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.
EverythingIsK says... #2
It's been posted a few times now. Very Eldrazi-esque. But other things can also corrupt things like that.
March 7, 2016 3:06 p.m.
EverythingIsK says... #3
I'm going to guess there might be a creature spoiled with something like this:
Definitely-Not-Goyf
Cost: 1G
Creature- Not a lhurgoyf
Delirium- As long as there are four or more card types among cards in your graveyard, Definitely-Not-Goyf gets +3/+3.
2/3
March 7, 2016 3:22 p.m.
Does anyone have a guess at what price Avacyn might eventually settle to? Or what she'll be upon announcement?
March 7, 2016 3:25 p.m.
I would just like to point that tentacles on vampire kids (forgot the name, gonna call it this way) look like octopuse's rather than weird meaty things Eldrazi have.
March 7, 2016 3:33 p.m.
APPLE01DOJ says... #7
EverythingIsK they just spoiled Not-A-Goyf
http://mythicspoiler.com/soi/cards/thingintheice.html
March 7, 2016 3:40 p.m.
shepherdofire says... #8
What colors could arline kord be. I think she is straight rg but my buddy thinks shes naya.
March 7, 2016 3:53 p.m.
The speculation is that Arlinn is somewhere in the Naya colors, but I'm leaning towards 
as opposed to 
. But both are likely.
March 7, 2016 4:01 p.m.
Has no one noticed how, in the art of Just the Wind, the curtains have a tonnes of eyes?? Or tentacle suckers. One of the two.
March 7, 2016 4:05 p.m.
I think she's R/G. They have the most flip cards and they are the werewolf colours.
I don't think 3 colour will be a thing, so she's not Naya, but I would definitely think she's based in Green. Maybe mono green, but I'd think R/G.
March 7, 2016 4:09 p.m.
Yeah not only are there tentacles in the curtains in just the wind, but the thing being focused upon in magnifying glass is an eye. I'm starting to think emrakul was the ancient god worshipped by runo stromkirk, and has now returned to innistrad.
March 7, 2016 4:11 p.m.
I would say Arlinn is going to be due to the fact that most werewolves are in those colors (the only ones that aren't are from much earlier sets).
March 7, 2016 4:12 p.m.
EverythingIsK says... #14
I know Thing in the Ice is a thing, but I think they would do something like what I wrote up for delirium.
March 7, 2016 4:20 p.m.
I think Arlinn will be g/w or r/w on the front and r/g on the back. Also I think some combination or all of Arlinn, Sorin, tamiyo, and lilianna will have an oath at the end of the block.
March 7, 2016 4:20 p.m.
A little additional info on a second 'check-list'.
Likely the 'Rares and Mythics'
2x White (Avacyn and another)
2x Blue ('Thing in the Ice' and another)
1x Black - Elusive Tormenter
1x Red
1x Green
1x Gold
1x Artifact
March 7, 2016 4:23 p.m.
elpokitolama says... #17
I'm feeling the Marit Lage hype... This article should convince you guys, along with Thing in the Ice. :D
March 7, 2016 4:39 p.m.
elpokitolama says... #19
Urgh, came back too late to edit my last message...
Well, at least Marit Lage is really a super powerful sea goddess, or at least one befitting the Stormkirk's adoration. Also, remember that the Zendikari sea god was Cosi (=Kozilek), so the Emrakul thesis isn't that liekly to be true after all. ;)
-Orvos-: even if she was not a planeswalker, Marit Lage is a being able to planeswalk (just like the eldrazis, but she is not an eldrazi). :D
March 7, 2016 4:49 p.m.
Ok, i know everyone doesnt like eldrazi speculation, but i have a theory that sounds logical.
Here is my theory
we know that cryptoliths channel and distort mana for a purpose (warped landscape flavor text) and in the trailer we see them all in a circle together. that means that they are all channeling their mana, creating a mana confluence. guess what likes lots of mana together? ELDRAZI. We see nahiri in the middle of a circle of cryptoliths (warped landscape art), implying that nahiri is using them. it also says that they channel mana for their purpose. their purpose? summoning emrakul. he/she likes lots of mana, and nahiri is trying to lure him to innistrad. "as zendikar has bled, so will innistrad" said nahiri, implying that she wants innistrad to have to go through the same struggles that zendikar felt. Emrakul distorts living things, explaining the weird distortions in the red vampire's art (extra finger, faces, eyes, and tentacles). It also could be distorting Avacyn to make her evil, or Avacyn is going crazy because she cant understand why people are bieng weird. It could also explain the demented woman in the UR last Wednesday. We also know that Runo Stromkirk worshipped a pre-avacynian god. what if before the tree trapped the eldrazi on zendikar, emrakul had paid a visit to innistrad. keep in mind on zendikar, vampires worshipped the eldrazi. maybe vampires on innistrad did too at some point. basically im saying that maybe emrakul is Runo's god. the reason we have not seen any spawn is because nahiri is only trying to lure emrakul, not his spawn. he may have an Appearance in Eldritch Moon. He may be distorting the moon's effects too.
Thoughts? Discuss!
March 7, 2016 5:14 p.m.
Harashiohorn says... #22
CheeseBro Perfect, just delete Emrakul and replace it with Marit Lage and I think you've got it.
March 7, 2016 5:24 p.m.
elpokitolama says... #23
Marit Lage makes more sense, but it would be even better storywise if Nahiri indeed tried to summon Emrakul but instead got the other tentacles tsundere. :3
March 7, 2016 5:26 p.m.
I think it's a completely different (new) villain, the one worshipped by Runo Stromkirk, who lives in the depths of the sea.
That, or Nahiri is just messing everything up.
March 7, 2016 5:30 p.m.
CheeseBro - you bring up a good point. We've been approaching the "eldrazi" topic from a player standpoint almost exclusively.
Looking at it from a lore perspective, and with your info and theory, it is entirely possible that the eldrazi have been to innistrad before.
I can't remember when Sorin created Avacyn but I remember that Sorin is more than 5000 years old and the eldrazi are even older. The eldrazi are older than nicol bolas for God's sake and he's 30,000 years old
March 7, 2016 5:30 p.m.
I think it's interesting, but replace Emrakul with Marit Lage and you've got me. I think another Eldrazi block is overkill and a waste of a cosmic enemy. Marit Lage, however, is like hipception of Eldrazi: she was warping minds and destroying worlds in a Lovecraftian way before it was cool. It would not be shocking to me to see WotC set up as if it were Emrakul and then pull a bait and switch. Granted, I don't know enough about Marit Lage's current status to know if this is reasonable, but... It just feels more likely than another Eldrazi set.
March 7, 2016 5:30 p.m.
Okay, wait for it.....what if the secret villain is..... Nicol Bolas!!
Think about it, he likes to manipulate people, it was his actions to release the Eldrazi. Liliana works with/for him, she is on Innistrad.
Bolas could have manipulated Nahiri into believing Sorin is at fault. Given that it was his actions that released the Eldrazi in the first place, it could be one of his huge plans to cause chaos in the background.
March 7, 2016 5:33 p.m.
elpokitolama says... #29
Bolas... We haven't seen this beautiful bastard for a few years now. Well, this could be some good plot development! But heck, I'll stick to Marit in terms of hints, lore, and playability.
March 7, 2016 5:36 p.m.
To be fair, I just love Bolas.
It wasn't until I started to think how it COULD be possible that I figured out that it would actually work.
He was semi involved in the Khans storyline, dealing with Sarkhan and Ugin there.
Bolas tricked other Planeswalkers into releasing the Eldrazi which gave us our last block. Why did he do it? Nobody knows.
He is known to have been dealing with Liliana who is still on Innistrad we believe. Nahiri is mad about her Plane and the Eldrazi which is technically Bolas' fault.
He has been in the background of the story for awhile now. I don't think it's much of a stretch that he is behind this as well. Whether he actually makes an appearance is debatable.
Regardless of who the bad guys are in this block, it is likely that Bolas is behind it. I doubt he will make an appearance as there isn't really room for him in the card list.
March 7, 2016 5:51 p.m.
Maybe since the last 'messing stuff up for everybody' escapade Bolas has been busy defrosting Marit Lage from the whole ice prison situation... Double whammy!
March 7, 2016 5:56 p.m.
Just opened this up and caught up.
TheFoilAjani JWiley129 Currently crying that avacyn combo was fixed, though I think the deck is still fine... I'll just have to cut a Nantuko Husk or two.
Oh yea madness is possible. I already have 2 decks, one RB and the other RB splashing jace. They're on the spreadsheet TheFoilAjani sent the link to a little while back.
LastlyRIP AVACYN COMBO I WANTED IT TO WORK SO BAD
March 7, 2016 6:36 p.m.
We have all been waiting for your response to that Ashockfan
March 7, 2016 6:43 p.m.
I think the spoiler of the one new Kraken/horrorhas debunked the eldrazi being on innistrad theory once and for all. My reasoning:
First this specific creature was trapped in ice where we have yet to see ANY interactions between the peoples of innistrad and frozen glaciers big enough to house this monstrosity. Not to mention its flavor text points specifically to the old gods of runo stromkirk being born of innistrad. Besides that the ancient horror is not strictly for eldrazi. Marit lage, cosmic horror, wrexial( blue black kraken legendary whose name spelling eludes me) the multiple other beings of the house of Dimir could all be considered ancient horrors. Hell even lorthos was RIP.
Another reason is that in the kuthulu mythos it is believed that his return is heralded by his call. It is an echo that is heard by all living beings creating a wave of madness due to the fact his power is beyond that of mere mortals. Then he himself rises to rule once more. Now where Avacyn fits in is she's a newer younger God and either doesn't have the strength to resist therefore driving her mad, or she's the only one seeing reason seeing mankind as the enemy and therefore become the purifier only no one else sees that and kills her for it.
My third reason is that wizards has finally made the "God" type. Theros showed us we'll be seeing true gods printed and named as such instead of being just an avatar angel or hydra avatar. And I bet you if we do see this ancient horror God it'll be an "Elder God".
That's just my two cents
March 7, 2016 6:44 p.m.
Ashockfan - I can't find the spreadsheet. I thought there was a link at some point but now I cannot locate it.
March 7, 2016 6:47 p.m.
March 7, 2016 6:53 p.m.
CheeseBro: A TREE sealed the Eldrazi? That's one badass tree. I think you meant three though.
Marit Lage is possible, but I still think it's an ancient sea god.
March 7, 2016 7:07 p.m.
Nightdragon779 says... #40
If there are krakens and whatnot, maybe Kiora is coming back again? Also, what about Tromokratis or Lorthos, the Tidemaker
March 7, 2016 7:18 p.m.
JohnnyBaggins says... #43
Or it just was freaking Nahiri. If you hear hooves, think of a horse, not a zebra. And Nahiri being on each card that has shown some shifting and twisting clearly make Nahiri the horse.
March 7, 2016 7:22 p.m.
...nevermind
The only cards spoiled that we didn't already know about were 2 bulk rares and a cool 2/1 green werewolf that flips into a 4/2 trample with the old innistrad flip mechanic
March 7, 2016 7:48 p.m.
Player3.14 says... #48
Just to add to the speculation, here's an interesting theory:
Avacyn was created to purge evil from the plane of Innistrad. Whatever force is giving humans, vampires, etc. these extra eyes, tentacles, etc. is percieved by Avacyn as a corrupting force. In her eyes, at least some of Innistrad's humans have turned into monsters. She is now "purifying" the plane by ridding humanity of this new evil. Humanity, of course, doesn't understand this, and the remenants of the church are trying to figure out what has happened. (See Thraben Inspector and Magnifying Glass from the Mechanics article). The story will be told from the Humans' point of view as they figure out what this evil is and how to cure themselves of it before Avacyn and her purifying angels or the horrors of Innistrad kill them.
I doubt Avacyn herself is corrupted, but it could be that some of the lesser angels are as well, such as Reaper of Flight Moonsilver. There has been a distinct difference in the angel art that has been spoiled - some of them look like they did in Avacyn Restored, while others have lost their inner light and look pale and guant.
What this evil is, I have no idea.
Thoughts?
March 7, 2016 8:53 p.m.
I want to point something out. Everyone is freaking out about Emrakul on Innistrad... but what about Marit Lage?
Maro is on record of saying that Marit Lage is NOT an eldrazi, but that they were indeed created from the same source idea. And what do we know about Marit Lage? We know it's not a planeswalker, but that it's capable of traveling to other planes like the eldrazi. We also know that regardless of the fact it's trapped in ice leagues under the ocean, it can contact / manage it's followers / cults on different planes. We also know that it can fly.
So, what if what we've been seeing in the shadows of the clouds in those trailers is not Emrakul.... but Marit Lage?
March 7, 2016 9:33 p.m.
The Marit Lage idea could work. I don't see good reasoning why it wouldn't.
I also believe that Nicol Bolas has something to do with everything.
The two ideas are not exclusive and could work together. I'm excited for this block.
Nightdragon779 says... #1
Phaetion But what do those have to do with Innistrad? Then again, neither does Eldrazi (hopefully)
March 7, 2016 3 p.m.