EmREYkul

In spite of what I wrote previously, I never really believed Marit Lage was involved with Innistrad. I mean, I wanted to believe. I also wanted to be able to point to a previous blog entry and say “told you so!” Marit Lage on Innistrad would have been amazing. But while it was fun to play around with the idea, most of us knew deep down it was going to be Emrakul. I had hoped this wouldn’t be the case, because for me this falls in the “too obvious so I hope it’s not true” camp, like if they reveal Rey to be Luke’s Daughter.

Eldritch Moon looks to be a well-made set. The art has been phenomenal, the callbacks to cards from the original Innistrad block are fantastic, and how can you not love Liliana?

Art by Anna Steinbauer

A couple things about the set don’t settle right with me, though. First on my list of concerns is that Eldritch Moon feels a lot like the third Battle for Zendikar set. I’m experiencing third set fatigue. I’m ready to move on to a new story that doesn’t directly involve Eldrazi or the Gatewatch.

And speaking of the Gatewatch, Gideon feels out of place on Innistrad. He (along with the rest of the Gatewatch, for that matter) clashes with the environment, which takes away from the gothic horror mise-en-scène of Innistrad. At least Jace got a new coat to make him fit in a little better (and, honestly, the coat kinda worked).

Which brings me to my other problem with Eldritch Moon from the storytelling perspective: the water’s muddy now. While we know the Eldrazi can travel to other planes, we associate them with Zendikar, story-wise. And while Emrakul gives us a cosmic horror Cthulhu vibe, the true horror of Cthulhu was that he was the looming threat, “sleeping,” “waiting,” not destroying towns Godzilla-style the way Emrakul is. And because we just left the Battle for Zendikar block – Innistrad doesn’t feel like Innistrad anymore, at least to me.

Sure, there are zombies, but does this feel like it belongs in an Innistrad set?

This is my personal reaction to it. I understand completely if other people don’t feel this way. I’m glad players are enjoying the new set. And I think the set is fine overall, though I do hope one day we will again see Magic’s original cosmic horror.