throne of eldraine improbable alliance artwork

Ask any veteran magic player what their favorite, grindy card is, and a fair number would tell you it’s Bitterblossom. Originally printed in Lorwyn, Bitterblossom was a Standard all-star and still crops up in eternal formats now and then. It’s very useful as a token generator, a way to make cheap fodder creatures for attrition strategies, and as a win condition. Now, long after Bitterblossom’s time, we’re introduced to a new MTG Arena card from Throne of Eldraine: Improbable Alliance.

Bitterblossom, MTG Arena, StandardImprobably Alliance, MTG, Standard UR, Throne of Eldraine

Improbable Alliance

Right off the bat, the cards are pretty different. Different colors, different rarities, and fairly different text. However, Improbable Alliance can do a pretty solid impression of Bitterblossom in the right deck. In Standard right now, we have Opt, The Royal Scions, Thrill of Possibility, and many other cards that enable drawing more than one card per turn. In a deck built around drawing cards – one of the best things to do in Magic anyway – Improbable Alliance can spit out tokens basically every turn, just like Bitterblossom.

Why is this good?

Well, as mentioned before, Bitterblossom was a standard all-star. Clogging the board with expendable 1/1s that can also attack over big non-flying blockers is huge. Over time, your little army of faeries can just completely take over a game with flying damage. They can block non-trample creatures indefinitely as long as you continue to produce them as well. Improbable Alliance is a card that can potentially make free 1/1s every turn, and all you invested into it was 2 mana. Talk about value!

As an Uncommon, Improbable Alliance should be an easy craft for MTG Arena players after Throne of Eldraine launches. It’ll probably slot into a deck that utilizes The Royal Scions to push through damage from Kefnet, Crackling Drake, or the fairies made by Improbable Alliance.

Brent Terean