Innistrad has survived the plane-ending threat of Emrakul, and the Eldrazi is now sealed away in Innistrad’s silver moon. But the end of one story merely heralds the beginning of another. Now night falls longer and longer upon the benighted plane, and ravenous howlpacks ravage the remaining bastions of humanity. However a new hope has emerged from the shadows. Witches who once fled Avacyn’s merciless judgement now offer salvation in the form of a long-lost tradition: a harvest festival that promises to tip the balance of day and night. But everything on Innistrad has a cost…

Innistrad was one of Magic’s first successful top-down sets, skillfully capturing the tropes of a gothic horror world while utilizing new and skill-testing mechanics. That combination of flavor and fun is the reason why Innistrad is a fond memory for many players, and I have high hopes for Innistrad: Midnight Hunt as well! Let’s dive right in.

Mechanics and Themes

MID has a lot of eye-catching keywords, but there are broader thematic ideas that it’s important to be aware of.

The Tribes of Innistrad

Innistrad is built around five allied-colored tribes:

• White/Blue: Spirits
• Blue/Black: Zombies
• Black/Red: Vampires
• Red/Green: Werewolves
• Green/White: Humans

There are many cards that grant bonuses to all cards of a particular tribe, thus encouraging you to build a deck around that color pair. MID also supports enemy-colored strategies; however those synergies can be a little harder to identify.

Graveyard

The graveyard is a key component of MID, as befits a horror plane. Multiple mechanics allow you to cast spells from the graveyard, and there’s a plethora of reanimation effects as well. This zone may become a secondary battlefield as a result, with one side aiming to fill it as fast as possible while the other fights to exile key cards from the graveyard.

Let’s look at MID’s feature mechanics.

Flashback

Flashback returns, and it’s as powerful as ever. Any card with Flashback is actually two cards for the price of one - although the Flashback cost is invariably greater than the initial cost - and the value sort of in-built card advantage cannot be overstated. Every color has Flashback cards.

Disturb

Disturb is a new mechanic that might be thought of as “Flashback for creatures”. There’s a key difference however: Disturb cards are all White or Blue, and they all feature a landbound Human on the front and a flying Spirit on the back.

Day/Night

Innistrad’s transformation mechanic returns in a slightly altered form. Once a Day/Night card is played, it becomes a constant marker for the game that either player can manipulate. If a player does not play a spell during their turn it becomes Night; if they play two or more spells during their turn it returns to Day.

How are cards affected by this? Creatures with a Daybound side and a Nightbound side will flip from one to the other depending on whether it is Day or Night. Other cards may gain bonuses if it’s Night, or care about the transition between Day and Night.

Decayed

Decayed is a new keyword found almost entirely on 2/2 Zombie tokens. Decayed creatures can attack but cannot block, and after they attack they are sacrificed at the end of combat. These limitations might make them feel close to useless, but there are hidden upsides. The first is that Decayed Zombies are costed aggressively, making it possible to simply build up a big board before pushing through for an alpha strike. The second is that there are many cards who ask you to sacrifice a creature as an added cost, and Decayed Zombies are the perfect fodder for such spells.

Coven

Cards with Coven grant you bonuses if you control three or more creatures with different power. This creates an added axis of consideration when it comes to drafting and playing creatures - and when you’re trying to figure out which of your opponent’s creatures to kill. The Coven keyword appears in Green and in White, and on a variety of card types - creatures, instants, enchantments.

Archetypes

MID has ten two-color archetypes, each represented by two signpost uncommons. As mentioned above, the allied colored pairs are all tribal focused - but each tribe has a further mechanical identity to take into account.

White/Blue: Spirits (Graveyard)

The Spirits deck seems straightforward enough: cast flyers and win in the air. But the Disturb mechanic present in White/Blue throws a small wrinkle into that plan: many of your best flyers take time to take to the skies. So you might start out with an army of landbound humans like Devoted Grafkeeper and wait for them to die before resurrecting them all into an evasive force composed of creatures such as Departed Soulkeeper. However you can also take a more direct route by simply discarding or self-milling your Disturb creatures through a spell such as Faithful Mending.

White/Black: Self-Sacrifice

The abundance of graveyard effects and death triggers in MID begs the question: is there a way to hurry your creatures into the grave? The White/Black archetype says yes - and sometimes those deaths will actually be to your benefit. For example, if you sacrifice one creature to Fleshtaker in order to eat an opponent’s 3/3 then you’ve achieved an even trade and gained life and a scry to boot. And if your opponent’s creature is too big to deal with in such a way, spells like Rite of Oblivion provide a very efficient answer.

Blue/Black: Zombies (Tokens)

The Zombie color pair has a new feel this time around due to the new Decayed keyword. You can attack every turn with a few zombies and wear an opponent down through attrition, or hold back until you have an impossible number of the undead ready to finish off your opponent in a single strike. Either way, Bladestitched Skaab will ensure that your zombies will deal a fair amount of damage. Alternatively, take a different tangent altogether and use your zombies as cannon fodder for cards such as Corpse Cobble, turning your one-shot zombies into something far greater and far more powerful.

Blue/Red: Instants and Sorceries Matter

The classic Blue/Red archetype of flinging transient spells returns once more in MID. Storm Skreelix is an ideal threat for this archetype, making your instants and sorceries cheaper while also pounding out more damage whenever you cast those spells. The archetype is further enhanced due to Flashback cards, which provide double the fodder. On top of this, a spell such as Arcane Infusion gives you additional options by putting an instant on the stack while potentially finding you more.

Black/Red: Vampires (Opponent Life Loss)

Black/Red has long been an aggressive archetype, and MID continues that trend. Vampires in this set gain a bonus if the opponent has taken damage, and this encourages Vampire decks to simply attack and then attack and then attack again. Sure, some of your creatures may be eaten by bigger blockers. But as long as one point of damage gets through, a card such as Vampire Socialite ensures that the benefits outweigh the costs. And if you need an aggressively disposable body that does damage while padding your life total - a key consideration if you’re swinging out every turn - then Hungry for More is the perfect card for you.

Black/Green: Death Matters

Death always matters, but the Black/Green archetype turns it from a potential drawback into a definitive advantage. Swing wildly, trade off all your creatures, and then plop down an enormous Ghoul Grizzly that outclasses anything else on the board. But what if they kill it? Well, that’s what cards like Diregraf Rebirth are for. Power and persistence are effective routes towards victory.

Red/White: Day/Night

The Day/Night cycle does more than transform Werewolves. It also triggers abilities such as that of Sunrise Cavalier, and these abilities can be strong indeed. Switching from Day to Night is not a trivial task of course, and requires certain kinds of cards: instants so you can restrain yourself from casting spells during Day; and cheap spells so you can cast multiple spells when it’s Night. Sacred Fire is an example of a card that fulfills both roles, and you’ll want others if you’re in this archetype.

Red/Green: Werewolves (Nightbound)

In MID, Werewolves have the key feature of being able to flip from Daybound side to Nightbound side and vice versa, so why do I emphasize “Nightbound” as their key trait? It’s because most of these cards are simply better when it’s Night. At Night, cards like Kessig Naturalist maintain their Day time abilities while adding additional ones and benefitting from a stat boost. In other words, the Red/Green archetype actively encourages you to frolic in the dark for as long as possible. But shifting into Night requires you to take a turn off - or the use of a card like Unnatural Moonrise. Do so, and your undercosted beasts will run rampant over anything in their path.

Green/White: Humans (Coven)

In horror movies, humans simply want to grow a community and survive. MID captures that feel with Human creatures that are desperate to work with others in order to achieve their Coven buffs. Dawnheart Wardens is an excellent payoff for this strategy, taking your board full of creatures and making them even more powerful. Of course Coven requires multiple bodies, and a card like Join the Dance is excellent at ensuring that you have a steady supply of humans at your disposal.

Green/Blue: Frog

“Frog” may be the best archetype Wizards has ever created. But if you have a phobia against amphibians, there’s an alternative strategy for Green/Blue:

Green/Blue: Flashback Ramp

The non-Frog Green/Blue archetype cares about Flashback spells. Rootvine Creeper is a perfect distillation of this idea, both ramping you to make it easier to pay the more expensive Flashback cost, and also retrieving your exiled Flashback spells for even more value. There’s not a pronounced creature theme beyond that, but prioritizing Flashback spells gives you strong buffs such as Winterthorn Blessing that turn any creature into a bigger threat.

Mana Fixing

Common and uncommon colorless mana fixing is unimpressive in MID. The stalwart standby Evolving Wilds is still a reasonable choice - but that’s only one card. Of the other two options, Crossroads Candleguide is inefficient and Jack-o’-Lantern is extremely convoluted to use.

Green has far better options, and if you insist on going three colors I’d heavily recommend centering one of your colors in Green.

Key Commons and Uncommons

White

• Borrowed Time: White’s premium removal spell deals with any permanent on the board.

• Homestead Courage: This unassuming sorcery helps ensure Coven, while also making it easy to transform Night back into Day.

• Odric’s Outrider: If your opponent doesn’t kill this creature right away, they’ll find themselves forced to make a difficult choice between avoiding combat and letting your board grow.

Blue

• Falcon Abomination: This is Wind Drake with upside. This goes from good to amazing if you have Zombies or sacrifice synergies.

• Otherworldly Gaze: This is a cheap instant with Flashback to help you control the Day/Night cycle - and if you draft properly, shunting cards into the graveyard works as actual card advantage.

• Skaab Wrangler: Skaab Wrangler acts as a sneaky win condition for Decayed Zombie decks: pump out a ton of zombie tokens, tap your opponent’s board down until you’re ready to attack, and then triumph with a single huge alpha strike.

Black

• Infernal Grasp: Black has plenty of removal spells, but this is the most absolute of all of them.

• Morbid Opportunist: If this creature isn’t dealt with immediately, then it’ll create overwhelming card advantage all by itself. Decayed Zombies means it should be easy to trigger on the turn it comes down.

• Rotten Reunion: This unassuming card acts as graveyard hate, Day/Night control, and a source of Decayed Zombies - and it does all of this not once, but twice.
  

Red

• Harvesttide Infiltrator // Harvesttide Assailant: This is a very efficiently costed aggressive threat. If you play this creature on Turn 3 and your opponent fails to cast a spell on their turn, then you’ll be in a commanding position.

• Lunar Frenzy: This sort of instant is usually a fine-but-not-great combat trick. What makes this spell better than usual is that it also gives your creature trample, possibly allowing you to win the game outright.

• Moonrager’s Slash: It’s true that this spell is only great if it’s Night - but the fact that it’s an instant will help you make sure that it is.
  

Green

• Clear Shot: This reprint remains a powerful card that acts as Green’s premier removal spell.
  

• Hound Tamer // Untamed Pup: Giving trample to your pack of ravenous Werewolves is a great way to win. This card is made all the better by its ability, which allows you to change Day into Night without worrying that your mana will end up being unspent.
  

• Burly Breaker // Dire-Strain Demolisher: This creature is already efficiently costed on its front side, and if it ever becomes night then its combination of stats and self-protection turns it a game-winning threat.
  

Summation

Keep these thoughts in mind when you play Innistrad: Midnight Hunt.

• Every MID deck has the potential to accrue value from the graveyard. Any card with incidental graveyard hate has greater value than normal.
• Be prepared to fight the Day/Night war to counter a potential horde of Werewolves. If your deck has no need to live in the Night, you almost certainly want to ensure that it’s Day. Doing so requires both careful strategic decisions - prioritizing cheaper spells during a draft - and careful tactical choices - knowing when to hold spells in order to flip Night back into Day.
• If you’re playing a deck with little to no graveyard value - for example, Green/White Coven or Red/Green Werewolves - make sure you have cards that allow you to bash through a defensive wall. Otherwise you’ll lose in the long-term once your opponent starts casting spells from the graveyard.
• MID is not a three color set. I’d still splash for premium bombs and premium removal; otherwise I’d suggest either sticking to two colors or taking advantage of Green’s color-fixing cards.

Hopefully this guide helps you survive the long night that’s threatening to settle over Innistrad. Good luck!