Another day, another peek behind the curtain of what the newest Magic The Gathering set will contain. Fans of the beloved card game have been waiting in anticipation for the return to the horror-themed setting in the upcoming Innistrad: Midnight Hunt, and Lead Designer Mark Rosewater is more than willing to stoke fans' curiosity and desire.
On Rosewater's official Tumblr, he dropped a bread crumb trail of info on what Innistrad: Midnight Hunt will have. These snippets of information are extensive so speculation will be limited, but the list is as follows:
- Three popular mechanics previously seen on Innistrad return
- A new drawback for creature tokens that lets us create them cheaper
- A white card that could potentially draw you a card each turn
- A popular Innistrad card gets reprinted
- A curse that transforms into a creature
- Two permanents that can double something every turn
- A mythic cycle with “you may pay [COST] any number of times”
- A four mana blue aura with “You control enchanted creature.”
- A popular tournament card in multiple formats gets reprinted with its fifth piece of art.
- A character from Innistrad once mentioned in a short story finally gets a card in an Innistrad set
The following rules text will be appearing in the set:
- “If your life total would be reduced to 0 or less,”
- “This spell costs 1 less to cast for each creature you attacked with this turn.”
- “As [CARDNAME] enters the battlefield, note your life total.”
- “put a slime counter on up to one other target creature.”
- “Creature tokens you control lose all abilities and have base power and toughness 3/3.”
- “Each instant and sorcery card in your graveyard has”
- “Instants and sorcery spells you cast cost X less to cast, where X is [CARDNAME]’s power.”
- “put that many +1/+1 counters on [CARDNAME], then create twice that many 2/2 black Zombie creature tokens”
- “At the beginning of your end step, if you have exactly 13 life,”
- “You may cast any number of the copies without paying their mana costs.”
So the first bullet point is interesting. Three popular mechanics will return. We already know Flashback is returning based on their preview, and the teaser confirms Transform is returning as it is necessary for a transforming curse. If Curse is counted as a mechanic returning, that would seem to be the third, but it might not fit that. If not, that would leave it open to everything from the Meld to Investigation or beyond (though we're pretty sure it's not Fateful Hour). If you don't know the Transform mechanic, this was a double-sided card that would be summoned on one side then would be flipped once certain conditions are met. All of the Innistrad werewolves have been handled with it before, and we expect to see it in this set focused on the tribe.
As for card effects, plenty of these seem to be on-brand for Innistrad: Midnight Hunt. The ability to have creature tokens lose all abilities and have a base power and toughness of 3/3 could be an alternate take on the Overrun ability. What catches my eye are the ones that spawn or empower creature tokens, specifically zombie tokens. This means there is plenty of potential for Black Zombie strategies in this set. Just because werewolves are on the cover of Innistrad: Midnight Hunt doesn't mean they get all the credit. "If your life total would be reduced to 0 or less" and "as 'blank' enters the battlefield, note your life total" cards appear to be a more chilling take on abilities like Angel's Grace. Also, it just wouldn't be a proper Innistrad set without one card referencing the number 13. Like in the case of Army of the Dead spawning 13 2/2 creature tokens.
- Creature – Hippogriff Spirit
- Creature – Human Soldier Werewolf
- Creature – Dragon Egg
- Creature – Leech Horror
- Creature – Fungus Horror
- Creature – Plant Horror
- Creature – Drake Horror
- Creature – Demon Dog
- Legendary Creature - Ooze
- Legendary Creature – Vampire Noble
Keeping up with the general horror theming of Innistrad: Midnight Hunt are the above-listed creature types. Horrors will be in full force in Innistrad: Midnight Hunt with the type being highlighted on four of the teases. Dragon Egg as a type stands out, as the only card that has that typing is the same-named Dragon Egg, meaning we'll be seeing a reprint... or the second-ever card to have that typing. Furthermore, Vampire Noble could apply to any number of previously established Vampire creatures. Not helping that is that more vampires are bound to show up if crossovers with Dungeons and Dragons continues (would you like a Strahd card?). However, since most of the fanged bloodsuckers will be getting more of a focus in Innistrad: Crimson Vow, this might be a more familiar face given the boot. My best guess? Olivia Voldaren. Alternatively, we could see the final Vampire Noble house get their leader a card before its time for the vampire wedding later this year.
Previews for Innistrad: Midnight Hunt will begin on the official Magic Twitch channel Thursday September 2.
