Table of Contents
We are kicking it off with a big one for 2025. Innistrad Remastered.
The original Innistrad draft has been hailed as one of the best draft formats of all time. While the Vorthoses (lore lovers) loved the top down design of the Gothic horror, they changed this up when it came for a revisit. It failed a lot of people's expectations. It Changed it from Gothic horror to cosmic horror with the invasion of Emrakul and the subsequent trapping of her.
This comes off the back of Battle for Zendikar block, which was all about the other two Eldrazi Titans, Ulamog and Kozilek. It just felt like a continuation of this rather than a fresh look at a beloved classic set.
This was the start of the Gatewatch. Wizards was trying to tell a continual story through the multiverse following the Gatewatch as they dealt with the problem of the week. Just like a classic Saturday morning cartoon.
The last revisit to Innistard was with Innistrad: Midnight Hunt. This went back to its roots, focusing more on the Werewolves and, in the following set, Innistrad: Crimson Vow, Vampires. Seemingly forgetting the horror warping effects of the Flying Spaghetti Monster. It focused on horror monsters that were menacing humanity now that Avacyn is no more.
As with any Remastered set, its pulling from the previous cards debuted in any of the Innistrad sets. Although, it does seem to slide in some reprints as well. Mass Hysteria. With new art and flavour text, this fits right in.
So it's time to get into my top 10 picks for this set. I will quickly state that the number order for any of these cards have little meaning. Each of these cards is an absolute powerhouse card. They are solid additions to any deck that can run them. So let's get into the list.
10 - Edgar Markov
Starting out we have an absolute MONSTER of a card. Edgar Markov. This is possibly a design mistake due to the eminence keyword which lets it work from the command zone, so there isn't any way to realistically shut it off.
It’s also the first “headliner card” where Wizards just chooses to print it with all the optional extras. It’s getting dedicated illustrations, treatments and foiling, with some serialisation sprinkled in. Only 500 of the movie poster serialised variants will be printed!
But worry not if you are looking to pick up a copy, as it is also coming in the default border, retro frame and showcase variants, each with their own foil versions too.
I do feel bad for vendors having to keep track of which version they have. At least these are visually distinct, unlike some other kinds of cards (i.e. the List).
These three are the “standard” versions. Available in both play boosters as well as collector boosters. These are the most common versions of any of the cards in the set with the default being the most common.
Then we come to the fancy version. The movie poster serialised version. This one will only be available in collectors boosters. On top of that, it will be in less than 1% of those boosters as well. So good luck if you are hoping to pull one.
But what makes Edgar Markov so good? As I mentioned earlier, it's the eminence keyword. Edgar Markov reads:
Eminence — Whenever you cast another Vampire spell, if Edgar Markov is in the command zone or on the battlefield, create a 1/1 black Vampire creature token.
First strike, haste
Whenever Edgar Markov attacks, put a +1/+1 counter on each Vampire you control.
Getting free value for doing what you are already doing is great. As I said before, you can’t stop this ability, so you can leave Edgar in the command zone while getting all the value from it.
While it’s not quite strong enough to push into CEdh, Edgar makes for a strong commander. You can pair all the free tokens with the Vampire Lords, such as Captivating Vampire, to buff them up and make them a real threat.
What really makes an Edgar Markov deck pop, though, is if you play him with mass land destruction, such as Ravages of War or Armageddon, resetting the board on turn four, while everyone else is trying to set themselves up with extra lands. This, combined with cheap vampires, allows you to rebuild faster and just out-aggro the table before anyone can actually make a move.
Being Mardu (Black/White/Red), you get access to quite a lot of mass land destruction alongside all the best tutors typically found in Black. Meaning, you always have access to it when you want it.
Edgar Markov is arguably the best Vampire commander going and only the price is holding him back. But hopefully with this set of printing it will help bring the price back down to something reasonable.
9 - The Meathook Massacre
While we got Part 2 in the Duskmourn set, it doesn't quite have the same impact as the original. The original Meathook Massacre is far cheaper at only (X)(B)(B), rather than (X)(X)(B)(B)(B)(B), and is also far less of a colour restriction.
I think that -X/-X is better than sacrificing X creatures. The other abilities on Part 2 are better at killing your opponents. Though this works better in 1v1 where the life total is 20.
The Meathook Massacre can be a one sided board wipe, similar to Toxic Deluge, if your creatures are bigger. Additionally, it’s also a finisher/stabiler if either you or your opponents are using mass tokens.
You could even use this as a 2 mana combo piece alongside an infinite sacrifice loop, as this will trigger every time you sacrifice a creature. So if you have a way to repeatedly make/recast a creature and sacrifice it, you will just win with all the triggers from The Meathook Massacre.
This is a board wipe with an upside. While costing more than the most efficient board wipes, The Meathook Massacre sticks around to keep giving you incremental advantages throughout the game.
8 - Emrakul, the Promised End
Here we have the Flying Spaghetti Monster herself, Emrakul, the Promised End.
While costing a lot of mana (13), you do get a discount for card types, which will likely reduce Emrakul’s cost to (9) or (10). It’s still a hefty chunk of mana, but you do get A LOT for that.
First off, Emrakul is a 13/13, flying and trampling body with protection from instants. So a sudo-protected, large, ‘hard to stop’ creature.
But wait there's more! You also get to mess with one of your opponents by taking control of them for a turn. This is also an ‘on cast’ trigger, so most counterspells won’t work to stop this. While it does also give that opponent another turn after (so not quite a Mindslaver), it can still be enough.
You can completely wreck a combo finish an opponent is trying to go for. Or you can just use it for maximum value and use all their removal to get rid of any problems you might have. Remember, these will all be your opponents cards.
I have used this card to kill my opponents with their own cards a number of times. One time, they had a Toxic Deluge, which I cast and also paid with their entire life total. The bonus was that the card never resolved so Emrakul lived.
Another time they had something with a Spellskite out, so I just kept activating that until they died. Fun times.
Emrakul, the Promised End even made a showing in Standard until she was banned. Paired with Aetherworks Marvel, you could cast Emrakul on turn four. This was pretty disgusting and, as the degenerate I am, I also played this while it was legal.
7 - Avacyn, Angel of Hope
The original Avacyn, in all her glory. A big mana creature for a big effect. A flying, vigilant, indestructible 8/8 creature, while also giving all your other permanents indestructible as well.
Avacyn isn’t as good as it was 10+ years ago. This is mainly due to the prevalence of exile effects becoming more common.
Avacyn, Angel of Hope is still holding a value of £30 before this reprint.
This mostly played in angel kindred decks, unless you want to be a degenerate and combo her with mass land destruction like I would.
Even with that said, this is an excellent and needed reprint. It helps keep costs down and allows more casual players access to powerful effects.
Avacyn will only be available in the retro frame or movie poster versions, which will limit the availability.
But there is a mini Avacyn, Archangel Avacyn.
One turn of protection can be great in response to a wrath. It’s not as good compared to the original, but it is a lot cheaper. Both in price and mana cost.
6 - Bloodline Keeper
We can’t do a Innistrad reprint set and not include some powerful vampires. This is where we reintroduce Bloodline Keeper.
While there are plenty of other key reprints, such as Sorin, Imperious Bloodlord (for Rakdos Vampires in Pioneer), Bloodline Keeper only has 1 small reprint in the From the Vault: Transform. As a result, its price has crept up.
Bloodline Keeper is exactly what you want in a Commander deck. It's versatile.
On the front side you have a token generator which lets you tap it to make 2/2 flying vampires. Then when you have an army or if you already have a board, you can flip it into Lord of Lineage.
This still retains the tap ability to make the tokens, which is great, but it also is a ‘Lord’, not just in name. It gives your vampires +2/+2 so it now effectively makes 4/4 flying vampire tokens instead.
While this card is only for kindred vampire decks, given the release of this set, there are going to many more out there. Especially with the Edgar Markov reprint making it more accessible.
5 - The Gitrog Monster
Speaking of popular commanders we have The Gitrog Monster next.
This comes in the top 250 decks on EDHRec, showing that it's a very popular deck to build and for a good reason.
The Gitrog Monster is such a value engine in the Command zone. While having a couple of newer versions (Thalia and The Gitrog Monster & The Gitrog, Ravenous Ride), I have this one as the best one. Don’t get me wrong the other two are great but the OG Gitrog Monster is just more powerful. It’s the last line of the text box:
Whenever one or more lands are put into your graveyard from anywhere, draw a card.
Not only does it have the strongest 3 words in magic, ‘draw a card’, it is also important that it can be triggered from anywhere, not just from the battlefield. This allows you to mill lands to draw cards. Or as a well known combo goes, discard one….
To go a little more in depth on the combo, it uses a rather unique land as it has the dredge ability, Dakmor Salvage. Here’s how it plays out:
- You are required to have The Gitrog Monster out, Dakmor Salvage in hand and more than 7 cards in hand total
- At the end of the turn, discard down to hand size, discarding Dakmor Salvage
- This gives you a draw card trigger from The Gitrog Monster
- Priority passes to opponents
- On resolution of the draw trigger, replace this with the dredge from Dakmor Salvage, milling 2 cards and returning Dakmor Salvage to hand
- As it is still the cleanup step you still need to discard down to 7 cards in hand, again discarding Dakmor Salvage and repeating the combo above on a loop
The idea is you loop this to fill your graveyard and try to win from there. There are a few different and complicated lines so I won’t explain them here. Even without this combo line The Gitrog Monster can just be a value draw engine commander, making it a strong deck and worthy of a top 250 deck.
4 - Cultivator Colossus
Cultivator Colossus is a fairly new card as it was first released in Innistrad: Crimson Vow. Even so, it has crept up in price as a Commander worthy card. It even sees fringe Modern play in the occasional sideboard to Amulet Titan decks.
This has a big effect worthy of the 7 mana casting cost. It reads:
Trample
Cultivator Colossus’s power and toughness are each equal to the number of lands you control.
When Cultivator Colossus enters, you may put a land card from your hand onto the battlefield tapped. If you do, draw a card and repeat this process.
At first glance, this look like it would combo with a bounce land (e.g. Simic Growth Chamber), as the land would be able to return itself and you could keep playing it.
Unfortunately, it doesn't work like that as the bounce trigger from Simic Growth Chamber can’t resolve during the Cultivator Colossus ability. This is one continuous effect and not repeated triggers.
Another card I did consider for this slot is Cryptolith Rite, as this is a strong effect, especially for token decks. Ultimately, I went with Cultivator Colossus instead as it's a flashier card.
3 - Griselbrand
I don’t think I could do this list without including Griselbrand. This card is what got me into Modern and Legacy. The Grishoalbrand and Tin Fins decks, respectively.
The reason why I love playing with Griselbrand is the card draw power. It reads:
Pay 7 life: Draw seven cards.
This is also while being on a 7/7 flying lifelinker. Such a powerful effect! Both of the Grishoalbrand and Tin Fins decks' aim is to draw more cards with other cards to gain back life. So even without any other lifegain you can gain it from Griselbrand itself.
While I don’t like all of the newer movie poster art variant cards, the Griselbrand one just looks clean. I think the lack of ability text helps it.
2 - Temporal Mastery
Let's do the TIME WARP again!
Temporal Mastery is a miracle version of Time Walk, Magic's most powerful extra turn card.
There isn’t much else to talk about this card. Take an extra turn for 7 mana. Not great, but if it's your first card drawn for the turn you can cast it for its miracle cost of (1)(U).
This fits right into the Miracle Worker deck, but that deck was all about the miracle mechanic and setting up your library to be able to draw them and get that sweet sweet discount.
1 - Craterhoof Behemoth
Finally we come to the last pick. And it's a big one. Literally and figuratively. Craterhoof Behemoth.
This is the top finisher for any Green deck. Used in all formats, going even as far as Legacy.
Craterhoof is a force multiplier card. What this means is it scales with the amount of creatures you have. So the more creatures you have the bigger they get.
There are a number of other cards that do this. For example Moonshaker Cavalry. This is definitely a reference to Craterhoof, just White's version.
This is a very nice reprint to see. Getting more copies of it out in the wild is only a good thing as it helps curb the ever increasing prices of MTG cards.
It's a pretty simplistic card, but it does a hell of a lot of work. I have won and lost to this being cast so many times.
I would recommend that you pick up a copy if you don't own one. At least once the prices stabilise at a low point. It has been, and probably will be, a Commander staple for years to come. Unfortunately, this is another one that is a retro frame only.
But we do get Craterhoof at home, Decimator of Provinces, in a normal frame. The biggest of pigs.
While not as good (and very much looking like an End-Raze Forerunners rip off), it's still another sudo copy of the effect. If you are looking for a budget alternative, then this can work.
It also has the emerge mechanic, which means you can get this out after casting another creature and not pay the full (10) to cast it. Although, it can’t match the sheer power of Craterhoof Behemoth.
It will take a lot from Wizards to unseat Craterhoof Behemoth as the king of Green finishers.
Final Thoughts
While Innistrad Remastered is purely a reprint set with no new cards, I like the set a lot.
This will be a fun and exciting set to open for both new and old players alike. Especially as they have shown that they are willing to put non Lore or original printings into these sets.
This allows for some more unique and needed reprints to be slipped into these sets. So if a favourite, but expensive, card is in a set that is unlikely to see a remaster, then you have hope it sides into a different one.
This helps give more availability to the player base, which I always encourage. Gatekeeping cards behind massive paywalls always feels bad to me. Have the serialised and fancy art versions for the collectors to keep their value and have cheap base versions for the players to play with.
While I have my top 10 picks, there were so many I couldn’t include. Many iconic cards such as Snapcaster Mage and Triskaidekaphobia.
While there are some big money items, there is a surprising amount of smaller £5 reprints to help boost up the value of the boosters. It should help soften the blow and not be purely a hit or a miss on the rare.
Hopefully this has given you an idea of the cards to look out for and maybe piqued your interest into the set if you weren’t already excited.
But it comes to the end of another blog. As always, good luck and have fun!
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