New MTG card Lorwyn Eclipsed is about to steal the fun for all the wrong reasons

Despite the huge hype surrounding it, Lorwyn Eclipsed was treated to a mild and mostly bland spoiler season compared to Magic: The GatheringThe new Marvel Heroes set is coming out later this year, even compared to the last few sets in 2025. Still, in the face of the slow reveal, Lorwyn Eclipsed is already proving to be a fun set with plenty of fun, unique cards to reshape Magic: The Gatheringdifferent formats. However, there is a lot of financial weight on Lorwyn Eclipsed's shoulders, as the original Lorwyn block was a commercial flop, and returning to the plane after 19 years can reignite that spark only if Wizards of the Coast sees some success in it.

Fortunately, there are some amazing cards to collect from Magic: The GatheringFrom the new Special Guest prints with fantastic and themed art, to the incredibly powerful commons, uncommons and rares that will inevitably see play, the Lorwyn Eclipsed set. This is especially seen with a card called Hexing Squelcher, which is a common rare that will change multiples MTG formats when it finally comes out – but it also takes the fun out of the game.

What does MTG Hexing Squelcher do and why is it good?

Hexing Squelcher is a 2-CMC 2/2 goblin creature that can't be countered, has ward (pay 2 life), and gives both of these effects to your spells and creatures.
A 2-mana Irresistible creature that makes spells irresistible is incredibly powerful.
Ward (pay 2 life) demotivates to remove spells MTG.
Hexing Squelcher, being a red creature, means it can be used as an asset to balance blue/control in otherwise fast decks.
It has synergy with MTG's Goblin deck.

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MTG's best Lorwyn Eclipsed red card is already clear

Hexing Squelcher is probably OP MTG card for several reasons and in multiple deck archetypes across game formats, but it could also become what he tries to combat the most. That said, Hexing Squelcher is a basic blue/control token that makes spells irresistible and gives all creatures protection that forces opponents to lose life if they want to target them. However, her mana cost makes her a very easy card to put into blue/control decks as well.

Hexing Squelcher is a callback to the OG Vexing Shusher in Lorwyn block, also a goblin creature that makes spells irresistible.

How Hexing Squelcher Warps MTG Formats

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Hexing Squelcher costs 1 generic and 1 red, which is great value on its own. However, the generic part of his mana cost and one red pip make him incredibly easy to use in the same decks he's designed to fight. This can lead to several problems:

The revival of Izzet's dominance in MTG standard: Izzet has long been the most used color combination in the standard MTGBanning Vivi combined with the release of Avatar made Standard more diverse, Izzet is still at the top of the meta with three different deck archetypes – Izzet Lessons, Izzet Looting, and Izzet Splash.
Lockdown cEDH MTG: Magic: The GatheringcEDH decks are commander decks loaded to eleven with powerful combos, expensive and incredibly powerful cards, and top tier optimization. However, these decks usually run very little removal, and cEDH games are all about counterspells and interaction to ensure victory, or rather prevent others from winning before you. Hexing Squelcher upsets this balance, as casting first will easily secure their combos, especially in decks like Blue Farm.
Burn decks in Modern and Legacy will burn brighter: Lots of Burn decks MTG rely on their cheap, powerful damage spells to get the job done and take down the opponent, and having a 2-mana 2/2 that can attack for more damage while protecting all creatures and making all spells burn irreversible is incredible value. It also breaks cards like Chalice of the Void and Force of Will.

Hexing Squelcher is pre-sale online for over $37 for a regular copy and almost $90 for a special edition.

MTG's new Lorwyn Eclipsed Rare is practically unbeatable

Magic the Gathering Dockside Blackmailer Card Art

With all of this in mind, it's hard to argue in favor of Hexing Squelcher when it can be used in practically any deck, warping both counterspell and removal heavy formats. Additionally, outside of single-copy formats like Commander, it would theoretically be possible to run 4 Hexing Squelchers in one deck, resulting in a hard-to-break board state.

Hard to predict how MTGThe meta will adapt to multiple formats, but since this is pretty much guaranteed to be a hit in Commander, other formats will inevitably follow as more testing is done. The problem here is that Hexing Squelcher can create a snowball effect that leads more and more decks within the format to use it to beat it.