Crimson Vow is just a couple weeks away from being released on November 19 and I think there’s already a lot to be excited about. Plenty of spoilers have been leaked which has revealed a bunch of new mechanics such as Training and Cleave while seeing the return of beloved keywords Disturb and Exploit. On top of that, we’ve been treated to a sneak preview of Blood Tokens which are similar to Clue Tokens but with a twist.

Lastly, there’s a big influx of werewolves expected in this set and to give the theme a bit more flavour, MTG will be releasing a bunch of cards that cause global Daybound or Nightbound effects. These effects will cause certain cards to flip over depending on if it’s day or night, so prepare to be flipping cards in their sleeves a whole bunch. Honestly, I totally get that the flipping this is fun for a lot of people but I am not stoked about having to flip cards multiple times, possibly in one turn, and having them get scuffed and ruined. I’m a grump though so…..yeah.

After glossing through spoilers for the new set, it’s safe to say there’s some pretty crazy additions to the MTG world on the horizon. Not all of it is good as we’ve spotted at least one mistake made by the MTG design team but honestly, this set has at least a little of something for just about any style of player in almost any format. So let’s get into it!

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New Mechanics

Training

The first mechanic we’re going to look at is Training which acts a lot like an evolve mechanic. When a creature with Training attacks with a more powerful creature, it gets a +1 counter. Not too shabby. What’s nice is there’s almost always a secondary effect when the counters hit. Even better, it doesn’t have to be counters from the Training ability itself. That means decks that generate a lot of +1 counters on creatures will see lots of value from this ability.

Cleave

Cleave cards all contain text in square brackets. It acts kind of like Overload in that you can pay extra to have a broader, more powerful effect take place. In some cases, not paying the Cleave cost can actually hurt you (think about having your max hand size reduced for the rest of the game….youch!). This is just a fun mechanic to have around and something that anybody can get into using. If you play the Cleave cost, the writing in the square brackets is null and void and you get some added benefits. Easy peasy. Next!

Blood Tokens

Blood Tokens are the new artifact token that helps players generate card draw. It’s in the same realm as Clue and Treasure tokens. The big difference, and the thing that makes this new token somewhat iffy, is that you must discard a card before drawing a card. Some decks will love putting cards in the bin but there’s also going to be a lot of decks that don’t want this at all. It’s somewhat reminiscent of Surveil which acted like Scry but moved cards to the GY instead of the bottom of the deck.

Also, What the hell is up with this card? Being able to cast a 5/6 flyer with trample is kinda bonkers just in itself. The trade off is that your opponents get to generate Blood Tokens but, as we already mentioned, that’s not always going to be useful. Also, unless there’s an erratta to be had, whenever this guy attacks, he gets +1 to his power for every Blood Token the defending player has…..Permanently!

Just think about that. This card is pretty wild and looks kinda like a mistake but we’ll see if they retcon that last ability.

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Cultivator Colossus

If your looking for big, fat, stompy stompy then look no further. Cultivator Colossus is a ridiculous card for so many reasons. While it’s overall power and toughness are dependant on how many lands you control, you can assume that with a 7 CMC cost, it’s going to be meaty when it hits the board. Trample is a nice addition but this card quickly becomes unhinged.

That’s because the second ability allows you to play a land from your hand, draw and card and then repeat the process again. The value you’re going to get from this guy is insane. Oh, it’s also in green which is the champion of cheating out big baddies like this guy all the freaking time. Cultivator Colossus isn’t even legendary so you’re free to dupe it over and over again. Silly, just plain silly.

Necroduality

Necroduality is just a nice card for anyone looking to run a shambling, zombie horde style deck. Crimson Vow is doing a lot with zombies in this set and utilizing Exploit in a lot of cool ways. So now, instead of just getting one exploit on your etb trigger, you’ll get two! The artwork is great. Scarab God loves this card.

White Cards That Look Really Cool

White is getting some pretty big enchantment buffs in Hallowed Haunting and Sigarda’s Summons. These aren’t going to be cards you’re going to see often but when you do, it’s going to be right before you experience some serious pain. By Invitation Only is slightly unwieldy, acting effectively as a 5 CMC board wipe. What’s nice is how it gets around indestructible creatures. I’m excited to see these cards show up in a voltron style deck….actually, Sigarda, Host of Herons would be an amazing fit for all of these cards.

Manaform Hellkite

I don’t know how much play this guy will see but a 4/4 flyer that costs 4 is great value on any day. It’s ability also let’s you create Dragon Illusion tokens with power and toughness equal the the last noncreature spell you cast. While the tokens are slated to disappear at the end of your turn, there’s plenty of effects that allow you to keep them around. I currently run a Gruul tribal Dragon deck and can tell you that any dragon that costs less than 6 is going in that deck. This card is 100% joining Atarka, World Render when it’s finally released. I’m stoked!