Farewell, Throne of Eldraine

current and future standard- image from here

It's that time again. If you follow standard, you know that September is 'rotation month'- when the 4 oldest sets in standard rotate out of the format. The cards can still be used, of course, in other formats (modern, pioneer, commander, etc.) or casually. But since they're leaving standard, prices for single cards will drop (in most cases) as players seek to update their favorite decks for the format. This month, I'll look at each set that's leaving, lamenting the cards I'll miss or celebrating the ones I won't. First up: Throne of Eldraine (ELD).

Released in September 2019, Eldraine was a nod to Arthurian lore and Grimm's Fairy Tales. I was very excited for this set based on this theme. And I wasn't disappointed- the theme was great, the mechanics were fun, and the cards were powerful- overly so, in fact (many Eldraine cards are still heavily featured in standard-legal decks, even after seven subsequent sets became legal in the format).

Favorites

Here are five of my favorite cards; listing them all would take forever, so I chose one from each color.

Knights were a fun theme, appearing most often in white, black, and red. Worthy Knight was a great inclusion in a white knight deck. Into the Story was a staple for mill decks. Rankle was aptly named as "Master of Pranks," with fun options when he dealt combat damage. Bonecrusher Giant still enjoys frequent standard play, and The Great Henge was a killer, granting mana, life gain, and card draw all in one card.

Good Riddance

This one was harder. I found Midnight Clock and Doom Foretold annoying, because their presence signified a control deck that made games take forever. Cauldron Familiar was a key cog in a 'ping' deck until its ban. Claim the Firstborn generally meant my creatures would attack me, then be sacrificed to my opponent's gain. And Embercleave is a great card in Commander but super-annoying in standard play; it generally meant guaranteed win.

Overall

Eldraine was a great set that delivered on many fronts. It was too powerful, so I am interested to see what standard looks like after this set rotates.