As always, in MTG sets that are not purely designed for Modern play, the cards we get for it might be either strictly better upgrades of already existing cards or new enablers/payoffs for existing archetypes.

With that in mind, I will try to rank my top 5 cards for the format. Let’s go!

Honorable Mentions

I want to start with some honorable mentions – good or interesting cards that didn’t make the cut for me.

Humans

The Innistrad plane and its lore already produced a lot of great humans such as Thalia, Guardian of Thraben, or Champion of the Parish. In this new set, we got quite a few good cards:

• Adeline, Resplendent Cathar is a powerful X/4 that provides extra value each time you attack.
• Brutal Cathar is a Skyclave Apparition sort-of that can be played out of Cavern of Souls and Unclaimed Territory.
• Sungold Sentinel is an aggressive two-drop that can protect itself.

I’m sure that if the Humans Tribal will see play in the future, some of these cards will be stock maindeck options.

Willow Geist

A fine one-drop that gets buffed each time a card leaves the graveyard. The obvious thought that comes to mind is some combination of Vengevine, Bloodghast, and Creeping Chill, but I even saw some lists with Witch’s Oven and Cauldron Familiar.

Overall, I’m not super convinced by this card at the moment, but the raw power is so good that it will be played as soon as we get some more and better enablers.

Champion of the Perished

I love this card! As a Human tribal aficionado, knowing that my deceased Champion of the Perished got a new job in a zombie world – as a good Magic card, makes me feel happy.

The issue is, that zombie cards are too scarce to make a solid tribal deck. I saw some lists running Goblin Bombardment to generate value out of Gravecrawler and Undead Augur, but still, I am not sold yet. Maybe we’ll get something in the second part of the Innistrad block in November, with Innistrad: Crimson Vow?

My Top 5 Innistrad Midnight Hunt Cards

But now, let’s get to the cards that actually made my top five for Modern.

5. Infernal Grasp

Both Heartless Act and Power Word Kill were played in black controlish decks, and I think Infernal Grasp is an upgrade for both.

Having the possibility to kill whatever for 2 life feels better than having restrictions, especially if you’re playing a control deck where you’re already making your life total a resource.

4. Outland Liberator

I love this card! A two generic mana Qasali Pridemage that becomes a giant werewolf if it flips. Where can I sign up for this?

This card will for sure be played in Humans, since you can fetch it with Imperial Recruiter and in Yawgmoth Combo, replacing Reclamation Sage.

Learn more about Golgari Yawgmoth in Zen Takahashi’s recent article

But I strongly feel, that most green decks might play it in a Sideboard slot, trying to deal with the likes of Blood Moon, Damping Sphere (if you’re thinking about Amulet Titan), Torpor Orb, or Rest in Peace.

Also, the fact that the card is generally fine, makes it maindeckable in toolbox archetype as well.

3. Memory Deluge

My first impression of this card wasn’t super positive, as I saw it just as a strictly better Glimmer of Genius.

After I played with it for a bit though, it felt more like a worse Dig Through Time.

In control decks it already replaced Fact or Fiction, and made an old archetype, Temur Reclamation, coming back from the darkness, by providing an excellent way to use unspent mana.

I won’t be surprised if this card will stay as a stock maindeck option for Modern Ux Control decks for a long time.

2. Consider

Consider is probably the best cantrip Modern got in a while, and it’s also the best one currently available.

In a format ruled by Dragon’s Rage Channeler, Murktide Regent, and Lurrus of the Dream-Den, where graveyard cards matter, having the option to put one extra card in a graveyard, at instant speed, is really awesome.

Not much else to add about this card apart that your foil Invasion Opts will sadly be put in the trade binder again.

1. Faithful Mending

Even if Consider is a better card in general, I still feel Faithful Mending deserves the first place.

Since Faithless Looting was banned, players tried to play graveyard decks using random bad enablers such as Merchant of the Vale / Izzet Charm / Thrill of Possibility and lately Faithless Salvaging. Faithful Mending is easily the best of this bunch:

• First, it’s an Izzet Charm with an upgrade. You get to draw and discard two cards, but you also gain two life, and that might be relevant since you’re usually an underdog against more aggressive decks.
• Second, it has Flashback, and the cost is just three mana. It makes it a decent cantrip by fixing the hand in the starting turns of the game, and later can be an enabler for combos in an Archlight Phoenix Jeskai deck or in an Esper Reanimator list. If you’re brave enough, you can even try to fit it in a dredge deck!

Probably the most solid archetype that plays a playset of this card is Esper since it can take down the game in one shot by reanimating Serra’s Emissary or Archon of Cruelty.

But I feel also the other decks can be tuned enough to achieve good results in bigger events.

As I first heard about a new Innistrad Block, I would have imagined some upgrades for tribal decks such as Zombies, Werewolves, and such, but instead we got… good tier cantrips?

I am still very happy that this set impacted the Modern format in a healthy but still impactful way. I’m thrilled about seeing a new set coming of the Innistrad plane in a few months again.

Until then, I will do my best to try out many new cards making the format I love, Modern, as diverse, and fun as possible.

Finally, I wanted to thank MTGO player AspiringSpike for brewing and tuning most of the decklists in this article.

Until next time, PieGonti