Sets Shadows over Innistrad Spoilers Thread

[GiftsForgiven]

This looks interesting:

Rise From the Tides
5U
Sorcery

Put a 2/2 black Zombie creature token onto the battlefield for each instant and sorcery card in your graveyard.

Hyperbole Rating: Oh, so blue gets snapcaster Grave Titan now?
Actually interested: well, do you want a combo deck? This could work, but isn't horrible when played fairly

I've heard that this is mistranslated. They enter tapped. I can't actually read Japanese, so grain-of-salt, but fair warning.

 

[Aoret]

Cool control finisher but my bet is that it isn't good enough. At lower power levels where it is, it likely isn't a very supportable combo card. That leaves it in kind of an awkward in-between space for me :/

I want to be wrong though, somebody come argue with me!

 

[GiftsForgiven]

Cool control finisher but my bet is that it isn't good enough. At lower power levels where it is, it likely isn't a very supportable combo card. That leaves it in kind of an awkward in-between space for me :/

I want to be wrong though, somebody come argue with me!

Depends on the cube, I'd say? I wouldn't hate this as a secondary win condition in, say, a Lab Maniac style deck. There are certainly self-mill enablers such as dread summons that exist to give this card some punch. I could see it in a middling-power GY cube.

 

[Onderzeeboot]

What's with the anti-Jace bandwagon? Newest Jace is a pretty neat card in my opinion. Scry 1 and draw as a plus is fantastic, bounce as a minus works just fine (see Jace, the Mind Sculptor), and that ultimate is fantastic. Doesn't lock down an opponent completely, but it sure is a fantastic advantage!

 

[sigh]

What's with the anti-Jace bandwagon? Newest Jace is a pretty neat card in my opinion. Scry 1 and draw as a plus is fantastic, bounce as a minus works just fine (see Jace, the Mind Sculptor), and that ultimate is fantastic. Doesn't lock down an opponent completely, but it sure is a fantastic advantage!

Because it could have been a Tamiyo, especially with the flavor of the ult. And there's like a million jaces already.

 

[Onderzeeboot]

Because it could have been a Tamiyo, especially with the flavor of the ult. And there's like a million jaces already.

It's not even certain Tamiyo won't show up in the block! Also, don't blame Jace, blame Wizards!

 

[Goldenpineapple]

Westvale Abbey
: add
.. pay 1 life: make a 1/1 black & white human cleric token
,, sac 5 creatures: transform ~

Ormendahl, Profane Prince
Flying, Lifelink, Indestructible, Haste
After the disappearance of Griselbrand, Skirsdag adepts impatiently waited for another demon demanding their devotion. Ormendahl did not make them wait much longer.

Neat

Edit:

I don't even know.

 

[Kirblinx]

The good news is that the colour requirements for planeswalkers have already been met for the block with just one set;
W: Nahiri
U: Jace
B: Sorin?
R: Arlinn, Nahiri
G: Arlinn

We will obviously be getting a Liliana in the next set (She is the face of Eldritch Moon) along with another planeswalker (they usually do two in a small set), so since Tamiyo has been mentioned so frequently she has to appear, maybe even in UW. Unless some random green 'walker shows up. I can't see there being a Tibalt either, since there is already two red walkers, and his next incarnation has to be BR right? You can't have 3 Black Planeswalkers in one block, development wouldn't allow that colour density of walkers to exist in standard for so long.

Also, how could you not like any new planeswalkers these days? They have all been decently playable, with the only excpetion from the past couple of blocks being Jace, the Living Guildpact. Just be thankful they weren't reprinting him.

 

[Goldenpineapple]

This is pretty cool

 

[sigh]

It's not even certain Tamiyo won't show up in the block! Also, don't blame Jace, blame Wizards!

I am blaming wizards. They have a weird obsession with poster-boy Blue, and even if they print a Tamiyo, she can never have the Moonfolk's signature ultimate, and that's sad .

Overall, I have been very happy with the planeswalkers we are seeing, it just seems like such a missed opportunity. I really do hope they print a Tamiyo too...

 

[sigh]

Yikes. Talk about draw-to-win. Why use his ultimate ever when you can just draw an extra card and win that way? And then use his -x to protect himself when needed. Honestly don't know if 6 is enough of a cost to make this less of an auto-encapsulated wincon....

 

[Coke No Ice]

This is pretty cool

I can't tell if this does the same thing or different things than Dakmor Salvage. It clearly doesn't play as well with retrace or what have you but it still lets you get value (possibly even colorless ramp) from discarding it. I will probably sneak this card into my cube and see what happens.

It has some seriously terrible flavor text though. Like, god damn it. Whoever writes flavor text for them has been asleep/drunk/dead at the wheel for the last two blocks.

 

[GiftsForgiven]

Yikes. Talk about draw-to-win. Why use his ultimate ever when you can just draw an extra card and win that way? And then use his -x to protect himself when needed. Honestly don't know if 6 is enough of a cost to make this less of an auto-encapsulated wincon....

Reminds me of Sorin Markov... but better. The fact that he can kill opposing planeswalkers is pretty huge. I think I'm probably gonna stick with Lord of Innestrad for now.

 

[Tzenmoroth]

is full of better, more interesting options than a six mana walker that just draws cards and wins. Pass.

Also, screw Jace getting the moonfolk ult after reading Tamiyo's journal and tossing her aside so he can do all her research and take credit for it. I guess the ult at least fits the flavour of him taking Tamiyo's stuff...

I might play the abbey. I have to think about it more. The costs might be too steep though unfortunately.

 

[Dom Harvey]

This is pretty cool

Bottomless Cave
Land
T: Add 1 to your mana pool.
At the beginning of your upkeep, if Bottomless Cave is in your graveyard, return it to the battlefield tapped.

 

[James Stevenson]

I am so tired of recurring characters. Yet another jace?

 

[safra]

I am so tired of recurring characters. Yet another jace?

MoonJace
target Planeswalker spell or permanent becomes the Planeswalker type of your choice.
I mooned Jace so devastatingly he fizzled on resolution.

 

[Onderzeeboot]

I am so tired of recurring characters. Yet another jace?

I have the feeling Jace is always getting flak for being overprinted, unlike the other planeswalkers. This printing will in fact make him the planeswalker with the most different cards, but he isn't far ahead at all. May I present to you...

The Post-SOI Planeswalker Top 10!
1. Jace (7 different designs)
2. Chandra (6)
2. Garruk (6)
4. Ajani (5)
5.Gideon (4)
5. Liliana (4)
5. Nissa (4)
5. Sarkhan (4)
5. Sorin (4)
10. Elspeth (3)

Now Jace is ahead of everyone else after this printing, but he's also the poster boy of Magic, and despite that, he's still being tailed by a few others. Incidentally, the top 4 are all original Lorwyn walkers, with the fifth (Liliana) sharing the nr 5 spot with four (!) other walkers. One thing I didn't realize, until I compiled this list, is that Jace is the only blue-based planeswalker with more than two different designs, and blue is in fact the only color that is represented by only one planeswalker in this list (not counting Sarkhan McHappy). Maybe Jace feels over saturated because he's the only blue planeswalker that's gotten serious stage time?

Anyway, I really don't mind Jace, and this looks like a very playable iteration of his character!

 

[Aoret]

I have the feeling Jace is always getting flak for being overprinted, unlike the other planeswalkers. This printing will in fact make him the planeswalker with the most different cards, but he isn't far ahead at all. May I present to you...

Spoiler

The Post-SOI Planeswalker Top 10!
1. Jace (7 different designs)
2. Chandra (6)
2. Garruk (6)
4. Ajani (5)
5.Gideon (4)
5. Liliana (4)
5. Nissa (4)
5. Sarkhan (4)
5. Sorin (4)
10. Elspeth (3)

Now Jace is ahead of everyone else after this printing, but he's also the poster boy of Magic, and despite that, he's still being tailed by a few others. Incidentally, the top 4 are all original Lorwyn walkers, with the fifth (Liliana) sharing the nr 5 spot with four (!) other walkers. One thing I didn't realize, until I compiled this list, is that Jace is the only blue-based planeswalker with more than two different designs, and blue is in fact the only color that is represented by only one planeswalker in this list (not counting Sarkhan McHappy). Maybe Jace feels over saturated because he's the only blue planeswalker that's gotten serious stage time?

Anyway, I really don't mind Jace, and this looks like a very playable iteration of his character!

This is a great post. I think I probably dislike the Chandra second most, and when I thought about why, it's because there are so many versions of Jace and Chandra that are either boring or are at a power level that I don't find suitable (whether up or down). A few of the garruks and boring, but lots of them are great. Numerous ajanis are cool, at least a couple gideons and lilianas are. Beyond that, there start being few enough implementations of each that it's easy to not feel much emotion towards them.

So to sum up my thoughts on it, yeah, Jace probably gets undeserved hate, but if people really stopped to think about it, I think other PWs have similarly negative feelings associated with them, just for possibly different reasons.

 

[Goldenpineapple]

Maybe Jace feels over saturated because he's the only blue planeswalker that's gotten serious stage time?

I think it's because of the difference in 'tournament time' (like you said, stage time)- his cards have each been dominant / played in dominant or popular decks, save living guildpact. Blue decks have often been Jace decks for years, and people are just over the same character being in their face for so long. No other walker comes close to his level of viability+archetype popularity as a whole.

The only other walker I have heard people be "over" is Elspeth, Sun's Champion, and that had a lot more to do with shaping the standard meta around herself than the character- people just wanted the card to go away. If Elspeth got enough cards that were played in similar amounts I believe people would begin to hate her as well.

If you count the number of format-defining cards each walker has had, it kinda looks like this:
Jace- (5/6, 4/6 if strict)
Chandra- (1/6 if the current one stays strong)
Garruk- (2/6 if you're generous)
Ajani- (1/5)
Gideon- (2/4)
Liliana- (1/4)
Nissa- (0/4)
Sarkhan- (0/4)
Sorin- (1/3 eh)
Elspeth (2/3)

By format-defining I mean top-tier decks used them decisively as part of their main strategy, or high counts as value (lookin' at you, baby jace) I'm a bit hazy on how much decks leaned on their Garruk, Primal Hunters and a couple other walkers, but the vast majority are the "1-2 just because they're goodish" in an archetype, and some players passed them up completely without apparent loss (Sorins, Sarkhans, Ajanis)

So for the random person who just goes to FNMs, they've (typically) had to contend with Jace way more often than other walkers, and even if the card is different, the character is the same. Just gets old seeing the same face in a game that practically specializes in variety and spice. So it's not really that he dominates "the blue walker" scene but the walker scene at all, really.

 

[genericco]

Diregraf Colossus 2B
Creature - Zombie Giant
Diregraf Colossus enters the battlefield with a +1/+1 counter for each Zombie card in your Graveyard.
Whenever you cast a Zombie spell, put a 2/2 black Zombie creature token onto the battlefield tapped.

 

[Aoret]

I'm a bit hazy on how much decks leaned on their Garruk, Primal Hunters and a couple other walkers

GPH saw a good bit of play in Wolf Run Ramp decks that needed another dude to be "sort of a titan". Also, the random GPH -> Titan you, draw 6, keep my Garruk lines that happened occasionally felt absolutely disgusting. (Full disclosure: I was generally the player drawing six and not the other way around)

 

[RavebornMuse]

Yeah yeah I know, green 3's are the bane of my goddamn existence too, but!

This seems like a potentially really cool token producer for green. Even if it dies to removal instantly, you at least get a 2/2 wolf out of it, and there's potentially a lot of room for big scores if you've got significant heroic enabler type stuff. I'm really intrigued, although this obviously needs the right environment to work. The trample, though, is just begging to be pursued. I'd really like to make this be a thing.

This also looks kinda interesting..



It makes for a decently versatile ramp piece and it can swing or trade very effectively. It's also a human and has graveyard upside, which underscores a focal point of the pair in my cube who am I fuckin kiddin my whole cube is about graveyard upside It's by no means a necessary piece, but it might be a fun swap for tired 2-drops.

 

[Kuldahar]

Diregraf Colossus 2B
Creature - Zombie Giant
Diregraf Colossus enters the battlefield with a +1/+1 counter for each Zombie card in your Graveyard.
Whenever you cast a Zombie spell, put a 2/2 black Zombie creature token onto the battlefield tapped.

Doesn't this make zombie aggro even more awesome? Carrion feeder, gravecrawler, and this? Less about the +1/+1 counters and more about the zombie tokens.

 

[Aoret]

Doesn't this make zombie aggro even more awesome? Carrion feeder, gravecrawler, and this? Less about the +1/+1 counters and more about the zombie tokens.

definitely the riptidest card we've seen in a while