Shadows Over Innistrad Intro Packs

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Happy Wednesday MTG peeps,

We finally have the Shadows Over Innistrad Intro Pack decklists from the mothersite today.  Magic: the Gathering players have the opportunity to pick one up at select gaming stores to duel with during Shadows Over Innistrad PreRelease events going on this very weekend.

Should you not be in the know, Intro Packs are one of the best ways to not only learn MTG but also get into the flavour and strategy of a new set.  Shadows Over Innistrad Intro Packs Contents:

• Ready-to-play 60-card deck 
• Premium foil alternate art card 
• 2 Shadows Over Innistrad 15-card booster packs
• Strategy insert
• Magic rules reference card

Anywhoos, here's the details for the five Intro Packs -

Ghostly Tide - White / Blue
Alternate art foil - Drogskol Cavalry
As fog rolls in to blanket the coast, the spirits of the dead swoop into battle. Relentless as the tide, your ghostly creatures are full of surprises. They'll appear out of nowhere, washing over your opponent in an inexorable advance.

Unearthed Secrets - Blue / Green
Alternate art foil - Nephalia Moondrakes
Horrors lurk in the darkness, and even the angels have gone mad. Now you can explore these mysteries and turn your knowledge against your opponent. As you uncover more and more clues, you'll gather the creatures and spells you need to claim victory.

Vampiric Thirst - Black / Red
Alternate art foil - Markov Dreadknight
Madness sweeps across the land, and vampires drop their veneer of sophisticated nobility to indulge in their brutal thirst for blood. Before your opponent can react, your vampires will dominate the battlefield, seizing victory as they feast.

Angelic Fury - Red / White
Alternate art foil - Flameblade Angel
Violence and destruction sweep across the land. While horrors emerge from smouldering chasms and angels turn on humanity, the people of Innistrad are caught up in the fires of vengeance. Fueled by the flames, your creatures will sweep over their enemies to claim victory.

Horrific Visions - Green / Black
Alternate art foil - Soul Swallower

Delving into eldritch secrets can shatter the mind, but it can also bring great power. As you bring a wide variety of arcane magic to bear against your opponent, you'll grow closer and closer to the unearthly insight that will lead you to victory.

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Shadows Over Innistrad Sealed

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Happy Tuesday MTG peeps,

Countdown is on now to the Shadows Over Innistrad PreRelease this WEEKEND !!!  To find a gamery shoppe near you hosting a prerelease event, pop on over to the Wizards Locator page.

To get a bird's eye overview of all the fun 'n' excitement of what to expect at a Magic: the Gathering PreRelease, we suggest watching WotC staffer Michael Yichao in this finely produced video -

To get a sense of the flavour in this set, here is a short vid from MTG EU Danny B. - 

 

To get to the nitty gritty on playing with the new key word abilities and set features, you may be very well served with watching the following very nice instructional videos -

Double-Faced Cards
Investigate
Delirium
Madness
Investigate

The Shadows over Innistrad Prerelease Pack gives players their first opportunity to play with Shadows over Innistrad cards at your Prerelease events. Inside each Prerelease box, players will find

• six Shadows over Innistrad Booster packs,
• a spindown life counter, and
• a randomized, date-stamped, premium promo card, drawn from any rare or mythic rare in the set.

You can also get some get practice in using the very awesome Shadows Over Innistrad sealed deck generator over at our buddy Cam's site -

 http://mtgen.net/soi/

Good Luck and God Speed. 

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Shadows Over Innistrad Full Reveal

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Happy Monday MTG peeps,

It has been a wild ride here in Town since Wizards of the Coast provided the full reveal of the next Magic: the Gathering set, Shadows Over Innistrad.  We are talking about a major winter storm / freezing rain even taking power out to most of the city and surrounding region and the family clan coming over for the Easter Holiday.  We are just finally getting to catch our breath now, and since we have power and an internet connection, we have a lot of catching up to do.  For now, here is the full text list of all 297 cards (basic lands excepted) from Shadows Over Innistrad.  We hope to get to some new and emerging archetypes in later posts which may spin out from this new set.
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White (25)
Always WatchingAngel of Deliverance
Angelic Purge
Archangel Avacyn // Avacyn, the Purifier
Avacynian Missionaries // Lunarch Inquisitors
Bygone Bishop
Declaration in Stone
Descend upon the Sinful
Drogskol Cavalry
Eerie Interlude
Expose Evil
Hanweir Militia Captain // Westvale Cult Leader
Humble the Brute
Lunarch Inquisitors // Avacynian Missionaries
Nahiri's Machinations
Odric, Lunarch Marshal
Paranoid Parish-Blade
Pious Evangel // Wayward Disciple
Reaper of Flight Moonsilver
Survive the Night
Thalia's Lieutenant
Thraben Inspector
Topplegeist
Vessel of Ephemera
Westvale Cult Leader // Hanweir Militia Captain
Blue (36)
Aberrant Researcher // Perfected Form
Awoken Horror // Thing in the Ice
Bearer of Overwhelming Truths // Daring Sleuth
Compelling Deterrence
Confirm Suspicions
Daring Sleuth // Bearer of Overwhelming Truths
Engulf the Shore
Epiphany at the Drownyard
Forgotten Creation
Furtive HomunculusGeralf's Masterpiece
Insidious Mist // Elusive Tormentor
Invasive Surgery
Jace, Unraveler of Secrets
Jace's Scrutiny
Just the Wind
Lamplighter of Selhoff
Manic Scribe
Nephalia Moondrakes
Niblis of Dusk
Ongoing Investigation
Perfected Form // Aberrant ResearcherPersistent Nightmare // Startled Awake
Pieces of the Puzzle
Pore Over the Pages
Rattlechains
Rise from the Tides
Startled Awake // Persistent Nightmare
Stitched Mangler
Stitchwing Skaab
Thing in the Ice // Awoken Horror
Trail of Evidence
Unimpeded Tresspasser
Uninvited Geist
Vessel of Paramnesia
Welcome to the Fold

Black (29)Asylum Visitor
Behold the Beyond
Call the Bloodline
Crow of Dark Tidings
Dead Weight
Diregraf Colossus
Elusive Tormentor // Insidious Mist
Farbog Revenant
Heir of Falkenrath // Heir to the Night
Heir to the Night // Heir of Falkenrath
Hound of the FarbogsIndulgent Aristocrat
Macabre Waltz
Markov Dreadknight
Merciless Resolve
Mindwrack Demon
Olivia's Bloodsworn
Ormendahl, Profane Prince // Westvale Abbey
Pick the Brain
Relentless Dead
Shamble BackSinister Concoction
Stromkirk Mentor
To the Slaughter
Tooth Collector
Triskaidekaphobia
Twins of Maurer Estate
Vessel of Malignity
Wayward Disciple // Pious Evangel

Red (27)Avacyn, the Purifier // Archangel Avacyn
Avacyn's Judgment
Breakneck Rider // Neck Breaker
Burn from Within
Dance with Devil
Devil's Playground
EmberEye Wolf
Falkenrath Gorger
Fiery Temper
Flameblade Angel
Gibbering FiendGoldnight Castigator
Harness the Storm
Incorrigible Youths
Lightning Axe
Magmatic Chasm
Moonrise Intruder // Village Messenger
Neck Breaker // Breakneck Rider
Ravenous Bloodseeker
Sanguinary MageScourge Wolf
Sin Prodder
Structural Distortion
Vessel of Volatility
Village Messenger // Moonrise Intruder
Voldaren Duelist
Wolf of Devil's Breach

Green (24)Briarbridge Patrol
Clip Wings
Deathcap Cultivator
Duskwatch Recruiter
Groundskeeper
Hinterland Logger // Timber Shredder
Howlpack Resurgence
Inexorable Blob
Krallenhorde Howler
Obsessive Skinner
Pack GuardianQuilled Wolf
Sage of Ancient Lore // Werewolf of Ancient Hunger
Second Harvest
Silverfur Partisan
Soul Swallower
Stoic Builder
Timber Shredder // Hinterland Logger
Tireless Tracker
Traverse the Ulvenwald
Ulvenwald Mysteries
Vessel of Nascency
Watcher in the Web
Werewolf of Ancient Hunger // Sage of Ancient Lore

Multicolour (12)Altered EgoAnguished Unmaking
Arlinn, Embraced by the Moon // Arlinn Kord
Arlinn Kord // Arlinn, Embraced by the Moon
Fevered Visions
Invocation of Saint Traft
Nahiri, the Harbinger
Olivia, Mobilized for War
Prized Amalgam
Sigarda, Heron's Grace
Sorin, Grim Nemesis
The Gitrog Monster
Artifact (10)
Ashmouth Blade // Neglected Heirloom
Brain in a Jar
Corrupted Grafstone
Explosive Apparatus
Magnifying Glass
Neglected Heirloom // Ashmouth Blade
Shard of Broken Glass
Stonewing Antagonizer
Tamiyo's Journal
Thraben Gargoyle

Land (13)
Choked Estuary
Drownyard Temple
Foreboding Ruins
Forsaken Sanctuary
Fortified Village
Foul Orchard
Game Trail
Highland Lake
Port Town
Stone Quarry
Warped Landscape
Westvale Abbey // Ormendahl, Profane Prince
Woodland Stream
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Shadows Over Innistrad Previews 3•23

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Happy Wednesday MTG peeps,

Episode 4 of the Shadows over Innistrad story is up on the mothersite now.  WotC staffer Michael Yichao has delivered an outstanding story and we suggest you make tracks over to this page to read.  Beyond the cautionary advisement of not to linger too near the dangerous waters, we want to now take you to today's round-up of new Shadows Over Innistrad cards -

The Gitrog Monster, 3BG
Legendary Creature - Frog Horror, Mythic Rare
Deathtouch
At the beginning of your upkeep, sacrifice The Gitrog Monster unless you sacrifice a land.
You may play an additional land on each of your turns.
Whenever one or more land cards are put into your graveyard from anywhere, draw a card.
6/6

Mothersite preview.  We can easily see some Commander players giving this a try in a Golgari landfall strategy.  Very interesting and fun build-around challenge.
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Altered Ego, X2GU
Creature - Shapeshifter, Rare
Altered Ego can't be countered.
You may have Altered Ego enter the battlefield as a copy of any creature on the battlefield except it enters with X additional +1+1 counters
0/0

Sheldon Menery / Magic Judge preview.  Very cool slow-roll puzzle piece preview here by-the-way. This seems like a decent enough Simic clone but some would argue it may be a little on the expensive side with 4 cmc.  We think that the extra and optional hard counters and the 'can't be countered' ability justifies this cost.
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Forgotten Creation, 4U
Zombie - Horror, Rare
Skulk
At the beginning of your upkeep, you may discard your hand. If you do, draw that many cards.
3/3

Ligamagic (Brazil) preview - Portuguese rough translation.  Another decent zombie and we certainly appreciate the 'may' discard to help filter the right cards into your hand.

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Prized Amalgam, 1UB
Creature - Zombie, Rare
Whenever a creature enters the battlefield, if it entered from your graveyard or you cast it from your graveyard, return Prized Amalgam from your graveyard to the battlefield tapped at the beginning of the next end step. 
3/3

Tolarian Community Colledge preview.  Amalgam (not the metallurgical definition) is a combination or blend of diverse thingys.  Damn interesting card here which may be a part of a standard constructed repetitive reanimation list with support from the likes of Diregraf Colossus, Geralf's Masterpiece and Relentless Dead.  There may also be a shot for Modern as well with Gravecrawler and Stir the Grave.  In other news, the Zombie art from Karl Kopinski could be dead Tony Stark.
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Inexorable Mass, 2G
Creature - Ooze, Rare
Delirium - Whenever Inexorable Mass attacks and there are at least four card types among cards in your graveyard, put a 3/3 green Ooze creature token onto the battlefield tapped and attacking.
3/3

JeuxVideo preview.  When you see French text 'engagé et attaquant', get hyped.  We love that these decent sized tokens don't evap at end of turn but sticks around.  Seems strong with the only downside to ensure you get the delirium tech going to churn tokens.
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Scourge Wolf, RR
Creature - Wolf Horror, Rare
Delirium - Scourge Wolf has double strike as long as there are four or more card types among cards in your graveyard. 
2/2


MTG Goldfish preview.  Is Umbrella Corporation up to its evil shenanigans again?  This is that mutant mutt Ryan Reynolds (character Hannibal King) meets in the 2004 film Blade: Trinity.  That or someone forgot to evac Rover during take your pet to work day at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power station.  Suggested serving is in a red deck wins list or perhaps even wolf tribal.

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Other non-rare cards out today include :
• Howlpack Resurgence
• Vessel cycle - see below -

All inexpensive Enchantments (cmc 2 or less in the case of the green one) which has an activated cost to sacrifice for an effect.
• White - Vessel of Ephemera
• Blue - Vessel of Paramnesia
• Black - Vessel of Malignity
• Red - Vessel of Volatility

• Green - Vessel of Nascency

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Shadows Over Innistrad Previews 3-22

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Happy Tuesday MTG peeps,

Hey Planeswalkers !  Did you drop by for some Shadows Over Innistrad spoilers and previews ?  Good, we've rounded them up here and will be on the look out for moar.  Here is the offerings for your review today -

Goldnight Castigator, 2RR
Creature - Angel, Mythic Rare
Flying, haste
If a source would deal damage to you, it deals double that damage to you instead.
If a source would deal damage to Goldnight Castigator, it deals double that damage to Goldnight Castigator instead.
4/9

Mothersite preview.  This is the evil twin to Gisela, Blade of Goldnight.  Likely a decent sideboard against control or perhaps (stretching it a bit) an 'all-in' aggro strategy.  If you are going for the latter and do not want to feel the sting of the serious down-side of this, we suggest pairing with Assault Formation, so we can get the Castigator starting a very fast clock with 9 evasive damage.
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Hanweir Militia Captain, 1W
Creature - Human Soldier, Rare
At the beginning of your upkeep, if you control four or more creatures, transform Hanweird Militia Captain.
2/2
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Westvale Cult Leader
Creature - Human Cleric
Westvale Cult Leader's power and toughness are each equal to the number of creatures you control.
At the beginning of your end step, put a 1/1 white and black Human Cleric creature token onto the battlefield.
*/*

ARS Technica UK preview.  Solid flavour here.  This appears to be able to flip reasonably quickly, especially going with red / white human (tribal) with the likes of Pia and Kiran Nalaar in standard.  We love us some token generators.
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Triskaidekaphobia, 3B
Enchantment, Rare
At the beginning of your upkeep, choose one -
• Each player with exactly 13 life loses the game, then each player gains 1 life.
• Each player with exactly 13 life loses the game, then each player loses 1 life.

LoadingReadyRun preview.  This fear is the extreme superstition regarding the number thirteen and this card demonstrates why.  We have a soft spot for alternate win conditions.  If you are serious about playing this, tread carefully - otherwise a totally mad-crazy-fun card.  By the way - how many things of '13' can you find in the card art? :)
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Fevered Visions, 1UR
Enchantment, Rare
At the beginning of each player's end step, that player draws a card. If that player is your opponent and has four or more cards in hand, Fevered Visions deals 2 damage to him or her.

BrainStormBrewery preview.  If you are a fan of the tall stacks, we suggest dropping this into your 99 along with Nekusar, the Mindrazer as Commander / General.
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Avacyn's Judgment, 1R
Sorcery, Rare
Madness XR (If you discard this card, discard it into exile. When you do, cast it for its madness cost or put it into your graveyard.)
Avacyn's Judgment deals 2 damage divided as you choose among any number of target creatures and/or players. If Avacyn's Judgment's madness cost was paid, it deals X damage divided as you choose among those creatures and/or players instead.

Mothersite preview.  Nice burn spell but will likely see only the sideboard against tokens perhaps.  As for the art - it looks like Tamiyo is helping Jace out of a tight spot.
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Other non-rare Shadows Over Innistrad previews out today include -
• Angelic Purge • Nahiri's Machinations
• Stonewing Antagonizer
• Thraben Gargoyle

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Shadows Over Innistrad Spoilers 3-21

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Happy Monday MTG peeps,

Hope all had a great weekend.  Our weekend kicked off with Friday Night Magic at our local gaming store, OMG! Games here in Barrie, Ontario where our Hardened Scales decklist performed decent and took third place.  We certainly did not take the rest of the weekend off but remained ever vigilant for any Shadows Over Innistrad previews being revealed.  There was two additional previews over the weekend which was immediately reposted to our MTG Realm blog.  

Invocation of Saint Traft, 1WU
Enchantment - Aura, Rare
Enchant Creature
Enchanted creature has "Whenever this creature attacks, put a 4/4 white Angel creature token with flying onto the battlefield tapped and attacking. Exile that token at end of combat."

Late day preview from Wizards MTG Twitter.  The only thing which would have made this excellent nod to the original Geist of Satint Traft is having the aura give the enchanted creature hexproof as well.
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Corrupted Tombstone, 2
Artifact, Rare
Corrupted Tombstone enters the battlefield tapped.
T: Choose a color of a card in your graveyard. Add one mana of that color to your mana pool.

Hareruya MTG preview.  Great mana rock in a variety of different formats.

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Burn from Within, XR
Sorcery, Rare
Burn from Within deals X damage to target creature or player. If a creature is dealt damage this way, it loses indestructible until end of turn. If that creature would die this turn, exile it instead.

MTG APAC preview.  Solid burn spell and great spot removal for some of those indestructible critters.
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Tireless Tracker, 2G
Creature - Human Soldier, Rare
Whenever a land enters the battlefield under you control, investigate. (Put a colourless Clue artifact token onto the battlefield with "2, Sacrifice this artifact: Draw a card.")
Whenever you sacrifice a Clue, put a +1/+1 counter on Tireless Tracker.

3/2

Mothersite preview.  If you like Clues, then tune in to this card which is expected to not only generate those clue sac 'n' draw artifacts but also provide a hard counter pump for the Tracker here.
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Sin Prodder, 2R
Creature - Devil, Rare
Menace
At the beginning of your upkeep, reveal the top card of your library. Any opponent may have you put that card into your graveyard. If a player does, Sin Prodder deals damage to that player equal to that card's converted mana cost. Otherwise, put that card into your hand.

3/2

Mothersite preview.  Not that bad as a potential draw engine - especially for red.  The potential snag here is that you may need to put a land you need into the graveyard so plan ahead.
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Engulf the Shore, 3U
Instant, Rare
Return to their owners' hand all creatures with toughness less than or equal to the number of Islands you control.

Pure MTGO preview.  Notice Cthulhu saying wassup in that monster wave?  This card is certain to be part of control.
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Rare allied-land cycle previewed by the MTG EU community managers.  These 'Show' or 'Reveal' lands are five rare dual lands that enter the battlefield tapped, unless you reveal a land with the corresponding basic land type from your hand. These could be playable in Modern as one could potentially reveal a dual land (a card with two lands in the type line) to have this come into play ready to tap for mana.  Along with the uncommon enemy colour taplands, the set looks great.

Port Town

Game Trail

Foreboding Ruins

Choked Estuary

Fortified Village

Non-Rares revealed today -
• Convene the Race - Orgoglio Nerd (Italian) preview.  
• Ulvenwald Mysteries - mothersite preview

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