MTG Arena Shadows over Innistrad Remastered Limited Draft archetypes

The release of Shadows over Innistrad Remastered through MTG Arena features 10 Magic: The Gathering archetypes for the Limited Draft format.

Over 300 cards are contained within the Shadows over Innistrad Remastered (SIR) set, scheduled to release through MTG Arena on March 21. The cards are from the Shadows over Innistrad set and Eldritch Moon, but not every card from both Magic sets was included in the digitally remastered version.

WotC added cards to SIR with a design focus on the Limited format. Some of the 302 cards have undergone changes in rarity, with the intent of shaking up the Draft and Sealed Limited meta. Cards like Thermo-Alchemist and Uncaged Fury were bumped up to Uncommon from the Common rarity. While other cards like Conduit of Storms and Gisa’s Bidding were downgraded from Uncommon to a Common rarity.

Over 10 Rare cards were downgraded to Uncommon rarity, potentially opening up strategies that were hard to obtain when the MTG sets were first released. And five Mythic Rare cards were downgraded to a rarity of Rare.

In addition to the 302 Shadows over Innistrad Remastered cards, there is a Shadows of the Past list of 81 cards.

These cards are divided into four bonus sheets and dropped into the Limited format at one-week intervals, similar to Mystical Archives in the STX Limited format and Retro Artifacts BRO. Each Shadows of the Past bonus sheet focuses on a specific theme.

• Week one: Creature Type Terror bonus sheet with a creature types matter theme
• Week two: Fatal Flashback showcasing a large number of cards with the Flashback mechanic
• Week three: Morbid and Macabre with a sacrifice and death trigger theme
• Week four: Abominable All Stars featuring some of the most iconic cards from Innistrad

Players will also notice not all the signpost cards for each of the 10 SIR Draft archetypes have a gold-colored border are two colors. Gold-colored signpost cards were only in the Eldrich Moon set and not in Shadows over Innistrad.

There are also 12 mechanics within the Limited format that extend beyond Eldritch Moon and Shadows over Innistrad due to the Shadows of the Past bonus sheets.

What are the Shadows over Innistrad Remastered Limited Draft archetypes?

There are a total of 10 Draft archetypes within the SIR set. But they are slightly different from recent archetypes showcased from Standard-legal sets. The five allied color pairs feature five tribal decks while the five enemy color pairs highlight mechanics and archetypes players are used to seeing in a Limited format.

Five allied tribal decks in SIR

• Green and White (GW) Humans: Uncommon signpost is Veteran Cathar
• Green and Red (GR) Werewolves: Uncommon signpost is Ulrich’s Kindred
• Black and Red (BR) Vampire Madness: Uncommon signpost is Olivia’s Bloodsworn
• Blue and White (UW) Spirits: Uncommon signpost is Spectral Shepherd
• Blue and Black (UB) Zombies: Uncommon signpost is Drunau Corpse Trawler

Five enemy color decks in SIR

• Blue and Red spells matter: Uncommon signpost is Mercurial Geists
• Blue and Green Investigate: Uncommon signpost is Ongoing Investigation
• Black and Green Delirium: Uncommon signpost is Mournwillow
• Black and White (BW): Uncommon signpost is Anguished Unmaking
• Red and White (RW) Aggro: Uncommon signpost is Ride Down

What are the best SIR Draft archetypes?

The addition of Shadows of the Past cards and rarity changes will shake up the SIR Draft meta, making it difficult to predict what the best archetypes are prior to the release of Shadows over Innistrad Remastered through MTG Arena.

Based on early predictions, GW humans and RB Vampire Madness both seem like strong archetypes within the allied colors. Each archetype has plenty of synergy support along with strong low-rarity cards. 

The UG Investigate build within the enemy color pairs has potential due to the abundance of card draw. And the UR spells matter archetype is super strong with multiple copies of Mercurial Geists and Rise of the Tides as a finisher.

Outliers within the Shadows over Innistrad Remastered Limited Draft archetypes that may show out the other archetypes are GR werewolves, featuring the old way of transforming the Double-Faced cards as opposed to the Day and Night gameplay system.

And, despite having a slow style, BG Delirium shows potential as well.