It seems only fitting with an upcoming return to the plane of Innistrad that I look at the original Innistrad block for uncommons to keep an eye on. I have already covered Return to Ravnica block and Kaladesh block with my first two articles in this series. For those who didn't playback in 2011, Innistrad was a block that players absolutely loved and was the game's first foray into a top-down heavy gothic horror theme. At the time, Commander as a format was still referred to as EDH (Elder Dragon Highlander) and it was still a semi-niche format.

Innistrad

Sadly, there are no uncommons in Innistrad that have a TCGMarket value above $1.49, which is my cutoff. This set actually did have a lot of casual favorites, but many have been reprinted enough times to suppress any real value.

Watch List – Innistrad

Inquisitor's Flail is a powerful piece of equipment with enough of a downside that it often just misses the cut in many equipment-based Commander decks. One important distinction to make with this card is that it doubles damage but isn't providing double strike. This is critical because instances of double strike don't stack; however, damage doubling instances do. This card would also fit well in any type of deck which wants damage done to a creature à la Stuffy Doll or Boros Reckoner.

Dark Ascension

Yet again, we have no cards from Dark Ascension that have a TCGMarket value above $1.49, so I am forced to skip straight to my watch list.

Watch List – Dark Ascension

Drogskol Captain is a card that has actually met the greater-than-$1.49 requirement in the past. This card is a great speculative opportunity because its value is so heavily dependent on how good Modern Spirits is as a deck. This card is a crucial part of that deck and a four-of in every version. Being a lord that provides hexproof to all other spirits is integral to the deck's strategy. Phantasmal Image is also in the list mainly to copy Drogskol Captain – once a player has two on board, they give each other hexproof and the whole team is safe from opposing spells.

Immerwolf is another of the lord cycle from this set that hasn't been reprinted. It too once sat in the $2+ range, back when Shadows over Innistrad released and casual players were finally given a Werewolf legend to make a Commander deck around. Sadly, Ulrich of the Krallenhorde // Ulrich, Uncontested Alpha turned out to be a dud of a Commander, and poor Immerwolfhas fallen back by the wayside. Still, if we have learned anything, it's that casual players really want a good werewolf Commander, and should we see one in the upcoming Innistrad: Midnight Hunt or Innistrad: Crimson Vow, then this card will likely spike above $2 again.

If you hadn't noticed a pattern yet, I really like the uncommon lords from this set, and Stromkirk Captain is no exception. We can be very confident that Innistrad: Crimson Vow is a Vampire-themed set, and it's highly unlikely that Wizards doesn't print at least one decent legendary Vampire creature in the set. The only hiccup in this one being a home run is that it was reprinted in Commander 2017. That being said, that's still a relatively minor reprint and this card can very easily double up with the release of the Innistrad: Crimson Vow.

Diregraf Captain finishes off our uncommon lords from the set and his static ability is extremely powerful in a Zombie-themed deck. The biggest challenge for this one is that it was printed in Duel Deck: Blessed vs Cursed as a two-of and is also included on The List. Still, duel decks tend to not be big sellers overall, and so I still think there is potential upside for this card.

Chalice of Life // Chalice of Death is the one card on this list that isn't a creature. It's a relatively innocuous card on its front half, being relatively unimpressive, but its back half can end games rather quickly, especially in decks that can untap it repeatedly.

Avacyn Restored

The only card that meets our $1.49 or greater TCGMarket Price requirements is A-Blood Artist, which is a $5+ uncommon even with six printings. While it's important to know the value of Blood Artist, the rest of the uncommons in this set are rather unimpressive. However, there are a few that have some potential if the fates align.

Watch List – Avacyn Restored

Vigilante Justice would have had a lot more potential had it not been reprinted in Commander 20. This does seem like a very good card for any human deck that can generate a lot of human tokens or if there ever develops a deck that can recast any human infinite times.

While mono green has gotten more options for card draw as of recently, a cheap repeatable card draw enchantment like Triumph of Ferocity, is one that mono-green decks can really use. There is a bit of controversy regarding the artwork of this card, but for now, it seems like a good one to set aside when picking bulk, as it has some decent long-term potential having dodged any reprints so far.

Previous Articles in this series:

• Kaladesh Block
• Return to Ravnica Block