Innistrad: Midnight Hunt is here and with it comes a massive rotation that we've all been waiting for! Goodbye Eldraine, you will not be missed. Standard looks to be in an amazing place and Innistrad: Midnight Hunt brings new strategies and powerful cards to the forefront. I'm excited to go over all the new cards we will be getting from this set. Innistrad is my favorite plane in Magic and I'm so glad we are revisiting it! Before we dive on in, let's go over how I will be doing the set review.
I will not be going over cards that I believe will not see play in Standard and I will not be going over the Commander cards that will not see Standard play. For example, cards like Clarion Cathars and Stormrider Spirit will be omitted since they are just Limited cards and saying, "This is just a Limited card" repeatedly gets old rather fast. Do not worry though, I will be covering all the rare and mythic cards in the actual Innistrad: Midnight Hunt set. So, if you like a certain rare or mythic, it will be mentioned in the review.
Keep in mind I am rating all these cards for Standard playability. I will mention Modern applications if I believe the card has some.
Each card will be listed by color, then alphabetically by name.
Each card will be given a rating of 1-5. If a card would receive a 0, meaning it will see no play in that format ever, its rating is left off the list.
Rating | Explanation | Standard Examples
0 - Will never see play in this format (0 ratings are not listed).
1 - Unlikely to see play. (Divine Gambit)
2 - Could see fringe play, or occasional sideboard card. (Disdainful Stroke, Annul, Candletrap, Devastating Mastery)
3 - Commonly played, staple in a single deck, or frequent play in several decks. (Righteous Valkyrie, Behold the Multiverse, Check for Traps)
4 - Format staples. Sees play in multiple decks, one of the best cards in the format. (Saw it Coming, Fateful Absence, Werewolf Pack Leader)
5 - Format warping. If you are in these colors, you play that card or keep that card in mind when building decks. (Ugin, the Spirit Dragon, Embercleave, The Great Henge, Bonecrusher Giant)
Now that we have that out of the way, let us begin!
White
Adeline, Resplendent Cathar - 3 - White weenie's 3-drop slot is packed with Elite Spellbinder, Reidane, and Skyclave Apparition, but Adeline is another great 3-drop it now has access to. | |
Ambitious Farmhand // Seasoned Cathar - 3 - Plowshares to Swords anyone? Nothing crazy but is a solid way to fill the curve for your deck, just like Birth of Meletis was. Love that it can become a decent creature if you have Coven. | |
Borrowed Time - 3 - Nothing new to see here. We've seen Oblivion Ring and this card is always a welcome addition as a removal spell. | |
Brutal Cathar // Moonrage Brute - 4 - A very solid werewolf for a Boros werewolf deck! It's also just a great creature to deal with opposing creatures. Love that it can grab multiple creatures by flipping back and forth. | |
Candletrap - 2 - I really like a one-mana removal spell. It's like Portable Hole but it can hit bigger creatures, if you aren't killing your opponent with damage, this can be a great addition to your deck. I really like it in Historic in the Enchantress deck. | |
Chaplain of Alms // Chapel Shieldgeist - 3.5 - Another White weenie 1-drop that you can recur as a bigger threat later in the game. Just a solid card for those decks! | |
Curse of Silence - 2 - This card is okay but if you want it for your aggressive deck to stop your creatures from dying to something like Doomskar, I would rather play something that gives your creatures indestructible like, Selfless Glyphweaver // Deadly Vanity. | |
Enduring Angel // Angelic Enforcer - 2 - Too small of a butt for 5 mana. Really needed to be a 3/5 to maybe see play, as is it won't see much of any play in Standard. | |
Fearful Absence - 4 - One of the best removal spells in Standard in a while. Expect to see Fateful Absence be played for as long as it is legal in the format! | |
Gavony Dawnguard - 3 - Militia Bugler was a great card and Gavony Dawnguard is similar and continues to let you dig through your deck as day and night flips. Solid card for the sideboard of White weenie decks at the very least against attrition decks. | |
Homestead Courage - 3 - Homestead Courage slots right into the Mono-White aggressive deck. Fits great with Monk of the Open Hand and Clarion Spirit. | |
Intrepid Adversary - 4 - Solid 2-drop that fits the curve for an aggressive White deck and later in the game becomes an anthem. Very solid! | |
Sigarda's Splendor - 2 - A different Cosmos Elixir. It seems very win more and is a terrible top deck if you are behind. | |
Sigardian Savior - 2 - Sigardian Savior is good in older formats where it can grab two creature combo pieces to win the game but in Standard it is not going to be good enough as a recovery spell. Again, I would rather just play Selfless Glyphweaver // Deadly Vanity to protect my creatures. If I wanted to spend four or more mana, I'd just play a planeswalker. | |
Sungold Sentinel - 2.5 - Solid Sideboard card or even main deck card in the right meta to attack graveyard decks while still applying pressure. | |
Sunset Revelry - 3 - The new and improved Timely Reinforcements! Love that it also triggers for cards in hand unlike Timely Reinforcements. Good in older formats too where Timely was played. | |
Vanquish the Horde - 2 - Stick to Doomskar and leave Vanquish the Horde for Commander! |
Top 5 White Cards
- Fateful Absence
- Intrepid Adversary
- Chaplain of Alms // Chapel Shieldgeist
- Brutal Cathar // Moonrage Brute
- Sunset Revelry
The best addition is the amazing removal spell that is Fateful Absence. Outside of that and Sunset Revelry, it looks like White aggressive decks got some more toys and that will ensure that White weenie is still a tier one deck going forward. Mono-White aggro and even Boros aggro look to be real contenders in the new Standard.
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Tomorrow we will go over Blue cards of Innistrad, so don't miss it! As always, thanks for reading,
Ali Aintrazi
Follow me @AliEldrazi