After less than a week, today should mark the final day of Innistrad Remastered spoiler season. A compressed reveal period makes sense for a reprint-only set like this, but it does mean we’re seeing an awful lot of cards awfully quickly. Yesterday, for example, the new previews for Innistrad Remastered numbered nearly 40 cards in total.
That’s a lot of cardboard to sift through, particularly given the multiple flashy treatments present in this set. Worry not, however: we’ve filtered through yesterday’s many spoilers to bring you the cream of the Innistrad crop. Suffice to say, there’s plenty to get excited about here. Even if Gothic Horror isn’t really your thing.
Movie Poster Olivia Voldaren
All of the new Innistrad Remastered previews we’ll be discussing came via a sneak peek video from the Good Time Society on YouTube. Be sure to check the video out after reading this; there are a lot more spoilers there that we don’t have time to cover in this article!
To kick things off, one of the last remaining Movie Poster cards for the set was spoiled yesterday, in the form of Olivia Voldaren. This one is a bit of a mixed bag. On one hand, Olivia is an iconic Innistrad character and the new art here looks absolutely incredible. On the other, it’s not a particularly exciting card to see getting such an exclusive treatment, either mechanically or financially.
Olivia Voldaren marks the ninth Movie Poster card we’ve seen, out of a planned total of 10. Compared to the likes of The Meathook Massacre, Avacyn, and Hermit Druid, it’s not a very impressive choice. You can grab a copy of Olivia for around $5 right now fairly easily. She’s a staple in Vampire Commander decks, to be sure, but that’s about as far as it goes. Die-hard fans will love this new treatment, but I foresee Olivia being a disappointing Collector Booster pull more often than not.
The Slow Lands
Outside of Olivia, perhaps the most significant thing spoiled in the Good Time Society videos was the full cycle of Slow Lands. These were teased before, and it’s great to see that they’re all back in the set. For those unfamiliar, these are the polar opposite of the Fast Lands. Rather than coming in untapped if you control two or fewer lands, these come in untapped if you control two or more.
This makes the Slow Lands pretty underwhelming in constructed formats like Modern. Speed is of the essence in those formats, of course. On the other hand, they’re very common inclusions in Commander. Games go long enough that these function as untapped duals much of the time, which is fantastic for any deck.
Some of these lands, Deathcap Glade and Shattered Sanctum in particular are pretty pricey right now. Only having one printing in an unpopular set will have that effect. These reprints should help bring those prices down significantly. A good thing, too. These lands are great, but not nearly good enough to justify prices similar to the Battlebond Lands. At reduced rates, they’ll make fine additions to your Commander manabases.
High-Value Hits
Speaking of high value, the new Innistrad Remastered previews delivered a fair few spicy cards in that department. Interestingly, most of the big hitters turned out to be fairly niche enchantments whose high price tags will likely surprise you.
Take Necroduality, for instance. It’s a great card for Zombie Typal decks, to be sure, but would you really expect to pay over $13 for one? Probably not, but that’s how much the card is going for right now. A reprint here, even at mythic, should bring that price down considerably. That goes double since the card is getting a tasty Retro Frame version too.
Cathars’ Crusade is in a similar boat. It looks, on the surface, like an expensive, win-more enchantment designed to entrap new Commander players. Turns out it’s worth $11, however, and that’s despite multiple reprints. The upside here is pretty clear in any kind of go-wide token deck, and those have become very popular over the past year with Commanders like Baylen entering the fray. Another great Retro Frame reprint for the set.
Finally, Cryptolith Rite rounds out our suite of expensive previews for today. This one is much more well-known than its peers, gaining notoriety in the Standard of its time and never really losing it since. It’s a stellar combo enabler in Commander, and as a result, it goes for around $13. No fancy treatments here, but a straight-up reprint is still more than welcome.
Respectable Retro Frames
For fans of vintage aesthetics, like myself, the most exciting thing about Innistrad Remastered is the huge swathe of new Retro Frame cards it brings to the table. We saw plenty of those yesterday including some serious multi-format players.
Eldritch Evolution is the clear leader of the pack here. It’s not a super-expensive card, sitting at around $4 right now. It sees play all over the place, however, in Commander, Pioneer, and even Modern. Turns out a one-time Birthing Pod that gives you more options is good enough to end games in a lot of different strategies.
Speaking of sacrifice, Westvale Abbey also makes a triumphant retro return here. This is one of the double-faced Retro Frame cards in the set. Fun fact: Innistrad Remastered is the first time any cards with this treatment have been printed anywhere. This is a great card to see this treatment on, too. It’s generic enough to slot into a ton of different Commander decks since it fuels its own transformation by making tokens. It’s also reasonably pricey, sitting at $8 right now. One of the better previews from yesterday, to be sure.
Finally, Sigarda, Host of Herons is also getting a lovely retro facelift in Innistrad Remastered. This is a Commander classic, due both to its Angel typing and being one of the very few cards that can protect you from edict effects. Sigarda isn’t really played anywhere else, but it’s still a solid $6-8 card that we’re happy to see retro-ified here.
Borderless Beauties
While less exciting than Retro Frame cards, since we see them in every set nowadays, the new Borderless cards coming in Innistrad Remastered are still great to see. A number of great ones were spoiled yesterday, too.
First up we have Innistrad classic Heartless Summoning. A great combo piece in many a black Commander deck, copies of this one will run you around $5 right now. The new art, which highlights the iconic Gisa very nicely indeed, may even push that figure higher.
In a similar vein, Conjurer’s Closet is another reprint beloved by Commander players. It goes in any deck, it generates value every turn; what’s not to love? This card is up around $11 in price right now, so this reprint is more than welcome. The new art, as teased by Wizards on Twitter, may also hint at an upcoming omenpath-related plot development.
The cream of the Borderless crop from the new Innistrad Remastered previews is clearly Cultivator Colossus. Not only is this a very powerful and expensive card, going for around $15 right now, but it also has sensational new art from Nils Hamm. This may be one of the most haunting pieces we’ve seen in a while. It’s bang-on, in other words, for a plane like Innistrad. Green Commander players, and those who enjoy Amulet Titan in Modern, will be very happy with this one.
