Wizards of the Coast is adding 302 Magic: The Gathering cards to the Historic and Explorer formats with a focus on Limited gameplay through Shadows Over Innistrad Remastered.
Scheduled to release on March 21, the Shadows over Innistrad Remastered (SIR) set features cards from the Shadows over Innistrad set and Eldritch Moon. The focus of the MTG Arena set is on the Limited format: Draft and Sealed. It adds 302 cards to the digital card game that can get played in the Historic and Explorer formats, along with 81 cards from the original Innistrad block.
The 81 additional cards are a part of Shadows of the Past, featuring four bonus sheets that will get added to the Shadows over Innistrad Remastered Limited format over the course of four weeks. Between all the cards getting added to MTG Arena through the SIR set and the bonus sheets, there are a total of 12 mechanics players will see in Draft and Sealed events.
- Madness
- Double-Faced cards (DFC)
- Delirium
- Investigate
- Meld
- Flashback
- Undying
- Skulk
- Escalate
- Morbid
- Emerge
Of the returning MTG mechanics, Madness, Investigate, DFCs, and Emerge will likely have the largest impact on the Shadows over Innistrad Remastered Limited meta.
Madness
The Madness mechanic provides players with an alternative casting cost on spells that are discarded. A card like Biting Rain, for example, costs 2BB to cast. If the Sorcery spell is discarded, it gets exiled and can get cast for its Madness cost of 2B instead.
Should the player choose to not cast the spell, it goes to the graveyard.
- “If you discard this card you may pay the Madness cost to cast or put it into your graveyard.”
Double-Face cards (DFC)
Werewolves show off their power through DFCs, similar to Innistrad: Midnight Hunt and Crimson Vow—but without the Day and Night cycle. Prior to the introduction of Day/Night, werewolves on Double-Face cards transformed at the beginning of your upkeep if no spells were cast this turn. All werewolves enter the battlefield front side up, and opponents can play a spell on their turn to thwart the werewolf transformation, even if you didn’t cast any spells.Â
Delirium
Delirium is an MTG mechanic that cares about card types in the graveyard. Upon having four or more card types in the graveyard, cards with Delirium gain bonuses. Players can fuel the mechanic through self-mill or discard strategies.
The card Obsessive Skinner, for example, adds a +1/+1 counter to a target creature at the beginning of the opponent’s upkeep if you have four or more creature types in your graveyard. Lands count as a creature type, as do Artifacts and Enchantments.
Investigate
The Investigate mechanic creates an Artifact Clue token through some type of trigger. Players can sacrifice the Clue token and pay two mana of any color to then draw a card.
A card like Drownyard Explorers will Investigate upon entering the battlefield, creating the Clue token, while other cards like Byway Courier Investigate upon the human scout dying.
- “Put a colorless Clue Artifact token onto the battlefield with pay two—sacrifice this Artifact and draw two.”
Meld
Meld was recently seen within The Brothers’ War Limited format, although the mechanic rarely was activated due to it being contained to Rare and Mythic Rare cards.
The SIR set will have some cards like Graf Rats and Midnight Scavengers that have a rarity of Uncommon and Common that can Meld into a Common rarity card called Chittering Host.
Prowess
The Prowess mechanic increases the power and toughness level of a creature by +1/+1 until the end of the turn whenever a non-creature spell is cast by their controller. It synergizes with spells matter decks in the colors Blue and Red. Each non-creature spell adds +1/+1 to a creature like Ingenious Skaab until the end of the turn.
Flashback
Flashback is a mechanic most players are familiar with. Cards that have a Flashback cost can get cast from the graveyard for that alternative casting cost. The mechanic synergizes with self-mill and discard strategies. All cards with Flashback are exiled, however, when the permanent leaves the battlefield or the stack when the Flashback cost was paid to cast the permanent.
Undying
Undying is a triggered mechanic that returns a creature to the battlefield with a +1/+1 counter on it if it had no counters upon the creature dying.
Skulk
Skulk is a minor mechanic that prevents a creature from getting blocked by another creature that has greater power. It is a form of evasiveness that isn’t as strong as Flying or Menace.
Escalate
Escalate is a powerful mechanic that has players perform an action like paying additional mana or discarding a card to activate one additional ability offered on a modal spell.
The Instant Blessed Alliance, for example, is a modal spell that lets players choose one or more of three abilities. To activate an additional ability, that player pays two mana of any color. To activate all three abilities on Blessed Alliance would cost 5W in total.
Morbid
Morbid is triggered upon a creature dying, providing an alternative or additional effect that can occur if that creature died during the same turn.
Emerge
Emerge is one of the more powerful mechanics in the Shadows over Innistrad Remastered Limited format and is found on Eldrazi cards. Players can cast a card with its Emerge cost upon sacrificing a creature.
The Emerge cost is then reduced by the sacrificed creature’s converted mana cost. A token sacrificed, for example, would reduce the Emerge casting cost of Wretched Gryff by one, while a sacrificed creature with a converted mana cost of three reduces the Emerge cost to 2U.
