Mystic GateMystic Gate | Art by Fred Fields

A fortnight ago, we took a trip down the omenpaths and remembered the 10 most popular cards from Lorwyn block. Now The Great AuroraThe Great Aurora is shining in the sky, and the world is inverting. The idyllic glades and sunny vistas of Lorwyn and Morningtide are morphing into the moonlit haunts and murky darkness of Shadowmoor and Eventide.

While Lorwyn block had a typal theme, Shadowmoor was a bit more abstract. Cards in these two sets care about hybrid mana, -1/-1 counters, and untapping themselves. The eccentricity of these themes lend themselves to unusual strategies, so a lot of the cards that we'll be talking about are combo pieces.

Just like last time, we'll be using EDHREC's data to determine the ten most popular cards. All of that data was gathered at the time this article was written, so if you're reading this in 2050, then the lay of the land may look very different.

Let's gaze into the stars of Shadowmoor, and see what they tell us...

10. Umbral MantleUmbral Mantle

Currently in 52,752 decks

Don't worry, there hasn't been some sort of printing error in the text box of this card. The icon is actually an untap symbol, the edgier, lesser known sibling of our old pal the tap symbol. This obscure little icon appears very rarely. In fact, if it weren't for a single cardsingle card from Modern Horizons and Ryu, World WarriorRyu, World Warrior, Shadowmoor block would be the only place that it shows up.

Umbral Mantle grants the creature that it's equipped to the ability to untap itself for three mana. This makes it capable of producing infinite mana when used alongside mana dorks capable of generating more than three mana, like Marwyn, the NurturerMarwyn, the Nurturer, Selvala, Heart of the WildsSelvala, Heart of the Wilds, or Priest of TitaniaPriest of Titania.

The mantle is also a great way of getting a second activation of any powerful tap abilities that your creatures have. Giving Krenko, Mob BossKrenko, Mob Boss another chance to mass produce Goblins is always terrifying.

All of the cheesy combos that this card enables are great fun, but they also demonstrate why we don't see the untap symbol around too much. Having too many cards like this would give potentially problematic decks a massive number of tools to enable their infinite combos.

9. FlickerwispFlickerwisp

Currently in 54,290 decks

Blink decks generate value by exiling their own creatures and then returning them to play. This allows the great enter the battlefield abilities on cards like Solemn SimulacrumSolemn Simulacrum, Peregrine DrakePeregrine Drake, and Ravenous ChupacabraRavenous Chupacabra to be looped over and over again for fun and profit.

Flickerwisp, as both an enabler for blink strategies and a decent flying threat, is a pretty essential ingredient in decks like this. That's not just an idle claim; it's backed up by math.

According to our "Tags" section, there are currently 33,957 blink decks logged on EDHREC. Of these, 28,337 have white somewhere in their color identity (meaning that they're capable of including Flickerwhisp). Flickerwhisp appears in 11,859 of these decks, or 42%. This means that nearly half of all of the decks that utilize the strategy this card supports are running it.

That makes Flickerwhisp pretty popular for an eldritch moth monster.

8. Wound ReflectionWound Reflection

Currently in 61,190 decks

Wound Reflection causes opponent to lose life during each end step equal to the amount of life they lost during that turn. This effect is surprisingly common. You've probably already seen it on cards like Twinflame TyrantTwinflame Tyrant, Fiendish DuoFiendish Duo, and Bloodletter of AclazotzBloodletter of Aclazotz.

At six mana, Wound Reflection is also more expensive than some of the alternatives. Nevertheless doubling anything, especially life loss, always feels fantastic. Particularly when you combo this with a card that takes half of the opponents' life, like Heartless HidetsuguHeartless Hidetsugu or Havoc FestivalHavoc Festival, both of which enable two-card game ending combos.

7. Mana ReflectionMana Reflection

Currently in 63,646 decks

Another card from the same cycle as Wound Reflection. All of the Reflection cards double something. Just as Wound Reflection doubles your opponents' life loss, Mana Reflection doubles the amount of mana that all of your permanents generate.

Over time, we've gotten more and more mana doubling effects. Cards like Zendikar ResurgentZendikar Resurgent, Vorinclex, Voice of HungerVorinclex, Voice of Hunger, and Kinnan, Bonder ProdigyKinnan, Bonder Prodigy all compete with Mana Reflection in one way or another. We've even seen Nyxbloom AncientNyxbloom Ancient, a mana tripler, show up in Theros Beyond Death.

All of this competition is far from a bad thing. Mana Reflection used to be a $30+ card, but now, thanks to all of these similar effects, it can be snagged for about five bucks.

6. Cold-Eyed SelkieCold-Eyed Selkie

Currently in 68,565 decks

Unlike the cold and unflinching pupils of this Merfolk Rogue, your opponents' eyes will be wide open when they see how many cards this creature can draw for you. Cold-Eyed Selkie is one of the best targets out there for stat boosting Auras and Equipment.

While the Selkie's ability to draw cards equal to the damage it deals isn't unique, it offers a much cheaper ratemuch cheaper rate than many of its rivals, and the card draw it provides isn't symmetricalcard draw it provides isn't symmetrical.

Islandwalk means that it'll be unblockable by any of your opponents using blue decks. This is just coating more icing on top of an already overloaded cake.

5. Glen Elendra ArchmageGlen Elendra Archmage

Currently in 75,224 decks

There are a handful of creatures out there that can sacrifice themselves in order to counter spells. From Daring ApprenticeDaring Apprentice, to Siren StormtamerSiren Stormtamer, to Judge's FamiliarJudge's Familiar, these martyrs for the spell countering cause are willing to send themselves to the graveyard to stop your opponents from resolving anything.

Glen Elendra Archmage is one of the best cards of this kind, thanks to being incredibly persistent.

Creatures with the persist ability return to play with a -1/-1 counter when they die, unless they already had a -1/-1 counter, in which case they remain dead. This means that Glenn Elendra Archmage can be used to counter multiple spells.

Not only that, but if you have any cards that place +1/+1 counters on your creatures when they enter play, for example Cathars' CrusadeCathars' Crusade, Grumgully, the GenerousGrumgully, the Generous, and Master BiomancerMaster Biomancer, then the -1/-1 counter on Glen Elendra Archmage will be automatically wiped away upon its return from the graveyard.

Without the need to worry about -1/-1 counters, Glenn Elendra Archmage can be sacrificed as many times as you have blue mana available, effectively locking the rest of the table out of casting any noncreature spells. This won't be fun for the rest of the table, and it definitely won't be fun for the Archmage constantly being yanked between life and death, but it's undeniably effective.

4. Devoted DruidDevoted Druid

Currently in 91,576 decks

Continuing the theme of cards that use -1/-1 counters to pull off busted combos, we have Devoted Druid. This cunning Elf can be tapped to generate a green mana, and also untapped at any time at the cost of gaining a -1/-1 counters. If you're playing "fair Magic," then the two toughness of this card prevents its ability from being abused, since it'll die once it's activated a second time. If you're not playing "fair Magic" though, there are so many ways to get around the cost to untap this creature.

By using Swift ReconfigurationSwift Reconfiguration, Devoted Druid can be turned into a Vehicle that no longer needs to care about having toughness to stay alive. Machine God's EffigyMachine God's Effigy becomes an artifact copy of Devoted Druid that's also capable of generating blue mana, and Vizier of RemediesVizier of Remedies stops the counters from even accumulating on Devoted Druid in the first place.

This card provides some of the most trivial methods of gaining infinite mana in the game, with the three methods outlined above only scratching the surface of the number of ways that it can go off.

3. Farhaven ElfFarhaven Elf

Currently in 93,727 decks

Nearhaven, farhaven, wherever you are haven. Wood ElvesWood Elves is one of the most iconic green ramp creatures in the game, thanks to its ability to fetch a Forest when it enters the battlefield. Farhaven ElfFarhaven Elf fulfills a similar function to Wood Elves, although it isn't quite as popular.

This card will likely never match the 169,665 decks that its rival appears in. Nevertheless, it's still a useful ramp card, and it's significantly better in budget decks that haven't fully optimized their mana base.

Unlike Wood Elves, Farhaven Elf can fetch basic lands of any type. Whether they're Swamps, Islands, Plains, or Mountains, no haven is too far for this Elf to wander off to. Unlike Wood Elves, Farhaven Elf can only fetch basic lands. This means that it can't grab a Temple GardenTemple Garden, an Underground MortuaryUnderground Mortuary, or any of those other fancy lands with Forest in their type line.

There are plenty of decks that can make room for both of these cards, but players who've splashed a lot of money on lands are more likely to cut this card than its showy Dominarian competitor.

2. Flooded GroveFlooded Grove

Currently in 230,911 decks

This cycle of lands was stretched across both Shadowmoor and Eventide. Known as hybrid filter lands (not to be confused with the original filter landsoriginal filter lands that were printed in Odyssey), these cards allow one of the two colors they represent to be input into them, in exchange for two mana in any combination of those two colors to be output.

We got the ally colored hybrid lands in Shadowmoor and their enemy colored counterparts in Eventide. For the purposes of stopping them from completely overrunning this list, they've all been batched together here under one entry for their most popular member. If all of these lands had been counted:

• Cascade BluffsCascade Bluffs (Izzet) would be in third place with 223,878 decks,
• Rugged PrairieRugged Prairie (Boros) would have been in fourth place with 219,238 decks,
• Fetid HeathFetid Heath (Orzhov) would have been in fifth place with 198,934 decks,
• Twilight MireTwilight Mire (Golgari) would have been in sixth place with 180,548 decks,
• Mystic GateMystic Gate (Azorius) would have been in seventh place with 110,628 decks,
• and Sunken RuinsSunken Ruins (Dimir) would have been in tenth place with 87,415 decks.

In other words, this article would have been absolutely dominated by these lands if they'd not been cut, which would've made it very repetitive. This 10-card cycle is pretty powerful, and a boon to 2+color decks everywhere.

1. Bloom TenderBloom Tender

Currently in 244,747 decks

The third Elven Druid on our list may just be the most powerful one yet. Bloom TenderBloom Tender is quite simply one of the best mana dorks in the game - Woodland MysticWoodland Mystic eat your heart out. This card counts all of the colors among permanents you control, and then generates a mana of each of those colors.

That's right, this two-mana card can generate up to five mana in a single stroke. Cards that generate more than one mana when they're tapped are very easy to exploit.

Just like Devoted DruidDevoted Druid, this card is the centerpiece of a plethora of cheeky infinite mana combos. Whether you're using Freed from the RealFreed from the Real, Pemmin's AuraPemmin's Aura, or Sword of the ParunsSword of the Paruns, there's no shortage of ways to get Bloom Tender back up on their feet after tapping them down. You can even use Umbral MantleUmbral Mantle from the bottom of this list to do the job.

Conclusion

Once again, this is an even 5/5 split. If all of the filter lands had been counted separately, however, Eventide would have pulled ahead 6-4. That's not just because people love enemy-colored lands (although yes, Simic is always a popular color combination) but also because, for reasons known only to Wizards of the Coast, the Eventide lands are reprinted significantly more frequently.

Interestingly, green was massively overrepresented here. 50% of the cards on the list have green somewhere in their color identity, and you can crank that up to 60% if you include Flooded GroveFlooded Grove, which is colorless, but generates green mana.

Will the untap symbol finally return in Lorwyn Eclipsed? Will we get as many busted combo pieces in that set as we got here? Is the set going to be more like Lorwyn or Shadowmoor? We'll have to wait until next January to find out.

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