It’s been a while since we had a good MTG leak, hasn’t it? After the absolute catastrophe that was the Modern Horizons 3 leaks, things have been pretty good on that front, with only a few Commander leaks muddying the ointment for Bloomburrow and Duskmourn. Today, however, that streak has been broken. Thanks to a couple of rogue Amazon listings, information about next year’s Innistrad Remastered has just had the leak treatment. While this leak doesn’t include actual card images, it’s incredibly spicy all the same.
Serialized Edgar Markov?!
Spotted by Reddit user, strongsauce it appears that Innistrad Remastered has been partially revealed early. On Amazon, there are now Innistrad Remastered product listings for a Collector Booster and for a Play Booster Box. At the time of writing these listings are actually still live, so you can check them out if you’d like.
The listings revealed a surprising amount of information about the set, which is slated for a January 24th release next year. Perhaps the most interesting part, however, was the section in the Collector Booster description that mentioned a serialized Edgar Markov card.
“The first vampire of Innistrad lies in wait with 500 serialized Edgar Markov cards; enshrined in Movie Poster art, these new Headliner Cards can be opened exclusively in Collector Boosters.”
Amazon product listing
This is a pretty major deal. Edgar Markov is one of the most iconic and powerful Commanders in MTG history. According to EDHREC, he’s actually the eighth most popular Commander of the past two years. That’s no mean feat, given how many new legends have entered the game in that time.
Why is he so popular? There are a couple of reasons. Firstly, because Eminence is a fundamentally broken keyword and Edgar Markov is probably the most powerful Eminence card. Second, because he’s the best choice by far for a Vampire Commander. Vampires are incredibly popular as a type, therefore Edgar is incredibly popular as a Commander.
As a result, Edgar Markov is now worth over $100, which is pretty staggering for what is ultimately a Commander-only card. It doesn’t help that he’s never been reprinted since his debut in Commander 2017, of course. One shiny Judge promo aside.
Based on this price, the new serialized version should be very expensive indeed. At this point, it’s unclear as to whether Edgar will be getting a regular reprint in Innistrad Remastered as well. I’d say it was pretty likely, however, based on past precedent.
Retro Frames Return
Edgar aside, the Innistrad Remastered leak also revealed some information about what else we can expect from the set. While many likely predicted it based on past Remastered sets, the leak confirms that Retro Frame cards will be making a comeback here.
“Feel the nostalgia with a Retro-frame card in every Innistrad Remastered Play Booster, including the possibility to claim one of the first ever double-faced Retro-frame cards.”
Amazon product listing
This is exciting, if predictable, news. Each previous Remastered set, these being Time Spiral Remastered, Dominaria Remastered, and Ravnica Remastered, has featured Retro Frame cards. As a card style, it makes a lot of sense for nostalgic sets like these. Like these previous sets, Innistrad Remastered will include a guaranteed Retro Frame card in every pack. While not everyone is a fan of this treatment, it’s still great to see it return for those who are.
Innistrad Remastered is putting a fun spin on it, too. Just like Ravnica Remastered gave us the first-ever Retro Frame hybrid mana card in Deathrite Shaman, Innistrad Remastered is giving us the first-ever double-faced Retro Frame cards. Original Innistrad was the first Magic set to feature double-faced cards, so this makes a lot of sense. No examples were given in the early listing, so we can only speculate for now as to which double-faced cards will get the retro treatment.
Staples like Thing in the Ice and Westvale Abbey seem like no-brainers. We may also see some bending of the rules like we did with Edgar Markov, and get Retro Frame versions of the Sorin and Liliana flip walkers. Of course, there will definitely be some double-faced Werewolves in there too. My money is on ex-Standard all-star Huntmaster of the Fells, specifically.
A Spooktacular Showcase
According to the leak, Innistrad Remastered isn’t just bringing new Retro Frame cards. It’s also digging deep into Innistrad sets past and making use of their signature Showcase styles.
“Cackle in delight at Showcase treatments from Innistrad’s past, behold never-before-seen borderless art, and collect Retro-frame and Movie Poster versions of beloved cards.”
Amazon product listing
Unlike the Retro Frame cards, this isn’t something many players will have predicted. Neither Ravnica, Dominaria, nor Time Spiral Remastered made use of additional card styles beyond Borderless, so this is new territory for Innistrad.
Based on the information here, we can assume both Showcase styles from Midnight Hunt and Crimson Vow will be coming back. These are the black-and-white illustrations of the Eternal Night Showcase style and the comic book art of the Equinox Showcase style. You could probably count the black-and-white style from Innistrad: Double Feature too, but given the reception that set got I’d say it’s unlikely to return here.
On top of these styles, the leak also confirms that we’ll see Movie Poster cards in Innistrad Remastered. This is a style we’ve seen a few times before in different products, in different forms each time. Most recently, the Duskmourn Nightmare Bundle featured promos in this style. It’s not clear from this leak exactly how the style will look, or which cards it will appear on. Outside of the serialized Edgar Markov, of course.
Overall this leak is probably a best-case scenario if such a thing even exists for leaks. No actual card images were spoiled, and no market-shifting information has come to light. A serialized reprint is unlikely to move the needle on Edgar Markov pricing, after all. It sounds like Innistrad Remastered has a ton of great stuff to offer, and I’m personally very excited to check it out next year when it officially releases.