Innistrad Remastered Mechanics
Innistrad is a plane of unspeakable horrors, and if you survive, much less escape, you should be thankful for your incredible fortune. Anyways, let's go back! Innistrad Remastered brings back beloved bombs, Limited powerhouses, and assorted terrors from across Innistrad sets. Although there are no new mechanics debuting in this set, perhaps these mechanics are new to you, or perhaps you've blocked out your previous visit to this plane inspired by Gothic horror. Who could blame you? Either way, let's take a look at the returning mechanics of Innistrad Remastered.
Transforming Double-Faced Cards
It wouldn't be Innistrad if frightening things weren't transforming into somehow-even-more-frightening things. While now they're a staple of Magic, the origins of transforming double-faced cards date back to the original Innistrad block. Each transforming double-faced card (TDFC) has two card faces, a front face (now featuring the single up arrow symbol on the left) and a back face (now featuring the single down arrow symbol on the right).
When you cast a TDFC, you cast the front face and it enters with its front face up. If you put it onto the battlefield some other way, it also enters front face up unless you're specifically told to put it onto the battlefield transformed.
While a TDFC is on the stack and while it's on the battlefield with its front face up, it has only the characteristics of that face. Most of them also have an ability that tells you how the permanent transforms to its other face. Traditionally, Innistrad's Werewolves transform from front to back if no spells were cast in a turn, but other permanents may transform in any number of ways.
After a double-faced card transforms, it's still the same permanent, so any Auras, Equipment, and counters will stay on it. Any effect that was affecting it continues to do so. Note that some permanents have abilities that allow them to transform in both directions, but for some creatures, it's a one-way journey.
The back faces of TDFCs don't have a mana cost. There are, however, two things you should know about the back faces of these cards. First, while a transformed double-faced permanent is on the battlefield, its mana value is decided by the mana cost on its front face. This is the only exception to the general rule that each face has its own characteristics. Second, the back face has a color indicator—a dot on its type line—that tells you the card's color or colors. For example, Huntmaster of the Fells is red and green.
Disturb
Not every TDFC transforms on the battlefield, however. Once a card with disturb is in your graveyard, you can cast the back face by paying its disturb cost rather than its mana cost, which it won't have.
It doesn't matter how the card with disturb gets to your graveyard. Maybe Lantern Bearer had a full, productive life and died bravely. Maybe you just discarded it. Either way, you can cast Lanterns' Lift from your graveyard. Like most spells, Lanterns' Lift can be responded to, countered, and so on. If it resolves, it will enter as Lanterns' Lift. It won't transform on the battlefield (except in some corner cases).
The back faces of cards with disturb have an ability that exiles them if they would be put into a graveyard from anywhere, regardless of whether it's a spell or a permanent. So, if Lanterns' Lift is countered, its exiled. The same is true if it would be put into a graveyard from the battlefield.
Meld
Introduced during Innistrad's Travails, meld allows you to combine two normal-size threats into a colossal problem for your opponents.
A cruel twist on double-faced cards, meld cards can't transform in the traditional sense. But if you own and control the specific cards in a meld pair, they'll both be exiled and return to the battlefield as one. Chittering Host from Eldritch Moon, like other melded permanents, is a single creature represented by two cards. It does everything a creature does, like hit opponents, have abilities that help your other creatures hit opponents, and so on. It's a single creature, so a spell that says "Destroy target creature" takes out the whole thing. If you're asked to sacrifice a creature, you can sacrifice Chittering Host.
The differences come up once Chittering Host leaves the battlefield. Wherever that permanent goes, both cards go, and each turns face up. If it returns to your hand, you'll have Midnight Scavengers and Graf Rats back in your hand. If Chittering Host is put in a specific place in your library (such as on top or on the bottom), you choose the order of the two cards.
Although meld cards have been recategorized as double-faced cards since their introduction, they can't transform. We've taken steps to ensure that the melding process is smooth. You must own and control both cards that would be melded together. If you control Midnight Scavengers and you gain control of your opponent's Graf Rats, the two creatures will just stare at each other uncomfortably.
Be very careful with token copies and even nontoken copies. For example, Graf Rats has no problem exiling itself and a creature named Midnight Scavengers that you own and control, but if either one is a token, they won't meld and won't return to the battlefield.
Playing with Double-Faced Cards
For any of the cards above that don't have Magic card backs, you'll need a way to put them in your decks without it being obvious what cards they are. Most players use opaque sleeves for this, but we've also included blank placeholder cards in some Innistrad Remastered Play Boosters. These cards have Magic backs, and you can write in the name of a double-faced card you have in your deck. You can use these substitute cards while the card is in your library or your hand then bring in the real thing once the card is revealed to your opponent.
Emerge
On most planes, the Eldrazi are an existential threat, but at least they take a while to arrive. On Innistrad, they'll gleefully—I think that feeling is glee—burst forth from anywhere and anyone way ahead of schedule.
You can always cast a card with emerge for its mana cost as normal. Perhaps you have eight mana available and don't particularly feel like sacrificing a creature. No problem. But if you'd prefer your Horrid Swarms to swarm a little sooner, you can cast it for its emerge cost instead. To do this, you also sacrifice a creature, but you get to subtract that creature's mana value from the emerge cost. If you sacrifice a creature with mana value 4, you can cast It of the Horrid Swarm for
The cost reduction won't affect the mana of a color, so you'll always pay at least one green mana no matter what the mana value of the sacrificed creature is. Also, casting a spell for its emerge cost doesn't affect the creature's color or mana value. It of the Horrid Swarm is colorless and has a mana value of 8 even if you paid its emerge cost to cast it. Finally, using emerge doesn't change when you can cast the spell. It's still a creature spell, usually castable only during your main phase.
Madness
Not every card yearns to be discarded, but I assure you there's a method here. Madness is an ability that allows you to cast a card when you discard it.
If you discard a card with madness, you exile it instead of putting it into your graveyard. This causes a triggered ability to trigger. When that ability resolves, you may cast the exiled card for its madness cost. If you do, great! The spell's now on the stack. Like any other spell, it can be responded to. If you don't cast the card, it's put into your graveyard. Madness won't give you the chance to cast it later.
Note that you must find a reason to discard the card in the first place. You can't just discard the card because you want to. It could be to pay a cost, or maybe because the effect of a spell or ability tells you to. It could even be because you got to the end of your turn and had too many cards in your hand. Whatever the reason, you still discarded the card, so that reason will be fulfilled.
Escalate
Innistrad is often a plane of life-altering choices. But what if you didn't have to choose? What if you could have it all? Let's take things up a bit, shall we?
Escalate is an ability found on some modal cards that allows you to pay an additional cost to choose additional modes. You can always choose one mode for no additional cost. If a card with escalate has three modes, you may pay the escalate cost once to choose two modes or twice to choose all three modes. No matter how many times you pay the escalate cost, the mana value of the spell is unchanged. For example, the mana value of Borrowed Hostility is always 1, whether you pay
Flashback
If casting a spell once is good, then twice must be great, right? Flashback gives cards a second chance to make an impact.
Flashback allows you to cast a card from your graveyard. You don't need to have cast it originally. The card could be there because it was milled or discarded, for example. If you cast it this way, you pay its flashback cost rather than its mana cost. The spell's mana value is always based on its mana cost, even if you're casting it using flashback. For example, Cackling Counterpart's mana value is always 3.
Once you cast a spell using flashback, that spell will be exiled once it leaves the stack, whether it resolves, is countered, or tries to resolve but fails. It's a flashback, not a recurring memory.
Investigate
Let's be real. There's just a lot of creepy … stuff going on around here. A little investigation seems only natural. Or perhaps supernatural.
If you're told to investigate, you create a Clue token. A Clue token is a colorless artifact with "
Blood Tokens
Speaking of fun artifact tokens that let you draw cards, how about those rivers of blood that seem to be flowing everywhere? Unsettling, sure, but everyone loves drawing cards!
Blood tokens are a useful way to optimize your hand and much, much more. A Blood token is a colorless artifact with "
Undying
Some denizens of Innistrad are just dying to be anywhere else. Some are not.
When a creature with undying dies (I know), if it doesn't have any +1/+1 counters on it, you return it to the battlefield under its owner's control with a +1/+1 counter on it. If it does have at least one +1/+1 counter on it when it dies, undying won't trigger and it will just stay in its owner's graveyard. Of course, if you can find a way to get rid of the +1/+1 counter that undying gives it, you might be able to get undying to trigger again. And again. And again.
Here's a random rules interaction I was thinking about: If a permanent has both a +1/+1 counter and a -1/-1 counter on it, they're both removed. If there are a lot of each, they're removed in pairs until only one kind of counter remains.
Miracle
We're even revisiting Innistrad's happier times with a couple of returning cards from Avacyn Restored that feature the keyword miracle.
If the first card you draw in a turn is a card with miracle, you can immediately reveal it. Make sure to do this before it mixes up with other cards in your hand. If you reveal it this way, you can cast it for its miracle cost rather than paying its mana cost. Because you're casting it during the resolution of a triggered ability, card types don't affect the timing restrictions about when you can cast it. If the first card you draw during an opponent's turn is a sorcery, you can reveal it and cast it for its miracle cost.
You can also choose not to reveal the card you draw if you're not in the market for miracles at that moment. If you play it cool, no one will ever know. As always, a spell's mana value is always based on the mana cost of the spell, not what you paid.
Soulbond
Two more returning cards feature the keyword soulbond. On a plane as scary as Innistrad, sometimes what you really need is a friend.
Soulbond allows a creature to pair with an unpaired creature you control to the benefit of both. When the creature with soulbond enters, you may pair it with another unpaired creature you control. Whenever another creature you control enters and you control an unpaired creature with soulbond, you may pair those two creatures. A pair will always be exactly two creatures.
A pair of creatures stay paired until either of them leaves the battlefield, stops being a creature, or another player gains control of one of them. Each creature in the pair gets some benefit , but they aren't connected in any other way. They attack and block separately, get targeted by spells and abilities separately, and more.
Take a Bite Out of Innistrad Remastered
We hope you've enjoyed this journey through the mechanics of Innistrad Remastered. There are a handful of one-off mechanics that only appear on a few cards, but these should be all you need to enjoy Innistrad Remastered when the set releases on January 24, 2025. You can check out what's in the set now with the Collecting article and preorder Innistrad Remastered Play Boosters and Collector Boosters at your local game store, online retailers like Amazon, and elsewhere Magic products are sold.
