Amidst all the Universes Beyond and radical new settings that Wizards has been experimenting with, Lorwyn Eclipsed feels like a true Magic: The Gathering set. The art, the flavor, and even the mechanics are all on point, making the set feel like a nostalgic love letter to fans. Even the set’s music video trailer has received thunderous applause since its release.
Given it has been 18 years since we last visited Lorwyn, nostalgia is definitely one hell of a driver here. Playing into this, Wizards even brought back a beloved, if next-to-useless creature type for Lorwyn Eclipsed. Their track record might be utterly woeful, but that didn’t stop Wizards from printing a new Noggle in the latest MTG set.
MTG Noggle
First appearing in Eventide, Noggle is definitely one of the creature types of all time in MTG. Appearing on five cards, six if you include Noggle the Mind, this is hardly the most prevalent MTG creature type. For the most part, it’s largely unplayable as well, as no Noggle is individually that useful.
At best, Noggle, Noggle Hedge-Mage can allow you to tap two permanents and Shock an opponent for three mana. While you’ll need four lands in play to achieve this, it’s not strictly awful, power-level-wise. That being said, this card is a long way away from the power of many competitive three drops nowadays.
Even the new Noggle Robber from Lorwyn Eclipsed isn’t much better. Technically, it’s a one mana 3/3, since it can create two treasures, but it’s unlikely to be relevant outside of limited. If anything, the best Noggle in MTG is the honorary Noggle the Mind, as at least that can shut down an opponent’s Commander.
At best, all of the Noggle cards in MTG can just be used as accessories within an infinite flicker combo. While on color options are limited, Dualcaster Mage and Ghostly Flicker can thankfully get the job done. This allows you to get infinite card draw and discards with Noggle Ransacker or infinite damage with Noggle Hedge-Mage.
Admittedly, while this combo does technically give Noggles some game-ending potential, there are countless better Flicker targets. Thanks to this, each Noggle is barely played in MTG at the moment. At best, Noggle Ransacker appears in around 2,800 decks, but Noggle Bridgebreaker appears in just 24 lists.
Bucking the Trend
While there’s no hiding the fact that Noggles are pretty bad in MTG, it’s great that we got two in Lorwyn Eclipsed. Not only do these cards feel like a blast from the past, but they also show a commitment to Magic’s weirder creature types. For better or worse, these cards have steadily been disappearing over the years in favor of broader basic synergies.
Back in January of last year, for instance, Wizards simply got rid of Cephalids. Despite this creature type having existed since 2001’s Odyssey, Wizards errated it out of existence, replacing the type with Octopus. With no immediate mechanical benefit coming from this change, MTG players simply lost out on a classic creature type.
Worryingly, this isn’t the only time that Wizards just got rid of a classic MTG Creature type. Vashino were all errata-ed into Lizards in March of 2024, and all Nagas became snakes back in 2023. Sadly, while slow, this action does appear to be a trend, as Hommarids are supposedly also on the chopping block.
According to MTG Head Designer, Mark Rosewater, it seems there’s a non-zero chance the same should happen to Noggles. In a recent post, Rosewater stated that Wizards “possibly” should have errated them into Donkeys or Horses. While it’s unknown if discussions were actually had on this topic, it does seem like Magic’s beloved unique edges are being sanded down.
Curiously, while many classic creature types have been disappearing, Wizards hasn’t been holding back on creating new ones. In 2025 alone, Wizards created eight brand-new creature types, while reintroducing four more. Many of these, such as Seal, Lobster, Kangaroo, and Platypus, are oddly specific, making the trend of classic type erasure all the more confusing.
Change of Plans?
Since Noggles didn’t get erased by an errata for Lorwyn Eclipsed, there’s a chance that tastes have changed at WotC. Sadly, there’s no telling whether or not this is actually the case, and how many classic types will survive going forward. Looking ahead, we can only really hope that Wizards won’t keep erasing Magic’s history while flooding the game with Universes Beyond sets.
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