Welcome to the first edition of Daily Dose of Shadows Over Innistrad! Today we will be talking about the ten cards from Khans of Tarkir that players will be missing the most come April 8th when Shadows Over Innistrad is released. You could also argue that for most of these cards there are a lot of players that will be happy to see them go. For this edition, I’ll also try to see if currently, or in the new Standard rotation, there is a card that could possibly replace it.
This 4/4 three-drop has been a staple in all Abzan Decks. It’s aggressiveness when played early put the pressure on the opponent while also allowing you to help grow the power of your other attacking creatures. I would replace this with Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet. It will also exile creatures for you and allow you to get Zombies in their place!
One of the most versatile modal cards we have ever seen with all three modes being used often. Cards like Dromoka’s Command and Kolaghan’s Command will be used to try and replace Abzan Charm, but most of the time, we will just want good old Abzan Charm.
Lightning Bolt in a creature is one way to describe this three-color Haste creature. Allowing you to attack and block with ease while getting in quick damage, this Flying creature has no direct replacement. Stormchaser Mage and some Prowess triggers will be the closest you will come to getting the same bang for your buck.
We haven’t seen a creature with value like this since Thragtusk was in Standard and we probably won’t see one like it for a while. Replacement = Nothing.
The great thing about Crackling Doom that will make it near impossible to replace was that it always took out your opponent’s highest power creature. So while it did not target that creature, most of the time when you cast Crackling Doom, you know what creature is going to the graveyard.
This mana producer was used on and off in decks as a mana ramp creature when Elvish Mystic wasn’t reprinted. If you are looking for a replacement, you will have to use Honored Hierarch as your early ramp for green.
This is a removal spell that will be hard to replace as you were often able to cast it for one mana thanks to Delve. Players will have to start looking to cards like Grasp of Darkness as their removal. Luckily, a lot of the great five toughness creatures will be leaving the format as well.
This 1/2 Haste with a boost was a staple in all mono red aggro decks for the past year. If you want a replacement for this one, you will have to add blue to your repertoire and pick up some Stormchaser Mages and hit the skies.
Being able to draw two cards while digging deep into your library made Dig Through Time such a great card. You will now have to turn to cards like Anticipate to dig through and find that card you need.
Although it cost four-mana, this was able to remove anything non-land permanent in the format and was often used to instantly take care of a Planeswalker or creature getting out of hand. Ruinous Path is the closest remaining to fill this void. Unfortunately, it is Sorcery speed.
After these 10 cards rotating out, you might be thinking that I left out five significant lands that will be rotating out of Standard. I didn’t forget these five lands; they just deserve their own section.
Fetch Lands
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These five lands will have the largest impact on every Standard deck that currently exists, as every deck, even mono-red, played between four to twelve Fetch Lands in their deck. To have these rotate out will impact the way Standard decks will be made in the next year to come. What it also makes the Battle Lands worse as well, with no way to fetch for them anymore. Being able to play three, four, and even five-color decks with ease, will no longer be seen with common occurrence.
It will be interesting to see how Shadows Over Innistrad impacts the Standard format, but the biggest impact could be that its arrival means all of these powerful Khans of Tarkir cards listed above, will no longer be used. Thanks again for reading the Daily Dose of Shadows Over Innistrad and look forward to seeing you again tomorrow for more Daily Dose!
