I'm more excited for this then I was with BFZ. BFZ was a letdown in some aspects and I hope they don't do the same here. Maybe we'll get some good reprints. Damnation? A man can dream. Also, a black-colored Avacyn would be really interesting to see.
Timelines in the multiverse can be very messy and sometimes need to be adjusted or manipulated to create new and interesting stories. I think there's enough evidence to suggest Nahiri could have left Zendikar after enough time, perhaps in search of answers to the Eldrazi threat and taken another form on Innistrad. Who knows what could have happened between her and Sorin on their travels in that time that led to such a change. Maybe Nahiri had to take on an angelic form Avacyn in order to save her life somehow, or prevent some other greater catastrophe from occurring. Again, timelines can be changed and we've seen Wizards rewrite history before. But again, just fun speculation. Looking forward to the set spoilers.
Something something vampire badstuff Nahiri is Avacyn.
It's a hell of a stretch that works only because they're the only two female characters with an association with Sorin. Ugin's dialogue indicates that Avacyn likely predates the sealing of the Eldrazi, so barring further evidence, I'd consider the topic dead.
The bloody feather made me wonder if there might be some basis in my hypothesis about a fallen fourth host angel that disappeared or was sealed away a long time ago following a devastating angel war. Perhaps the story of SoI is about cultists trying to restore the fallen angel to her former glory, leading into the second set seeing a new angel war beginning?
MTGS Wikia Article about "New World Order"
Every time I read a comment about "Well if this card had card draw/trample/haste/indestructible/hexproof/life gain...", I think "You're missing the point." They're armchair developer comments that fail to take into account the card's role in the greater Limited and Standard environment. No, it may not be as good as whatever card you're comparing it to. There's a reason for that. Not every burn spell is Lightning Bolt, nor does it need to be or should be.
PSA to everyone who keeps forgetting about the Reserved List:
You're on a website dedicated to talking about MtG. You're only a few keystrokes away from finding out what cards are on the Reserved List. You're also only a few keystrokes away from finding out why some cards on the Reserved List got foil printings in FtV, as Judge promos, or whatnot, as well as why that won't happen again. Stop doing this.
Tamiyo, likely. She's very popular, has a reason to stay here, and we know almost nothing about her.
Sorin, maybe? He's got a right to be there, but we don't know where he went after waking Ugin.
Ugin, plausible. The Multiverse is at stake, Sorin flaked, and Nahiri is missing. Innistrad is probably his best lead for finding either.
Nahiri, maybe. She was last seen when she left Zendikar to find Sorin... but that was one thousand years ago.
Liliana, no. What's here for her? She killed Grislyboy and she's got more demons to hunt.
The Raven Man, nah. He's baiting Liliana into something, and he'll show up when she does.
Garruk, nope. He's chasing Lily and planeswalkers more generally. Nothing waiting here.
The rest: Unlikely. No plausible story connections known at this point.
Ashiok would be great.
Also noting: There's no doubt Liliana is going to be involved. Wizards clearly stated that the upcoming sets and story arc would involve the five Planeswalkers from Origins; and judging by the artwork from Oath of the Gate Watch, Chandra will show up leaving only one Planeswalker left MIA. As for a reason? So what if Griselbrand is dead? They'll make a reason for her to go there. She's desperate to find a way to fight the control The Chain Veil has over her - she may even go there assuming the Cursemute may help subdue the voices. Who knows what developments take place between BFZ and when she goes to Innistrad. But don't be
I started when Innistrad came out. My favourite set (maybe nostalgia).
Happy to return. Sad it won't be in fall / winter. Leaving your LGS when it is dark outside fit flavour wise. Leaving your LGS and it is spring / summer outside might not fit very well.
For us Australians, it will be perfect dark-and-scary flavorwise!
Ugh. As someone who couldn't care less about horror (Gothic or otherwise), Innistrad had nothing to offer me besides double-faced cards and soulbond. If SOI has more of these, it won't be a total waste, but even assuming the best, I'm not hyped at all.
Still, this makes me appreciate the two set block structure a whole lot more. Definitely glad I don't have to spend three sets in a setting I don't enjoy anymore.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Thou shalt not have others of the same Legendary before me Thou shalt not frame images with the modern card face Thou shalt not change rules in vain Remember the Reserved List to keep it holy Honor thy Slivers and the symmetry of their abilities Thou shalt not kill mana burn Thou shalt not sacrifice depth for accessibility Thou shalt not steal combat damage from the stack Thou shalt tell a story through thy cards All must be one
MAN, I hope this is not the case. Because Emrakul is not on Zendikar right now, she could be in Innistrad. But that would absolutly SUCK. It would ruin the whole point of Innistrad, its spooky chilling atmosphere, and of course continue to make the Eldrazi less and less wierd and hard to understand and unique.
It would even fit with the "Shadows over Innistrad" name.... What is casting the shadow? Now I've depressed myself.
Storyline has to do with a planeswalker showing up in a small town in the province of Nephalia in pursuit of information regarding an unusual artifact he found. As he investigates, he notices that everyone looks unusual, almost as if they are some sort of fish-person hybrid. This investigation will slowly drive him more mad as he pursues the mysteries of the rumored underwater kingdom from which hail the Deep Ones, ancient amphibious beings that have been breeding with the humans of the small town throughout the generations...
What do you mean this is Shadows Over Innistrad and not Shadows Over Innsmouth? What about Father Kozilek and Mother Emrakul? Esoteric Order of Kozilek sounds right, though.
Does this means the return of Madness as a mechanic??
I would love to see madness. I've never got to play with it, as I wasn't around for either Torment nor Timespiral, but it seems like a really cool mechanic.
After Battle for Zendikar, I don't want to deal with the Eldrazi for a while, hell, I'd rather something to be done in Oath of the Gatewatch that somehow deals with all three Titans and their brood in one swoop because I'm tired of seeing.
Also, I'm really damn tired of return sets. This two block paradigm gave me hope that one of the sets could be a break from the story line every year, but pull this crap out, which sucks because I loved Innistrad the first time. Come up with something new, or revisit a plane that we haven't seen in a while, which is a requirement I feel Innistrad lacks.
Call me selfish but I was hoping for a new world. Fingers crossed the Fall set is somewhere we haven't seen before.
I think that that is pretty much a given, with Innistrad being the last of the more "popular on both ends" settings they could milk out dry. (MIRRODIN, RAVNICA and ZENDIKAR being the others...)
Let's quickly dash a few hopes:
There won't be enemy fetches in this set. They stated they want Landfall without Fetches for a while in Standard, which means they can't be here. Also, Innistrad is for all intents and purposes a cold plane, based on Northern Europe mostly. Where will you find a Misty Rainforest on that plane? A Scalding Tarn also seems like quite a stretch, and the same goes for Arid Mesa. As generic as those names are, they simply do not fit anywhere on Innistrad.
Also, don't get your hopes up for flashback. Now, MegaFlashback, which puts a +1/+1 counter on a creature when you flash back a spell, THAT I can totally see.
Private Mod Note
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Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
My Commander decks:
Chandra, Torch of Defiance - Oops! All Chandras.
Prime Speaker Zegana - Draw for Power.
Pir & Toothy - Counterpalooza.
Arcades, the Strategist - Another Brick in the Wall.
Zacama, Primal Calamity - Calamity of Double Mana.
Edgar Markov - Vampires Don't Die.
Child of Alara - Dreamcrusher.
Three things.
1. Too soon to go back to Innistrad.
2. Two repeat planes in a row is wonky.
3. Killing/corrupting the angels is so weak. I really hope that's not the story angle they go for. Innistrad was one of the only blocks where the last set had some kind of positivity, it wasn't just some apocalypse or something, but it still was kind of lousy. Can't cure werewolves, MORE demons, vampires and undead too resilient to get rid of. It still sucked, but it had some glimmer of hope with the angels returning, werewolves becoming wolfir, etc. So they have to go back and ruin it. I mean, what else would an angel feather turning into blood and Avacyn's symbol melting mean other than killing/corrupting the angels?
Our Admiration and the knowledge that you know that the Shadows over Innistrad won't be as good as original Innistrad because they regret printing Liliana of the Veil and Snapcaster. MaRo has stated veil was too strong for standard and I doubt they will reprint snappy when they can throw him at mythic in modern masters 2017.
Sad thing is that this will most likely happen with Snapcaster Mage, as much as it shouldn't.
Lymphoma Cancer Survivor!
5. Eyeliner.
StandardArena:U/R Drakes
Modern
URStormUR
UBRDeath's ShadowUBR
There's also a coincidence that has me wondering: The symbol of Avacyn's church has two "wings" sweeping to the sides with a protrusion on the bottom and a semicircular hole in the middle. We've seen a similar shape on the Shrine of the Forsaken Gods, the angelic statue of Emeria who turned out to be not quite so angelic.
Every time I read a comment about "Well if this card had card draw/trample/haste/indestructible/hexproof/life gain...", I think "You're missing the point." They're armchair developer comments that fail to take into account the card's role in the greater Limited and Standard environment. No, it may not be as good as whatever card you're comparing it to. There's a reason for that. Not every burn spell is Lightning Bolt, nor does it need to be or should be.
StandardArena:U/R Drakes
Modern
URStormUR
UBRDeath's ShadowUBR
Lets not forget Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver, this could be his/ her / it set to shine.
Fair point! And I'd love to see Ashiok again. Updated the quoted post.
Ashiok would be great.
Also noting: There's no doubt Liliana is going to be involved. Wizards clearly stated that the upcoming sets and story arc would involve the five Planeswalkers from Origins; and judging by the artwork from Oath of the Gate Watch, Chandra will show up leaving only one Planeswalker left MIA. As for a reason? So what if Griselbrand is dead? They'll make a reason for her to go there. She's desperate to find a way to fight the control The Chain Veil has over her - she may even go there assuming the Cursemute may help subdue the voices. Who knows what developments take place between BFZ and when she goes to Innistrad. But don't be
(Also known as Xenphire)
For us Australians, it will be perfect dark-and-scary flavorwise!
StandardArena:U/R Drakes
Modern
URStormUR
UBRDeath's ShadowUBR
Still, this makes me appreciate the two set block structure a whole lot more. Definitely glad I don't have to spend three sets in a setting I don't enjoy anymore.
Thou shalt not frame images with the modern card face
Thou shalt not change rules in vain
Remember the Reserved List to keep it holy
Honor thy Slivers and the symmetry of their abilities
Thou shalt not kill mana burn
Thou shalt not sacrifice depth for accessibility
Thou shalt not steal combat damage from the stack
Thou shalt tell a story through thy cards
All must be one
WUR Control
WB Tokens
MAN, I hope this is not the case. Because Emrakul is not on Zendikar right now, she could be in Innistrad. But that would absolutly SUCK. It would ruin the whole point of Innistrad, its spooky chilling atmosphere, and of course continue to make the Eldrazi less and less wierd and hard to understand and unique.
It would even fit with the "Shadows over Innistrad" name.... What is casting the shadow? Now I've depressed myself.
WUR Control
WB Tokens
Also, I'm really damn tired of return sets. This two block paradigm gave me hope that one of the sets could be a break from the story line every year, but pull this crap out, which sucks because I loved Innistrad the first time. Come up with something new, or revisit a plane that we haven't seen in a while, which is a requirement I feel Innistrad lacks.
I think Dack should be included in the list of maybe planeswalkers
I think that that is pretty much a given, with Innistrad being the last of the more "popular on both ends" settings they could milk out dry. (MIRRODIN, RAVNICA and ZENDIKAR being the others...)
Serra Stan - Angel Enthusiast - Garruk and Tyvar thirsty follower - Flavor and Art Enthusiast
There won't be enemy fetches in this set. They stated they want Landfall without Fetches for a while in Standard, which means they can't be here. Also, Innistrad is for all intents and purposes a cold plane, based on Northern Europe mostly. Where will you find a Misty Rainforest on that plane? A Scalding Tarn also seems like quite a stretch, and the same goes for Arid Mesa. As generic as those names are, they simply do not fit anywhere on Innistrad.
Also, don't get your hopes up for flashback. Now, MegaFlashback, which puts a +1/+1 counter on a creature when you flash back a spell, THAT I can totally see.
Chandra, Torch of Defiance - Oops! All Chandras.
Prime Speaker Zegana - Draw for Power.
Pir & Toothy - Counterpalooza.
Arcades, the Strategist - Another Brick in the Wall.
Zacama, Primal Calamity - Calamity of Double Mana.
Edgar Markov - Vampires Don't Die.
Child of Alara - Dreamcrusher.
Do I win something?
1. Too soon to go back to Innistrad.
2. Two repeat planes in a row is wonky.
3. Killing/corrupting the angels is so weak. I really hope that's not the story angle they go for. Innistrad was one of the only blocks where the last set had some kind of positivity, it wasn't just some apocalypse or something, but it still was kind of lousy. Can't cure werewolves, MORE demons, vampires and undead too resilient to get rid of. It still sucked, but it had some glimmer of hope with the angels returning, werewolves becoming wolfir, etc. So they have to go back and ruin it. I mean, what else would an angel feather turning into blood and Avacyn's symbol melting mean other than killing/corrupting the angels?
Wizards of the Coast sure hate their angels.
Sad thing is that this will most likely happen with Snapcaster Mage, as much as it shouldn't.
4chan beat you to it.
Hell, they had it almost exactly a year before the announcement.