Limited Attention -- Shadows Over Innistrad Draft Primer #001 Investigate!

Only two weeks away from pre-release weekend for Shadows Over Innistrad, the speculative deck techs have begun.  Possible time traveler Owen Turtenwald dropped a Red/Black Madness deck tech onto Channel Fireball that made us itch to jump into a draft, though knowing we must wait another three weeks to sit down with the actual cards, why not brainstorm?

"Investigate" is a new mechanic built into the design of Shadows Over Innistrad. Big Man Mark Rosewater took the time to explain the process of designing of the mechanic on Magic.wizards.com, and that got us thinking. Here we discuss draft combos, entry points, and execution of an "Investigate" themed deck.

What is our objective?  "Investigate" gives us a number of artifacts that stay around for the late game, giving us something to do with our mana down the line. Therefore we prioritize control and mid-game spirited cards. The colors we will inhabit will be Blue, Green, and to a lesser degree, White.

How To End Up Here

A good place to start off talking about this draft achetype is the legendary artifact, Tamiyo's Journal. This will give you an Investigate each turn, and allow you to search up whatever win condition you were able to grab. At rare, the Journal is a huge card to pull into any deck. This also means if you pick up another bomb that isn't totally on-theme, the Journal will play right into it, without even sacrificing itself. In this format we will likely not have 8, 9, or 10 powered creatures, but if you happen to open a Jace, Avacyn, or more likely, Sigurda, you will be much closer to these bombs. Artifacts see much less removal in Limited as well, so this card is likely to stick for the whole game. If you are able to play this and sacrifice three clues immediately, it becomes a 5 mana tutor instead of the 6 mana, draw three that the three clues represents. This card is versatile enough to thoroughly enjoy drafting it pack one, pick one every time.




Sage of Ancient Lore/ Werewolf of Ancient Hunger will be as powerful late-game as you are successful in working the Investigate machine you pull together. Keep 5 or 6 cards in hand, and you will have a powerful hitter that has the possibility of doubling his power and effectiveness if things peter out. You will also be able to sacrifice clues at instant speed in order to pump Sage, which will drive your opponent crazy in the best possible way.

We are taking it for granted that investigating will be an easy proposition for most decks. Even so, Daring Sleuth and Bearer of Overwhelming Truths is going to be a card to pick up early. Taking one first pick won't necessarily limit you to the deck we are discussing, but at uncommon, you can easily have one or two. Not only can this easily be a 4 or 5 damage threat in the mid-game, but it also furthers your Investigation goals.

As Mr. Rosewater personally spoiled, Tireless Tracker is a card you might you might open, and if the pack has no removal, you could end up picking this up and feeling strongly pulled towards an investigate deck (we would suggest staying open, but there could be worse first picks). The value of this card is obvious. You will arrive at the late-game with more clues that you can shake a scepter at, and as soon as you start cashing them in, Tracker will be a threat your opponent has to deal with, if not sooner.



Also Look For

One of the best enablers for your "investigate" theme will be Briarbridge Patrol. He has the added benefit of making any creature in your hand a six drop that says "draw three cards". Imagine you end up with a bomb rare like Sigurda or a Geralf's Masterpiece, you've tutored it up with Tamiyo's Journal, you play it for almost better than free (I digress). The Patrol has a big enough body to stick around, do some damage, and earn you a clue each time he does. At uncommon, you could see these late, will probably only see one per pack, and should consider taking 5-10th pick.





We've been shown several Enchantments that seem to be build-around's for these decks. As the various oaths in Oath of the Gatewatch proved, an enchantment is rarely going to be first-pick worthy, and these cards are no exception.

Trail of Evidence will be better in a deck with lots of spells (obviously) which means if you are leaning towards stronger creatures than spells, you may find yourself not playing this card. This will work great if you are able to find lots of counterspells. A better and cheaper option is Ongoing Investigation, more likely to make an impact if you have more green cards and creature cards than counter-spells or removal.

Ulvenwald Mysteries will be more useful for its second ability, capitalizing off of other sources of clues to flood your board with 1/1 tokens. The first ability will likely provide one or two clues per game, but certainly far fewer than either of the blue archetypes.









White has several options for an investigate-heavy deck as well, such as the quick-play Thraben Inspector, starting you off with a clue on turn one. Expose Evil is also a common instant that will make Trail of Evidence better, and is cheap enough to consider playing as a battle trick when trying to sneak your Bearer of Overwhelming Truths in for extra special damage.


The idea is to build a curve of lower-powered creatures, investigate as often as possible, and draw cards at triple the rate of your opponent. This will always keep your hand full, your options more plentiful, and your attacks more effective. We are certain there will be several pieces to the puzzle at common rarity released at the end of the week, but with what we have there is already an archetype to be considered.

Otherwise, just grab all the vampires.

STAY TUNED FOR MORE DRAFT ARCHETYPES AND SEALED DECK DISCUSSIONS ON INSTANTSPEEDMTG.COM!