If there is one planeMagic: The Gatheringfans cannot get enough of, it’s Innistrad. The spooky world is filled to the brim with vampires, zombies, horrors, and all sorts of creatures that go bump in the night.
With so many iconic cards from this plane, it was only a matter of time before it got its own special set, and with the release of Innistrad Remastered, it’s finally here. If you’re a Commander player, Innistrad Remastered has some incredible cards for your decks, so before you crack open that pack, make sure you know exactly what cards to look out for to give your Commander decks an upgrade.
10Morbid Opportunist
Never Let A Death Go To Waste
One of those cards that evokes pure joy, no matter the deck it’s in, Morbid Opportunist is one to look out for. Once per turn, whenever any creature dies, you get to draw a card. Sure, it’s only once a turn, but it’s also capable of triggering on your opponent’s turns, making it wildly good in Commander, where you have three other people playing.
Since you’re in black you likely have all sorts of removal spells, turning them into cantrips. You can also utilize it with any repeatable sacrifice effects, creating situations where if your opponents aren’t going to have a creature die, you can still draw your card.
9Cathars' Crusade
All For One
There are few better cards for turning your creature-heavy Commander deck into an unstoppable force than Cathars’ Crusade. This white enchantment lets you add a +1/+1 counter to each of your creatures anytime you have another creature come into play.
Token decks can make the most of this card, with your creatures quickly spiraling out of control with the number of counters you’ll be dishing out to them. Just be aware, that you’ll need a lot of dice to track everything going on, especially when you go into the double digits on +1/+1 counters.
8Laboratory Maniac
A Unique Win Condition
One of the more curious cards from any of the Innistrad sets, Laboratory Maniac flips a losing state and turns it into a winning one. Normally in a game of Magic, if you can’t draw from your deck anymore, you lose the game, a frustrating way to lose.
Laboratory Maniac replaces this state-based action with you winning the game instead. There are plenty of ways to make it so you have either drawn your entire deck or self-milled yourself, with the final entry on this list a fantastic way to set up this win condition.
7Eldritch Evolution
Become Something Greater
Tutor spells are among the most crucial in Magic, letting you grab exactly what you need to secure a win. Eldritch Evolution is one of the more curious tutor spells in the game as it doesn’t let you get anything you want, but has a solid trade-off instead.
When you cast Eldritch Evolution, you have to sacrifice a creature which, in turn, lets you search your library for a creature with a mana cost equal to the sacrificed creature plus two mana.
If you sacrifice a creature with a mana cost of two, you can grab a creature with a mana cost of up to four.
That creature goes directly to the battlefield, letting you set up some incredible plays with plenty of ways to recast Eldritch Evolution from the graveyard or to combo off.
6Imprisoned In The Moon
A huge downshift in terms of rarity, Imprisoned in the Moon has gone from a rare from Eldritch Moon and finds itself as a common in Innistrad Remastered. This very effective enchantment turns a creature, land, or planeswalker into a colorless land that can tap for only generic mana.
As a land, it loses all other card types and abilities, effectively locking it out of the game so long as the enchantment remains in play. Imprisoned in the Moon is most effective on an opponent’s commander, since it doesn’t send it back to the Command Zone or another zone that your opponent can gain access to.
5Deadeye Navigator
Can’t Stop Comboing
A card that has seen only one other reprint since it first dropped in Avacyn Restored, Deadeye Navigator makes a return to Magic, now with a fancy Retro Frame treatment to boot. This creature has a unique ability with Soulbond that lets you do all sorts of wild combos with it.
When it or another creature enters the battlefield under your control, you may pair them together. Doing so gives them both the ability to let you pay two mana to exile the creature and then immediately return it to play. Pair it with something that has a strong enter the battlefield effect, particularly those that let you untap lands, and you’ll have yourself an infinite mana loop in no time.
4Hullbreaker Horror
Waiting Just Beneath The Ice
This massive creature can feel a bit like a win-more card, given its incredibly powerful effects, but Hullbreaker Horror will almost certainly never disappoint. This seven-mana creature has flash, cannot be countered, and then has a modular triggered ability which allows you to do one of the following after you cast a spell. You can either:
Between these two effects, and at least a few spells in your hand, you’ll have a situation where your opponents can do practically nothing to stop the Horror from controlling the battlefield.
3The Meathook Massacre
A Little Gore Never Hurt Anyone
A powerful enchantment that can swing a battlefield in your favor, The Meathook Massacre does three things exceptionally well. When it comes into play, all creatures in play get -X/-X for the turn, with the X equaling what you put into the casting cost.
Then, once you wipe the board, your opponents lose one life when each of your creatures die, and then you gain a life when one of your opponent’s creatures die. Depending on the board state, this card alone can decimate the game, taking a significant chunk of your opponent’s life out in a single turn.
2Craterhoof Behemoth
For When A Game Is Taking Too Long
An exceptionally powerful creature, Craterhoof Behemoth is perhapsthe single most straightforward way to close out a game. When it comes into play, all your creatures gain +X/+X for the turn, with X equalling the number of creatures you control.
If you have ten creatures, all your creatures get +10/+10, which in most cases will outclass practically everything your opponents play. The Innistrad Remastered version of the card only comes in a retro frame and is a bit harder to find, but will make your deck look extra nice when you cast it.
1Hermit Druid
A First-Time Reprint
An interesting reprint in Innistrad Remastered, both in that it was originally printed in the Stronghold set and has never been seen on Innistrad, and that it hasn’t had a true reprint since then.
This card lets you mill your entire deck for just one mana by not playing any basic lands in your deck, setting up the perfect one-two punch with Laboratory Maniac. The card also sees some strong synergy with Commander staples that care about graveyard mechanics or other similar effects. Given its overall power and status as a great combo piece, Hermit Druid is a powerful addition to plenty of Commander decks.
