Magic the Gathering: Bloomburrow Release, Events, and Preorders

Prerelease Event Dates 7/26/24 & 7/27/24

Bloom Burrow Shipping Date 8/2/24
In-Store Pickup Starts 7/26/24

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The world of Bloomburrow is a unique one; there are no Humans on the plane at all. No Elves, Goblins, or Kor either. In fact, most of the fantasy tropes you might come to expect from a Magic set are either missing or changed dramatically. Instead, Bloomburrow is a plane filled with some of the smallest heroes Magic has ever seen, mice, birds, bats, and foxes, all working together in harmony against greater forces beyond their control.

A Whole New Plane to Explore

Bloomburrow takes place in a region of the plane called Valley, where all sorts of little creatures called animal-folk live and thrive together. Mable, the noble mouse-folk that we’ve already seen on other cards, and all the other animal folk unite to fend off more predatory creatures called Calamities. These massive creatures are more force of nature than animals, with each one embodying a different season.

The story starts with the appearance of Maha, Its Feather Night, a huge owl that turns the day to night when it flies. Maha’s egg was stolen, and in anger, it descends into the Valley to retrieve its egg. Though his reasons are unknown, Glarb, Calamity’s Augur, a king from another city called Fountainport, worked behind the scenes to steal the egg and set events in motion.

We mentioned before that there are no Humans in Bloomburrow, but that doesn’t mean a few don’t show up. Ral Zarek is the star planeswalker in the set, though he looks a little different this time around. He’s still in his classic Izzet coloring, but this time he’s an Otter. Turns out, when Humans (and presumably other non-Human characters) visit Bloomburrow, they are turned into adorable critters which is amazing.

Mice and Otters aren’t the only animal-folk to show up in Bloomburrow, there are ten different kindred groups to follow, each one with their own color identity and mechanics designed just for them. The different groups are:

• W/U – Bird – Gives other creatures flying.
• U/B – Rat – Bringing back the Threshold mechanic from the Odyssey block.
• B/R – Lizard – Cares about dealing damage in a turn to give bonuses.
• R/G – Raccoon – The largest of the creatures, rewards spending lots of mana.
• G/W – Rabbit – Goes wide with tons of tokens.
• W/B – Bat – Has abilities that trigger from gaining life.
• U/R – Otter – Classic instant and sorcery shenanigans. 
• B/G – Squirrel – Makes the most out of the graveyard and Food tokens.
  • They worship Calamity beasts.
• R/W – Mouse – Valiant keyword, works like Heroic but triggers from spells and abilities.
  • Mouse-folk often work with fireflies to enhance their abilities
• G/U – Frog – Blinking and bouncing mechanics just like frogs.
  • Frogs can predict Calamity beast patterns to help save villages.

Special Frames And More

Bloomburrow comes with a few different borders and frames to collect. There are borderless raised foil variants, which all come in anime-stylized artwork. Then there’s the showcase woodland frames, which are special cards that highlight the whimsical nature of the set.

Working on several pieces in Bloomburrow is David Peterson, best known for his work on the fantastic Mouse Guard series. The Eisner Award winner worked to incorporate the more detailed design of Mable with his own style to bring the feel of the Mouse Guard series to Magic.

One of the last collectible cards in Bloomburrow are Imagine: Critters, which takes past planeswalkers and imagines them as if they were from the plane. Tamiyo, Field Researcher and Jace the Mind Sculptor are two planeswalkers that get this treatment.