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.
@Maltanis: My main reason for thinking Liliana will be there is Origins. They said that the Origins 5 would be important in the upcoming story and they fleshed out all of their backstories, including more information on the Chain Veil and the introduction of the Raven Man. So far Nissa, Jace, and Gideon have been integral in the BFZ story and the Oath promotional material shows that Chandra will be there (after an apparent turn of heart). This just leaves Liliana, who approached Jace about an important problem before Gideon convinced him to return to Zendikar. We know that Liliana has history on and an affinity towards Innistrad, and if Innistrad was being threatened by the Eldrazi (for whatever reason) she may begrudgingly return to help. She also said she needed to kill two more demons, and Innistrad is one of the most demon-friendly places in the Multiverse (that we know of).
Wizards was obviously foreshadowing something big with Liliana seeking out Jace for help and expanding on the lore of the Chain Veil, and I think, even if it doesn't culminate on Innistrad, she might be pressed to put aside her problem and help Jace (she needs his help after all, and he can't help her if he is disintegrated by Eldrazi).
November 30, 2015 5:10 p.m.
IvoryFrost says... #3
Or you know Nico Bolas comes out of no where. We haven't seen him in a while.
November 30, 2015 5:23 p.m.
IvoryFrost The Tarkir block showed him killing Ugin, and he was the mastermind behind the release of the Eldrazi. Your second statement is false.
November 30, 2015 5:49 p.m.
MindAblaze says... #5
It was kind of a cameo appearance. He didn't even get any lines.
November 30, 2015 6:27 p.m.
Harashiohorn says... #6
We could also see a situation in which all the angels and/or Avacyn are dying or in conflict due to the absence of the demons they were created to destroy/fight. Also a good chance to catch up with any of the non-eldrazi non-phyrexia villains.
November 30, 2015 7:12 p.m.
TheNextRedDude - I don't see the Eldrazi being defeated at the end of BfZ, just that we will see Emrakul on Innistard. I forsee the Titans buggering out of Zendikar due to either eating it all up or being forced out.
We also have no indication Sorin will go to Innistrad. He is looking for Nahiri, and she has little to do with Innistrad.
Ruffigan - Liliana gives 0 craps about anything other than not dying to the Chain Veil currently, as it's eating away at her. Liliana never really cared about Innistrad, she very much let things go awry in order to open the Hellvault and kill Griselbrand. I can see her defending it's destruction yes, but I'm not certain it WILL happen. On that note there are no Demons on Innistrad who she made her deal with, they are on other planes as far as we know. Liliana would hardly leave the job half done whilst there, and it would be lazy story writing to just cram that in during SOI.
Considering the warping of reality shown in the trailer, I'd suggest we're going to see potentially see Kozilek as well. Emrakul doesn't affect non-living matter, so warping the stone symbol shown in the trailer wouldn't be possibly. Kozilek is much more likely I imagine upon a little further though.
I highly doubt we are seeing the Eldrazi released upon Zendikar and then simply ignored for the next set. They are one of the greatest threats to the multiverse, now they are on the rampage it seems doubtful they will simply be ignored by WotC, especially as we are revisiting Innistrad so soon. It would be wasteful to ignore the Eldrazi and just go back to Innistrad "for some reason" and feel really out of place in terms of the story (something WotC are trying to up their game on as well)
December 1, 2015 5:57 a.m.
Harashiohorn says... #9
Maltanis The thing is your ignoring what happened with Scars block, Phyrexia is a MAJOR unresolved issue (They actually successfully took over a plane!) and the original innistrad block had NOTHING referencing phyrexia even though it directly followed Scars block, the same is true of Scars block itself in reference to the original zendikar block. Also quite possibly the biggest thing is that Eldrazi are not everyone's cup of tea, and Innistrad was quite popular because of its gothic horror setting, something the Eldrazi have absolutely no connection to. I suspect WOTC will certainly try to keep it relevant, and Ob Nixlis now running around again could certainly provide a basis for some of that, but I feel like overall there are so many unresolved story lines right now, you don't need to Deus Ex Emrakul quite yet, until some of the other unresolved stories are cleaned up.
December 1, 2015 3:12 p.m.
TheNextRedDude says... #10
We are in the Eldrazi story arc. Until it is resolved, every single set will have Eldrazi at least referenced strongly in it.
December 1, 2015 3:19 p.m.
Maltanis - Liliana isn't cursed anymore. Garruk is.
December 1, 2015 3:25 p.m.
So, what is Liliana's current motivation beyond survival and the destruction of her demons? She sought out Jace to manipulate him to help her with her issues being the vessel for the onakke. We need another UR featuring her.
December 1, 2015 3:34 p.m.
We know the Eldrazi on Zendikar are only projections of the "true" Eldrazi, they're only small parts. It's not unthinkable that with their release they maintained part of them on Zendikar to finish what they started, but also created other titans on other planes.
December 1, 2015 5:30 p.m.
Jimmy_Chinchila says... #14
Haven't seen Garruk in a while either. Doubt Tamiyo will return, but I could see Tibalt as a R/B Walker. Think maybe we'll see what Bolas has bee up to...
December 1, 2015 6:02 p.m.
ChiefBell - Liliana is still effected by the chain veil. When she returned to Shandalar to return the veil she was unable too and discovered it's effects are becoming worse and worse as she uses it.
Harashiohorn - I'm not saying the Phyrexians won't come up in the future, but as we would need a whole new introduction to them it seems unlikely that WotC would just ignore the recently released Eldrazi in exchange for Phyrexians. It doesn't help the Phyrexians have no way of Planeswalking that we know off so far, so the story would need a reasonable amount of set up. It just seems unlikely to me they would ignore the Eldrazi when they've been discussing them as a huge threat to the multiverse.
Jimmy_Chinchila - Why no Tamiyo? Garruk just left Innistrad, I have a feeling WotC are saving him up for some kind of confrontation in the future, although if Liliana is on Innistrad that may cause him to return. Even then I'm not sure if he is still chasing her as he is quite happy with his new transformation now!
December 2, 2015 4:50 a.m.
Jimmy_Chinchila says... #16
Maybe Liliana wants Avacyn for her own to battle her demons, but I could t see Sorin allowing that and we know he's on Tarkir looking for Ugin...possibly to Zendikar by now.
I think we won't see Tamiyo as Innistrad was not her home plane. If they return to Kamigawa we might see more moonfolk.
I also highly doubt we'll see Emrakul. Modern Masters 2 reprinted the Titans and we are in a Zendikar block that likely won't see her. Think they're saving her for down the road.
December 2, 2015 2:47 p.m.
TheNextRedDude says... #17
Maltanis Not only has Karn been spreading around pyrexia inadvertently, New Phyrexia is still a place.
December 2, 2015 2:59 p.m.
Harashiohorn says... #18
Something else that could come up... eventually...Ugin and Bolas meeting up in a world again, there's a lot of room to play around with who's the villain, and as both are planeswalkers you could have them confront anywhere.
As to phyrexia, yeah they could probably use some set up, and we might want to finish the eldrazi first, but having them come out of Nowhere and just demolish everything would be hilarious, especially if it happened right after the eldrazi were beaten/contained/made peace with. Like Gideon is about to finally take a rest and then WHAM phyrexia invades XP
December 2, 2015 4:35 p.m.
TheNextRedDude says... #19
I don't think Gideon really COULD defeat Phyrexia. He excels in head-on combat, but Phyrexia is a disease as well as a race. And all the swords and shields in Europe didn't hold back the Plague, did they?
December 2, 2015 8:18 p.m.
Harashiohorn says... #20
Yeah as shown with the fall of the Mirran, Phyrexia is the #1 unstoppable evil in MTG, very few villains get a set specifically about them winning.
December 3, 2015 5:41 p.m.
TheNextRedDude says... #21
LiveForChaosJace: I'll need to study these Phyrexians for weeks, come up with no solution, then have a revelation during a pivotal moment, enabling several plot devices.
Chandra: Oil is flammable! Burn it!
Nissa: Oh no! Such a tragedy has befallen this world! But there's no dirt here so I can't help.
Liliana: I don't care.
Gideon: As long is there is a drop of glistening oil, there is Phyrexia! So we shall seek out and destroy every last drop of this evil race!
Historian: I'm going to leave before this guy replicates the Crusades...
Biologist: ... I simply must get ahold of this oil! Then I can genetically analyze its biostructure... is compleated whilst daydreaming of biology
Therapist: Yes, but how does the Phyrexian Invasion make you feeeeel?
December 3, 2015 6:14 p.m.
I think Phyrexia entering the fray on Innistrad would be pretty interesting. Though the idea of Avacyn becoming corrupt in Hevault could be amazing. Like Akroma she'd be splashing different colors. But what I really want is my Avacyn planeswalker card! I was hoping she just planeswalked before Avacyn Restored and would come back all cool and stuff. Wouldn't be the first time a construct not only held its own sentience but also had a spark ignite (looking at Karn Deus Ex Machina). I want this for her so bad!!!!
December 7, 2015 9:03 p.m.
Braxlin - You're in too deep, you need to come back!
1.) Phyrexians can't planeswalk, so how do they get to Innistrad?
2.) Avacyn can't become a planeswalker since Angels in mtg aren't natural. They'd have to get a spark in the same way Karn did, from a living planeswalker.
3.) Akroma didn't "splash" colors. Akroma, Angel of Fury is from a "different present" that Planar Chaos showed us.
December 7, 2015 9:12 p.m.
Lol thanks JWiley129 for clearing up the whole Akroma mistake. But with the planeswalker spark being ignited, it could happen if say some poor planeswalker somehow gave their spark to the angel. There's nothing stopping WotC from killing off someone to do this.
And the whole Phyrexia threat could come from some planeswalker who visited Mirrodin before Karn reset it, right? I haven't gone too deep into the speculation yet I just had a couple of broad scenarios I thought I'd share. And I want my Angel planeswalker! I will not be denied!!!!
December 7, 2015 11:06 p.m.
Braxlin - Just because they can doesn't mean they should. Karn is going around the multiverse searching out Phyrexia and trying to end it. Planeswalkers also have a natural immunity to the Phyrexian contagion, so the planeswalker theory is kindof moot.
Additionally, why would Avacyn want a spark? Her duty is to Innistrad, that's what Sorin "programmed" into her. She has no reason to leave.
December 7, 2015 11:32 p.m.
Can you imagine how utterly hilarious it would be if they reprinted both Delver of Secrets Flip and Snapcaster Mage? Coupled with Jace, Vryn's Prodigy Flip, mono blue in standard would viable (possibly broken) in standard again, not to mention the terrifying buffs Jeskai, Yore, and other blue splashed decks would become.
December 8, 2015 1:22 a.m.
I could see a Delver of Secrets Flip reprint, but I highly doubt Snapcaster Mage would get reprinted in Standard.
December 8, 2015 1:27 a.m.
TheNextRedDude says... #28
JWiley129 Isn't Planeswalker carriers one of the main ways Phyrexia spreads? Correct me if I'm wrong, but phyrexia is a plague and I treat it as such.
December 8, 2015 6:23 a.m.
Yes and No, PW's are immune to the Phyrexian Contagion... but currently it's the easiest way for it to move from one Plane to another.
The Phyrexian Plague initially spread through portals created between Planes. The original portals were linked to the 'Mending' (I believe) and have all been shut/sealed, drastically slowing the spread.
For a PW to 'spread' the contagion, it would almost have to be intentional. They would have to carry Glistening Oil to a new plane and infect a living being with it... and even then, it may not spread as it will often just kill the living thing it is trying to infect.
This is how Mirrodin became infected. Karn had some Glistening Oil that he was studying. - Memnarch became infected by it and began the spread.
December 8, 2015 9:32 a.m. Edited.
The Phyrexians are currently dealing with their own things on Mirrodin however. The Mirrodin Resistance, infighting among the Praetors, the prescene of Tezzeret and Bolas's inflence, Koths fate and Karn's new objectives, these are all things that need resolving before the Phyrexians just suddenly decide to start hoping around the multiverse. They have tons of unresolved issues on Mirrodin/New Phyrexia to solve first basically.
Interestingly "Karn left traces of the oil in his travels from plane to plane" - From MTG Salvation. So Phyrexians can easily be introduced into a world that Karn has visited previously. So defeat on Mirrodin would not be the absolute end potentially.
Thankfully the Eldrazi have no actual physical form, so we won't be seeing any Phyrexian/Eldrazi combinations. That would be horrific!
December 9, 2015 5:03 a.m.
Horrific would be an Eldrazi/Phyrexian/Sliver triple combination... possessed by the Chain Vail.
December 9, 2015 7:58 a.m.
The idea of just "Sliver Eldrazi" is a horrifying concept....
December 9, 2015 10:13 a.m.
...and that could happen, as the slivers simply adapt/change/evolve based on things in the environment around them.
Would be funny to find a Plane, previously 'attacked' by Slivers, then 'consumed' by Eldrazi... the Eldrazi since left, and the only thing remaining are colorless slivers that consume (ingest/process) everything.
December 9, 2015 11:06 a.m.
Noteing that the Eldrazi would have left the Slivers alone, because once the slivers 'evolved' to mimic Eldrazi, the Eldrazi would view them as other Eldrazi and not something to be consumed.
December 9, 2015 11:18 a.m.
I doubt it's going to happen anyway. WotC have plenty of villains they can tap into without combining two existing ones.
Maybe in another 20 years when they run out of ideas!
December 9, 2015 11:33 a.m.
MagicChamp1 says... #36
Wizards won't do eldrazi again, since it's too soon. It was Griselbrand's idea to trap Avacyn, so I think he planned on corrupting her while in there. Assuming that angels are being corrupted along with Avacyn, cycle of BR, BU, and BG legend angels?
p.s. I know that flavor text on Defy Death implies Grizelbrand is dead, but do we know forshure?
December 9, 2015 1:23 p.m.
GoldGhost012 says... #37
Yes, we know for sure. Liliana completely obliterated him with the Chain Veil.
December 9, 2015 1:28 p.m.
Even though Grisi's dead, there could still have been corruption during her time in the Helvault.
December 9, 2015 2:18 p.m.
TheNextRedDude says... #40
MagicChamp1 of course they will do Eldrazi again soon. Shadows over Innistrad probably won't have Eldrazi, but another set soon will.
December 9, 2015 2:52 p.m.
OK so with all these speculations about SOI, I've been doing some thinking. Some really out of the box thinking and I just came up with probably the craziest theory. So what if Wizards is planning to do a plane crossover event with Lorwyn? And maybe that's why we see the Avacyn symbol warp in such an odd way. Or maybe the plane of Innistrad is suffering a worldwide curse like Shadowmoor???
Now before anyone has a chance, let me acknowledge that this is a stretch. The idea that Innistrad can somehow become darker is weird. I mean it's a plane about Victorian era monsters and other dark themes, how much darker can it go? And maybe there's something about the Shadowmoor curse I don't understand or a convergence of planes and the like (I'm not an expert on MTG lore). But I thought this idea isnt too outside the realm of theory to share, plus I'm sure players have been asking for a return to Lorwyn/Shadowmoor for years now, so it'd make a little sense to revisit this plane.
Anyway idk, what do you guys think? Yay or nay to the possibility?
December 10, 2015 11:19 a.m.
yay. i like the idea. maybe the chain veil grew more powerful from cursing plainswalkers and has begun to fight back against the plane
December 10, 2015 4:53 p.m.
TheNextRedDude says... #43
car Why do I always hear the most outlandish theories from you?
December 10, 2015 5:46 p.m.
I expect that the Planeswalker alliance will decide to split the titans up in order to be able to beat them more easily (when they're together it's impossible to win).
So they'll somehow "grab" the Titans and planeswalk them to 3 different planes.
The story then goes on with Jace who took Kozilek with him to Innistrad with the hope to find Sorin there... or another answer to the Eldrazi problem. Eventually Kozilek may end up locked inside the moon.
Emrakul and Ulamog will be transported to another plane each. One of those I suspect will be Kaladesh, a plane with not a lot of mana, which may prevent them from easily gaining power... while some artifacts and whatnot developped on the plane may help to deal with the problem.
December 10, 2015 6:06 p.m.
Harashiohorn says... #45
And trap Emrakul on Mirrodin. Do it :D. I mean, lots of artifacts to stop her XD and some other fun things...
December 10, 2015 6:09 p.m.
DemonDragonJ says... #46
I believe that it is now safe to presume that the defenders of Zendikar shall not be victorious against the Eldrazi: if they were, why else would Jace be on Innistrad, searching for Sorin, who himself is searching for Nahiri?
Have I already mentioned Edgar Markov in this thread? Given what is known about him, I am very much anticipating him appearing in this block, and being extremely powerful, as well.
December 12, 2015 11:28 p.m.
chucktheduck says... #47
Do you guys think the new colorless mana in oath of the gatewatch will bring us colorless spells in SOI? like colorless (maybe devoid) spirit spells?
December 15, 2015 7:02 p.m.
DemonDragonJ says... #48
chucktheduck, I do not believe that that is very likely; while the new colorless mana symbol may appear in this block, the "colorless matters" theme is mostly for the Battle for Zendikar block, so neither the new symbol nor wastes (the new basic land) would fit flavorfully or mechanically into Innistrad, in my mind.
December 15, 2015 10:41 p.m.
chucktheduck - I'll direct you here where MaRo says that this symbol will be used less often than Hybrid.
December 15, 2015 10:58 p.m.
There are places i'd rather return to... Alara?
Anyway, lets make the most of it! I'd love to find Tamiyo, the Moon Sage there... A Sorin would be great.
Most of all, I would love to see some more information, or maybe even a new card, on Elbrus, the Binding Blade Flip (Well, not the sword, but Withengar Unbound.
MagicalHacker says... #1
So far, the two highest probabilities I see is either that Avacyn (being the balancer of the plane) goes evil because of all the good on Innistrad, or Emrakul reeks havoc on the plane, turning innistrad from a top-down horror-themed plane to top-down H. P. Lovecraft-themed plane.
I think the first one is more likely, but the second has more evidence.
November 30, 2015 5:06 p.m.