The release of Magic: the Gathering‘s newest set Innistrad: Midnight Hunt is upon us. This week on Thursday, we’ll be able to play with the set on Magic Arena, and there’s some really good ones here. Here’s our pick for the 10 Best cards for Historic from Innistrad: Midnight Hunt.
Honorable Mention
Our honorable mention goes to Curse of Silence. This 1 mana “tax” style enchantment is one that I can see impacting a couple different decks. Mono White Death and Taxes would honestly love to have this card, as it’s a way to help tax our opponent’s answers to our creatures into oblivion. Combine this with
Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
First strike
Noncreature spells cost {1} more to cast.
and
Elite Spellbinder
Elite Spellbinder
Flying
When this creature enters, look at target opponent's hand. You may exile a nonland card from it. For as long as that card remains exiled, its owner may play it. A spell cast this way costs {2} more to cast.
and your opponent is paying upwards of 9 mana for a Wrath of God. It also gives us some draw potential as an added benefit.
10. Fateful Absence
Keeping in line with the white cards, we have [tooltip]Fateful Absence[/tooltips] coming in at #10. This card is a wonderful addition to Declaration in Stone in white’s removal suite. This has some upside over Declaration as well, since it’s an instant, and can hit planeswalkers. If the
Indomitable Creativity
Indomitable Creativity
Destroy X target artifacts and/or creatures. For each permanent destroyed this way, its controller reveals cards from the top of their library until an artifact or creature card is revealed and exiles that card. Those players put the exiled cards onto the battlefield, then shuffle.
deck doesn’t see a banning, having a diversity of removal options against Serra’s Emissary is also very nice to have.
9. Memory Deluge
Dig Through Time is an incredibly strong draw spell in older formats. While the front half of
Memory Deluge
Memory Deluge
Look at the top X cards of your library, where X is the amount of mana spent to cast this spell. Put two of them into your hand and the rest on the bottom of your library in a random order.
Flashback {5}{U}{U} (You may cast this card from your graveyard for its flashback cost. Then exile it.)
isn’t quite that, the flashback is definitely a spiritual successor. This is a great draw spell option for Azorius Control.
8. Pithing Needle
Our first reprint of the set,
Pithing Needle
Pithing Needle
As this artifact enters, choose a card name.
Activated abilities of sources with the chosen name can't be activated unless they're mana abilities.
makes its way into Standard once again. While we do have a substitute in the format for this card in Sorcerer’s Spyglass that doesn’t see play, Pithing Needle being 1 mana is definitely relevant.
7. Consider
More powerful blue spells,
Consider
Consider
Surveil 1. (Look at the top card of your library. You may put it into your graveyard.)
Draw a card.
is a great, cheap draw spell. This finds a home in the various Izzet Phoenix Decks, and Grixis
Dragon’s Rage Channeler
Dragon’s Rage Channeler
Whenever you cast a noncreature spell, surveil 1. (Look at the top card of your library. You may put that card into your graveyard.)
Delirium — As long as there are four or more card types among cards in your graveyard, this creature gets +2/+2, has flying, and attacks each combat if able.
decks. The way that the meta is shaping up, this card is going to see a lot of play in the coming weeks
6. Infernal Grasp
Competing for the best 2 mana black removal spell in the format, we have Infernal Grasp. Why is so good? It’s unconditional creature removal at 2 mana. This card is going to find a home in decks that don’t care as much about their own life total, or can negate the life loss. This may include mono black Zombies, or Jund Sacrifice.
5. Arlinn, the Pack’s Hope / Arlinn, the Moon’s Fury
Next up we have Alinn, The Pack’s Hope. This new transforming planeswalker is a really great addition to the format. Gruul aggro is already a great deck in the format, and this slots right in. When it transforms, it becomes a powerful threat. This also a great addition to the Bard Class deck. If we set up with this, and transform it, subsequent ones will enter on the Moon’s Fury side. This can allow us to generate more mana with her +2 ability to help keep the storm train going.
READ MORE: Mono-Black Has Gained Some Excellent New Commanders Recently
4. The Adversary Cycle
At Number 4 on our list is the Adversary Cycle. These powerful creatures all have homes in the format. Intrepid Adversary fits right in Mono White Humans. Spectral Adversary fits in the Blink decks. Tainted Adversary obviously goes in the new zombies deck. Bloodthirsty Adversary seems that it’d fit nicely in either Phoenix, or Mono Red Delirium / Burn. Primal Adversary fits into Gruul Aggro as well as Mono Green Aggro. All of these are very powerful in their own way. It’s unfortunate that these are all Mythics, so say good bye to your wild cards.
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3. Champion of the Perished
Top 3 time! Number 3 on the list is Champion of the Perished. This is the zombified version of a fan favorite human card
Champion of the Parish
Champion of the Parish
Whenever another Human you control enters, put a +1/+1 counter on this creature.
. This card is so high up on the list because it really is the linchpin of the Zombies deck. This powerful 1 drop will help push early aggression, and this is a must answer threat that can get out of control very quickly.
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2. Slow Land Cycle
Number 2 on our list goes to the “Slow Land” cycle. Yes, we get new lands all the time in various sets, but this cycle has a bigger impact that it may seem. The allied color pairs have been suffering from a playable dual land disparity for quite some time. These lands provide crucial untapped sources for those decks. Yes it’s not perfect since these only come in untapped from Turn 3 on, but it’s definitely better than not having them.
READ MORE: Sideboard Spotlight: Lavinia, Azorius Renegade is Becoming a Big Player in Modern
1. Delver of Secrets
Number 1 on our list is
Delver of Secrets
Delver of Secrets
At the beginning of your upkeep, look at the top card of your library. You may reveal that card. If an instant or sorcery card is revealed this way, transform this creature.
. This card is a powerhouse card in eternal formats like Modern and Legacy, and it stands to be a very strong contender for Historic. Since we don’t have access to
Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer
Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer
Whenever Ragavan deals combat damage to a player, create a Treasure token and exile the top card of that player's library. Until end of turn, you may cast that card.
Dash {1}{R} (You may cast this spell for its dash cost. If you do, it gains haste, and it's returned from the battlefield to its owner's hand at the beginning of the next end step.)
, Delver provides another important 1 drop creature to many already existing decks in the format. When you combine this with
Dragon’s Rage Channeler
Dragon’s Rage Channeler
Whenever you cast a noncreature spell, surveil 1. (Look at the top card of your library. You may put that card into your graveyard.)
Delirium — As long as there are four or more card types among cards in your graveyard, this creature gets +2/+2, has flying, and attacks each combat if able.
and some cheap spells like Opt, you have the makings of a fast clock.
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That’s it! There’s our top 11 cards for Historic from Innistrad: Midnight Hunt. I know that I will definitely be brewing and building decks with these cards when the set releases on Magic Arena, so stay tuned for deck tech and gameplay content from us! What cards are you excited for in Historic from the set? Let us know in the comments!
Innistrad: Midnight Hunt is the first of two new Innistrad sets coming to Magic: the Gathering. It’s being released in tabletop on September 24th, 2021, and online on September 17th, 2021. Previews start on September 2nd, 2021. Be sure to check out our Preview Gallery to stay up to date with all the new previews. You can also preorder Innistrad: Midnight Hunt product here.