Avacyn Restored

Avacyn Restored is the third set in the Innistrad block. It is the 58th Magic expansion and was released on May 4, 2012.

Set details
Unusual for the third set in a block, Avacyn Restored contains 244 cards (101 Common, 60 Uncommon, 53 Rare, 15 Mythic, 15 Basic Lands), and is therefore a large expansion. As usual, the set includes randomly inserted premium versions of all cards in the set.

Set in Innistrad, Avacyn Restored continues the storyline arc of the Innistrad block; but, mechanically and thematically, the expansion is a "reboot" of Innistrad block. The focus is shifted away from the graveyard, and flashback or double-faced cards are notably absent. For the Limited format it was considered to be a standalone set.

The 15 basic lands in the set are illustrated by the same artists who worked on the artworks of Innistrad's basic lands. They depict the same, or similar, landscapes but with a brighter tone, reflecting the change from a place of despair and gloom to a place of hope. The expansion symbol for this set is Avacyn's symbol.

Avacyn Restored cards represent the turning of the tide between the struggle of humanity and the monsters of Innistrad. Whereas Dark Ascension featured a greater concentration of monsters, marked by a reduction in the number of humans, Avacyn Restored emphasizes the humans and angels as well as their mortal enemies, demons. Black is defined as the primary color of the monsters and evil; the other colors are now the human colors. White remained the most human-dense and -centered color; but, human tribal effects and humans were made primary and secondary themes in red and blue, respectively.

Avacyn Restored introduced a novel card frame for the Miracle ability, so as to provide a visual cue to facilitate players identifying cards with Miracle more readily, so as to cast such cards in a timely manner. The new card frame features outwardly radiant lines on the card frame, from around the art and name box; furthermore, the name box features an arrow-like outcropping on the top. The set also features two new planeswalkers; Tamiyo, the Moon Sage, a Moonfolk originally from Kamigawa, and Tibalt, the Fiend-Blooded, a humandevil planeswalker (and the first planeswalker with a converted casting cost of 2 mana ).

Flavor and storyline
Ignite the Dawn Avacyn, the angelic protector of the plane of Innistrad has been released from her prisoning, the Helvault. The demon Griselbrand, and numerous of his kind, have been released as well. Avacyn Restored plays out Avacyn's campaign to rally her troops to contain the demonic threat and, ultimately, to cleanse Innistrad of all these infernal creatures.

Marketing
In the prelude to Avacyn Restored, Wizards of the Coast created animated trailers in English and Japanese, and uploaded them onto YouTube.

Avacyn Restored was sold in 16-card boosters, 6-card boosters, five intro packs, two event decks and a fat pack. The 16-card boosters featured artwork from Avacyn, Angel of Hope, Griselbrand, Archangel, Tibalt, the Fiend-Blooded and Gisela, Blade of Goldnight. The small booster featured artwork from Herald of War.

The prerelease was April 28–29, 2012, the launch party on May 4–6, 2012 and the Magic Online release on May 17–20, 2012. The Game Day was held on May 25–26, 2012. The promotional card given to participants at Prerelease was Moonsilver Spear</c>. The launch promo Restoration Angel</c>, and the Magic Game Day promotional card was a full-art Latch Seeker</c> (top-8 participants received a full-art foil Killing Wave</c>. The Buy-a-Box promo was Silverblade Paladin</c>.

For the Prerelease, stores were able to register for a limited number of Helvault Prerelease Kits along with the standard kits that come with every prerelease. When players at the special Helvault Events got achievements, they could each physically break a seal on their store's own (cardboard) Helvault. Once all the seals were broken, the store would open their Helvault and all the players would share the spoils within. Starting with Avacyn Restored, the name of "Launch Party" was phased out.

Regular boosters of Avacyn Restored come with a bonus sixteenth card that is either a "tips & tricks card" or a creature token with an advertisement on the reverse side.

"Tips & Tricks" cards

 * Tip: Booster Draft
 * Tip: Avacyn 1
 * Tip: Planeswalker 1
 * Tip: Planeswalker 2
 * Tip: Gatherer
 * Tip: Decks
 * Tip: Miracle
 * Tip: Soulbound
 * Tip: Limited
 * Tip: Avacyn 2
 * Tip: Undying

Tokens and emblem
The Avacyn Restored tokens and emblem, in the order in which they are listed, are:
 * 1) 4/4 Angel with flying produced by Entreat the Angels</c> and Moonsilver Spear</c>
 * 2) 1/1 Human produced by Commander's Authority</c> and Voice of the Provinces</c>
 * 3) 1/1 Spirit with flying produced by Gallows at Willow Hill</c>
 * 4) 1/1 Spirit with flying produced by Geist Snatch</c>
 * 5) 5/5 Demon with flying produced by Demonic Rising</c>
 * 6) 2/2 Zombie produced by Maalfeld Twins</c>
 * 7) 1/1 Human produced by Thatcher Revolt</c>

Themes and mechanics
Avacyn Restored introduced the Miracle mechanic, a keyword ability featured on cards that, if and when drawn as the first card drawn that turn, may be cast for the reduced Miracle cost. In addition to this, Soulbond was introduced. This ability allows a player to "pair [up]" with a creature with Soulbond with another creature, with or without Soulbond, to confer benefits to both creatures as long as they remained paired. Both Miracle and Soulbond are featured across all colors except black.

In order to compensate for the lack of new mechanics, the Undying keyword ability was carried over from the preceding expansion, Dark Ascension, and featured primarily on black cards. The set also featured "loners" (creatures or other permanents that improve if their controllers control only one creature, which represented the thematic opposite of Soulbond) and a sacrifice subtheme.

Another subtheme was "flickering". "Flickering", alluding to the effect of its namesake, the Urza's Destiny card Flicker</c>, involves temporarily exiling a creature for a duration before returning it to the battlefield. "Flickering" was noted to interact with creatures with enters-the-battlefield and/or leaves-the-battlefield abilities, including those with Soulbond.

Creature types
No novel creature types were introduced in this expansion.

Cycles
Avacyn Restored features three four-card cycles, with no black card, as a reflection of the absence of white cards in the cycles of Dark Ascension. It also features one vertical cycle and a part of a mega cycle.

Pairs
Avacyn Restored has four mirrored pairs.

Reprinted Cards

 * Angel's Mercy</c>, first printed in Magic 2010, last seen in Magic 2012
 * <c>Angelic Wall</c>, first printed in Portal Second Age, last seen in Tenth Edition
 * <c>Archangel</c>, first printed in Visions, last seen in Starter 1999, now downgraded to Uncommon
 * <c>Barter in Blood</c>, first printed in Mirrodin, last seen in Duel Decks: Divine vs. Demonic
 * <c>Bone Splinters</c>, first printed in Shards of Alara
 * <c>Borderland Ranger</c>, first printed in Magic 2010
 * <c>Crypt Creeper</c>, first printed in Odyssey
 * <c>Demolish</c>, first printed in Odyssey, last seen in Magic 2011
 * <c>Fleeting Distraction</c>, first printed in Rise of the Eldrazi
 * <c>Gloomwidow</c>, first printed in Shadowmoor
 * <c>Peel from Reality</c>, first printed in Ravnica: City of Guilds
 * <c>Thunderbolt</c>, first printed in Weatherlight, last seen in Premium Deck Series: Fire & Lightning

Functional reprints

 * <c>Builder's Blessing</c> is a functional reprint of <c>Castle</c> from Alpha, last seen in Seventh Edition.
 * <c>Defang</c> is a functional reprint of <c>Muzzle</c> from Mercadian Masques.
 * <c>Nettle Swine</c> is a functional reprint of <c>Order of the Sacred Bell</c> from Champions of Kamigawa and <c>Golden Bear</c> from Portal Second Age, save for creature type.
 * <c>Raging Poltergeist</c> is a functional reprint of <c>Scoria Elemental</c> from Scars of Mirrodin, save for creature type.
 * <c>Renegade Demon</c> is a functional reprint of <c>Mass of Ghouls</c> from Future Sight, save for creature type.
 * <c>Scrapskin Drake</c> is a functional reprint of <c>Cloud Elemental</c> from Visions, save for creature type.
 * <c>Snare the Skies</c> is a functional reprint of <c>Silk Net</c> from Urza's Legacy.
 * <c>Timberland Guide</c> is a functional reprint of <c>Ironshell Beetle</c> from Judgment, save for creature type.

Strictly better

 * <c>Cathedral Sanctifier</c> is strictly better than <c>Devout Monk</c>.
 * <c>Into the Void</c> is strictly better than <c>Counterintelligence</c>.
 * <c>Predator's Gambit</c> is strictly better than <c>Unholy Strength</c>.
 * <c>Searchlight Geist</c> is strictly better than <c>Dusk Imp</c>, <c>Feral Shadow</c>, <c>Gloomhunter</c>, <c>Kelinore Bat</c> and <c>Moaning Spirit</c>.
 * <c>Wolfir Avenger</c> is strictly better than <c>Gnarled Mass</c>, <c>Gorilla Chieftain</c>, <c>Skyshroud Troll</c> and <c>Trained Armodon</c>.

Notable cards

 * <c>Cavern of Souls</c> is a new and tribal <c>Vexing Shusher</c> for no mana that allows beatdown decks to defeat tempo strategies.
 * <c>Entreat the Angels</c> acts as a new <c>Decree of Justice</c> being a strong finisher for control decks.
 * <c>Restoration Angel</c> is a staple in white creature-based decks in Modern thanks to its ability to blink a creature at instant speed to trigger again an ETB effect.
 * <c>Sigarda, Host of Herons</c> replaces the <c>Baneslayer Angel</c> because of being almost impossible to kill.
 * <c>Vexing Devil</c> allows burn decks to win even faster being a 4 damage <c>Lava Spike</c> or a 4/3 for 1 mana.
 * <c>Griselbrand</c> gained widespread notoriety for his ability to provide massive card advantage for a relatively minor cost, especially since his own lifelink ability rendered the cost moot. He was subsequently banned from EDH due to the format's larger life total, allowing players to instantly dig out combos using him in a single turn in an otherwise random format.
 * <c>Appetite for Brains</c> forms a matched pair with Rise of the Eldrazi 's  <c>Inquisition of Kozilek</c>. Both cards are uncommon cards that cause an opponent to discard a card; one, a card with converted mana cost 3 or less; the other, a card with converted mana cost 4 or more.
 * <c>Craterhoof Behemoth</c> is one of the most powerful green creature cards ever printed; it is an insta-win in many creature decks. It is used as the finisher for Elves decks in Legacy.
 * <c>Misthollow Griffin</c> is the first card that can be cast from the exile.

Intro packs
Avacyn Restored features five Intro packs.

Event decks
Avacyn Restored features two Event decks.