The Lore Of Innistrad Remastered’s Vampires

Though Magic: The Gathering recently tackled more modern horror with its slasher-themed plane of Duskmourn, Innistrad is still the place to be for ghosts, ghouls, and all things that go bump in the night. It’s hard not to love this Gothic plane of Vampire lords and ravenous Werewolves, making our return there in this month’s Innistrad Remastered all the more exciting.

Vampires are one of the biggest factions on the plane. These aristocratic bloodsuckers prey on the peasants of Innistrad, hosting debauched parties in their castles and playing their political games as they vie for control of their hunting grounds. Innistrad Remastered includes plenty of the biggest Vampire faces in Innistrad, so it’s worth meeting them before the set drops on January 25.

Edgar Markov

Edgar Markov was the very first Vampire on Innistrad. Making a deal with the demon Shilgengar (who we just saw in last year’s Modern Horizons 3), his family captured an Angel and feasted on its blood to become the first brood of Vampires that would quickly sweep across Innistrad.

While Edgar is still the patriarch of the Markov family, the last time we saw him in the story was during Innistrad: Crimson Vow, where he was hypnotised by Olivia Voldaren and forced into marriage to give her control over both the Voldaren and Markov broods. This plan was stopped by Edgar’s grandson, the planeswalker Sorin Markov, but Olivia managed to escape to Thunder Junction. Edgar’s current location is unknown.

Sorin Markov

As mentioned, Sorin Markov is the grandson of Edgar, and one of the first people after Edgar to undergo the Vampiric ritual. But he wasn’t a willing recipient, and the trauma of being transformed into a monster caused his Planeswalker spark to ignite, taking him away from Innistrad.

In the millennia since, Sorin has become something of a protector of Innistrad. He worked with Nahiri and Ugin to seal the Eldrazi on Zendikar (before betraying Nahiri, leading to their long-running feud), and even created the archangel Avacyn to protect the humans of Innistrad from being over-hunted by the plane’s creatures, lest the Vampires’ food source ran dry.

Though one of the oldest and most powerful Planeswalkers, Sorin’s plans have often backfired. Avacyn was corrupted and almost laid waste to Innistrad, before Sorin was forced to unmake her. Later on, Nahiri escaped the prison Sorin trapped her in and brought the Eldrazi to Innistrad in the Shadows Over Innistrad story, which eventually led to the Eternal Night that gave Olivia Voldaren the power to hypnotise his grandfather.

Olivia Voldaren

The matriarch of the Voldaren brood, Olivia is one of the most powerful Vampires on Innistrad – perhaps even stronger than Edgar. Ruthless and power hungry, she regularly plays the political games of the Vampire elite to ensure her bloodline remains on top.

Olivia’s machinations have included working with Sorin, by providing a Vampiric army to fight Nahiri in Shadows Over Innistrad. This wasn’t at all for the greater good, though, as Voldaren took the earliest opportunity to betray Sorin, and left him encased within the walls of his own manor while she assumed control of the plane’s Vampires.

We later saw Olivia at the end of Innistrad: Midnight Hunt. As the nights were growing longer due to the Eldrazi Emrakul’s influence on the moon, she saw an opportunity for her kind to hunt in the open. She staged an attack on the forces assembled at an ancient artifact known as the Celestus, to successfully put a stop to their attempt to bring back the day.

With the Eternal Night now in full force, she hatched her plan to marry Edgar Markov. This plan almost succeeded until Sorin and his allies crashed the wedding, forcing Olivia and Edgar to flee. Though we don’t know where Edgar is now, we know Olivia fled to the frontier of Thunder Junction, where she’s formed a new army of bandits and outlaws while she plans her next coup on Innistrad.

The Stromkirks

Though the Stromkirks only appear on one card in Innistrad Remastered (Stromkirk Occultist), they’re by far some of the most interesting Vampires found on the plane.

While the Voldarens and the Markovs constantly struggled for power across Innistrad, the Stromkirks instead retreated to the waterlogged coastline of Nephalia. Here, they rule its ports and fishing villages in secret through the use of illusion magic and glamours to disguise themselves as human.

Though they don’t rule through fear the same way other broods do, the Stromkirks still have considerable influence over Innistrad. They turned Nephalia into a region of carpenters and artisans, simply to eliminate all the wood that would otherwise be used as stakes against their kind. They control the various cults scattered along the coast, too, with their leader Runo Stromkirk a powerful cultist for the ancient kraken Krothuss.

Innistrad Remastered and its horde of Vampires (not to mention Werewolves, Spirits, and Zombies) launch on February 25.

Magic: The Gathering

Created by Richard Garfield in 1993, Magic: The Gathering (MTG) has become one of the biggest tabletop collectible card games in the world. Taking on the role of a Planeswalker, players build decks of cards and do battle with other players. In excess of 100 additional sets have added new cards to the library, while the brand has expanded into video games, comics, and more.

Franchise

Magic: The Gathering

Original Release Date

August 5, 1993

Player Count

2+

Age Recommendation

13+

Length per Game

Variable

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