Innistrad/Intro packs

Innistrad has five bicolored intro packs.^[1]

Carnival of Blood

The rares in this deck are.

Deathly Dominion

“

Let all the graveyards fill with corpses! It doesn't matter whether they were your creatures or your opponent's—death is the key for unlocking untold powers for your minions and your spells.

”

Deathly Dominion is a black/green intro pack focusing on morbid.

“

While playing the "Deathly Dominion" deck, you'll delve deep into the dark arts to harness the fearsome powers of death. Even killing your own creatures can work to your advantage! When death itself is on your side, who can stand in your way?

As the game progresses, take advantage of the "morbid" abilities in the deck. A morbid card gets better if any creatures died earlier in the turn. For example, you gain 5 life when Hollowhenge Scavenger enters the battlefield if a creature died that turn. Similarly, Skirsdag High Priest lets you tap it and two other creatures to create a Demon, but only in the aftermath of another creature's death.

Importantly, morbid abilities don't care whether the creature that died was yours or your opponent's! To get these benefits, sometimes it's worth causing your own creature to die. You might sacrifice Brain Weevil to make your opponent discard two cards, or you might sacrifice a creature to equip something with Demonmail Hauberk. Of course, it's even better if one of your opponent's creatures has died first; Dead Weight and Doom Blade can help with that. Keep in mind, though, that sometimes you're better off casting a morbid spell than waiting, even if you won't get its bonus.

If you decide you're ready for even greater mastery over death, Reaper from the Abyss would be a diabolical addition to the deck. This gigantic flying Demon has a morbid ability that kills even more creatures! The powerful planeswalker Garruk Relentless is another good choice, since he can both create creatures and kill them.

”

Deathly Dominion

The rares in this deck are Skirsdag High Priest (holographic foil) and Moldgraf Monstrosity.

Eldritch Onslaught

“

Knowledge is power! Use cards with flashback to repeatedly pummel your opponent until your supernatural forces can conjure up a suitably horrifying end.

”

Eldritch Onslaught is a red/blue intro pack focusing on flashback.

“

The "Eldritch Onslaught" deck is a tricky mix of flashback spells and wily creatures. With your bewildering array of magic, you'll soon have your opponent spinning in circles.

With this deck, you want to fill your graveyard as soon as possible. Target yourself with Dream Twist, activate Deranged Assistant's ability even if you don't need the mana—even enchant yourself with Curse of the Bloody Tome. It may sound strange, but it will definitely help you win.

Your deck is filled instants and sorceries with flashback, which you can cast from your graveyard. Every time you put one into your graveyard, it's just like drawing another card you can cast! Cast twice as many spells as your opponent, and you're probably well on your way to victory.

Many spells in this deck keep your opponent's creatures off the battlefield either by damaging them or by putting them back in their owner's hand or library. Combined with your defensive creatures, you should be able to survive long enough to take control of the game. You might finish your opponent off with Sturmgeist or Charmbreaker Devils or use Burning Vengeance to dominate the late game.

After you have a good sense of the deck, there are multiple ways to personalize it. You can concentrate on the library-depletion plan, perhaps with Magic 2012 cards like Jace's Erasure. Twist the focus to your own library, and you can use the instant win condition of Laboratory Maniac. Beef up the flashback content of the deck with cards like Devil's Play, allowing you to deal as much damage as you can afford . . . twice!

”

Eldritch Onslaught

Lands (24)

13 Island

11 Mountain

Creatures (15)

2 Armored Skaab

1 Charmbreaker Devils

1 Scourge of Geier Reach

1 Sturmgeist

Artifacts (2)

1 Cellar Door

1 Ghoulcaller's Bell

Enchantments (4)

2 Burning Vengeance

2 Curse of the Bloody Tome

Instants (9)

Sorceries (6)

2 Grasp of Phantoms

1 Into the Maw of Hell

1 Rolling Temblor

2 Silent Departure

The rares in this deck are Sturmgeist (holographic foil) and Charmbreaker Devils.

Repel the Dark

The rares in this deck are.

Spectral Legions

“

Fill the skies with swirls of geists, then power up all your creatures of the spectral realms. Be sure to laugh maniacally as your enemies scramble to stem your swarm of horrifying haunts.

”

Spectral Legions is a white/blue intro pack focusing on Spirits.

“

If you're in command of the "Spectral Legions" deck, you're in command of the afterlife. Spook your opponents with a cadre of flying ghosts blessed with divine powers. Your victory will haunt them for days!

The bulk of the deck is made up of evasive Spirits. Most have flying and the rest have intimidate, so they'll be difficult to block. Your best plan is to be aggressive, attacking with creatures your opponent can't block. While doing so, bolster your attacking Spirits with Auras like Curiosity, to help you draw more cards, or Lifelink, to help you gain life.

Defensive help comes from Auras like Pacifism and spells like Unsummon keeping enemy forces at bay. Enchanting one of your creatures with Spirit Mantle or Divine Favor makes that creature a fantastic blocker.

Your knowledge of the afterlife isn't restricted to creatures that have Spirit printed on their type line. When Doomed Traveler and Mausoleum Guard die, Spirit tokens take their place and continue to fight for you. Angel of Flight Alabaster, meanwhile, lets you recover fallen Spirits from your graveyard. With this deck, death can't hold the dead for long.

One way to pump this deck up is Dearly Departed, a 5/5 flying Spirit that continues to have a major impact on the battlefield long after it's dead. Mindshrieker is a two-mana flier that can hit for major chunks of damage while depleting an opposing library. Also consider Adaptive Automaton from the Magic 2012 core set, a creature that can give your Spirits a substantial +1/+1 boost.

”