Innkeeper’s Talent – Bloomburrow
Date Reviewed: August 12, 2024
Ratings:
Constructed: 4.63
Casual: 5.00
Limited: 4.50
Multiplayer: 4.00
Commander [EDH]: 4.25
Ratings are based on a 1 to 5 scale. 1 is bad. 3 is average. 5 is great.
Reviews Below:
This card has been getting a lot of attention over the past couple of weeks, and I think it’s easy to see why. Even if you somehow never levelled it up, its baseline effect is the same text as Luminarch Aspirant, which is a very good card. Granting everything with a counter on it ward 1 sounds incredibly disruptive, and ends up being even more disruptive than that. Darksteel Reactor and Hexdrinker didn’t really need any more help, but they’re getting it regardless. And going all the way up to the pseudo-Doubling Season level will often just win you the game within a turn or so. It’s not even symmetrical like the original is! Innkeeper’s Talent can go from quiet to game-ending threat even in decks that aren’t built around it, and I am really looking forward to seeing what other synergies people come up with.
Constructed: 4.5
Casual: 5
Limited: 4.5
Multiplayer: 4
Commander [EDH]: 4
Innkeeper’s Talent has emerged as one of Bloomburrow‘s chase cards, and I think two words sum it up: Doubling Season. That is, Innkeeper’s Talent is a rejiggered version of the infamous Ravnica enchantment that wound up being broken in half because of its interaction with planeswalkers…on paper, though it was held back by being five mana and doing nothing on its own. It doesn’t have all the same utility as its forebear, but it’s still a pretty intriguing card, so let’s break it down.
Notably, this is better before you hit five mana. At two mana, it offers a +1/+1 counter each combat you enter, and three total mana makes those creatures harder to kill. One key thing to note here is that it protects all permanents with counters. Yes, this includes planeswalkers (but not itself, since it doesn’t get counters as it levels up). The total to turn this online is seven mana; this is not trivial, of course, but it can be paid for in installments, and it even does useful things on the way.
The last ability is likely the one that’s going to turn heads, but Innkeeper’s Talent is good before then, and it even can be useful as soon as it drops. Planeswalker shenanigans aside, offering a steady stream of power on top of useful protection goes a long way, and this is a very scary card as a result. It even pairs well with things like Hardened Scales, if you’re so inclined.
Constructed: 4.75
Casual: 5
Limited: 4.5
Multiplayer: 4
Commander [EDH]: 4.5
We would love more volunteers to help us with our Magic the Gathering Card of the Day reviews. If you want to share your ideas on cards with other fans, feel free to drop us an email. We would be happy to link back to your blog / YouTube Channel / etc. 😉
