Good Gamery

Category: Innistrad

  • Vote Monster for a Fairer Innistrad

    If you’ve heard the speeches from the recent Church of Avacyn party conference, you’ve no doubt heard a great deal about how the Monster party wants to kill all humans and feast on their brains.

    But I am here today to offer a different viewpoint: that the Monster party is dedicated to establishing equality for all creature types across the plane of Innistrad.

    As is the case with so many great planes, here on Innistrad Humans – and, predominantly, white Humans – are the single most represented creature type, accounting for about 30% of the population. And up until now, this one race has dominated every aspect of our society – industry, commerce, and, most significantly, religion. The Church of Avacyn perpetuates damaging myths and stereotypes to condition humans to think of other races as unintelligent and dangerous. You’ve no doubt read the statistic that 100% of violent crimes committed by Monster party voters are directed towards humans; but I wouldn’t put too much stock in numbers like that. After all, it is technically impossible to commit violent crimes against most monsters, since we are legally dead.


    Vampires demand to
    be taken seriously.

    Ask yourself: have you ever actually seen a vampire feeding on a human? People tell their children that all vampires are consumed by addiction, unable to contribute to society because they cannot look past their next fix of blood. Worse, people believe that this addiction is somehow contagious, and shelter their families from socialising with their vampire neighbours.

    Now, I am not going to deny that the guests at the parties I have attended at castle Markov enjoy a drop of red now and again, but every vampire I have met has been fully in control of their urges – more than I can say for some humans I have met.

    Now consider, if you will, the treatment my own zombie kinsmen receive. I think it is fair to say that modern Innistraddian society was built on skaab labour, and yet zombie workers earn far less their human equivalents and have to deal with abusive discrimination from their employers. While it is medically accurate to describe zombies as ‘braindead’, it is entirely wrong to assume that our lack of a functioning nervous system impairs our intellect. Zombies can think – and zombies can feel. Many humans mistakenly assume that a zombie’s only motivation is a hunger for human brains, but many of us hunger instead for self-improvement and professional pride. Under our government, human firstborns will be taken as brain tax, but this is more indicative of the economic climate than any hidden zombie agenda.

    The “dead men don’t vote” act of 735 prohibited the spirit population of Innistrad from contributing to the democratic process. But as I survey this crowd today and see the faces of spirits, zombies and vampires gazing back at me, I say – aren’t we all dead? It is time for the government to recognise that a substantial portion of our society and culture is made up of the deceased, and that fact should be celebrated rather than suppressed. Many writers and artists only create their greatest works after they have died and have the benefit of a fresh perspective on life.


    Break through that
    glass ceiling!

    Perhaps worst of all is the plight of the proud werewolf. I remember a time when rural werewolf communities like Avabruck flourished, and residents were able to practise their traditional customs, like fighting, in peace. But under the Church of Avacyn, werewolves are forced to conceal their true natures for all but one night in every month. Instead of expressing their culture, they are made to live a lie if they want to get anywhere in the world. I want werewolves to be proud of their identity, and for their human colleagues not to shrink in fear from the fact that they are capable of hunting and killing them for sport.

    Now, it is true that our candidate, Griselbrand, has served several centuries of jail time. But he is a reformed demon, and I swear to you, from the bottoms of my five decorative hearts, that everyone in the Monster party is committed to realising our vision. Although monsters never sleep, we dream of establishing a new Innistrad where no-one need be staked, or exorcised, or preyed upon. Where humans and monsters can share both the night and the day. Where there is always food on every plate at night – regardless of, uh, the individual’s particular diet.

    Now, who will stand with me for a brighter day – and a blacker night?

  • Avacyn: Spoiled

    Now and then, GoodGamery publishes real preview cards. In 2010, Wizards provided us with a preview card, Quag Sickness. In 2011, GoodGamery provided our own joke preview card, the random dual land generator. This year, the world will end. However, before that, we have received a new preview card from Wizards. This card is from Avacyn Restored, set to be released sometime soon. Let the spoiler season begin!



    (This card has, of course, been generated randomly for your convenience by the Magical Avacyn Restored Card Generator. To share this specific card with other people, click here and use the share link at the bottom of the page.)

  • I’m glad our next set is Dark Ascension

    by Fake Mark Rosewater

    Monday, September 5th, 2011

    Here at Wizards of the Coast, our work – like the work of Sir Isaac Newton before us – is all about experimentation. Whenever we introduce an exciting new idea, we are testing the waters to see what works and what doesn’t, and what we can rehash further down the line. The ‘free spells’ mechanic in Urza block was a huge success, so we revisited it in New Phyrexia. Increasing planeswalker complexity and utility with Jace, the Mind Sculptor didn’t cause any problems, so we decided to push forward with the five-ability Garruk Relentless, who requires a degree to operate correctly.

    With Innistrad we attempted the largest experiment of all, the Magic R&D equivalent of the Large Hadron Collider: double-faced cards. Although St. Richard Garfield originally intended to use card-backs as a means to differentiate between expansions, for the past eighteen years the reverse of a Magic card has been considered sacred ground. Imagine if we could unlock the full powers of both sides of a Magic card – that’s 100% more design space then we’re currently using. In this economic climate, that’s exactly the kind of efficiency-increasing solution we need to be coming up with.

    Double-faced cards, of course, have been hugely successful. Meeting with a glowing community reception since they were first spoiled, DFCs have consistently smashed any misgivings that might have been initially held with regards to issues like shuffling and drafting. The fact of the matter is, the idea of a CCG that uses a standardized card-back to conceal information is antiquated. I have previously stated that Innistrad is the beginning of a seven-year plan; by the end of these seven years I hope for every card in Magic to have a completely unique card-back.

    We understand that this will be a lot to take in, so rather than leap right in with flip-morph-transform cards that have a card from an entirely different CCG on the reverse, we will be introducing staggered changes to the card-back over the next few sets. Dark Ascension brings us the first and most obvious addition: Color-coding. Starting next February, all card-backs will be subtly recolored to indicate rarity.

    I could talk for pages and pages about how great an idea this is, but it might be more interesting for you if I answered a few of your questions instead! Here, then, is the official preliminary card-back FAQ!

    What about opaque sleeves?

    To properly accommodate the new card-backs, we will regrettably be forced to disallow the use of opaque sleeves from all Magic tournaments. If you really don’t want to go Au-natural, we are pleased to announce that our friends at UltraPro will be selling ‘booster packs’ containing eleven common-backed sleeves, three uncommon-backed sleeves, and one rare-backed sleeve. A small proportion of these packs will even contain a mythic rare sleeve!

    While I’m sure that UltraPro’s new product will be of the highest quality, I can’t afford to collect all these sleeves. Must I risk damage to my precious collection?

    We’ve got you covered – we will be giving players the option to swap their library with sixty checklist cards.

    Doesn’t this mean that all card rarities will be public information?

    It absolutely does – we feel that knowing when your opponent is about to draw their mythic bombs will add a strategic dimension to the game, not take anything away from it.

    Aren’t you worried about the possibility of cheating used marked card-backs?

    Nope!

    Tune in next time for the reveal of the next stage in the evolution of the cardback!

  • Wallpaper of the Week: Shrunken Planet

    by Fake Monty Ashley


    Thursday, May 12th, 2011

    This week’s wallpaper features an incredibly sneaky green creature: Rob Alexander’s Shrunken Planet artwork from Innistrad. Enjoy.

    Shrunken Planet, by Rob AlexanderShrunken Planet, by Rob Alexander

  • Innistrad Preview Week, Day 3

    by Fake Mark Rosewater

    Wednesday, May 11th, 2011

    Welcome back once more to Innistrad preview week! As promised, today we have the full versions of both of the cards that were previewed on Monday. I would like to first introduce you all to Tombstone Curse.

    What would you like on your Tombstone Curse?

    One of the most common card variants we see here at R&D have what are known as “Pepperoni or Sausage” mechanics. These are, quite plainly, mechanics where you get to choose between one of two bonuses when you cast a spell. Some people simply enjoy one of the bonuses more than the other, so they don’t get much out of making the decision, but many people are easily swayed into picking Sausage over Pepperoni if the situation calls for it.

    The part of Tombstone Curse that we are most proud of is how the Slowtrip mechanic plays into the “Pepperoni or Sausage” decision. Before we had come up with the mechanic, this card was a normal cantrip – but like its namesake, people were tripping over the second option in the ability! During playtesting it was fairly common for someone to raise dead, and then be forced to discard a card at the end of their turn due to the unexpected “bonus” of increasing the number of cards in your hand.

    Slowtrip elegantly works around this by giving you extra the card at the start of your next turn, after your mana is refreshed and you can actually do something with what you have in your hand.

    Weathering the Spellstorm

    It’s a longstanding fact that people hate playing against control decks, but it’s much lesser known that people also hate playing as the control deck. The primary reason for this is because to play it well, you have to bide your time, keeping your mana and spells open to deal with anything your opponent might try. This is made doubly hard by cheap, aggressive creatures that red and white mages like to cast to put pressure on – any stumbling over your draws or mana, and you’ll find yourself locked down outside of the house during the proverbial storm of cats and goblins.

    What better way is there to prepare for the bad weather than to put up an umbrella? Spellstorm does just this, and it does it right when you want it: At the end of your opponent’s turn. This opens up your strategy to allow 6-drops again. That’s right, this card is actually an enabler for Sea Serpents, the premier fair-weather friends of blue wizards everywhere.

    The Perfect Grave Storm

    That wraps it up for today, and I hope you enjoyed this glimpse into the thought process of R&D here at Wizards of the Coast.

    Join us again tomorrow to see what else is lurking inside this amazing new plane!

  • Innistrad Preview Week, Day 2

    by Fake Mark Rosewater

    Tuesday, May 10th, 2011

    Welcome back to Innistrad preview week! I hope you’ve all remained vigilant, because sinister dealings have been going on here at Wizards of the Coast. Since I am in charge of literally everything that happens around here, I’ve chosen these three cards to give you a small taste of what is coming later on this week.

    We’ll start off with a most horrifying red spell. This card is special because it was actually on the file for Urza’s Saga, but was ultimately cut for power reasons after it was determined that it would take years of playtesting to balance it properly. Those years have passed! Here is that card!


    Next is the return of a beloved cycle of lands, ones that defined their original block through their flavor and artistic vision. In truth, their “original” printing was found on an old sheet of paper that a custodian found one day at Wizards headquarters, years ago. A sheet of paper that was labeled … Innistrad.


    Finally, we bring you the most terrifying preview yet: A creature type so evil and sinister that it’s been left out of sets that contained demons, devils, and horrors. What could it be?


    Join me later this week when I reveal the full previews of the cards you already saw on Monday.

  • I’m glad our plane is Innistrad

    by Fake Mark Rosewater

    Monday, May 9th, 2011

    Welcome to Innistrad preview week! It’s once again time to delve into a new and exciting block (it feels so good to be saying that after sitting on this thing for more than five years). As you will see, this time we’ve taken the set design in a whole new direction. What are we doing, and what inspired us to do it? Before today’s column is done, you’ll know.

    Ever since we announced Innistrad it’s been known to the public that the set has a gothic or medieval look to it. After enduring a fierce, action-packed metal world, with its own ‘tainted’ flavor, both the design and art teams wanted to get back into traditional fantasy. In fact, they both came to me independently asking to swing the pendulum back from the crazy chaotic feel of war in the Scars of Mirrodin block. They were eager to build a world steeped in a misty full-moon setting, with horrors lurking around every corner (horrors without infect). I hope you’re ready to delve into Innistrad!

    Innistrad, the forgotten plane

    To get in the mood, I have to tell you something about the story. It so happened that the ancient planeswalker Feroz came across Innistrad, a once-beautiful plane, now ravaged by war and darkness. At the last unspoilt oasis on this plane he met fellow planeswalker Serra, whom he married. Together they worked to restore the plane, and to protect it, Feroz’s Ban was created. Feroz died during its creation, however, and the grief-stricken Serra abandoned the plane. In her absence the isolated civilizations of the plane fight amongst each other while the vampires plot with the secretly lurking Liliana Vess to take control of the plane under the fading Ban of Feroz.

    Innistrad is truly an ancient plane, and as such the art team wanted ancient artwork to go with it. They’ve organized a dream team of artists, including Rob Alexander, Mark Poole, Mark Tedin, Anson Maddocks and Kaja Foglio, whose outstanding efforts have defined the plane and the set of Innistrad.



    A high knight stands on a precipice, overlooking the plains of Innistrad.



    Innistrad is filled with mystic places, where clerics sing mystical chants.



    Many horrors lurk in the snowy mountains of Innistrad…



    …such as raiders and bandits.

    I’m confident that players will be equally impressed by the wow! factor when they open their first packs of Innistrad as I was. This is going to be an amazing fall in the world of Magic!

    Force the flash mechanic!

    Normally when you design a set (you do that all the time, right?), you start with the mechanics. No block set since Homelands has been without a whole array of new keywords and mechanics, and in this regard Innistrad surely delivers.

    The difficulty of being head designer of a Magic set is knowing about cool stuff and not being able to talk about it for years – I don’t think I’ve mentioned that before. In any case, the first mechanic I’ve wanted to highlight for the last five years is featured on this card:

    What’s this? Forceflash. If you pay an extra cost, you force the spell through, kind of like Force of Will, only somewhat like Force Spike but not at all like Force of Nature. The forceflash cost is an alternate cost, not an additional cost.

    Then how on Earth did we come up with forceflash? From my point of view, it’s simple. Players like when things happen unexpectedly-or at least when they do for your opponent. I knew I wanted a push towards instant-speed interactions. When I proposed my idea during the initial Innistrad development, the team agreed (as I’m their boss). The biggest challenge for the team was trying to find a way to approach the “instant-speed” theme in a way that didn’t just feel like Time Spiral 2.0.

    Forceflash’s design story begins with the design of Invasion and the instant-speed rare cycle (Breaking Wave, Ghitu Fire, Rout, Saproling Symbiosis and Twilight’s Call). Here we had five cards that could be cast at instant speed if you only paid 2 more colorless mana. Mechanics like these played directly into this design. I had been longing to exploit this kind of mechanic for years, but (as you should know, if you’ve been reading my columns) a set mechanic isn’t a set mechanic unless you can make it work at the common level.

    To that end, I decided that we were going to treat the instant-speed cost as a separate cost. As it came to be, one day (while tossing scrapped designs into a paper bin from across the room), it hit me. It didn’t have to be two colorless mana all the time! It could be anything! I ran down the stairs and up again, screaming with joy. In this setting, you could cast a common spell for four mana more, possibly even colored mana. I knew I wanted some form of innovation involving color. Colorless mana is boring.

    Take a trip, slowly

    Cantrips are fun. Magic is about fun. Thus, since what I say, goes, Innistrad is about cantrips. But while cantrips are fun, anticipation is a key element in gameplay. Starting with Innistrad, we’re introducing a new revolutionary (and magical) keyword: Slowtrip.

    Isn’t that fun anticipation? You’ve cast an awesome spell and are waiting in deep anticipation for your next turn. What could the next card be? While you’re waiting, you can even play spells and interact with your opponent! We believe that this will both work as the format’s draw engine and make the game even more fun to play.

    Now that I’ve rattled your brains somewhat, let’s do it completely. The world of Innistrad will not only introduce new mechanics and keywords, but will look and feel radically different from the previous block. In fact, it’ll come in a different container.

    Booster packs

    Innistrad will come in 8-card booster packs, and… wait, WHAT? Has Mark(eting) gone insane? Yes, it’s true, and no, he hasn’t (at least not me, I don’t know about marketing). The rationale behind this change is actually really simple. In recent years we’ve been experimenting with selling 6-card booster packs at large mass-market stores like Target or WalMart. What we learned from that experiment is that smaller booster packs are selling in large quantities simply because people love to crack packs and frantically inhale the Magic smell. We also noticed that players didn’t miss the rules tip card in the smaller packs, but they did long for tokens.

    The Innistrad block will be sold in 8-card booster packs, featuring 1 rare or mythic rare card, 1-2 uncommon cards and 4-5 common cards. The last card will always be a basic land or a token. In limited, two Innistrad boosters equals one regular booster (say, of Magic 2012). That is, a sealed pool would consist of 12 Innistrad boosters.

    We spend much of our time designing powerful rares, many of which players never get to slam on the table. It is our hope that players will come to enjoy opening twice the number of rares. This feature will both reduce the value of chase-rares on the secondary market, as well as increase Wizards’ revenues.

    One last thing

    To round off this preview, I’m happy to announce that the release card will be called Liliana’s Chime. I can’t tell you what it does yet, but I can assure you that it’s a truly amazing card (I admit, I designed it). Liliana’s up to no good and she stops at nothing to get what she wants!

    That’s all for this week! Join me next week as we delve deeper into the horrors lurking within Innistrad.

  • Exclusive Preview of Dual Land from Innistrad

    Over the years at GoodGamery we’ve had our fair share of exciting preview cards. As part of the Rise of the Eldrazi alliance we spoiled the Timmy-est card in a Timmy set, Spawnsire of Ulamog. For Magic 2011 we eschewed such whimsy for a card the average player on the street could really connect with: limited workhorse Quag Sickness. Those were heady days indeed, but two sets have gone by since then without so much as a whiff of exclusive news. Has GoodGamery been forgotten? That’s a rhetorical question. The answer is no.

    Today we are privileged not just to kick off the Innistrad spoiler season, but to give a tantalising glimpse into the fabric of the block itself. We have been entrusted with one of the fundamental components of the Innistrad universe: its dual lands. From Tundra in Alpha to Flooded Strand in Onslaught, from Hallowed Fountain in Ravnica to Seachrome Coast in Scars of Mirrodin, dual lands have always been a cornerstone of both fantasy worlds and tournament environments.

    But what exactly is a dual land? The Oxford English dictionary defines a dual land as “a land card that provides two colours of mana, or an indirect means of acquiring two colours of mana.” While technically accurate, this definition fails to account for the soul of the dual land, an intangible phenomenon that has touched the hearts of countless magic players. An exciting new dual is the perfect way to kick off exploration of an exciting new block, and we’re pleased to say our dual is quite a doozy. Are you ready to discover the horror lurking within? Don’t worry, we’ll be right there with you. Let’s go!



    (This land has, of course, been generated randomly for your convenience by the magical dual land generator. To share this specific card with other people, click here and use the share code at the bottom of the page.)