Introduction
Whenever a new set is being spoiled, my inner kid awakes and is always ready to brew a new deck or to at least upgrade some older decks. As the Standard is rotating and we will see many new decks soon at the world championship, I instead will focus on Modern.
Without further ado, let’s jump right into the new cards from Innistrad: Midnight Hunt.
Featured Cards in Modern
White
《Brutal Cathar》/《Moonrage Brute》
I will do the full-color circle, which means I am starting with white. The first card that looks interesting to me on paper is 《Brutal Cathar》/《Moonrage Brute》.
The Humans deck in Modern usually plays some numbers of 《Reflector Mage》, I have even seen lists playing 《Skyclave Apparition》, to clear the way for good attacks. 《Brutal Cathar》 does exactly that and you have the option to flip it and maybe even exile more creatures. That is the upside, the downside is, if that creature is destroyed, your opponent’s blocker is back, even worse if that happens during combat. My feeling tells me, that this card is overall slightly weaker than 《Reflector Mage》, so it probably will not see play soon.
《Curse of Silence》
Next up we have 《Curse of Silence》. It looks like a decent hate card at first, but if you look at Modern itself, you will note that most combo decks play some sort of combinations to win and not only a single card to win right away.
Even if someone plays a card like 《Scapeshift》, the problem is that those additional 2 mana are not enough of a tax to buy enough time against a combo deck. So overall Curse of Silence looks neat, but it will not see any Modern play.
《Fateful Absence》
The next card that looks interesting to me is 《Fateful Absence》. Its effect is very powerful for two mana, especially as an instant. The drawback of giving your opponent a clue is only minor in my opinion. Will it see play? Hard to tell, as just recently white got 《Prismatic Ending》, but I think it is a good enough card to see play. 《Murktide Regent》 should be enough of a reason already.
《Sungold Sentinel》
《Sungold Sentinel》 might find its way into Modern. It efficiently attacks while working on your opponent’s graveyard. Looking at current Humans lists you even might be able to activate its coven ability from time to time.
《Sunset Revelry》
《Timely Reinforcements》 sees play from time to time, so it is no surprise that the next card will for sure see some amount of play, as it is a strict upgrade: 《Sunset Revelry》. The difference in life gain and tokens produced is very minor in my opinion, what matters is that it can be cast a full turn earlier.
Blue
《Consider》
Have you considered playing 《Consider》? Bad jokes aside, this card will straight up replace 《Opt》, as putting cards into your own graveyard is very important in the current Modern format.
From achieving delirium for 《Dragon’s Rage Channeler》, to giving 《Murktide Regent》 more fodder or to put an 《Arclight Phoenix》 into the bin, the variety is there. Talking about 《Arclight Phoenix》, I believe this card might be one of the missing pieces to make it an actual deck again.
《Memory Deluge》
Do you remember 《Dig Through Time》 and do you know where it is now? 《Memory Deluge》 is not 《Dig Through Time》, but it certainly feels like it. From time to time we have seen 《Wilderness Reclamation》 decks perform in Modern and now there is Azorius control, both decks that could use this card to its full potential. 《Fact or Fiction》 is usually played in the four-mana slot, but I believe this card to be better, as you get to choose which cards you want and it is one card that can be cast twice.
《Patrician Geist》
Does the Spirit deck need another lord? 《Patrician Geist》 is the newest spirit lord, but besides costing 3 mana, which is quite a lot for such a creature deck, its other abilities are completely irrelevant to the Spirits deck. I do not think that there is the need for another lord, so this card will not see play in Modern.
《Poppet Stitcher》/《Poppet Factory》
《Poppet Stitcher》/《Poppet Factory》 is an interesting card. It can produce a large army of tokens and at the same time make them bigger. I am not sure which deck could use this card, but to me it reads like a card that you would like out of the sideboard, as an alternative win condition. Storm decks play 《Empty the Warrens》, which probably fits better, but maybe there is enough space to play this together with 《Empty the Warrens》.
《Spectral Adversary》
Earlier I talked about 《Reflector Mage》 and mentioned 《Skyclave Apparition》. Maybe Spirits will use 《Spectral Adversary》, as its effect is useful and it has flash, which is exactly what you want your spirits to have. The question for this card is, if it’s not too expensive for what it can do.
Black
《Champion of the Perished》
Is 《Champion of the Perished》 what Zombies needed to finally be an actual tribal deck? This card allows the curve to look better and to apply pressure, while you still can go wide. We will see if this tribe has what it takes to replace Humans as the tribal deck to go, but for now I believe that Humans will win this fight.
《Infernal Grasp》
《Death’s Shadow》 received a new friend: 《Infernal Grasp》. Usually, these decks would play 《Dismember》 as their removal of choice, but recently the creatures are just bigger than 5/5. Destroying a big 《Murktide Regent》, 《Tarmogoyf》 or a Construct Token while enabling and/or growing your 《Death’s Shadow》 sounds great to me and this card might get me to try my old friend in some form.
《Jerren, Corrupted Bishop》/《Ormendahl, the Corrupter》
《Jerren, Corrupted Bishop》/《Ormendahl, the Corrupter》 might find its way into the Humans deck. When going wide you usually only fear a mass removal. 《Jerren, Corrupted Bishop》 will leave you with a small army afterwards. If not for the army, giving lifelink to another creature might turn the race into your favor.
《The Meathook Massacre》
《The Meathook Massacre》 can function as a mass removal, while draining some life. It is quite unique, because it is an enchantment, which means that you might be able to use it multiple times. Playing Esper Control and got 《Teferi, Time Raveler》? Nice, lets bounce 《The Meathook Massacre》 to my hand and use it later again, if needed. Double black might be hard on the mana but building a proper mana base in Esper Control to support this card is not impossible.
Green
《Wrenn and Seven》
After 《Wrenn and Six》 comes 《Wrenn and Seven》, right? From time to time we have seen some sort of Bant Control decks in Modern, maybe 《Wrenn and Seven》 could fit. I am more interested in seeing 《Wrenn and Seven》 in a strange Prison deck, as it could act as a win condition in those, while providing some value and returning some of the prison cards from your graveyard into play. I could see this being a good fit for Selesnya Enchantress, but maybe it is too expensive.
Multicolored
《Faithful Mending》
《Faithless Looting》 is banned, but 《Faithful Mending》 will be legal in Modern soon. I am not sure, if Dredge wants to bend its mana base even more to integrate this powerful card, but I could see it happening. Besides Dredge, this could open/reinvent archetypes and/or fit into already existing decks.
This is the second card from Innistrad: Midnight Hunt, that could help reinvent an 《Arclight Phoenix》 deck. Another new deck that comes to my mind is some sort of esper reanimator that could make good use out of this card.
Fitting into old archetypes? I could see playing a few of those in control decks. Since this is an instant, you could cycle away a few lands’ end of turn to draw new cards.
《Rem Karolus, Stalwart Slayer》
Another human? How many potential human cards are in the new set? There are many, but I can promise you, this is the last one I will talk about: 《Rem Karolus, Stalwart Slayer》.
This might find its way into the sideboard, as I do not believe that you want to give up one extra power provided by 《Mantis Rider》. This card prevents your board from dying to 《Anger of the Gods》, which some decks are playing and against Burn they have to kill this first, which in return could buy you at least a turn.
《Teferi, Who Slows the Sunset》
Teferi once again traveled through time and space, this time just to show up on Innistrad. Reading 《Teferi, Who Slows the Sunset》 it might be one of the fairest Planeswalkers ever designed. That said it is a blue and white Planeswalker card, which has a very good ultimate ability. Sadly, the other two loyalty abilities are just too fair, so this Teferi will not see Modern play in my opinion.
Land
Rare Cycle
Last but not least, there is a new cycle of lands. Looking at Modern, these lands might find a home in some slower control decks, but they are certainly no 4 of in any deck.
That’s it for today, hope you enjoyed my opinion on some of the cards from the newest set Innistrad: Midnight Haunt. Happy prereleasing, stay safe and until next time,
Immanuel Gerschenson (Twitter)
