Lovestruck Beast – MTG Throne of Eldraine Review

David
Fanany
Player
since
1995

There’s more story in this one piece of art than there is in some whole expansions. Granted, that’s partly because it’s inspired by a Disney movie, but you can really feel the misery deep in his royal heart. I don’t know if I’ll actually be able to play with the card, just because it comes across rather sad.

He does offer something quite tempting, as one of the cheapest 5/5 creatures we’ve seen in a long time. Unfortunately, his condition for becoming active is a little harder to keep than, say, Wayward Swordtooth; the creatures that let him attack are likely the easiest for your opponents to deal with. I like that his adventure card plays directly into it, and that definitely helps, as well as giving him some degree of versatility if you just want to go wide. There’s probably a deck out there that runs him alongside lots of cards like Lingering Souls and Elspeth, but he might not offer as much punch as those cards do by tournament standards. He’s definitely solid for casual formats, though.

Constructed: 2/5
Casual: 4/5
Limited: 3/5
Multiplayer: 3/5
EDH/Commander: 3/5

A 3-mana 5/5 that needs its heart’s true desire to be motivated enough to attack…sounds sufficiently fairy tale-esque, I guess? Admittedly, my heart’s desire is food, but who cares.

Lovestruck Beast is a nice, cute, and flavorful card that can even bring its 1/1 soulmate out before it has a chance to hit the field. A 5/5 with pseudo-defender is a bit of an awkward beast if you can’t keep a friend out for it, but it supplies its own friend just fine, making it a manageable condition in most cases. I think it’s maybe a bit underwhelming overall as a card, but it has a lot of charm to it, and a 5/5 is still a pretty solid body when you can get it out that early.

Constructed: 2.5
Casual: 3.5
Limited: 4
Multiplayer: 2.5
Commander: 2.75