Post by zipperissurly on Sept 22, 2011 0:15:29 GMT -5
I went through the set list and made a note on the top cards (IMO) for Limited to prepare for the Pre-Release this weekend and any drafting I may be able to squeeze in there. Here are my notes. Please feel free to comment on my choices. It is long , but I found it to be a worthwhile exercise.
Top Innistrad Cards by rarity (common and uncommon) and color
WHITE
Common
Avacynian Priest- tapper
Bonds of Faith – holy strength or pacifism very versatile
Doomed Traveler – 2 cards for one mana with 1 flying? This has to be good.
Rebuke – destroy attacker
Smite the Monstrous – destroy fattie
Village Bell-Ringer – Flash Blow out!!
Voiceless Spirit – cheap flying first strike
Uncommon
Fiend Hunter – Exile is strong
Midnight Haunting – Instant 2 flying spirits
Slayer of the Wicked – More maindeckable than Deathmark and on-a-stick
BLUE
Common
Claustrophobia – pacifism
Forbidden Alchemy – Like Ponder for this set and perhaps better because cards are available in the yard
Moon Heron – solid blue flyer
Spectral Flight – cheaply-costed for evasion & +2/+2 (still an enchantment however)
Think Twice – Draw cards = good
Uncommon
Curiosity – See Think Twice (will be able to sneak in early or place on evasive mid-to-late)
Dissipate – Why play Cancel ever again unless you are digging in their yard?
Invisible Stalker – Insane 1st pick material!!! What will you do if this has a Cleaver on it? Scoop?
BLACK
Common
Altar’s Reap – See Think Twice
Dead Weight – Solid Removal or at least cripple a fattie and for 1
Typhoid Rats – 1/1 for 1 w/Deathtouch will slow things down in a hurry
Vampire Interloper – 2/1 flyer for 2 will speed things up in a hurry
Victim of Night – I predict to be insane in constructed but Deathtouch-like in Limited.
Uncommon
Abbatoir Ghoul – This may be really good & it makes the Zombie theme more playable being good itself
Diregraf Ghoul – 2/2 for 1? Wha…what?!? Tapped schnapped…I’ll take 5 of them!
Disciple of Griselbrand – Sac outlet for the Traitorous Blood.
Moan of the Unhallowed – Zombies are good in bunches. To go Zombie you will need to commit early
Morkrut Banshee – At uncommon? Really? Really? Oh wait…No flying…ok still very solid.
Tribute to Hunger – Removal is good. Is this the only chance to kill Invisible Stalker?
Unburial Rites – Zombify x2 is probably going to be 1st pickable in B/W by pack 2 and 3.
RED
Common
Ancient Grudge – Green/Red will see play together. You will use this twice.
Ashmouth Hound – Ability deals 1 damage BEFORE combat. Think Porcelain Legionnaire. Oops!
Brimstone Volley – Strong enough burn. Burn = good
Feral Ridgewolf – Can be relevant late game or stalled board
Furor of the Bitten – That’s a lot of pressure early. On Pitchburn Devils it is 5/5+bolt if you kill it. 2-for-1?
Geistflame – Kills at least 25 non-token targets in set
Harvest Pyre – This is going to surprise some people. Scaleable and always 2 mana.
Pitchburn Devils – With Morbid looming and targets galore, this might as well say, “Unblockable”
Uncommon
Rakish Heir – while this card has no evasion some Vamps you own will.
GREEN
Common
Ambush Viper – Destroy target attacking (non-flying) creature
Festerhide Boar-Similar to Gorehorn Miotaurs
Moonmist-Kickstart the transformation. Under the right circumstances similar to Overrun
Somberwald Spider-Gianter Spider
Spidery Grasp-Nice trick Destroy target attacking creature
Woodland Sleuth-Gravedigger-like
Uncommon
Hamlet Captain-To be or not to be? To be!
ARTIFACTS
Common
Traveler’s Amulet-Another common source for fetching basic lands. Very important in Sealed.
Uncommon
Butcher’s Cleaver-+3/+0 is going to be relevant in limited and gives the lifelink boost to humans
Demonmail Halburk-+4/+2 and a sac outlet for Traitorous Blood
Mask of Avacyn-Hexproof plus
Silver Inlaid Dagger-very aggressive card
Trepanation Blade-Not as consistent, but the milling could get ugly.
LAND
Eh…
My overall thoughts for drafting:
1. Mono-white could be very strong. There is a little of everything minus card draw, so splash a little blue? This does not seem to be flowing as I practice www.magicdraftsim.com/and the best cards splash pretty well so may not get passed.
2. Red/Black Aggro seems to be a very safe archetype. There are plenty of cards at common to get the job done and the bombs mostly fit in and boost as a bonus. I will probably default to this strategy if pack one is bomb-less. (Curse of the Nightly Hunt may also Spider-proof the race)
3. Green/Red Werewolves is certainly going to be available as almost every pack will have a werewolf or a support card. I believe many people will be fighting for this plan so I will spend my picks elsewhere.
4. Black/Red Vampires is very similar to the werewolf plan.
5. Blue/Black Zombies. Commit early and this may fall together nicely. The bombs which support this plan will be passed around on pack 2 and 3 so you can luck out more often late with this plan.
6. Mill is going to kill someone. You can easily deck yourself. However, with certain rare cards this is a definite plan.
7. Spirits. There are lots of tokens and spirit-enabling cards so this could be a way to go.
Sealed
Non-rare Cards I want to see in my packs:
1. Invisible Stalker
2. Equipment for the Invisible Stalker
3. Traveler’s Amulet
4. Tribute to Hunger (to kill Invisible Stalker)
5. Furor of the Bitten (I am a fan of this card. There are a lot of slow moving mechanics and cards in this set. The common red and black creatures are pretty aggressive but lack evasion in most cases. This card applies pressure for those non-evasive creatures. By the time other strategies stabilize the board it may be too late and a burn spell or two can finish things.)
Cards I want to play (WUBRG order and not ranked)
1. Mikaeus, the Lunarch
2. Village Bell-ringer (with sound effects)
3. Invisible Stalker (just aggravated this exists)
4. Mindshrieker (probably my favorite card from the set)
5. Think Twice
6. Laboratory Maniac + Mirror-Mad Phantasm (for the groan)
7. Undead Alchemist
8. Dead Weight
9. Vampire Interloper
10. Unburial Rites
11. Skirsdag High Priest
12. Lilliana of the Veil
13. Reaper from the Abyss
14. Harvest Pyre
15. Pitchburn Devils
16. Traitorous Blood (with Altar’s Reap or Demonmail Haulberk)
17. Curse of Stalked Prey
18. Falkenwrath Marauders
19. Stormkirk Noble
20. Balefire Dragon
21. Ambush Viper
22. Moonmist
23. Spidery Grasp
24. Gutter Grime (every opponent will ask to read this one. You get to what?)
25. Olivia Voldaren
26. Grimoire of the Dead
27. Gavony Township
28. Kessig Wolfrun
29. Civilized Scholar/Homicidal Brute
30. Bloodline Keeper/Lord of Lineage
31. Hanweir Watchkeep/Bane of Hanweir (talk about night and day! Too funny to pass)
32. Instigator Gang/Wildblood Pack (YIKES!!!)
33. Garruk Relentless/Garruk, the Veil Cursed (The novelty alone is worth it)
Scott
ZipperisSurly (aka-the guy who liked the Squadron Hawks sound effects)
yugularedit: modified the subject to have (INN) in it
Top Innistrad Cards by rarity (common and uncommon) and color
WHITE
Common
Avacynian Priest- tapper
Bonds of Faith – holy strength or pacifism very versatile
Doomed Traveler – 2 cards for one mana with 1 flying? This has to be good.
Rebuke – destroy attacker
Smite the Monstrous – destroy fattie
Village Bell-Ringer – Flash Blow out!!
Voiceless Spirit – cheap flying first strike
Uncommon
Fiend Hunter – Exile is strong
Midnight Haunting – Instant 2 flying spirits
Slayer of the Wicked – More maindeckable than Deathmark and on-a-stick
BLUE
Common
Claustrophobia – pacifism
Forbidden Alchemy – Like Ponder for this set and perhaps better because cards are available in the yard
Moon Heron – solid blue flyer
Spectral Flight – cheaply-costed for evasion & +2/+2 (still an enchantment however)
Think Twice – Draw cards = good
Uncommon
Curiosity – See Think Twice (will be able to sneak in early or place on evasive mid-to-late)
Dissipate – Why play Cancel ever again unless you are digging in their yard?
Invisible Stalker – Insane 1st pick material!!! What will you do if this has a Cleaver on it? Scoop?
BLACK
Common
Altar’s Reap – See Think Twice
Dead Weight – Solid Removal or at least cripple a fattie and for 1
Typhoid Rats – 1/1 for 1 w/Deathtouch will slow things down in a hurry
Vampire Interloper – 2/1 flyer for 2 will speed things up in a hurry
Victim of Night – I predict to be insane in constructed but Deathtouch-like in Limited.
Uncommon
Abbatoir Ghoul – This may be really good & it makes the Zombie theme more playable being good itself
Diregraf Ghoul – 2/2 for 1? Wha…what?!? Tapped schnapped…I’ll take 5 of them!
Disciple of Griselbrand – Sac outlet for the Traitorous Blood.
Moan of the Unhallowed – Zombies are good in bunches. To go Zombie you will need to commit early
Morkrut Banshee – At uncommon? Really? Really? Oh wait…No flying…ok still very solid.
Tribute to Hunger – Removal is good. Is this the only chance to kill Invisible Stalker?
Unburial Rites – Zombify x2 is probably going to be 1st pickable in B/W by pack 2 and 3.
RED
Common
Ancient Grudge – Green/Red will see play together. You will use this twice.
Ashmouth Hound – Ability deals 1 damage BEFORE combat. Think Porcelain Legionnaire. Oops!
Brimstone Volley – Strong enough burn. Burn = good
Feral Ridgewolf – Can be relevant late game or stalled board
Furor of the Bitten – That’s a lot of pressure early. On Pitchburn Devils it is 5/5+bolt if you kill it. 2-for-1?
Geistflame – Kills at least 25 non-token targets in set
Harvest Pyre – This is going to surprise some people. Scaleable and always 2 mana.
Pitchburn Devils – With Morbid looming and targets galore, this might as well say, “Unblockable”
Uncommon
Rakish Heir – while this card has no evasion some Vamps you own will.
GREEN
Common
Ambush Viper – Destroy target attacking (non-flying) creature
Festerhide Boar-Similar to Gorehorn Miotaurs
Moonmist-Kickstart the transformation. Under the right circumstances similar to Overrun
Somberwald Spider-Gianter Spider
Spidery Grasp-Nice trick Destroy target attacking creature
Woodland Sleuth-Gravedigger-like
Uncommon
Hamlet Captain-To be or not to be? To be!
ARTIFACTS
Common
Traveler’s Amulet-Another common source for fetching basic lands. Very important in Sealed.
Uncommon
Butcher’s Cleaver-+3/+0 is going to be relevant in limited and gives the lifelink boost to humans
Demonmail Halburk-+4/+2 and a sac outlet for Traitorous Blood
Mask of Avacyn-Hexproof plus
Silver Inlaid Dagger-very aggressive card
Trepanation Blade-Not as consistent, but the milling could get ugly.
LAND
Eh…
My overall thoughts for drafting:
1. Mono-white could be very strong. There is a little of everything minus card draw, so splash a little blue? This does not seem to be flowing as I practice www.magicdraftsim.com/and the best cards splash pretty well so may not get passed.
2. Red/Black Aggro seems to be a very safe archetype. There are plenty of cards at common to get the job done and the bombs mostly fit in and boost as a bonus. I will probably default to this strategy if pack one is bomb-less. (Curse of the Nightly Hunt may also Spider-proof the race)
3. Green/Red Werewolves is certainly going to be available as almost every pack will have a werewolf or a support card. I believe many people will be fighting for this plan so I will spend my picks elsewhere.
4. Black/Red Vampires is very similar to the werewolf plan.
5. Blue/Black Zombies. Commit early and this may fall together nicely. The bombs which support this plan will be passed around on pack 2 and 3 so you can luck out more often late with this plan.
6. Mill is going to kill someone. You can easily deck yourself. However, with certain rare cards this is a definite plan.
7. Spirits. There are lots of tokens and spirit-enabling cards so this could be a way to go.
Sealed
Non-rare Cards I want to see in my packs:
1. Invisible Stalker
2. Equipment for the Invisible Stalker
3. Traveler’s Amulet
4. Tribute to Hunger (to kill Invisible Stalker)
5. Furor of the Bitten (I am a fan of this card. There are a lot of slow moving mechanics and cards in this set. The common red and black creatures are pretty aggressive but lack evasion in most cases. This card applies pressure for those non-evasive creatures. By the time other strategies stabilize the board it may be too late and a burn spell or two can finish things.)
Cards I want to play (WUBRG order and not ranked)
1. Mikaeus, the Lunarch
2. Village Bell-ringer (with sound effects)
3. Invisible Stalker (just aggravated this exists)
4. Mindshrieker (probably my favorite card from the set)
5. Think Twice
6. Laboratory Maniac + Mirror-Mad Phantasm (for the groan)
7. Undead Alchemist
8. Dead Weight
9. Vampire Interloper
10. Unburial Rites
11. Skirsdag High Priest
12. Lilliana of the Veil
13. Reaper from the Abyss
14. Harvest Pyre
15. Pitchburn Devils
16. Traitorous Blood (with Altar’s Reap or Demonmail Haulberk)
17. Curse of Stalked Prey
18. Falkenwrath Marauders
19. Stormkirk Noble
20. Balefire Dragon
21. Ambush Viper
22. Moonmist
23. Spidery Grasp
24. Gutter Grime (every opponent will ask to read this one. You get to what?)
25. Olivia Voldaren
26. Grimoire of the Dead
27. Gavony Township
28. Kessig Wolfrun
29. Civilized Scholar/Homicidal Brute
30. Bloodline Keeper/Lord of Lineage
31. Hanweir Watchkeep/Bane of Hanweir (talk about night and day! Too funny to pass)
32. Instigator Gang/Wildblood Pack (YIKES!!!)
33. Garruk Relentless/Garruk, the Veil Cursed (The novelty alone is worth it)
Scott
ZipperisSurly (aka-the guy who liked the Squadron Hawks sound effects)
yugularedit: modified the subject to have (INN) in it