April 2016: Shadows over Innistrad
Spoilers, Rumors, and Speculation forum
Posted on Oct. 31, 2015, 6:42 p.m. by JWiley129
Announced during GP Indy, the Spring 2016 set is Shadows over Innistrad!
Edits for FAQ:
- Here is Mark Rosewater on why we're getting two returns in a row.
FAMOUSWATERMELON says... #2
Nah, that part's just so that you don't abuse the discard function too many times while keeping priority. Though there may well be something that forces a flip.
March 3, 2016 10:38 p.m.
The card would be busted if you could hold priority. Trigger all your madness effects immediately. Also, I like how they didn't let it flip back- that would also be too good. Overall this card SHOULD be the new delver, at least for graveyard strategies that don't want to have to run only 14 or so lands (like current delver decks do)
March 3, 2016 10:53 p.m.
I'm going to first hop on the hype drain and say that heir to falkenwrath is a very immpressive and aggressive card that will see play in standard and modern and if you're drafting and see her pick a copy up immediately.
Personally though looking at the other two bygone bishop is the only on who looks to me like he'll have any relevance. I mean I can see some weenie deck abusing him but unless standard as a use for all those clues I don't have a clue where he'll go.
March 3, 2016 11:10 p.m.
canterlotguardian says... #5
I want to try to break Pick the Brain. It just looks like a super good card to build around. U/B control shell, maybe?
March 3, 2016 11:24 p.m.
golgarigirl says... #6
Surprised no one mentioned the new werewalker yet (or I missed it) :P
Arlinn Kord is our brand new werewolf 'walker. And as a former Archmage of Goldnight, I kind of hope she's Red/White, even though I know that's a slim chance being a 'wolf and all.
March 3, 2016 11:27 p.m.
golgarigirl says... #7
EDIT: I didin't go back far enough. XDI knew you guys were sharper than that.
March 3, 2016 11:28 p.m.
Serendipitous_Hummingbird says... #8
I might be late to the tango land party here, but the alchemists are 
Perhaps there is enough overlap with stitchers to allow a simic tango land?
March 3, 2016 11:50 p.m.
Choo Choo!! It's the Hype Train!!
I want more, I always want more...
March 3, 2016 11:57 p.m.
Serendipitous_Hummingbird says... #10
Am I the only one who thinks heir isn't great?
Discarding a card is huge. Not being able to play it turn 1 is huge. A 3/2 flyer swinging on T3 is MUCH less frightening than on T2.
It certainly won't see modern play. Cards at 2cmc that fail the bolt test are played in modern are either card advantage (Dark Confidant, Snapcaster Mage, Voice of Resurgence), grow out of bolt range (Tarmogoyf, Scavenging Ooze, Arcbound Ravager), are lords (Lord of Atlantis, Steel Overseer), or are really, really good for a specific aggressive archetype (Eidolon of the Great Revel, Ichorclaw Myr, Blighted Agent).
Heir is certainly not card advantage. It takes two cards and two mana to make a 3/2 flyer that can attack no earlier than T3.
It won't ever grow out of bolt range. It doesn't give all your creatures +1/+1 (yeah I know overseer isn't a lord but his effect is practically the same, if not better).
The ONLY way heir could possibly see modern play is if there is an archetype like burn or infect that wants to play a threat and either commence beatdown (like burn) or protect that threat (like infect).
Heir just feels too slow for either of these plans. If I'm playing a threat and protecting it I'd rather just run delver. Or infect. And if I'm playing beatdown, the LAST thing I want to be doing is throwing away cards.
March 4, 2016 12:03 a.m.
This isn't gonna see play in regular modern decks. But for decks that actually care about graveyard, FOR SURE.
Also, madness is 1000000000000% gonna be viable, and heir WILL see play there
March 4, 2016 12:14 a.m.
...let's not forget Delerium. Selecting a card to discard can turn on Delerium at a moments notice.
March 4, 2016 12:45 a.m.
so if I activate heir and my opponent responds with some 1 damage spell or similar card that effects kills the heir but not the flip side can I activate the ability again in response or no? My hunch/understanding is no but I'm not sure.
March 4, 2016 1:29 a.m.
Bygone Bishop is an auto add to any mono White EDH deck, seeing the color so desperately needs draw power!
March 4, 2016 3:04 a.m.
alanwescoat says... #15
Heir of Falkenrath is going to go mad in combination with the madness mechanic. Call to the Netherworld and Basking Rootwalla are looking quite good. Phyrexian Tower might work nicely here as well.
March 4, 2016 3:38 a.m.
skyshadow731 says... #16
Ok so my speculation is that the new planeswalker will start R/W or W and flip to either G or G/W (because she still has her morality from her human form. Now she will probably have a mechanic when she flips she deals damage to all creatures(because of the damage that she does when she initially transforms. and i think her flip mechanic will be if she deals damage flip her, or it will be the original flip mechanic with spells. And seeing that she feels she is the leader of the pack i think she will be able to drop 2/2 wolves as a 0. And than +1 would be all werewolves you control get +1/+1 because she is support of her wolf spirit. and her ult im not sure i dont really have any strong ideas. and on the her day of transformation is the same day of the cursemute which would be why she transformed but still had her human mind.
Now on to avacyn. She is still injured from being impailed by grieselbrands spear which caused her blood to become tainted while residing in the helavault sitting as a curse upon her body. and once the cursemute took effect it included her as well. and her body has slowly be developing in to the corruption of black mana. i feel she will arise as Black white killing wolves as a sense of balance. but this i dont feel to be a strong point but its just what makes sense to me
Now with the whole nahiri and sorin tid bit i think that jace does find himself in SOI because thats where he last hears of sorin being. But ariving he comes to see the corruption within this plane. he begins to try and bring some balance with and arrival from lili and garruk not to far behind her. and in set 2 sorin arrives with nahiri or to be told that she has died/captured something. or that maybe she is alive but maybe converted by the pheyrexians...because we do have evidence of the reforming things and what if nahiri was in that whole mess....and maybe after a couple of sets we will have a go back to pherexian and meet our old friend koth paired with a nahiri...well this was all just my fun speculation.
March 4, 2016 4:41 a.m.
Stormcaller says... #17
I am pretty sure EDH players are going to like investigate, but i just realized how good it is in control.
Kept mana open to cast something during your opponents turn, but no worthwhile target showed up? Okay, I'm gonna use that mana to draw instead.
March 4, 2016 7:10 a.m.
Stormcaller says... #18
On the new cards:
Bygone Bishop: Where would you Play this? White Weenies? Aggro? Maybe some Ally strategy? Spirit Tribal? I mean the coasting is nice, but the effect is kinda wonky. Would creature with CMC 4 for this effect be to strong? I would have liked this card more if it would be CMC 2 with a 1/2 Body, with the same effect, but i think that would be wouldn't be agressive enough. Not convinced by this one.
Pick the Brain: What a terrifyingly beautiful artwork. This card could wreck some strategies, but only if you hit the delirium. That fact that it exiles is good for eldrazi processors and could really destroy some graveyard decks. Waht's your opinion? Could this probably replace Duress in the current meta, considering all the gaveyard-shenenigans going on? Or is it simply to slow?
March 4, 2016 7:33 a.m.
Sooo Here's my lore spec:
Nahiri is Avacyn. Somehow, the magic that has transformed her AND bound to the plane has been tampered with. Imma blame Tamiyo, because I think in her investigation of the moon, she upset something important within the binding spell. Why the Moon? Well there's this: "Sorin borrowed from long-held beliefs about the moon and the afterlife, forging a warrior who could hold back vampires and other monstrous forces that would extinguish life on Innistrad.". Nahiri, pissed at what Sorin did to her, uses her lithomancy to break the moon somehow.
How Nahiri is Avacyn
A) Sorin needed to find a way to save humanity. Ugin reminds him of this duty to his plane in the story "The Lithomancer" with the rather sassy remark of "You should know better than anyone how important balance is", or something to that effect. However, we do not know if Avacyn has been created at this point.
b) Last we have heard of Nahiris location, she went to confront Sorin regarding the creation of Vampires on Zendikar. We can only assume they fought and Nahiri was presumably the loser of this battle.
c) Nahiri, after a MILLENIA of having disappeared, she suddenly turns up on Zendikar again. Also, remember Ob Nixilis' analysis of her? If she could have returned, she would have. With Ulamog rampaging through Zendikar, Nahiri would have either have been right in the thick of battle, OR she would have been at the Eye of Ugin at both occasions when Jace visited the Eye.
d) The biggest piece of evidence ever: Sorin feels guilty when Ugin brings up Nahiri. He neither denies, nor confirms her death to Ugin. If I remember correctly, there was an Avacyn restored article that spoke of how it took great sacrifice to power the magic used to create Avacyn. What if Nahiri was that sacrifice?
Let me know what ya think, and feel free to throw any plotholes, info etc that I might have overlooked :)
March 4, 2016 8 a.m.
@Stormcaller cmc 3 works really well with Bant Company. With this out, you can get additional draws and stuff. Not sure why it doesn't go higher though.
March 4, 2016 8:02 a.m.
elpokitolama says... #21
HOLY SHIT THAT'S AMAZING 
And that one is not a wurm, but it has haste instead of trample which is still pretty cool. The flavor text maaaay lead us to a new Olivia Voldaren, which is even better :D 
March 4, 2016 8:06 a.m. Edited.
GoldGhost012 says... #22
That masterpiece looks really good, and the Youths looks good with the Heir of Falkenrath.
This is also the GP Beijing playmat. I think it's quite telling.
March 4, 2016 8:10 a.m.
Is it just me, or is Geralf's Masterpiece wearing the Lich King's helmet?
March 4, 2016 8:16 a.m.
The Masterpiece could be a little awkward.
In order for your deck to reliably return it from your graveyard as needed, you will need to have a number of card draw effects in your deck.
If you have too many card draw effects, he will quickly become smaller than you'd like.
But at the same time, he's a great Madness and Delirium enabler... and (if they are good enough) you may be able to time your use of use 'Clue Tokens' to make things more efficient... essentially having the needed 'draw effects', without having cards that specifically make you draw when you may not want to.
March 4, 2016 8:31 a.m.
AgentGreen says... #26
I don't think it will replace Duress, rather Duress will complement Pick the Brain
Consider this; T1 Evolving Wilds, play Hangarback Walker for 0, by T2 you have 3 of the 4 needed to trigger Delirium; so you play a card like Duress or Transgress the Mind for a preview of their hand will give you the 4th for trigger, then you can really go after your opponent's hand and take out win-cons early
March 4, 2016 8:38 a.m.
I believe it's all but confirmed by wizards itself. Maybe we'll also get another planeswalker duel deck out of this match up because to be honest I like the Saint Taft reprint I liked getting two planeswalkers and having them battle it out.
Though the winner of this fight will be Sorin who for the most part has homefield advantage and therefore knows how to fight on innistrad. The only thing that will stop him from ending nahiri is his guilt which she may use against him and if so sucker punch him to victory.
March 4, 2016 8:47 a.m.
GoldGhost012 says... #28
The Markov Manor part of the map is open! Go check it out! do it for me because I can't
March 4, 2016 9:21 a.m.
What if they plot twist nahiri and she's so spiteful and vengeful she has lost white and become RB instead?
March 4, 2016 9:22 a.m.
GoldGhost012 says... #30
People on reddit are saying this is Olivia Voldaren. Not saying I disagree, but what did you guys think? And the sword?
March 4, 2016 9:26 a.m. Edited.
I can believe that's Olivia. In medieval times royalty also served as the heavy infantry for armies. Seeing how that's the base setting for innistrad it would make perfect sense for Olivia to don on the armor and sword to protect herself and other vampires from the angelic tyranny.
March 4, 2016 10:05 a.m.
FatherLiir says... #34
Maybe it's the sword that's under her skirt in the original art.... also thanks to Pick the Brain, RIP Hedron Alignment Decks
March 4, 2016 10:11 a.m.
elpokitolama says... #35
Rayenous well, in modern Life from the Loam is perfect for the job. ;)
March 4, 2016 10:11 a.m.
Yeah couldn't Pick the Brain be disastrously strong in Modern?
March 4, 2016 10:17 a.m.
greenkingwashere says... #37
TMBRLZ Not really. It might have been solid against twin but now it really doesn't help you against Eldrazi. Maybe sideboard card in 
x midrange?
March 4, 2016 10:46 a.m.
KillDatBUG says... #39
Why is everyone going nuts over Pick the Brain? It seems incredibly bad to me. Without four card types in your graveyard, it's completely awful, and even with four card types in your graveyard, what's the point? Sure you may get to take an important combo piece, but the number of things that have to go right (Having delirium, them having the card in their hand) make it completely unplayable otherwise.
Oh, and once you actually manage to do that, congratulations! You put in all this work to enable.... Cranial Extraction. Nice.
March 4, 2016 11 a.m.
Man, that armor looks horrendous. But that's obviously Olivia. Same skin color, same hair color, same curly hair over her cheek...
Geralf's Masterpiece is sort of a reverse Nyxathid with lategame recursion. Not sure I like it, especially being double blue. You probably won't have mana to bring it back and pay the Madness cost for the stuff you're discarding until turn 9 or something.
Pick the Brain could be somewhat good in BGx (especially Abzan, which can't play Slaughter Games), but it seems too slow. Triggering Delirium isn't as easy as turning Tarmogoyf into a 4/5, since it counts only card types in your graveyard, so you'll never cast it on curve. Much better to just Surgical Extraction + Thoughtseize their stuff.
And yeah, it kinda suchs the Heir is a 2-drop, but at 1 mana it'd be absolutely bonkers. A Delver of Secrets Flip you can flip immediately AND use as a Madness enabler? Ugh.
March 4, 2016 11:04 a.m.
You'd think she'd eventually get around to brushing tat hair away from her cheek... it's got to tickle after a while.
And how does it not move from her cheek when she changes into her armour?
March 4, 2016 11:16 a.m.
VampireArmy says... #43
dude....relentless dead...can BLOCK! That's gotta be a first for a Gravecrawler effect
March 4, 2016 11:18 a.m.
And it has Menace! Not only can it block, but it's hard TO block! Is it too soon to say Black aggro is back?
March 4, 2016 11:20 a.m.
Stormcaller says... #45
AgentGreen Even with the Kahns-Fetches rotating out i'm not sure if Evolving Wilds will be a thing.
With what you describe one would basically use 4 cards just to disrupt your opponents play, without developing your board at all. If your hit all your landdrops and you are the starting player that leaves you with 2 cards in hand (not taking mulligans into consideration). All while you have taken 2-3 cards from your oppnents hand and maybe exiling one essential playset from the opponents deck/graveyard/hand.
That are a bit to many maybes for my taste.
March 4, 2016 11:25 a.m.
Stormcaller says... #46
Vote Relentless Dead for Zombie-Tribal President!
Relentless Dead 2016, why choose the lesser evil?
March 4, 2016 11:29 a.m.
Man Relentless Dead + Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet is going to be just ridiculous. I also love Relentless Dead flavor wise because I'm pretty sure the stain glass in the background is the exact same from the art on Endless Ranks of the Dead. Black-Blue Zombies for the Win!!
March 4, 2016 11:33 a.m.
Relentless dead will be insane in zombie trial. He comes back easily but with enough mana open he brings back other stuff to
March 4, 2016 11:34 a.m.
Take a second look at those eyes. I think we may have found the new version of Avacyn. It makes sense to since she seems to gone from peacekeeper to waging war on the werewolves of innistrad amongst other things.
VampireArmy says... #1
Nah more like preventing you from triggering madness 3 times with her ability on the stack lol
March 3, 2016 10:38 p.m.