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.
The Zendikar art book does a good job of describing the effect that each Titan has on non-Eldrazi. I'll reread it to see if that's how Emrakul affects people. However I'm still on the record as saying that I doubt Emrakul will show up, considering it's too soon imo and the story would be better served with Emrakul not showing up for a few blocks.
February 8, 2016 4:03 p.m.
Um... I'm pretty sure tibbers is in fact dead... They killed him off in the storyline. I'd go look it up but busy rn
February 8, 2016 10:06 p.m.
Ashockfan - Wizards would disagree with you.
"The half-devil Planeswalker Tibalt always took great delight in torturing his home plane of Innistrad. The pain mage's twisted experiments drew inquisitors bent on shutting him down. When they came for him, he found his Planeswalker spark and escaped. Now he is free to wander the Multiverse, following his sadistic whims and finding new worlds to torment."
February 8, 2016 10:11 p.m.
DemonDragonJ says... #5
I am rather displeased that double-faced cards shall be returning in this block, since I dislike them for being too different from the rest of the game, but the return of madness is nice. Is there any chance for unearth to return?
February 8, 2016 10:29 p.m.
i want to see domri rade take control of the werewolves and be the pack leader
February 8, 2016 10:37 p.m.
DemonDragonJ - DFCs are really cool and open up a ton of design space that Wizards can utilize. That said, I dislike them being in another Innistrad block as the main component since it feels like DFCs are being too closely tied to Innistrad.
Based on the mechanics we've seen so far, I'd say that Unearth is unlikely. But we will see once the spoilers start towards the end of March.
February 8, 2016 10:39 p.m.
Ocarina500 says... #8
Is anybody else getting strong Majora's Mask moon vibes here? Something in the moon, (probably crazy Avacyn/Griselband levels of power here), either Nahiri or somebody else awakens it in the first set and then Liliana comes in EMN to stop it, with the help of Jace from SOI and fight/help new Nahiri hopefully? Just my two cents. Super stoked they're bringing back madness, and if they would print some more werewolf tribals, I'd say this set would be fantastic. Always loved original Innistrad, great lore, great cards, if they can keep this up I think we'll be good.
February 8, 2016 11:37 p.m.
Why would Emrakul show up on the Innistrad plane? What happened to Emrakul in the zendikar lore?
February 9, 2016 8:39 a.m.
alanwescoat says... #10
Considering that the vampires from the current block were overall quite poor, we can only hope that Shadows over Innistrad might make the tribe at least a decent deck in Modern. I really like tribal, and playing BR Vampires competitively sounds like a blast!
February 9, 2016 9:37 a.m.
So it looks like at least a couple of the latest spoilers on Mythic Spoiler feature raven/crow imagery fairly heavily. Could we finally see the "Raven Man" printed in this block?!
February 9, 2016 9:51 a.m.
Check out the cool art on our reprint madness enabler!
February 9, 2016 9:58 a.m.
@Wizno - These cards are not alluding to 'Raven Man'... they are alluding to Storm Crow.
Of course, Storm Crow is Raven Man's creator and God, so it could mean some mediocre card representing Raven Man... like a 1-Drop PW that ultimates for the win the turn it's played... still loses to Storm Crow.
February 9, 2016 10:16 a.m.
alanwescoat says... #14
(Hushed and awed voice)...Storm Crow...returns...
February 9, 2016 10:24 a.m.
So...
"Dance with Devils"
"Have you ever danced with the Devil in the Pale Moonlight?"
...Pale Moon reprint?
:)
February 9, 2016 10:29 a.m.
Storm Crow will never be reprinted. Its too god in todays magic.
February 9, 2016 11:10 a.m.
WolfDice66 Looks like Delirium is putting paid to having Threshold - there is a decent selection of spoiled cards and no mention so far; and would they really have both these?
A shame really as, like you, I think it was good and would fit with other current mechanics well. Can't believe it is viewed as complex, if anything it's less complicated than Delirium!
February 9, 2016 11:19 a.m.
TheFoilAjani That doesn't particularly matter. When he created the thread, we didn't know the release date of Eldritch Moon, so he couldn't have put April-July, henceforth differentiating between the two options. And like I said, details about the next set give us clues as to what is in this set.
Lightning axe is a great madness enabler. Maybe we can make a viable madness deck?
February 9, 2016 2:17 p.m.
CastleSiege says... #20
Rayenous that actually makes a lot of sense. Both flavorfully and from a mechanical point of view. Would synergize well with the Eldrazi.
February 9, 2016 2:30 p.m.
OMG LIGHTNING AXE YES THANK YOU WIZARDS!
Madness is my favorite ability ever so I'm just a little excited :D
February 9, 2016 5:50 p.m.
As for the new spoilers:
We all hope the new wolfs CMC is R, but know it will be 1R
Pore over pages actually seems like a very good card. 3UU draw 3, untap 2 lands, discard one. With madness this will be an absolute powerhouse
February 9, 2016 5:54 p.m.
Storm Crow would break standard, and every other format with it, if it were ever reprinted.
February 9, 2016 6:01 p.m.
Ashockfan You know, I forgot about the discard enabling madness. What kind of a person am I?
February 9, 2016 6:19 p.m.
Ooh! Ooh! Faithless Looting reprint! I'm calling it! Will be nice with madness.
February 9, 2016 6:20 p.m.
GoldGhost012 says... #26
I doubt it, with Flashback likely not being one of the mechanics in the block.
February 9, 2016 6:22 p.m.
DarkLaw - From what we've seen, I would doubt Faithless Looting gets reprinted b/c I don't think you'd want another block with Flashback and Madness in it.
February 9, 2016 6:22 p.m.
WolfDice66 says... #28
Tamiyo's notes as depicted in Pore Over the Pages and/or Pieces of the Puzzle may elude to the Eldritch power associated with Innistrad's moon. We see a red spell exiling an artifact or land. It would appear the newly sparked Tibalt, the Fiend-Blooded may have received a boon during his walks through the Blind Eternities. What could be more chaotic to a chaos obsessed villain than the madness of Eldrazi and the complete devastation of exile. Tibalt loves to torture his home plane and is currently planeswalking away from defeat; as is Ob Nixilis. The Devil and Demon may find a common interest in corrupting lesser beings into conduits for the ancient, unthinkable things that lurk outside of space and time. Tibalt rising in power in exchange for aiding Ob Nixilis exacting revenge on Nahiri and/or Liliana could be possible. I don't believe that Tibalt would be in favor of a full scale Eldrazi invasion and would appeal to the Gatewatch representatives to help maintain the balance after enough demons and corrupt angels have been exiled.
The flavor text of Sanguinary Mage, "New cults rising in Nephalia have found allies in the Stromkirk bloodline, whose progenitor worships ancient and terrible forces." combined with the what we know about the vampire line "Stromkirk's progenitor, Runo Stromkirk, was a high priest in life who worshipped a pre-Avacynian god of the sea and storms, and Stromkirk vampires still feel a slight affinity with the coast." makes me think that the Elder God may be back. I would like to see a merfolk tribe emerge from the depths and become a factor on the surface world. They would have no allegiance to either side in the Avacynian conflict, only worshiping their mind-shackling deity, or at least that's what I hope Kiora could have meant "For thousands of years, we and our ancestors unknowingly worshiped the Eldrazi titans," said Kiora. "I'm sure there are some who still do." Wizards could go a more complicated route push the Lovecraftian vibe with the tribe representing Emrakul being Human Fish transforming creatures, similar to Insectile Aberration.
Reprint ideas: Constant Mist, Cosmic Horror, Hungry Mist, Underworld Dreams, Mind Shatter, Mist of Stagnation, Tendrils of Corruption. (Let's compile a running list?)
BTW!
Thanks for the Love! Vitalizing Wind!
February 9, 2016 7:11 p.m.
FYI, there's a fake spoiler running around of a Madness & Delirium "tarmogoyf". Don't believe its lies.
February 9, 2016 10:15 p.m.
"Players were horrified at the number of cluestones they pulled in Dragon's Maze.
So when Wizards decides to make a horror set, what do they do?
They make cluestones into a keyword." -Reddit
Prob the best comment i've seen all day.
February 9, 2016 10:48 p.m.
1) that comment was amazing. A++ work there.
2) It probably plays better than it looks. And/or there is an artifact subtheme we can play with. Or something like "If you control 3 Clues, do X"
February 9, 2016 10:53 p.m.
ShadowNinja0704 says... #32
Theory time.
I think the eldrazi were a little too much for the gatewatch to handle long-term, so they sent Jace over to Innistrad to fetch Sorin and/or Liliana to help with the eldrazi. Meanwhile, Avacyn and/or some of the angels she commands are being corrupted by a malevolent force, (probably Liliana) and Sorin is trying to fix it.
February 9, 2016 11:16 p.m.
Sigh Once again, from the Zendikar Art Book:
"As glorious a victory as they had won, the members of the Gatewatch all knew that three Eldrazi titans had been unleashed on Zendikar. Though Emrakul had not been seen in weeks, the third titan was still alive somewhere - perhaps slumbering in the earth or sea as Kozilek had been, perhaps on some other plane. The work of the Gatewatch was not yet done.
So the Planeswalkers formed a new plan. Jace would leave Zendikar in search of Sorin Markov and Nahiri, who abandoned Zendikar to the Eldrazi. Perhaps they would know how Emrakul might be found or had heard some word of where the third titan had already gone. Gideon, Nissa, and Chandra, meanwhile, would split up and search Zendikar for any sign of Emrakul. Along the way, they would help the people of Zendikar eliminate the remaining Eldrazi broods and rebuild what the Eldrazi had destroyed. They agreed to reconvene at Sea Gate, for as long as one Eldrazi titan remained, the Multiverse still had need of the Gatewatch." - pg 205.
February 9, 2016 11:28 p.m.
Serendipitous_Hummingbird says... #34
See, this is what I hate. First, jace is alive. He needs to die, and the sooner the better.
Second, how the hell does Zendikar defeat the eldrazi twice. It really makes you wonder if the Eldrazi are actually that terrifying.
Let's see them fight off a phrexian invasion.
February 9, 2016 11:55 p.m.
Good thing Phyrexia can't get off of Mirrodin/New Phyrexia!
February 10, 2016 12:10 a.m.
Well... Now I hope they don't find the one and only Em... I want the gatewatch to last for a while. As much as I love Chandra and her "IDGAF" nature, them coming together to fight was awesome and we got an incredible card out of it. So stick around pls Chandra
The rest of them can fuck off honestly, especially jace... We have way too many of their cards
(That was coming from a card pool perspective. I understand they're huge parts of the story, but it gets annoying to be honest)
On another note, let's take a vote! All in favor of a RW Nahiri vengeant say "I". I love it because adding red to anything will always make it better in my opinion :D
February 10, 2016 12:52 a.m.
bennybubbles says... #37
Ashockfan, it sounds like you are saying that defeating Emrakul will lead to the disbanding of the Gatewatch, but the Gatewatch was formed for planer threats that include more than the Eldrazi. I believe this has been confirmed multiple times on Blogatog. I can't link any of them because I can't access tumblr at the moment, but MaRo did confirm it.
February 10, 2016 2:14 a.m.
alanwescoat says... #38
But now we have an official M.T.G. superhero team! It does not have to be constantly active, just ready to be Super Friends whenever needed.
February 10, 2016 3:07 a.m.
canterlotguardian says... #40
Now just bring back Threshold, Wizards. Pretty plz?
February 10, 2016 5:27 p.m.
cavman5512 says... #41
NOOOOOOOO not that monstrosity!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! lol
February 10, 2016 5:40 p.m.
MindAblaze says... #43
"Have you ever danced with the Devil in the Pale Moon Light" is a Batman reference.
February 10, 2016 7:11 p.m.
canterlotguardian says... #44
MindAblaze it totally is. how did I not get that?
February 10, 2016 7:16 p.m.
Is there any chance of a partial return of the untap lands mechanic from Urza block?
February 10, 2016 7:25 p.m.
That card is there to help enable Madness, nothing more.
February 10, 2016 7:27 p.m.
Fleetwood-Mat says... #47
I would LOVE a new Tamiyo planeswalker! Tamiyo, the Moon Sage is so disgustingly good in EDH, blue walkers are my favourite.
February 11, 2016 2:02 a.m.
Having a couple more 'untap lands then discard' effects on spells would really enable Madness at least.
February 11, 2016 8:54 a.m.
alanwescoat says... #49
What I am most looking forward to is Duel Decks: Emrakul, the Aeons Torn vs. Storm Crow.
February 11, 2016 9:12 a.m.
Do you guys expect a reprint of the buddy lands, like Clifftop Retreat and Sulfur Falls?
bennybubbles says... #1
My two cents: Based on the leaks and the use of Shadows Over Innistrad and Eldritch Moon both to me imply something is looming over Innistrad but isn't actually there yet. I'm not quite sure how the Eldrazi and their abilities work but it seems to me that Emrakul is doing something to the plane from the blind eternities. Hence we won't see any eldrazi spawn/scions/drones etc. and instead will see things like madness as a result of Emrakul's power.
Eldritch means strange, ghostly and sometimes otherworldly, which represents Emrakul very nicely. Of course this all leads back to the Cthulhu mythos and Lovecraftian horror, in which the Old One isn't often actually seen but it's effects are, and that drives the story. Although, I don't think that the entire plane will be affected by Emrakul's power, most likely just the humans and/or angels, as they are the most pure and have the most to lose from corruption. A demon twisted by Emrakul would still be a demon, but an angel would not still be an angel.
February 8, 2016 3:49 p.m.