.
But what if the Coruscant Mage arrives a handful of turns in and you are unsure if you can effectively cast enough spells to exploit this otter’s ability? That first ability text I skipped over introduces a delightfully cute mechanic revealed during this week’s previews which is effectively Magic’s new ‘take your kids to work’ mechanic. Aw, how sweet! You get to bring your little one along to the heat of battle. Offspring’s ability text across most creatures in this set will read:
You may pay an additional 2 [mana] as you cast this spell. If you do, when this creature enters, create a 1/1 token copy of it.
So you can play your Coruscation Mage as well as the additional 2 mana cost required to activate Offspring as you cast this creature. When Coruscation Mage enters the battlefield, they bring along a little assistance in the form of a creature token with the same name. I want to belatedly introduce the Coruscation Mage’s youngling, also by artist Gabloeps. Having come to the battlefield under parental supervision, this 1/1 red token creature will be helping out with the tools. The token creature’s ability text doubles down on its parent. As a result, parent and child can each trigger the ability to deal 1 damage to each opponent when a noncreature spell is played. Uh oh, that’s an annoying 2 player damage being sent around the table. These lovely mammals are sure to draw attention and ire.
In preparation for the leadup to Bloomburrow’s launch on August 2 (pre-release on July 26), Wizards of the Coast has been broadcasting all manner of information and animations to prepare players for this new plane. In keeping with previous releases, Wizards has dropped an animated trailer and a deeper dive into this world and story. As always, check here to see what’s on the Bloomburrow calendar at your participating local games store.
Are you otterly excited by the prickly potential of Offspring or a mammal deck in this upcoming set? Let us know in the comments or on social media.
