The Innistrad prerelease is this weekend. The online release is October 17, but I wanted to look ahead and start thinking about which cards I'll be most interested in picking up come launch day.
Champion of the Parish
Champion of Human White Weenie. Truly aggressive decks need good one drops and as long as he's got human backup this guy is boss. Which of other aggressive humans can we pair him with? Another one of the best aggressive one drops also happens to be a human, Elite Vanguard. Accorder Paladin and Mirran Crusader also work well. Not to mention the new little humans: Elite Inquisitor and Mentor of the Meek.Feeling of Dread
I like this little card. Two taps for two mana is good, but the flashback makes up for the loss in card advantage. In a blue white control deck this will buy you a lot of time vs something that is trying to smash your face in before you stabilize. It will likely amount to double Fog. Drawing it late will also be useful to tap down problematic blockers or punch through damage.Intangible Virtue
What an interesting card! Two mana for +1/+1 and vigilance? Compare to Honor of the Pure (which I like). What's interesting about this card is sure it only boosts tokens, but tokens are exactly what you need to maximize the benefit of the card. This isn't the only card in the set to specifically help tokens either...Mentor of the Meek
For some odd reason I wasn't immediately impressed with this card. Of course the more I thought about it more I realized the huge potential. First let's get the bad out of the way: He will be a lightning rod. A two toughness creature is a fragile form for your build-around-me card. On the other hand, "it dies to Shock isn't a reason to ignore it. You can imagine on turn four casting any one, two, or three drop with two or less power and cantripping. That's huge. Even if it's Runeclaw Bear (and odds are you'll do better than this) you get Phyrexian Rager without the drawback. Or, how about two one drops on turn four both replacing themselves? Things really get interesting with tokens. Turn a Jade Mage into an Azure Mage except you get a token. Throne of Empires: 2 tap: draw a card (and get a token). Timely Reinforcements for six: gain six life, get three creatures, draw three cards. Thopter Assembly.Stony Silence
Shuts down the swords.EDIT: And Birthing Pod O.o
Dream Twist
I like this. It looks like one of the best ways to mill yourself. Fast and efficent with the added bonus of milling this from your library to graveyard lets you mill for more.Invisible Stalker
Better than Silhana Ledgewalker and that's saying something. Hook him up with Curiosity, Dark favor the swords, Batterskull, etc.Ludevic's Test Subject // Ludevic's Abomination
First I'll say a two drop 0/3 wall can actually be useful vs those aggro maniacs. Also, this is much better than level up because you can activate the charge at instant speed. Save some mana for some countermagic. Don't need it? Fund your experiment. Is it worth it? Are you serious? This is truly one of the biggest creatures in the history of Magic. And it has trample. Too bad the artist didn't realize how big this thing was supposed to be...Mirror-Mad Phantasm
This is one of the weirdest cards I've ever seen. At first I didn't realize you can use the ability over and over again in the same turn. 1u: mill yourself for random, but probably very large amount, potentially your entire deck. I want to build a deck around him, but on the other hand he's an extremely fragile creature who costs five and including multiple copies reduces his effectiveness. Birthing Pod up the single copy? This dodges paying the five too so you can start milling immediately. Why? I'm sure somebody will find a reason.Snapcaster Mage
I smiled when I saw this one. Excellent Magic card. My mind instantly starts whirring with the possibilities. I don't think you're looking to flashback a specific card with this guy, you're just gaining value and options. Some interesting possibilities: Doom Blade, Mind Rot, Ponder, Divination, Smallpox, Day of Judgment, Visions of Beyond.Altar's Reap
I really like this one. Respond to removal for a 2 mana +1 (+1 card advantage). Or use it when you chump block. Use it to trigger Morbid. Or force death triggers: Solemn Simulacrum, Roc Egg, Doomed Traveler, etc. Combine with gravedigging themes.Army of the Damned
I love this card but it's too expensive.Bloodgift Demon
Phyrexian Arena attached to a 5/4 flier for five. That's pretty serious.Bloodline Keeper // Lord of Lineage
Wow. Kill this guy or lose (eventually). Doesn't require a deck full of vampires to win either. A deck full of control would work quite nicely.Diregraf Ghoul
I wanted a one drop zombie in this set, but this exceeds expectations. You drop this guy/gal turn one turn and on turn two you'll be swinging Hound of Konda style. The drawback amounts to not being a very good blocker. At least not a first. A "slow" blocker if you will, but summoning sickness makes the drawback irrelevant for attacking. Playing a bit of legacy merfolk I realized how important your one drops are in tribal. You want your lord to come in on turn three (two in legacy) and immediately have an impact.Endless Ranks of the Dead
Now after you cast your t3 Cemetery Reaper you want to follow up with this. Two zombies in play gets you one, four in play gets you two. Then it gets silly. I think this card suggests zombie control. Zombie Infestation can be used to get the extra body you need which will pay for your loss of cards. You break even on cards, but you have more zombies in play and the more you have the more you get. Multiple copies of this enchant would be a bit hilarious.Ghoulcaller's Chant
All I see is return two zombies to your hand for one. This allows you to get recur key zombies while providing card advantage. All on the cheap.Liliana of the Veil
A little card advantage machine. Advantage through you opponent's disadvantage. Combine with other discard to destroy your opponent's hand. Get ahead and force your opponent to sac each creature that hits the battlefield. If you have Liliana in play you're probably happy to have everyone keep discarding because she'll have a better chance to be left alone, her loyalty building over time. We haven't even mentioned ways to abuse the discard which I'm sure won't be hard in a graveyard themed set. For three mana.Well there were more interesting cards than I expected. Join me next week (before the Sept. 30 release) when I share the rest of my list. You'll see a terrifying one drop, musings on the werewolf riddle, and some not terrible green removal!
EDIT: see part two here.
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