MTG Bloomburrow Draft guide - Azorious Birds

Birds are taking over Magic: The Gathering through the Bloomburrow Standard-legal set, showcasing an aggressive gameplay strategy through evasive creatures with Flying and more.

This article should help you head into Prerelease, Draft, and Sealed events at local game stores or through MTG Arena confidently while playing the Bird archetype. And don’t sleep on our exclusive spreadsheet of every card in Bloomburrow graded for Limited play that’s available to all MTG Madness subscribers.

How MTG Bloomburrow Bird archetype works

The Bird archetype in Bloomburrow Limited features Flying creatures, +1/+1 counter synergies, and powerful creatures on the ground. Signpost cards that could pull you into the Bird archetype include the Uncommon rarity Plumecreed Mentor and the Rare Legendary Kastral, the Windcrested. But you can play the archetype without these by building an aggressive Azorious deck.

A total of nine Common and Uncommon rarity Birds are in the Bloomburrow set, so you can’t rely on only playing creatures with Flying. This is where the signpost Plumecreed Mentor becomes important.

Filling your Azorius deck with low-cost creatures on the ground can turn them into powerful threats through Plumcreed Mentor handing out +1/+1 counters every time you cast a creature without Flying. If you don’t have the Bird Scout on the battlefield, playing Gossip’s Talent lets you start chipping away at your opponent’s life points through Level Two of the Enchantment Class. And cards like Salvation Swan, Finch Formation, and Seedpod Squire can give non-fliers Flying.

In addition to Flying and non-Flying creatures, the Bird archetype deck should include a couple of combat tricks, protection, and removal. Protect your most important and synergistic creatures with the handy MTG reprint Shore Up.

Dazzling Denial counters any spell, forcing an opponent to spend four mana to still cast the spell if you control a Bird. Banishing Light is a solid three-drop removal spell. And despite costing two mana (I despise two-drop combat tricks), Mabel’s Mettle is too good to pass up on.

Here are my favorite Bird archetype Common and Uncommon rarity cards from Bloomburrow that I’ll be testing out during the early access, Prerelease, and MTG Arena Draft/Sealed events. Any updates will be posted before the Prerelease events start on July 26 and the global launch on Aug. 2.