By now, all the cards in Innistrad have been spoiled. A lot of them still don't have good pictures, so I am going to go with cards that have their art intact (the art in this set is amazing)
So let's get to it!
Bramblecrush - what a great card for Green! Beast Within was just printed, I was flabbergasted when I saw this thing. It really doesn't match up with Beast's versatility or speed, but it will replace staples like Creeping Mold and Desert Twister.
At uncommon, this card will make drafting Green (the supreme color) very reliable, and honestly, who doesn't want to bitchslap Liliana a bit?
The Flavor text is great - Garruk just called civilization a hunk of crap. Good point, Garruk!
Caravan Vigil is an interesting card - its a land tutor on G, and if you are lucky enough to have acreature die this turn, its actually an AMAZING Rampant Growth. I see this card powning face in limited, but will probably not make as big a spash in constructed formats.
This thing is just weird. An 8/8 for 7 is not all that impressive, though the Trample is a nice addition to any beastie. As I mentioned in a previous spoiler, the random element to the set is something that I am less than excited about, but I think the in the Monstrosity's case, we have room to work with.
The obvious answer is to keep no more than 2 creatues in your 'yard, or multiple copies of the same one. There is plenty of grave hate in the set, so it will possible to sculpt the yard for maximum efficiency.
I am not sure if this guy will end up a part of the regular 99, but it is certainly a strong limited card.
Wow, an Eternity Vessel that doesn't suck! A 0/13 wall is not bad, especially one that will keep you alive indefinitely. While I think this will be nearly worthless in EDH, the standard and limited applications seem pretty strong.
This card explains the 13 damage Red spells a bit, especially since this bad boy will lock a red deck down like mad.
The use of the word exchange is kind of odd - it kind of implies that the tree's toughenss will become whatever your life total was (though I don't think that was intended.)
The only artifact to make this round of spoils is the Inquisitor's Flail. I love this card for 7+ power generals, like Ruhan the Fomori - it cuts the clock to two turns!
A lot of the evergreen abilities love it too - First Strike, Double Strike, Trample, Lifelink to name a few. The interaction with a Souble Striker is crazy - double the First Strike damage, and then double the regular dmamage. With a Mirran Crusader, that is 8 points of cracking heads in one card! Add a SoFaF, and you are swinging for 16!
Watch out for opponent's creatures with similar abilities, as its a 2-way street!
I include the Manor Skeleton because it strikes me as a bit odd. The Black Zombies of the set are coming into play tapped to evoke their shambling nature - so why the hell is this thing all hasty? Definitely a leg up over the traditional Drudge Skeleton (at the same cost!)
This is another card that will get some good limited play, but I can't think of too many reasons to put him in a constructed build.
I love cards with multiple modes, as they are invariably are more useful than single-moded cards. Ghoulcaller's Chant is a perfect example of a card like this. The first mode is pretty good on its own, but is nothing new - B for a creature Regrowth - but the second ability is far more interesting.
Imagine if it had been prined with only the second ability - STINKER!
Although its not the best of the yard love Black has, it is a very solid card, and will fit into the Zombie deck I am fixing to build. It will have great implications in limited, as the other set's analogues have been quite strong.
Sturmgeist is officially Edric's new BFF. It will be huge from Edric's hand sculpting, has some evasion so it will hit, and when it does - you will get TWO cards (assuming Edric is in play.)
In general, this card is good al around, but I doubt it will see too much sanctioned play. No reason not to draft this bad boy, though!
I love cards that mess around with the status quo, and Runic repetition is one of those cards. Not only does it give life to a card that is exiled (previously only the Riftsweeper and kin, as well as the Wishes, could do this,) it interacts with older cards, like Fervent Denial, and basically gives you two more uses of Flashback cards (which are all at least decent cards to beging with.)
I can see this going into constructed decks, though the limited appeal is just that - limited.
Dissipate is definitely one of my favorite counterspells, and I often pack it in Blue decks. As I mentioned above, Exile is pretty hard to come back from, and the counterspell aspect means that whatever card was strong enough to warrant a Dissipate is not gonna effect the game state at all (save 'cast' triggered abilites like the Eldrazi Legends.)
Love reprints, love good reprints even more!
This card is just straight up awesome! As far as I can tell, it is the apex of the neo-dredge mechanics of the set. Can you imagine exiling Jin Gitaxias from your yard and putting a copy of him into play - for NO mana (besides the cost of Back from the Brink.)
This is the kind of card that will see play in all types of formats - its amazing no matter what way you look at it!
Spare from Evil is an interesting card. It is less strong in Innistrad for obvious reasons - the Humans are on theme - but in other formats it will be a great card to give some mass evasion to your creatures. What's more, it will spare you from some of the biggest headaches to creatures - other creatures!
Leyline of the Meek is crying in a dark corner somewhere. Intangible Virtue is an amazing card, especially in the more recent sets where there have been better and more efficient token creatures, and this is another one I can see showing up in a lot of formats. Cards like Shrine of the Loyal Legion and White Sun's Zenith are both Standard legal, and there are a lot of cards in Innistrad itself that will benefit (the Mausoleum Guard, for instance.)
Rhys, The Redeemed decks are going to LOVE this card!
The last card I want to discuss today is Infernal Plunge. This card is almost a Timeshifted Dark Ritual, though the additional cost makes it a little different. In my experience, sacrificing a creature is never that big a deal, and you can really abuse some cards like Yosei, the Morning Star.
Homura, Human Ascendant can't wait for this card!
I expect 1 more round of spoils once the rest of the set has suitable pictures. Speaking of suitable -
Thanks for reading!
Cassidy Silver
