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
It really feels to me that Aggro decks are going to rule this format. There are very few boardwipes,, and with Eldrazi Red and Bant Company currently the bane of control decks... Like no deck out there has a realistic answer to T3 Thought-Knot Seer into T4 Reality Smasher into T5 Chandra, besides maybe T2 Jace into T3 Raptor into T4 CoCo into T5 Coco XD
I don't know, I absolutely love this set, but I'm not so optimistic on how diverse the meta is going to become. Like it feels that Madness and Discard are a bit too cute for what's already here.
March 28, 2016 11:09 a.m. Edited.
I think Madness control can do stuff. I don't know if it's powerful enough, as you said, but it has potential.
March 28, 2016 11:16 a.m.
DarkLaw - There is a reward for discarding it, it now only requires a Single 
mana instead of ! That said, it's pretty bad. But making a Madness counterspell is very dangerous with Jace, Vryn's Prodigy
Flip in Standard.
March 28, 2016 11:40 a.m.
Wizards needs to print Counterspell already. We need some good old oppressive blue cards to... Shake up the format. Counterspell isn't even oppressive!
March 28, 2016 12:02 p.m.
Counterspell is too inexpensive for a blatant counter of any spell. 2 or fewer mana counters need to have restrictions, its just the way it goes.
March 28, 2016 12:05 p.m.
Counterspell is too inexpensive for a blatant counter of any spell. 2 or fewer mana counters need to have restrictions, its just the way it goes.
March 28, 2016 12:05 p.m.
FAMOUSWATERMELON says... #8
This is not the place for this discussion, but yes, they should.
March 28, 2016 12:06 p.m.
Not really. Depends on the tempo of the format. No removal is ever too powerful in a vacuum - it's dependant on the creatures in the format. If we're talking about a format full of Siege Rhinos then yes Counterspell is too efficient. If it's a format full of Goblin Guides and Champion of the Parish etc. then Counterspell is not very good. It's all about the environment around removal that shapes its good-ness.
Also it's just not true that 2 mana disruption needs downsides. Look at things like Abrupt Decay that weren't even printed that long ago. That card has upside.
There's a time and a place for powerful control spells, and this meta might be it. It seems to be a bit faster and a bit more technical than previous blocks.
But essentially few card are ever just broken or require blanket statements about power level because the way we play the game is a product of our environment.
March 28, 2016 12:09 p.m.
Wizards like to roll the format between creatures and non creatures periodically and its interesting to see how our assessments of cards change. What's amazing in one environment is pretty terrible in another.
March 28, 2016 12:12 p.m.
Nor did I say downsides, I said restrictions. Notice Decay says "nonland with cmc 3 or less." That's a restriction.
March 28, 2016 12:14 p.m.
Counterspells are disruption by their very design.
And as ChiefBell said, Wizards likes to swing the pendulum of "what's the good deck" in Standard each rotation. In RAV-THS, the decks to beat were the grindy control decks. In THS-KTK, we needed to defeat the Abzan Menace alongside a resurgent Red Aggro. In KTK-BFZ, we had to worry about the insane manabases of Jeskai Black, Mardu Green, and Four-Color Rally. Who knows that DTK-BFZ-SOI will bring us, and how "Lock-Stock" Block in the Fall will shake that up!
March 28, 2016 12:19 p.m.
kanokarob - It actually ended up not being a restriction in that standard format nor is it a restriction in modern.
And counterspells are disruption. There's no difference (in 99%) of cases between 'counter target spell' and 'destroy target permanent'. Obviously a few things do factor in such as planeswalkers being able to activate before priority is passed for removal, but generally counterspells and removal are very widely comparable.
March 28, 2016 12:20 p.m. Edited.
mymanpotsandpans says... #15
Counterspell would get eaten alive by decks with Dark Confidant and Liliana of the Veil. Blue just trading one for one without card advantage is not worth it.
March 28, 2016 12:42 p.m.
Unlike those decks that play lili and Bob that spend almost all of their time trading 1 for 1.....
March 28, 2016 12:43 p.m.
mymanpotsandpans says... #17
But those decks that can trade 1 for 1 pull ahead in the end. Blue can't do that or you can and have a deck with a bastardized mana base.
March 28, 2016 12:46 p.m. Edited.
AgentGreen says... #20
Now that we're in the home stretch; what do you folks think the limited bombs are going to be.
March 28, 2016 1:04 p.m.
I think white looks pretty good. I was going to write an article about this but I don't really have the time. A lot of the creatures are lackluster in terms of their performance for the vanilla test but a lot of the removal is really good.
Inquisitor's Ox, Puncturing Light, Inspiring Captain and Angelic Purge are just solid, solid cards. Maybe not the most exciting things but they're reliable.
March 28, 2016 1:09 p.m.
MindAblaze says... #22
Does it look like there are enough common discard outlets for Fiery Temper to be a reliable lightning bolt?
March 28, 2016 1:23 p.m. Edited.
MindAblaze yes there's plenty- Lightning Axe, Sinister Concoction, Olivia, Mobilized for War, Tormenting Voice, Insolent Neonate, Jace, Vryn's Prodigy Flip... Just to name a few :P
March 28, 2016 1:28 p.m.
GoldGhost012 says... #24
The four planeswalkers are all going to be powerful, but Sorin and Arlin Kord feel the bomb-iest to me.
Archangel Avacyn/Avacyn, the Purifier, Ulvenwald Hydra, Relentless Dead, Descend upon the Sinful, Sigarda, Heron's Grace, Olivia, Mobilized for War, The Gitrog Monster, Altered Ego, Slayer's Plate, Geier Reach Bandit/Vildin-Pack Alpha for werewolves, Mindwrack Demon, Elusive Tormentor/Insidious Mist (this thing's gonna be a monster), Odric, Lunarch Marshal, From Under the Floorboards, Thalia's Lieutenant in humans, Diregraf Colossus in zombies, Declaration in Stone, Hanweir Militia Captain/Westvale Cult Leader, Always Watching , Burn from Within, Drogskol Cavalry, Tireless Tracker, Soul Swallower, Anguished Unmaking, and Westvale Abbey/Ormendahl, Profane Prince. Whew, what a list.
Commons and uncommons are harder to judge, but here are some of my picks: Autumnal Gloom/Ancient of the Equinox (situational but good), Obsessive Skinner, Inspiring Captain, Silverstrike, Angelic Purge, Puncturing Light, Gatstaf Arsonists/Gatstaf Ravagers (once it flips), Murderous Compulsion, Duskwatch Recruiter/Krallenhorde Howler, Breakneck Rider/Neck Breaker, Tenacity, Uninvited Geist/Unimpeded Trespasser, Nearheath Chaplain, and Skin Invasion/Skin Shredder.
Granted, these are all my opinion, so I expect plenty of disagreement.
March 28, 2016 1:32 p.m.
Hi_diddly_ho_neighbor says... #25
So here is my first SOI brew focusing on the synergy between Molten Vortex, The Gitrog Monster, and Groundskeeper with a nice hint of delirium. Feel free to provide any suggestions for improvement!
March 28, 2016 1:41 p.m.
MindAblaze says... #28
Guftders I was thinking commons to reliably have access to for limited.
March 28, 2016 2:32 p.m.
GoldGhost012 says... #29
Looks like you got Macabre Waltz, Catalog, Tormenting Voice, Rottenheart Ghoul, Stern Constable, Insolent Neonate, Lamplighter of Selhoff, and Ghostly Wings at commons. Quite a few uncommons and rares though.
March 28, 2016 3:09 p.m. Edited.
Lordjorenby: if you're playing Magenta's Clues and not splashing green you're missing amazing triggers. More appropriately I think Temur Investigate should be called Blue's Clues, green representing Steve and Red representing Magenta.
March 28, 2016 3:18 p.m.
Im more convinced Emrakul is the big baddy since seeing all cards. And nahiri is using the stone cryptolyths to channel innistrads mana to lure emrakul there.
March 28, 2016 4:18 p.m.
Indeed. In which case I hope one of two things happen:
Emrakul arrives, and with the help of the nearby planeswalkers, is pushed back but not defeated.
Emrakul eats the plane, killing (hopefully only) Jace.
The only thing I hope doesn't happen is Emrakul is defeated here in Eldritch Moon. There'd be little sense in that given the lack of the rest of the Gatewatch, specifically a planeswalker attuned with nature/leylines to fully bind her to the plane to be killed.
March 28, 2016 4:22 p.m.
Nightdragon779 says... #33
What if Emrakul is Innistrad's Moon, Whispering Madness :) into Avacyn's (and the other angels) ears. Also explains why Tamiyo is so intrigued with the moon of Innistrad.
March 28, 2016 4:30 p.m.
The moon has been there while Emrakul was sealed on Zendikar.
March 28, 2016 4:37 p.m.
kanokarob nahri could be using the cryptoliths to channel the mana through the laylines like she did with the hedrons on zendikar. She has just as much experience with laylines as others if not more because of the thousands of years she kept up the leyline network on zendikar
March 28, 2016 4:41 p.m.
She could do that but at present I dont think she would assist them in Emrakul's death.
March 28, 2016 4:42 p.m.
I do kind of like the Emrakul theory. Though more eldrazi could be tiresome.
March 28, 2016 4:43 p.m.
Does Emrakul have spawn like Ulamog and Kozilek? Theirs were each very distinctly different from the others brood in OGW
Maybe Emrakul's only live inside your mind and/or body; making them harder to track
There's definitely pink spaghetti fingers in a lot of the artwork
March 28, 2016 5:04 p.m.
Emrakul corrupts other living creatures. I always thought those were her spawn but ive never actually looked into it
March 28, 2016 5:25 p.m.
lemmingllama says... #40
@greyninja Emrakul has spawn. See Vestige of Emrakul as an example.
March 28, 2016 5:35 p.m.
Little known fact: Thraben Heretic's "dead" are pink Eldrazi tentacles, the "ghoulcallers" are Emrakul 'cultists', and the "madness" is all of the conspiracy theories on TappedOut.
March 28, 2016 5:54 p.m.
MindAblaze says... #42
That and the art on Grotesque Mutation has the long purple spindlies one might expect from an Eldrazi...
March 28, 2016 6:08 p.m.
PistonGolem says... #43
It doesn't explain the mouths. Sure, some eldrazi got a ton of eyes, but not mouths shown in the new mad prophet.
March 28, 2016 7:11 p.m.
Man, browsing the full spoiler on site...I didn't think I realized there were so many strong low CMC cards coming out!
March 28, 2016 8:58 p.m.
To tell the truth, I'm not overly impressed with the commons/uncommons in the set... But that's only because I had a few deck concepts I was hoping to be strengthened, but the concepts didn't seem to get stronger.
Seems very good for limited, and the rares/mythics seem powerful... Likely to be a great set overall... But 
vamps seem to be a little 'pushed'.
March 28, 2016 9:08 p.m. Edited.
I think my favorite non rare cards are Heir of Falkenrath and Alms of the Vein and Incorrigible Youths
March 28, 2016 9:47 p.m.
LittleBlueHero says... #47
Lambholt Pacifist is pretty awesome but my favorite is Harvest Hand from a sheer flavor and art perspective.
March 28, 2016 9:51 p.m.
in testing, BR vamps is good, but its not going to live up to the hype... at least until someone figures out the "correct" way to build it
March 28, 2016 9:59 p.m.
Nightdragon779 says... #49
Is this correct? This is basically my first standard deck, so I might actually convert it to paper, and I want it to be as good as possible before I paperize it.
March 28, 2016 10:39 p.m.
Nobody knows what's "correct" yet. All I can say is that it's criminal to not run at least 3 Lightning Axe in all of these.
There are also many speeds to build the deck at. I'll list a few:
Mono Red Vamps Aggro
Rb Vampire Aggro (possible madness subtheme)
RB vampire Aggro with madness as a main theme
RB vampire madness Hyper Aggro (using all in cards like Alms of the Vein that would likely not be played otherwise)
RB Vampire Madness (Midrange, with stuff like Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet and probably some Avacyn's Judgments
DarkLaw says... #1
Jace ain't card draw. Epiphany at the Drownyard? I would rather Sin Prodder myself with a rusty poker and play Dragonlord's Prerogative just because I so despise Steam Augury for not being FoF.
Rant of a blue player aside, okay not really- madness counterspell is horrible. You want a reward for discarding it, not an additional cost :/
/Rant
There's always new-new Jace. Then again, he can die. I dislike card draw that dies.
Are all the cards up then?
March 28, 2016 10:56 a.m.