Innistrad: Midnight Hunt brings powerful werewolves back to MTG


Innistrad: Midnight Hunt is the next card game for Magic: The Gathering, and hits stores and online in mid-September. It’s a return to the classic style of gothic horror first seen in 2011 with the release of the original Innistrad Block. It also brings back challenging game mechanics; heroes and monsters with different stats during the day and night.

As Jay Annelli writes in the new book Planes of the Multiverse: A Visual History, Innistrad “is home to all kinds of monsters and demons [where] Werewolves rage at night, hunting beasts and humans with equal vigor. “Facing them (and vampires, zombies, and the other hungry demons) are the equally powerful human warriors of airplanes. The priests, called Cathars , lead the way with “swords, sorcery, and the holy power of the archangel Avacyn.”

As you can imagine, a lot has changed on the Innistrad blueprint in the last decade. During an exclusive preview, World Building Design Manager Meris Mullaley briefed members of the press on the details.

“We have some crazy things with the day-night cycle,” Mullaley said. “It is very unbalanced, and you can see that in these lands. The sky doesn’t really have a normal looking sun. […] Growing up at night only makes life that much more difficult for the luscious humans, and we’ll see how humans are trying to restore balance and fight the invading dangers of werewolves, vampires, and zombies. “

Haunted Ridge, a land, provides red or black mana.

Image: Wizards of the Coast

A borderless version of the land of Haunted Ridge.

Image: Wizards of the Coast

To represent that imbalance, a series of friendly lands (paired with classic color combinations like black / red and green / white) enter the battlefield tapped unless the player controls two or more other lands. That can tend to slow down the early game, filling the field with more spells and low-level creatures – food, essentially, for more powerful cards to come.

However, the great attraction of this set is the return of the day and night cycle. Here’s how it works: if a player doesn’t cast spells on their turn, it will become night for both players the next turn. During the night, cards with the nightbound keyword become more powerful. Later in the game, if a player casts two or more spells on their turn, it will become a day for both players. During the day, the cards with the keyword of the day will become more powerful.

Arlinn, the Pack's Hope shows the planeswalker dressed in white and carrying a bear cub.

Arlinn’s day side. Notice the sun in the upper left corner.
Image: Wizards of the Coast

Arlinn, the Moon's Fury shows its night side.  She still wears her leather bracelets, and the bear cub remains in the background.

The night side of that same card. Note the persistent wardrobe.
Image: Wizards of the Coast

Innistrad: Midnight Hunt It will include many double-sided cards, each representing the same character with day and night stats. Wait for the next season of Magic revolve around furiously shifting time back and forth, which should be particularly entertaining for players who stocked up on inexpensive cheat spells from Adventures in the forgotten realms.

Tovolar, Dire Overlord is a legendary creature, a human werewolf.

Note the additional 4/4 in the lower right, reminding the player what is on the night side.
Image: Wizards of the Coast

Tovolar, the Scourge of midnight on its night side.  The werewolf is in the same position as the human on the other side of the card.

Wizards said the poses and thematic elements in the werewolves have been incorporated to help players keep track of who’s who at night.
Image: Wizards of the Coast

We’ve included a full gallery of the cards revealed in the preview event below.

Innistrad: Midnight Hunt arrives by Magic: The Gathering Arena and Online magic September 16. Pre-release week begins September 17, with a full physical release on September 24. According to publisher Wizards of the Coast, the full product line will include Draft, Set, Collector and Theme booster packs. cards, a suitable starter pack, and two Commander decks: Undead Unleashed and Coven counters. Pre-orders are available now through your friendly local game store and online.



Innistrad: Midnight Hunt

Prices taken at the time of publication.

• Keyword Mechanics: Day and Night Cards

• Types of creatures: werewolves, zombies and humans.

• Physical release: September 24


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