I started playing Magic in 2008, and my first "real" set I started playing in events with was Shards of Alara. I really enjoyed it obviously, and before long I dove as far into the game as I could get. I was in college at the time and didn't have much to do besides school, work and games.

So I spent a lot of time diving into the game, and by the time the original Innistrad rolled around I was probably in peak form - I was grinding tournaments, reading every piece of content I could get my hands on (or watch low-res LSV draft videos), and was already dreaming of one day making it to the coverage team.

It was around this time that the original Innistrad hit. I vividly remember when Mayor of Avabruck was first spoiled, and everyone lost their minds over double-faced cards, with a bunch of the community thinking it was fake because they'd never do that. All in all, quite a different world from 2021 Magic design, where nothing is off the table.

I loved the flavor of Innistrad, and it was honestly the first set that ever spoke to me on a level beyond mechanical gameplay. That's what always most drew me to Magic (and still does), but the original Innistrad was a huge breakthrough for the game because it showed that top-down flavor can drive a set from the very beginning, and pushing the design space as far as possible to accommodate that made a Magic set a lot more than just cards and math and mechanics - it was an experience.

Fast forward a decade, and that's the direction the game has been massively pushed in. And I think the game has been much better for it. All of which means that - as we return to Innistrad for a presumably Eldrazi-less plane - I'm really hyped. I love that we're getting a two-set look at this, and based on the titles (Midnight Hunt and Crimson Vow), it seems fair to presume Wizards is going all-in on Werewolves and Vampires this time around - back to traditional gothic horror instead of the eldritch variety (although I also enjoyed that take).

With all that said, today I want to look back at some of my favorites from the previous Innistrad sets with an eye toward Commander, and highlight some of the best commanders as well as themes that we'll likely get to revisit over the next few months!

Hailing from the original Innistrad, Parallel Lives is a format-defining card and one of the biggest rags-to-riches stories in the history of Magic. When it first came out, Parallel Lives was this weird worse-than-Doubling Season card that cost one less but did far less. Commander was just coming to the wider Magic world - that was the year the original run of Commander series decks released - and not very many people had this clucky four-mana enchantments on their radar.

It was also a single dollar for a very long time, which is just wild to think about considering its $50(!) pricetag today.

But Parallel Lives is a super-staple of the format it was never intended for, and it won't be going away anytime soon. Token decks are one of the most popular archetypes in the game, and in Commander especially they work very well - going wide with tokens and a Craterhoof Behemoth is one of the premier ways to end games, and if you aren't going the infinite combo route then Parallel Lives is very likely one of the best ways to build a board large enough to take out multiple opponents.

Fingers crossed for a reprint in Midnight Hunt.

Speaking of win conditions, Labman has been a staple of pretty much every format in the game. It's the de facto win condition in cEDH if that's your thing, and if not there's still plenty of Azami decks out there winning the game with this guy.

It turns out that in a format of endless possibilities, finding ways to draw your entire deck just isn't that difficult - and if you can draw through your entire deck there's no easier way to win than dropping this innocuous Gray Ogre.

The fact that Laboratory Maniac is a flavor win is just the icing on the cake. A crazy old man tinkering in a basement? That fits with the horror tropes, and the win condition attached to it makes sense with that flavor. All in all, it's been a home run in both Commander and Constructed formats!

This is more of a flavor design than anything - it plays heavily into the 13 subtheme of Innistrad - but it has quietly become one of the most important sweepers in all of Commander. In fact, a full 24% of Red Commander decks run the Act, which are extreme numbers for any card. It's the most popular nonland card from Innistrad and the second most popular from all four Innistrad-themed sets, with only Anguished Unmaking surpassing it.

The two cards serve very different removal purposes, but both are among the absolute best at what they do. Red doesn't have access to Wrath of God or Damnation, but Blasphemous Act gets the job done the vast majority of the time. That's the kind of staple effect that Red desperately needs in the format, and I play it in every Red deck I have.

Unmaking, meanwhile, is the best Vindicate in all of the game, at least in a format where you start with 40 life. You give up the ability to blow up lands in exchange for the most important quality when it comes to removal: instant speed. Anguished Unmaking has saved countless games from ending over the years, and it's no surprise that almost 30% of all decks with Black and White in them run it.

Werewolves

We'll start with the furry creatures when it comes to tribes, because that's the first one we're gonna see in full thanks to Midnight Hunt!

Werewolves are a tribe in search of a commander. It's been that way for years and years, and after the first Innistrad block completely whiffed on a wolf commander - understandable since it was the first year Commander became an official format, after all - players were chomping at the bit to finally get a leader.

What we got was Ulrich of the Krallenhorde.

It's a capable leader, but with the exception of some near-flavor text on its backside, Ulrich doesn't actually care much about Werewolves, and it doesn't reward you for playing more Werewolves with it. That basically means it was a Werewolf commander in flavor only, and while that's not such a bad thing compare it to something like Aeve, Progenitor Ooze that has made Ooze Tribal a thing recently - it rewards you for making an Ooze Deck, not just a deck with an Ooze as the leader. Fingers crossed Midnight Hunt finally solves this problem for the tribe, and I fully expect it to.

Werewolves also have some other cool tribal cards, so it will be a fun archetype to get into if we get the right leader. Howlpack Resurgence, Full Moon's Rise, Moonmist, Master of the Wild Hunt, Wolfcaller's Howl - there's a lot of Werewolf cards waiting in the wings to jump into a Wolf Tribal Commander deck.

This was our own's A.E. Marling's take on the archetype back when Ulrich was released, and I'm excited to see what updated Werewolf decks look like in a few months - and you can be sure a lot of the cards I've mentioned are only going to get more expensive as we get closer to release.

Ulrich's Howlpack | Commander | A.E. Marling

• Commander (1)
• 1 Ulrich of the Krallenhorde

• Mana denial (6)
• 1 Blood Moon
• 1 Magus of the Moon
• 1 Boil
• 1 Winter Orb
• 1 Rite of Ruin
• 1 Ritual of Subdual

• Creatures (24)
• 1 Afflicted Deserter
• 1 Breakneck Rider
• 1 Conduit of Storms
• 1 Cult of the Waxing Moon
• 1 Daybreak Ranger
• 1 Duskwatch Recruiter
• 1 Eternal Witness
• 1 Geier Reach Bandit
• 1 Hermit of the Natterknolls
• 1 Huntmaster of the Fells
• 1 Immerwolf
• 1 Instigator Gang
• 1 Kessig Cagebreakers
• 1 Kruin Outlaw
• 1 Master of the Wild Hunt
• 1 Mayor of Avabruck
• 1 Mondronen Shaman
• 1 Pyreheart Wolf
• 1 Sage of Ancient Lore
• 1 Scorned Villager
• 1 Ulvenwald Captive
• 1 Ulvenwald Tracker
• 1 Wolfbriar Elemental
• 1 Wolfir Silverheart

• Planeswalkers (1)
• 1 Arlinn Kord

• Instants (15)
• 1 Ancient Grudge
• 1 Beast Within
• 1 Chaos Warp
• 1 Commune with Lava
• 1 Decree of Savagery
• 1 Fork
• 1 Fresh Meat
• 1 Harrow
• 1 Heroic Intervention
• 1 Hunter's Insight
• 1 Momentous Fall
• 1 Moonmist
• 1 Red Elemental Blast
• 1 Starstorm
• 1 Waxing Moon

• Sorceries (8)
• 1 Cultivate
• 1 Decimate
• 1 Hunter's Prowess
• 1 Kodama's Reach
• 1 Nature's Lore
• 1 Rampant Growth
• 1 Rishkar's Expertise
• 1 Shatterstorm

• Enchantments (6)
• 1 Beastmaster Ascension
• 1 Fervor
• 1 Fires of Yavimaya
• 1 Full Moon's Rise
• 1 Greater Good
• 1 Wolfcaller's Howl

• Artifacts (2)
• 1 Neglected Heirloom
• 1 Sol Ring

• Lands (37)
• 13 Forest
• 5 Mountain
• 1 Arcane Lighthouse
• 1 Cavern of Souls
• 1 Command Tower
• 1 Evolving Wilds
• 1 Game Trail
• 1 Gruul Turf
• 1 Hall of the Bandit Lord
• 1 Kessig Wolf Run
• 1 Mossfire Valley
• 1 Mosswort Bridge
• 1 Mountain Valley
• 1 Myriad Landscape
• 1 Raging Ravine
• 1 Rootbound Crag
• 1 Rugged Highlands
• 1 Sheltered Thicket
• 1 Stomping Ground
• 1 Temple of Abandon
• 1 Wooded Foothills

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Vampires

Similarly, Vampire Tribal was a popular ask with the original Innistrad, as players flocked to the bloodthirsty tribe. Unlike Werewolves, though, the Vamps have had no shortage of commanders. Olivia Voldaren was a popular option from the beginning, and I certainly my first time encountering it in the wild and getting all my creatures stolen! It's an iconic card, and set the tone perfectly for all the Vampires to follow.

And there have been plenty more options since. Olivia, Mobilized for War gave the tribe a slightly different angle of attack, and of course the granddaddy of all Vampire commanders Edgar Markov leads the way.

But even beyond that, there is an abundance of riches when it comes to cool Vampire Commander cards.

Can we catch Werewolves up to par, please?

Anyway, we're sure to see a huge heaping of Vampires in this return to Innistrad, and I'm interested to see if they can push the archetype in a new direction - we have go-wide with Edgar and Elenda, Madness with Olivia and Anje Falkenrath, and even combo potential with Vito. What's next for the Vampires?

Zendikar Rising has been my favorite set of the past few years, but just writing this column has me pumped for Innistrad and a return to classic horror designs. And if I finally get to build a sweet Werewolf Commander deck, even better!

What are you most hoping to see in Midnight Hunt and Crimson Vow?

Thanks for reading,

Corbin Hosler

@Chosler