Continuing rotation month (see previous post), today I look at Crimson Vow.
A sister set to Midnight Hunt, Crimson Vow was release just two months later (November 2021). Like Hunt, Vow is set on Innistrad. This time, as the set name implies, the focus is on vampires. And, thus, blood.
Some themes from Midnight Hunt carried over, so I won't repeat those. The three new ones:
- Blood tokens were introduced in this set. I felt them underpowered on their own (pay, tap, sacrifice, discard is a high cost for the benefit), but they could work in red/black vampire decks with the right cards.
- Training helped creatures (generally humans) by buffing them (putting a +1/+1 counter) if they attacked with creatures with greater power.
- Exploit (generally found on zombies) provided powerful effects if you had a creature to sacrifice
Favorites
Thalia and Hopeful Initiate were staples in many a white aggro deck. Voice of the Blessed was fun and had to be handled early or things got out of hand. Thirst for Discovery was key in one of my 'bluey' decks. Fell Stinger and Headless Rider were fun in an Exploit Zombie deck. Persistent Specimen makes the list because I enjoy skeletons (for whatever reason). It's not as good as Reassembling Skeleton, but fun nonetheless. Four cards were staples in red burn decks: Ancestral Anger, End the Festivities, Reckless Impulse, and Voldaren Epicure. For green, Ascendant Packleader was nice, Ulvenwald Oddity/Behemoth (it's flip card) saw frequent play in my green stompy decks, and Halana and Alena were super fun in my legendary deck iterations.
Good Riddance
As with Midnight Hunt, there wasn't a lot about this set that bothered me outside of a few minor irritants: Wedding Announcement/Festivity generally signaled a drawn-out control game that I seldom enjoy. Hullbreaker Horror was an overpowered nuisance until it was (thankfully) banned. Stormchaser Drake saw play in decks that had a few creatures and a million ways to buff/protect them . . . that could be annoying. Sorin makes my list because of my general disdain for planeswalkers and how often he extended the game. Bloodtithe Harvester wasn't terrible but mildly bothersome. And the land cycle (Dreamroot Cascade is an example) continues from last time: lands that aren't overly expensive but open up a lot of options come turn three.
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