Locations
They always say it's darkest before dawn...
Fateful Hour is a mechanic first introduced in Magic's premier horror plane, Innistrad. In the story of Innistrad, nightmarish creatures prowl the land as humans seek salvation after their divine angel Avacyn mysteriously disappears...
Grim Backwoods by Vincent Proce
Innistrad block, premiering with the set Innistrad in the fall of 2011, marked an interesting point in Magic's story and art direction. Innistrad was inspired by classic horror tropes, zombies, werewolves, vampires (you get the gist), and lives on as one of my favorite blocks in Magic history. Innistrad sets the stage of the world, the following set, Dark Ascension, showcases the increasing horrors plaguing the battered human population of the plane, and Avacyn Restored, the third and final set in the block showcases the return of Avacyn and her legion of angels, as they cleanse the land of impurities.
Dark Ascension was the dark, foreboding arc of the Innistrad story, showcasing the increasing voracity of the monsters on the plane as the humans struggle to fight back. This aspect of the story is best represented in the mechanic we're talking about today, Fateful Hour.
Faith's Shield by Svetlin Velinov
Fateful Hour is an ability word introduced in Dark Ascension that gives you a bonus effect on cards if your life total is 5 or less. These abilities only are active if your life total is 5 or less, meaning you won't get them if you happen to gain some life back.
Thraben Doomsayer, a solid Limited rare for its time, can net you a 1/1 token every turn. However, once your life total hits 5 or less he starts pumping out 3/3s, a sizable army to help you come back in a given game of Magic.
Overall, the mechanic aims to give you a boost in turning the corner if you're on the backfoot and happen to hit 5 or less life, but are still hanging on. I kind of view this mechanic as a unique way for players to put up a fight when their backs are against the wall, as shown in the tenacity of the humans of Innistrad.
Fateful Hour is arguably a pretty weak mechanic. In most games of Magic if you're already under 5 life, you're probably losing or close to it. While Fateful Hour cards give you a definite boost, the fact of the matter is they're sort of counterintuitive with how they're designed. Thraben Doomsayer can net you some blockers, or even 3/3 attackers if you survive long enough, but the card doesn't actually gain you life or put you out of range of your opponent's burn spells or flyers, for example.
However, cards like Gavony Ironwright can definitely hold down the fort. White, in Innistrad/Dark Ascension Limited, gave you access to a variety of flying creatures, like 1/1 spirit tokens, making a card like Gavony Ironwright pretty solid if you need a way to hold down the fort while you claw back into a game. I think Fateful Hour is a pretty hard mechanic to design and make work well, and it's unclear how often it'll really come up.
Fateful Hour cards, while showing up in Limited play, didn't see much play in Constructed, outside of one particular card, Gather the Townsfolk. During Dark Ascension Standard, there was a powerful Orzhov Tokens strategy that utilized Honor of the Pure, Intangible Virtue, Midnight Haunting, Lingering Souls, and Gather the Townsfolk. Gather the Townsfolk acted as one of your 2-drop creatures in this deck, as you could play this on turn two, and then follow it up with either Lingering Souls or an "anthem" effect to buff up your team and go wide. While the Fateful Hour keyword wasn't always relevant on this card, it certainly was a nice bonus if you ever got to a position where you were 5 life or less.
Orzhov Tokens| Dark Ascension Standard | Rob Dougherty, Pro Tour Dark Ascension
- Creatures (8)
- 4 Champion of the Parish
- 4 Doomed Traveler
- Planeswalkers (3)
- 1 Elspeth Tirel
- 2 Sorin, Lord of Innistrad
- Instants (4)
- 4 Midnight Haunting
- Sorceries (8)
- 4 Gather the Townsfolk
- 4 Lingering Souls
- Enchantments (11)
- 3 Oblivion Ring
- 4 Honor of the Pure
- 4 Intangible Virtue
- Artifacts (2)
- 2 Sword of War and Peace
- Lands (24)
- 13 Plains
- 3 Swamp
- 1 Shimmering Grotto
- 3 Vault of the Archangel
- 4 Isolated Chapel
There are only two Fateful Hour cards that are featured outside of the original Dark Ascension set, one in Modern Horizons 1, and one in the Lord of the Rings Commander:
 |  |
While Spell Snuff is kind of a strange outlier to have this mechanic stapled onto it, Courageous Resolve is the perfect example of a Fateful Hour card. This card really embodies its keyword mechanic, as it completely protects you from everything for one turn. In a game of Commander this can shield you from death, as well as your opponents. If one opponent is about to win the game against you and another opponent, Courageous Resolve actually prevents them from winning and lets everyone continue playing - this can be disastrous for an opponent who didn't see it coming! I also like that if you aren't on 5 or less life, it at least acts as a protection spell and nets you a card.
While Fateful Hour only saw its time in the sun (or moon of Innistrad) for a short while, with only two instances of returning since 2012, I hope that Magic revisits this mechanic in some way, shape, or form in the future. Innistrad is by far my favorite plane in Magic history, so if we ever return it would be really cool to see a more juiced up version of this mechanic, as the original one didn't play too well, even in the Limited format.
I will say this mechanic is certainly flavorful, and really marks the comeback of the humans fighting against the darkness of Innistrad until their angel savior returns. While this mechanic is somewhat forgettable from a gameplay perspective, I still think it's a fascinating way to depict a vital part of Innistrad's story.
Thanks for reading,
-Roman Fusco
