Cloned from Innistrad

Innistrad: The Perfect Set

This cube is a preservation of triple Innistrad booster draft. I've been drafting Innistrad since its release and I can say, with confidence, that it is the best retail draft format ever made.

What made Innistrad so fun? Tension

Innistrad is full of contradictions that pull players in different directions.

Flying on Voiceless Spirit and Chapel Geist says to attack, but first strike says to block.
Hanweir Watchkeep is an undercosted beater, but can you skip turn 4 and still be on the offensive?
Brain Weevil wants to be sacrificed straight away, before your opponent can cast their good spells. But you could also wait a turn to beef up your Somberwald Spider. Do the +1/+1 counters on Somberwald Spider even matter when you just need it to block small fliers?

It's impossible to use the whole buffalo when the cards do multiple things that don't overlap. As players, it's hard to appreciate this tension. We want our cards to be good at the things we want them to do, because that's how we win games. But tension creates organic, difficult decision points for deep and fun gameplay.

Counterplay

You can't talk about Innistrad without talking about Darkthicket Wolf.

Primarily, it's a Grizzly Bears with evasion. The activation cost gives it a little bit of tension; do you equip Silver-Inlaid Dagger before attacking to threaten more damage or do you equip it after to prevent them blocking?
You might try blocking Darkthicket Wolf with your own bear to waste their mana, but it's hard to race back when you're losing a creature each turn. Maybe you can block it while you have a Tormented Pariah, getting to transform your werewolf because they don't have enough mana left over to cast a spell.
But what if you block with a bear, wait for them to pump it, then take it out with Rebuke or Brimstone Volley to waste their mana? If you think your opponent has Rebuke, do you let your wolf trade? Can you bluff Rebuke to stop someone activating it? Do you bring in Ranger's Guile to beat the Rebuke?
Do you double-block the wolf with a bear and a Chapel Geist to make them pay to trade with your Chapel Geist? Do they next-level you with Ranger's Guile? Do you next-level them with a Rebuke in response to the Ranger's Guile?

Interplay

These back and forth exchanges aren't unique to Innistrad. They're baked into the DNA of magic. But Innistrad cards never operate in a vacuum; they interact in ways that create new strengths and weaknesses.

Most obviously, every single spell contributes to whether werewolves transform. Traveler's Amulet is secret anti-werewolf tech.
Sometimes you stop casting spells to keep Lost in the Mist stranded. Sometimes you turn down the obvious block because of Festerhide Boar. And sometimes you hold onto Bonds of Faith a little longer to punish Unholy Fiend.
Light tribal synergies contribute to this. Dodging Vampiric Fury involves some creative blocking, while Bonds of Faith and Victim of Night need to be re-evaluated in every game.

Every Innistrad card leans on every other card. Though the individual cards are simple, the games are an interlocking patchwork of new combinations. It is greater than the sum of its parts.

Sizing

Creatures in Innistrad are small. 2011 was square in the middle of the bear era, before the proliferation of 3/2s (What is a 3-mana 3/2? A Hullbreacher? A Brushwagg?). Black decks kill people by throwing bears at them and white wins with honest-to-god 1/1s. The big creatures are worse than the small ones; Darkthicket Wolf is above the curve (see Quilled Wolf and Reckless Amplimancer), but Geistcatcher's Rig and Scourge of Geier Reach would be laughed at today.
There are a few reasons for this size dynamic:

• Keeping small creatures relevant as the game progresses. With most creatures below 5 mana unable to block a 2/2 and survive, there's a larger window where your bears are at least worth a card. Having most creatures trade creates decisions; is my creature worth more than theirs? Do I make bad trades to keep my life total up?
• Big creatures are a climactic part of the game. Using buff spells, setting up a Makeshift Mauler, or even just transforming a werewolf rewards you with the biggest creature on board. A transformed Thraben Sentry is more dangerous on Innistrad than anywhere else.
• It creates a space for bad cards. I've never picked Stromkirk Patrol earlier than 10th, but I've cast it plenty of times because it doesn't need to compete with my first-pick Darkthicket Wolf. By carving out this space for bad cards in every deck, the dregs still get their time in the spotlight.
  Unfortunately, this sizing dynamic doesn't look good. People just aren't excited to find Sea Snidds in their booster packs. Zendikar Rising brought back this sizing dynamic successfully, but less aggressive sets just turn into Kamigawa.

Evasion

As a necessity of the bear era, Innistrad was full of ways to keep attacking through board stalls. Small evasive creatures are part of good limited. They keep games from dragging out but give you a chance to fight back. Players don't like Suntail Hawks, but Doomed Traveler and Mausoleum Guard have just enough extra to be beloved. Midnight Haunting reads like a Wind Drake in disguise, but instant speed helps trade 1 token off and peck their opponent to death with the other. Hundreds of small tweaks that make the games flow smoothly.

Innovation

We don't think much of it now, but these cards were innovators. The first instant that grants hexproof! The first aura since Thirst that taps the creature for you! The invention of Fight! So many players think Typhoid Rats is broken when they first see it.
Past sets just didn't have confidence in their playtesting to print these effects at these rates. It's important and difficult to lift the bad cards into playability without pushing the power window up in the process.

Deception

Similarly, these 4 simple rares had people shocked on release. How could they release such strong cards?! The spoiler threads were packed with theorycrafting.

None of them saw standard play. An overlooked common dominated legacy for 6 years.

If constructed magic is to continue being a stimulating strategy game, it needs to deceive us. It needs cards that make you say "How is nobody playing this?". Cards that convince players they could overturn the metagame if they could just find the right combination.

Drafting the Set Archetypes Aggro

The default best strategy in the format. Darkthicket Wolf and Villagers of Estwald are bigger than everything and Travel Preparations is the reason you play white.

Spider Spawning

The most famous part of Innistrad. Play at least 15 creatures along with self-mill effects and your army of spiders is impossible to beat. You need all four of the above cards but also can't afford to spend early picks on them. The strongest deck in the format when it comes together, but it's way overdrafted.

Burning Vengeance

The control deck. Splashes black for Forbidden Alchemy and occasional removal. No need to draft finishers for this deck; Burning Vengeance can kill your opponent all by itself.

Invisible Stalker

The strength of this combination is the worst thing about Innistrad.

Cards that are stronger than they look

Slayer of the Wicked kills everything you want to kill.
Midnight Haunting pairs with Rebuke or Village Bell-Ringer.
If you haven't played with Merfolk Looter before, but it's like drawing an extra half a card each turn. Turning into untapped Homicidal Brute on demand is fantastic.

Fortress Crab blocks Darkthicket Wolf and Howlpack of Estwald.
Lost in the Mist is a bad Cryptic Command, which it turns out is still a strong card.
Stitcher's Apprentice and Disciple of Griselbrand synergise with everything. Doomed Traveler, Makeshift Mauler, Ghoulraiser, Brimstone Volley, Festerhide Board.

Gruesome Deformity pairs with Markov Patrician and Bloodcrazed Neonate in awful decks that steal games.
Rotting Fensnake blocks green monsters and attacking with it practically guarantees morbid. The snake being playable shows how great Civilized Scholar is.

Make a Wish tends to get back your best spells and looping 2 of them is a real possibility.
Galvanic Juggernaut is huge for the format and usually has vigilance.

Cards that are weaker than they look

Too much blocking in this format to Trumpet Blast people.
Unruly Mob is hard to grow profitably and you have better things to do on turn 2.
Delver of Secrets doesn't flip. This isn't legacy, get out of here.
Curse of the Bloody Tome is the only main-deck curse below rare.

If Slayer of the Wicked kills everything then Victim of Night kills nothing. It's not bad, just medium.
Boneyard Wurm is like Unruly Mob but it dies if you cast it turn 2. Rather than self-mill decks, it belongs in midrangey decks looking to double-spell on turn 5.

Appendix

For further reading, I highly recommend Jesse Mason's Kill Reviews Series.

If you'd like to give the set a spin, click on "Playtest" up the top of the page to do a draft against bots.

For playing this set in-person, you'll need the following:

• 1 of each rare/mythic
• 2 of each uncommon (+1 more for DFC uncommons)
• 4 of each common (+1 more for DFC commons)

To form packs:

• Separate out the DFC cards into a pile.
• Sort the non-DFC cards into piles by rarity.
• (Optional) Improve colour balance.
  • Sort the Commons and Uncommons into colours.
  • Make 3 piles of 40 Uncommons: , and land, and and artifacts.
  • Make 5 piles of 45 Commons: , , , , .
  • Make 4 piles of 45 Commons: Sort the remaining commons into 2-3 colour piles. The last pile is 44 cards.
• Shuffle all piles.
• Make 40 packs by taking 1 Rare, 1 DFC card, 3 Uncommons, and 9 Commons. If you did step 3, take 1 from each pile.

Yes, mythic rarity does not exist in this cube. After drafting with and without mythics for a decade, I can tell you that the existence of mythics does not affect limited. It is strictly for monetisation purposes.

Thanks and congrats for reading this far!