Lorwyn Eclipsed (ECL)

In figures

• 536,566 games analysed
• On the play: 57.0% wins, against 52.9% on the draw
• A game lasts 9.4 turns on average

What players think

Lorwyn Eclipsed is seen as a slower format than expected, with many games frozen by sturdy creatures and aggressive tribal working less well than hoped; changelings help stay in one type, but fixing is limited and splashing is rarely worth it. Elves and engaged Merfolk are put on top, the Kithkin army is seen as solid but less intuitive, Goblins and blight as lagging and Elementals as muddled. The other pairs look like side plans. Our games confirm the top (, and among the best) and the bottom ( last of the five common pairs); the gap: , called muddled, wins well, right behind the leading trio.

Colour pairs

Win rate of the decks of each pair, from real games of online draft players.

Pair	Share of games	Win rate	Strong players	Over time
Graveyard Elves	20.7 %	56.9 %	56.0 %	57.2 → 56.6 → 56.0
Tapping Merfolk	17.7 %	56.5 %	56.1 %	56.1 → 56.9 → 57.6
Elementals and Big Spells	15.6 %	55.7 %	55.4 %	55.8 → 55.8 → 55.3
Kithkin Army	13.6 %	56.4 %	55.0 %	56.6 → 56.0 → 56.3
Goblins and Blight	11.1 %	53.5 %	53.2 %	53.2 → 54.4 → 54.5
Treasures and Big Bodies	2.0 %	52.6 %	51.1 %	52.4 → 53.6 → 51.7
Giants and Evasion	1.8 %	52.2 %	50.8 %	52.0 → 53.0 → 52.1
Flash Faeries	1.8 %	50.6 %	51.0 %	49.7 → 52.4 → 56.7
Graveyard Returns	1.3 %	50.1 %	49.3 %	50.1 → 50.0 → 50.8
Many Colours	1.0 %	51.5 %	50.6 %	51.4 → 51.8 → 51.0

Archetypes: the gold uncommons

• Tapping Merfolk

  56.5 % win rate17.7 % of games

  Convoke

  • 

    24. Deepchannel Duelist

    7.6
  • 

    34. Eclipsed Merrow

    7.3

• Elementals and Big Spells

  55.7 % win rate15.6 % of games
  • 

    105. Twinflame Travelers

    6.0
  • 

    73. Eclipsed Flamekin

    6.4

• Graveyard Elves

  56.9 % win rate20.7 % of games
  • 

    46. Morcant's Loyalist

    7.0
  • 

    29. Eclipsed Elf

    7.4

• Kithkin Army

  56.4 % win rate13.6 % of games
  • 

    68. Thoughtweft Lieutenant

    6.6
  • 

    44. Eclipsed Kithkin

    7.0

• Goblins and Blight

  53.5 % win rate11.1 % of games

  Blight

  • 

    40. Boggart Cursecrafter

    7.0
  • 

    72. Eclipsed Boggart

    6.4

• Treasures and Big Bodies

  52.6 % win rate2.0 % of games

  Changeling

  • 

    102. Noggle Robber

    6.0
  • 

    2. Vibrance

    9.3

• Giants and Evasion

  52.2 % win rate1.8 % of games
  • 

    174. Hovel Hurler

    5.0
  • 

    60. Bre of Clan Stoutarm

    6.6

• Flash Faeries

  50.6 % win rate1.8 % of games
  • 

    136. Voracious Tome-Skimmer

    5.6
  • 

    43. Deceit

    7.0

• Graveyard Returns

  50.1 % win rate1.3 % of games

  Blight

  • 

    91. Reaping Willow

    6.2
  • 

    58. Abigale, Eloquent First-Year

    6.7

• Many Colours

  51.5 % win rate1.0 % of games

  Vivid

  • 

    251. Glister Bairn

    2.0
  • 

    134. Tam, Mindful First-Year

    5.6

Mechanics of the set

• Changeling

  A creature with changeling is every creature type.

• Convoke

  Your creatures can help cast this spell: each creature you tap pays for one generic mana or one mana of its colour.

• Vivid

  Vivid counts the number of colours among the permanents you control, and the card's effect depends on that number.

• Blight

  Blight N: you put N -1/-1 counters on a creature you control. It is most often a cost, sometimes optional, or a choice you pay for an effect.

• Behold

  To behold a type, choose a creature of that type you control or reveal a card of that type from your hand. The Champions also exile it.

• Evoke

  The hybrid Incarnations can be cast for their evoke cost and are then sacrificed when they enter; each of their effects needs two mana of the same colour to have been spent to cast them.

The best cards

By colour

Rank by our rating, then rank by win rate when the card is in hand.

To remember

• More than twenty cards use blight and sixteen enter with -1/-1 counters: always keep a creature that can take them.
• Twelve cards ask you to behold a creature type: to play a Champion, count the creatures of the right type, changelings included.
• Sixteen cards have changeling and fifteen have convoke: the first fills in the missing types, the second is paid for with your creatures.
• Thirty-three cards have a hybrid cost: take them early to keep your colours open, since they can be cast in either of their two colours.