Everything You Need to Know From the MTG Crimson Vow Reveal Stream

Though the summer is over, it doesn’t mean the wedding season has to end just yet. Olivia Voldaren and Edgar Markov are tying the knot in Magic’s newest set Innistrad: Crimson Vow. With the sets release scheduled for later in November, Wizards of the coast held a reveal stream on Thursday, October 28. In the stream they discussed the latest happenings in the story, the newest mechanics and of course some new cards. The Crimson Vow reveal stream may be over, TGH has the highlights from the quick show here.

[Related: What is the Innistrad: Crimson Vow Release Date?]

The Story So Far

The humans on Innistrad have acquired all of the pieces needed to perform the ritual to fix the day-night cycle. Unfortunately for Katilda and company, the monsters of Innistrad don’t like that idea one bit. Tovolar and his howlpack attack the ritualists in attempts to stop the ceremony and keep the plane under darkness. Humans eventually do stave off the werewolf clan, and appear to be on the verge of setting things right.

Courtesy of Wizards of the Coast

There is however, one last objector to the humans gambit. Olivia Voldaren swoops in at the last moment to steal the Moonsilver Key, and prevent the ritual from continuing. Without that key, and without the finished ritual, Innistrad stands in a constant state of darkness.

What does someone do once they successfully thwart a plan to get the plane on the right day-cycle? Get married of course! Olivia and Edgar Markov have announced their plans to join together in unholy matrimony, and every vampire is invited. Whether motivated by love, or some other nefarious goal, it looks like the vampire wedding will be the stage for plenty more action in Crimson Vow.

The New Mechanics and Keywords

There are a few new mechanics and keywords entering the game with Crimson Vow. The first new mechanic is a brand new type of token called “Blood”. Blood tokens serve as the foil to Clue tokens as they both draw a card, but Blood forces a player to discard a card first. The draw/discard portion of this token can be incredibly powerful as there are a few reanimator synergies in Midnight Hunt as well as Crimson Vow.

Courtesy of Wizards of the Coast

Along with Blood tokens, the MTG Crimson Vow reveal stream highlighted a new keyword for spells called “Cleave”. Cards with Cleave have additional text on the card placed inside brackets. If the Cleave cost was not paid, the player reads the card with the brackets inlcuded. However if the Cleave cost was paid, the player ignores all text inside the bracket. Cleave is incredibly similar to something like Kicker, however it doesn’t add more mana to the spell, and is just a alternate casting cost.

Courtesy of Wizards of the Coast

Last but not least there is one final keyword called “Training”. Similar to Mentor, Training buffs up creatures during combat. This time around training focuses on the creature being smaller alongside another creature. Training looks to be the mechanic for human cards and other aggressive creatures in white.

Courtesy of Wizards of the Coast

Returning Keywords

Coming back from Midnight Hunt is Disturb and Daybound/Nightbound. There will always be spirits and werewolves on Innistrad, and it makes complete sense to see those keywords come back one more time in Crimson Vow.

Courtesy of Wizards of the Coast

The more exciting return to Crimson Vow is Exploit. Players first saw exploit appear in Dragons of Tarkir. Exploit allows players to sacrifice a creature to gain additional benefits when the creature enters the battlefield. Exploit looks to be a big pay-off for zombies in Crimson Vow, as many of the zombies in Midnight Hunt are hindered by the Decay mechanic.

Courtesy of Wizards of the Coast

New Art and New Showcase Cards

As is tradition with new sets, there are brand new showcase frames and unique art for Crimson Vow. There are now “Fang” frames for the legendary vampires in the set, which include new art from the base version of the card. The Fang frames feature a very Voldaren-style artwork that surrounds the card.

Courtesy of Wizards of the Coast

Also making its return are the crossover artworks. Ikoria saw creatures swap art for famous Godzilla characters, and for Crimson Vow, prominent characters are replaced with “Dracula” characters. Just like last time, these are not new cards – they are just different versions of the same card.

Courtesy of Wizards of the Coast

Spoiler Season has Begun

With the conclusion of the MTG Crimson Vow reveal stream, the spoiler season has officially begun. The spoiler season will continue until two weeks before the official set release. Players will be able to get their hands on Crimson Vow on Magic: Arena a week before the release.

Don’t forget to bring the invitation, Olivia has quite the security for the event of the century.

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Featured image courtesy of Wizards of the Coast

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