Commander Review | Innistrad: Crimson Vow | Part 2 | Black, Red
Innistrad: Crimson Vow has just been fully previewed so now it's time for to go over the entire set and highlight the cards that I think are most noteworthy for us Commander players. Previously we covered White and Blue, now we move on to Black and Red. Let's get started:
BLACK
Archghoul of Thraben
You'd think that Vampire Tribal would benefit the most in a set named after them, but nope, Zombie Tribal is the clear winner in this set! Despite the sheer quantity of absurdly good Zombie Tribal support cards already, Archghoul of Thraben makes a strong case for getting a spot in the 99. Its ability triggers on any zombie you control dying, not just nontokens, so the 13 zombies you make off Army of the Damned or decayed ones off Jadar, Ghoulcaller of Nephalia all trigger its mega-surveil ability. Plus it's a zombie itself so it benefits from all the tribal synergies! That's a ton for 3 mana.
I recommend Archghoul in the 99 of any Zombie Tribal deck, even though cutting down to just 99 cards keeps getting harder and harder.
Bloodvial Purveyor
Bloodvial Purveyor is a HUGE beater, starting as a 5/6 flample for 4 mana and only hits harder from there. Still, showering your opponents with Blood tokens probably isn't a winning strategy unless you're leveraging them in a special way. The best and least janky is of course Dockside Extortionist to turn your opponents' Blood tokens into an obscene amount of Treasure tokens for yourself (as if Dockside needs help being a good card), but if you want to go deep then you can do ultra janky things like get max value out of Curious Herd, Ancient Runes, maybe don't even let them sac them with Karn, the Great Creator so the tokens keep piling up, or if they do then you get to draw cards off Viridian Revel ... wait what if we build an entire deck based around giving our opponents artifacts and benefiting off them? Tempting Contract? Curse of Opulence? CAN WE Dockside Extortionist, THEN Fractured Identity IT TO GIVE OUR OPPONENTS TONS OF TREASURES???
Expect this ultra-jank deck in the near future!
Cemetery Desecrator
Zombie Tribal gets its own version of Noxious Gearhulk and while it's not quite as good on its own it has extra flexibility of being able to remove counters (killing planeswalkers, flipping Dark Depths, etc.) and acting as graveyard hate. But since it's a Zombie yeah it's way better considering you could like uh cast it for free off Rooftop Storm and such. Card is real good, but Zombie Tribal is also insanely good these days, so while it's not a staple or anything it's certainly a strong choice in your Zombie deck.
Demonic Bargain
People are largely dismissing Demonic Bargain as unplayable and I don't think that's fair. While yes, it's worse than the literal best (and most expensive) Black tutors like Vampiric Tutor, Demonic Tutor, and Grim Tutor, it does a very good impression of Grim Tutor and is probably going to be a fraction of the price. You lose thirteen cards but honestly, unless you're a Combo deck where if you exile a combo piece you're SOL, exiling 13 random cards isn't a big deal like poeple think it is. If you're tutoring a board wipe, odds are you aren't going to randomly exile ALL your wipes, you know? Plus the art is sick!
Is it an amazing card? No. But it's solid, and in most cases it's better than Diabolic Tutor, making it a great choice in a lot of budget brews. Comparing every new card to the literal best and most expensive format staples isn't fair.
Doom Weaver
Ooo, this is a fun one for Aristocrat decks! While we already have cheaper draw engines off dying creatures like Morbid Opportunist and Grim Haruspex, these are all capped at one card per death trigger. Meanwhile Doom Weaver is more expensive but can draw far more cards, scaling very well with big beefy bois. I don't think every Aristocrats decks will want it, but those sacrificing bigger creatures certainly should keep it on the radar. It's also a Spider making it a slam-dunk for Spider Tribal under Ishkanah, Grafwidow.
Dreadfeast Demon
I love the idea of slowly turning your entire army into ravenous demons. But at 7 mana ... oof. That's just too much for what you get. Love the flavor, but gonna pass.
Dying to Serve
If you have a deck where you're making 2+ zombie tokens per turn cycle then Dying to Serve gets really good. I can't think of any popular decks offhand that can pull this off -- maybe a fair, non-combo version of Anje Falkenrath Madness? That seems pretty sweet.
Falkenrath Forebear
Falkenrath Forebear is one of the most self-reliable Blood token generators and the recursion is a nice touch as well. All you have to do is deal combat damage with it, which is easy considering it has flying too. It's a strong candidate for Olivia, Mobilized for War Vampire Madness (there's dozens of us) and an unexciting but reasonable inclusion in Edgar Markov as well. Blood tokens are also artifacts so there could be some spice in a Black Artifact deck; something with Armix, Filigree Thrasher, perhaps?
Fell Stinger
Zombie Mulldrifter is not a bad card by any stretch. It won't make the cut in the most optimized Zombie Tribal lists, but I expect this to be a fine inclusion in budget brews.
Headless Rider
Yet another allstar inclusion in Zombie Tribal! This zombie version of Xathrid Necromancer is a huge boon in just about any Zombie deck, passively generating an absurd amount of free tokens as you do regular zombie things like draw cards off Wilhelt, the Rotcleaver, tutor with Corpse Harvester, kill stuff with Ravenous Rotbelly, etc. It's a crazy efficient engine that will always be great and also doubles as redundancy for zombie combos, like letting you generate infinite mana with Gravecrawler + Phyrexian Altar. This should make the cut in just about any Zombie Tribal deck, even the most optimized ones.
Henrika Domnathi // Henrika, Infernal Seer
Henrika Domnathi is a 2021 Vampire Nighthawk + Fleshbag Marauder that also draws a card. That's impressive for a 4-drop but also not the most exciting for me personally. I don't think I'd run her as a commander, but she's fine in the 99 of Edgar Markov or whatever.
Persistent Specimen
We just got a worse version of Reassembling Skeleton, but you know what? It's still a staple in Skeleton Tribal! In you go!
Restless Bloodseeker // Bloodsoaked Reveler
Restless Bloodseeker is another super efficient Blood token generator, this time for Lifegain decks. I'm not sure which Lifegain decks would care much about Blood tokens, but considering how easy it is to make them with this 2-drop it may be worth jamming it even if you deck doesn't have much synergy with them. Of course, if there is a Lifegain deck out there that loves blood / discarding / artifact tokens then this card is bananas.
Sorin the Mirthless
Sorin, one of the most powerful and ancient planeswalkers in the multiverse, a vengeful and egotistical man who last we saw had a personal vendetta against Olivia for leaving him trapped in a rock to die, returns ... as a moody goth boy sulking at a faux wedding. Yeesh.
Oh, the card? It's not very good in Commander. I mean, it's playable and probably best in Edgar Markov Vampire Tribal, but it's not great. I just wanted to rant about how they did Sorin dirty despite Twitter being like "OMG HE'S HOT THOUGH!"
Undead Butler
While far from a second copy of Stitcher's Supplier in Self-Mill decks, Undead Butler is yet another amazing card for Zombie Tribal. Zombies love filling their graveyard with bodies to mass reanimate with Zombie Apocalypse and such, which a 2-drop like Butler helps set up. Zombies love sacrificing, so sacrifice the Butler for value and get back a creature is also sweet. It's an amazing budget inclusion at the very least.
Voldaren Bloodcaster // Bloodbat Summoner
Of all the Blood token generators, Voldaren Bloodcaster is probably the strongest: this one wants to be played in an Aristocrats deck and is notable that you can passively create multiple Blood tokens per turn while your deck does its thing. Aristocrat decks are also usually Graveyard decks so using blood tokens to discard Reanimate targets seems sweet. This card looks really solid in just about any Artistocrat / Sacrifice deck, like Yawgmoth, Thran Physician or Meren of Clan Nel Toth.
RED
Ancestral Anger
A red instant 1-drop that targets a creature and draws a card? Yup, it's another staple for Zada, Hedron Grinder!
Belligerent Guest
While a big step down from Falkenrath Forebear, Belligerent Guest does a decent imitation at common. If you really want Blood tokens then this isn't the worst option.
Cemetery Gatekeeper
Cemetery Gatekeeper is a sweet mix of Group Slug with a bit of graveyard hate for a sleek 2 mana. Being a cheap vampire with utility makes it a perfect inclusion in Edgar Markov and a solid candidate for Group Slug decks like Mogis, God of Slaughter.
Chandra, Dressed to Kill
For 3 mana, Chandra, Dressed to Kill is essentially a fragile mana rock that doubles as card draw, and if you protect her long enough then you get an amazing bonus payoff. Her impulse draw is only good in Mono Red decks and even so it notably whiffs on lands and artifacts, so realistically you only have a ~50-60% chance to get something out of it -- not great, hence why I suggest playing it with the intent of using her mana ability most often.
I see this as a decent inclusion in any Mono Red deck, even better in Exile Matters like Bell Borca, Spectral Sergeant and Prosper, Tome-Bound, amazing when her ping is relevant in Rakdos, Lord of Riots, but best of all, an absolute staple in Chandra Tribal! You can see my Chandra Tribal in action over here.
Change of Fortune
People are skipping over Change of Fortune but it's absolutely a game-winner in specific decks that can properly utilize it: one of the best decks has to be Anje Falkenrath, where you can easily rummage through a huge chunk of your deck for free, then spend 4 mana to cast Change and draw half your deck immediately. It can also be quite potent in a Cycling deck like Gavi, Nest Warden, especially if you're cycling for free with a Fluctuator or similar. Also Rielle, the Everwise should be very happy with this!
So yeah, in the right deck, this card will set you up to win the game.
Creepy Puppeteer
Creepy Puppeteer has a cool and unique ability that I wish was attached to a commander so it could be properly explored. "Power Matters" is a cool concept that you don't really see in Red, though there is potential with stuff like Prophetic Flamespeaker. Maybe I'm wrong and this commander already exists in Red, and this might be sweet there? Otherwise it's too much of an ask to build around in the 99.
Curse of Hospitality
Curse of Hospitality looks like Red's version of Curse of Verbosity: not as strong since the owner doesn't get to draw a card if a mutual opponent attacks, and you do need to deal combat damage first to trigger it, but it does help beefy creatures get past chump blockers with trample. Despite being a bit worse it's still a strong card and absolutely brutal if you're the cursed victim as card draw is a STRONG incentive for people to attack you when they otherwise wouldn't, even if it's impulse draw from the victim's deck.
Dominating Vampire
In Edgar Markov, Dominating Vampire is basically a guaranteed Threaten that also makes a 3/3 vampire and 1/1 vampire token, kind of an insane rate for 3 mana. I'd highly recommend it in that deck.
Ill-Tempered Loner // Howlpack Avenger
The best and most common board wipe available to Tovolar, Dire Overlord is unquestionably Blasphemous Act. Now if it's night and you have a decent board state including Howlpack Avenger, the board wipe you already run now doubles as a win condition since you'll redirect a ton of damage at your opponents' faces. That makes this werewolf a top inclusion in the tribe in my books.
Into the Night
Four mana to turn day to night is pretty pricey, especially compared to the better Unnatural Moonrise or Tovolar, Dire Overlord. I'd only recommend Into the Night in the lowest budget Werewolf brews as a filler card, where its card filtering is especially useful to filter out filler and find your best cards instead.
Manaform Hellkite
Manaform Hellkite is a powerful card: a 4/4 flyer that pumps out extra damage in the form of temporary dragons is a ton of value for a 4-drop. But what's a good home for it? You'd get the most value out of its trigger in a Storm deck like Kykar, Wind's Fury, but generally speaking, those decks will put out more damage faster with a Guttersnipe instead.
I think the deck that most wants this is a version of Dragon Tribal that casts a fair amount of noncreature spells. Popping off with this and Dragon Tempest / Terror of the Peaks / Scourge of Valkas would be brutal, essentially doubling the value out of the Hellkite's trigger.
Olivia's Attendants
And here we have the most efficient self-reliant blood token generator with Olivia's Attendants, generating six blood tokens per turn all by itself each time it attacks. That's a lot of blood, which is amazing fuel for any Madness / Artifacts / Tokens synergies as well as being simply good card filtering. It's also important to note that the trigger happens on any damage, not just combat, so the Attendants' activated ability triggers it, but also we can go bigger with stuff like Chandra's Ignition to really pop off with blood.
In a deck that really loves blood, Olivia's Attendants is going to be an allstar, worthy of a limited 6-drop slot.
Reckless Impulse
Look how far we've come from 2014's Act on Impulse! Reckless Impulse is a huge upgrade, being a 2 instead of 3 mana and letting you cast the exiled spells until the end of your next turn, which is key for this card to be playable. It's comparable to Light Up the Stage, a card I love and play often, with this one costing 1 more mana usually but not requiring an extra hoop of dealing damage first.
Reckless Impulse is the type of card that any Red card can simply start with in the rough draft. It might get cut if you have better / more synergistic card draw options for that particular deck, but it's never a bad inclusion, and being printed at common means it's always a fantastic budget inclusion at the very least. But if you're in Exile Matters like Bell Borca, Spectral Sergeant and Prosper, Tome-Bound then this is an absolute staple.
Runebound Wolf
Runebound Wolf isn't amazing but it's strong enough to warrant inclusion as a budget filler in Werewolf Tribal: it's a 2-drop Wolf that helps you curve into Tovolar, Dire Overlord while also providing lategame reach. It's not the best at either things but it does both good enough that if I'm on a tight budget and need to fill slots then this works in a pinch.
Volatile Arsonist
Volatile Arsonist is another decent budget inclusion in Werewolf Tribal. It's not a top dog, it's too expensive for an optimized budgetless brew, but it's fine to jam in if you have one handy and budget is a concern. Menace and haste is nice to get damage through and draw a card off Tovolar, Dire Overlord, and it can pick off small utility creatures like Birds of Paradise. Not amazing for five mana but solid.
Voldaren Epicure
This random common is low-key one of the best pickups for Edgar Markov. The best vampires in the deck are low mana cost with relevant utility, and Epicure is a 1-drop that comes with a blood token and deals damage to trigger "bloodthirst" abilities like Florian, Voldaren Scion and Vampire Socialite, all while making a vamp token off Edgar. What's not to love? This is a windmill slam in my opinion!
Coming Soon: Part 3, Green, Multicolored, and Colorless!
Let me know what you think of the new Black and Red cards. Which are you most excited for and how do you plan on using them? What decks will you put them into? Tell me in the comments section below! Thanks for reading!
