Courtesy of Wizards of the Coast (WotC), check out a double-faced planeswalker that shows off a new mechanic from Innistrad: Midnight Hunt — Arlinn, the Pack’s Hope!
Much like Garruk Relentless from Innistrad and Arlinn Kord from Shadows Over Innistrad, Arlinn, the Pack’s Hope continues the trend of a DFC planeswalker appearing in Magic’s spookiest setting. Take a look at Arlinn, the Pack’s Hope and her back half Arlinn, the Moon’s Fury in their borderless treatments and their equinox showcase frames.
The first thing we find out when reading Arlinn is the new daybound and nightbound mechanic. Unlike how Humans and Werewolves transformed back in the original Innistrad, daybound and nightbound only care about the amount of spells a player plays on their turn. Notably, you can play as many spells as you want when it isn’t your turn without changing the game from day or night. The set also includes tokens to help represent what stage the game is currently in.
When it becomes day, transform all nightbound permanents, and when it becomes night, transform all daybound permanents. So to transform Arlinn, the Pack’s Hope into Arlinn, the Moon’s Fury, its controller has to go a turn without a player playing any spells during their own turn with Arlinn, the Pack’s Hope on the battlefield. Of course, the [+1] ability helps you accomplish that.
[+1]: Until your next turn, you may cast creature spells as though they had flash, and each creature you control enters the battlefield with an additional +1/+1 counter on it.
This ability will make it easy to pass the turn with no play, knowing you can cast your creatures on your opponent’s turn. If you aren’t in a spot where you can ship the turn or your hand is out of gas, simply use the [-3] to protect Arlinn.
[-3]: Create two 2/2 green Wolf creature tokens.
By slamming Arlinn on the fourth turn, you can minus for two Wolf tokens, keep Arlinn around, and have multiple bodies to keep her alive to gain loyalty on your next turn. If you manage to transform Arlinn, you get access to two more abilities.
[+2]: Add RG.
A nice boost to Arlinn’s loyalty ramps you up two mana to allow you to play two or more spells and trigger nightbound.
[0]: Until end of turn, Arlinn, the Moon’s Fury becomes a 5/5 Werewolf creature with trample, indestructible, and haste.
What good would a Werewolf planeswalker be if she couldn’t smash into the red zone with reckless abandon? Arlinn can turn into a 5/5 indestructible creature with haste and trample for no loyalty if you aren’t looking to cast enough spells to transform her back into Arlinn, the Pack’s Hope.
What do you think of Arlinn, the Pack’s Hope and the daybound and nightbound mechanic? Where does she rank among all the other awesome Werewolves from MTG history?
Innistrad: Midnight Hunt is currently scheduled for release on September 24. View our official preview gallery.