| Shadows over Innistrad has been released for just about two weeks now and while the majority of our attention has been on the changes the set brought to Standard and Modern, I wanted to talk this week about the draft format that has been quietly excellent. Much like its spooky predecessor, Shadows over Innistrad brings a synergy-driven limited format in which all colors utilize the graveyard in various ways, whether it's through death triggers, recursion engines, or just straight milling. This is one of the reasons I loved original Innistrad and Shadows has not let me down in the least. While graveyard strategies add exciting levels of complexity to limited gameplay, they can also add uncertainty to the draft format. It can be hard to balance the need for a well-costed 3/3 with the desire for a value card that does nothing but mill you. These aren't decisions we face in every format! What I wanted to do today is showcase some cards that can help give you direction in your first sets of drafts. I won't go so far as to say that they are the next-coming of Spider Spawning (few things are), but these non-rares can give you light in a format where it's all too easy to get lost in the shadows. #3 Call the Bloodline  What it does: On the surface, Call the Bloodline looks a bit questionable. For one mana and one card, Call the Bloodline allows you to make a 1/1 lifelink Vampire Knight. Of course, a 1/1 lifelink is a fine creature but is it worth it to discard a card to make when I've already spent a card on the enchantment? Early reports suggest that the answer is yes. Even in a deck with little synergy to support this enchantment I would expect this card to make the cut for most black mages. This means you should expect to have to take the card somewhere in the first five picks. How to draft it: One of the reasons I really like starting a draft with an early Call the Bloodline is that there are multiple ways to build your deck with the card in mind and some of those overlap. The easiest way to build around the card is to be sure to draft a high number of cards with the madness ability. By 'discarding' madness cards to Call the Bloodline you get rid of the card's main drawback because you are no longer losing cards when you make a creature. When you are discarding madness cards, the 1/1s feel free and you are likely to gain value off every spell and the effect often makes your madness cards better as well. Some cards, like Twins of Maurer Estate, can be ramped out with an active Call the Bloodline while others become significantly more powerful when you can cast them at instant-speed (I'm looking at you, Malevolent Whispers). The second way to build around the card is to simply be an aggressive deck that doesn't go high on the curve. If my early experiences are to be believed, games of Shadows over Innistrad draft have a tendency to make it to Turn 8 and beyond with some regularity so this means that if your deck doesn't go past five mana on the curve, you will be able to convert your extra lands into creatures. It's important in an aggressive deck to keep presenting threats and Call the Bloodline will do just that. When combined with Pious Evangel or perhaps an Indulgent Aristocrat, this can be a game-changer. Lastly, Call the Bloodline can serve as a role-player in control decks. While discarding is not the greatest in an attrition strategy, many of the late game cards care about enabling delirium and Call the Bloodline can help here in a pinch. If I were to use the card in a control deck, I would want at least one copy of Sanitarium Skeleton for when the game goes late. #2 Fleeting Memories  What it does: On the battlefield, not very much. Fleeting Memories is an enchantment that Investigates when it enters the battlefield and then sits around for most of the game until you have enough clues to mill your opponent out of the game over the course of a few turns. While it won't do much to keep you alive, it can be your deck's entire late game, which is a claim few cards can make. It's a powerful tool but it's replaceable and I wouldn't pick it until pick four at the earliest. How to draft it: Whenever you're trying to mill someone out in a game of limited, you have to decide just how you want the plan to work. The first way is what I would describe as aggro mill, whereyou are trying to mill your opponent's library before they can kill you with damage. In a lot of ways this is similar to trying to burn out an opponent except that it traditionally uses blue cards. If you are doing this with Fleeting Memories, then you're doing it the wrong way. It's true that Fleeting Memories mills your opponent but it does this by rewarding you when you draw extra cards. Because of this, your deck's focus should be on drawing extra cards and what strategy does that better than control? Control mill is the natural home for a card like Fleeting Memories. This means that you should be placing a high value on removal spells and defensive creatures, much in the way that a control deck should. Now because Fleeting Memories requires clues to win the endgame, you should try to sneak in several cards that have the ability to generate clues but keep in mind that they should still be defensive minded. This means that you would much prefer to play something like Erdwal Illuminator, Gone Missing, or even Jace's Scrutiny before you looked at playing a card like Confront the Unknown or Press for Answers. As far as colors are concerned, blue will usually provide enough Investigate triggers to make a victory possible so I wouldn't feel like you are forced to pair it with another clue-heavy color like green. Any color pair where control is possible should be a reasonable home for a Fleeting Memories deck though I would avoid pairing with red as red has the smallest number of cards that are suitable for a control strategy. #1 Militant Inquisitor  What it does: It attacks and blocks. Originally, I was going to write this part using Avacynian Missionaries as a reference point, but as I've drafted the archetype, I've come to believe that the Inquisitor is just as important. A 3/3 for three in white is a powerhouse of an attacker and is central to the white equipment-matters theme. How to draft it: There are exactly four cards at common and uncommon in Shadows over Innistrad that reference or reward you for playing equipment. All four are white. Of these cards (Militant Inquisitor, Avacynian Missionaries, Open the Armory, Strength of Arms) the first two are the ones you are wanting to take highly while you will be happy with anywhere between zero and two Strength of Arms. Open the Armory is really only a thing when you end up with a Slayer's Plate but can be used in a pinch when your equipment count is too low. But what is too low? Ideally, you want four pieces of equipment in your deck. It's enough that you will see one in most games but you can avoid having draws with multiple pieces. As far as which equipment to draft, the most important one to get at common is True‑Faith Censer. As this is a base-white strategy, your creatures will frequently be humans and the Censer sets up a great one-two punch with Militant Inquisitor. At uncommon, Neglected Heirloom and Harvest Hand are both solid though the first only really works if you've picked up some transform creatures in your second color. Lastly, I would avoid running Haunted Cloak as it just isn't a particularly good card. Happy drafting! — Matthias Hunt, @MtGMatthias | 
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