(Crimson Vow Key Art | Art by Nestor Ossandon Leal)

Let the Festivities Commence!

Hello, everyone! It’s your friendly neighborhood Jesguy here, and welcome to the Innistrad: Crimson Vow Multicolored Set Review! Allow me to humbly usher you to the finest event Innistrad has ever seen: a wedding that's absolutely to die for!

Today, I will guide you through all the wonderful gold cards that Crimson Vow has to offer. Let's get going immediately! I would hate to keep the lady of the hour waiting. I can assure you, this will be a bloody good time.

Mythics

Olivia, Crimson Bride

Here comes the bride, all dressed in white night. Once again, Olivia VoldarenOlivia Voldaren returns, this time as Olivia, Crimson BrideOlivia, Crimson Bride, and she is looking absolutely fabulous, both in style and as a card. I've seen some folks disagree, but I honestly believe this is the best iteration of Olivia for our format thus far.

Her original cardoriginal card is strong, but takes quite a bit of mana to do anything, and if she's ever removed, you lose all the work you built up thus far. Her second version, Olivia, Mobilized for WarOlivia, Mobilized for War is a neat Madness commander and a source of haste and +1/+1 counters, but requires you to pitch cards from your hand before you can get any of those bonuses.

Olivia Crimson BrideOlivia Crimson Bride is more expensive than her other two cards, but she provides immediate value and immediate impact with no strings attached. Whenever she attacks, she can reanimate a creature from the yard tapped and attacking, for no cost. Excellent! Yes, it comes with a rider that you must maintain control of a legendary Vampire, but that's barely a downside.

The important thing to note with this clause is that it doesn't say "another" legendary Vampire - if the creature you revive is a legendary Vampire, it keeps itself around for good. This incentivizes you to invite as many notable Vamps to your wedding deck as possible, since they'll stick around even if OliviaOlivia is excused from the festivities for a bit. On top of this, with enough sacrifice outlets like Viscera SeerViscera Seer, you can always make sure your party-goers never get kicked out of the venue permanently, just back to the graveyard where Olivia can summon them again.

OliviaOlivia is putting on one heck of an event, and it shows. Her card is powerful, flavorful, and has quite a bit of impact despite being six mana. Sure, she will never best Edgar MarkovEdgar Markov in terms of Vampire decks, but I think she will amass a respectable number herself all the same. It remains to be seen whether her decks will trend toward Vampire Tribal or Rakdos Reanimator, similar to Chainer, Nightmare AdeptChainer, Nightmare Adept. She has power, grace, and flexibility, all wonderful things to see from this set's bride.

Kaya, Geist Hunter

Kaya is back for the second time this year, and despite her name being "Geist Hunter", it seems like she wants to make geists? Huh. Flavor nitpick aside, Kaya Geist HunterKaya Geist Hunter seems really sweet. She's cheap, she has solid abilities, and she has homes in the format, all things that makes planeswalkers relevant in EDH.

KayaKaya's bread and butter will be her -2 ability, a one-shot Anointed ProcessionAnointed Procession, which is perfect for Token Decks like Thalisse, Reverent MediumThalisse, Reverent Medium, Felisa, Fang of SilverquillFelisa, Fang of Silverquill, Elenda, the Dusk RoseElenda, the Dusk Rose, Ghave, Guru of SporesGhave, Guru of Spores, and Extus, Oriq OverlordExtus, Oriq Overlord. Her +1 is nice, but niche, probably best used with pinger creatures or as a form of deterring opponents from blocking, which might be useful for Monarch decks. Her ultimate, should she ever get there, is great value, obliterating graveyards and creating Spirits for each card exiled this way. That's a lot of Cathars' CrusadeCathars' Crusade triggers.

Multicolor walkers have a lot of pressure on them to be good. I don't think KayaKaya fits into Superfriends strategies, but this is great planeswalker design for decks that like tokens, so Kaya definitely meets the mark.

Toxrill, the Corrosive

I'm super stoked that y'all like this slimey boy, but goodness, it just looks absolutely miserable to play against.

Look, I know it's seven mana, but the table will never be able to play creatures again if this sticks around. Some strategies get completely locked out by a Grave PactGrave Pact, and this card has a very similar potential to just shut down some players from getting to play the game. That uphill battle isn't always the goal of every social group out there. Just check with folks first, is all I'm saying. If your group is cool with it, then who am I to judge?

So, let's dig into some neat spells. Cards that give creatures away, like Exotic OrchardExotic Orchard or Slaughter SpecialistSlaughter Specialist are great here, since Toxrill will swiftly turn them into your own Slug army. Poppet StitcherPoppet Stitcher can flip to turn all the Slugs into massive 3/3s! Proliferate is also solid here - Yawgmoth, Thran PhysicianYawgmoth, Thran Physician or Inexorable TideInexorable Tide can help speed up the slime counter process. Sakashima of a Thousand FacesSakashima of a Thousand Faces and Sludge MonsterSludge Monster help ratchet up slime production as well, making it difficult for anything you don't control to stick on board.

If Toxrill, the CorrosiveToxrill, the Corrosive is a commander you enjoy, I'm happy for you, honestly. It's splashy, unique, and very powerful to boot, but just be aware of the ire it may draw from the table. Have your NegateNegates and CounterspellCounterspells ready to protect it from all the salt, cuz the Slug will be enemy #1. Even if it's just in your 99, it'll draw the same attention as an Elesh Norn, Grand CenobiteElesh Norn, Grand Cenobite. Oh, and speaking of the 99, Toxrill seems like a pretty great card for Volrath, the ShapestealerVolrath, the Shapestealer, or even some Sultai Reanimator decks looking to cheat gruesome baddies into play.

Umbris, Fear Manifest

Alright, stop me if you've heard this before: I'm super stoked that y'all like this slimey spoopy boy, but goodness, it justs look absolutely miserable to play against.

I am really happy to see that Horrors and Nightmares finally have a genuinely good tribal commander, honestly I am. However, there are so many players - myself included - that despise being milled, and UmbrisUmbris is worse than just simple mill, cuz it's built around exile mill. Again, that's fine in plenty of groups, just always check first about the game experience the table is after.

Now, let's see what we can do with this Nightmare.

A deck full of Horrors and Nightmares seems great. There are some genuinely good creatures out there that just happen to be one of those types: Phyrexian RagerPhyrexian Rager, Ravenous ChupacabraRavenous Chupacabra, Falthis, Shadowcat FamiliarFalthis, Shadowcat Familiar... heck, Nightmare ShepherdNightmare Shepherd makes even more of them for you! Oh, and Oblivion SowerOblivion Sower will give you a bunch of mana from all the things Umbris has been exiling all game. Nasty.

This gets even better once you add in graveyard hate like Ashiok, Nightmare WeaverAshiok, Nightmare Weaver and Soul-Guide LanternSoul-Guide Lantern. All these will pump UmbrisUmbris super quickly, so it can easily take opponents out with commander damage in a single attack. Evasiveness like Rogue's PassageRogue's Passage or Whispersilk CloakWhispersilk Cloak will be key to knocking opponents down for good. I also recommend Essence HarvestEssence Harvest for an out-of-the-blue alpha strike. If you want, you can blink your Horrors, Nightmares, or Changelings with Ghostly FlickerGhostly Flicker, or pair Umbris with a Deadeye NavigatorDeadeye Navigator, to repeat the ETB effect a bunch and craft some very empty enemy libraries.

Umbris, Fear ManifestUmbris, Fear Manifest is straightforward and gives two struggling tribes a very solid commander. UmbrisUmbris even provides a boon to various Mill decks. Phenax, God of DeceptionPhenax, God of Deception could use Umbris alongside a Leyline of the VoidLeyline of the Void to create a very fast clock. Umbris knows what it wants to do, and dang, does it do it well.

Rares

Alchemist's Gambit

Oh goodie, our first Cleave card! These cards are['nt that] good and [are incredibly narrow and] modal, which [sadly] makes them [not that] desirable.

While Alchemist's GreetingAlchemist's Greeting's first 'mode' may be mono-red, it is ultimately a blue-red card, which hurts its stock quite a bit. The Izzet colors have a plethora of extra turn spells, and I'm not sure they need another, especially one this niche.

One of the most popular extra turn spells, Time WarpTime Warp, sees play in over 12,000 decks, which initially bodes well for the Gambit's outlook, until you realize that 3/4ths of the commanders making the most use of Time WarpTime Warp don't have red in their color identities. On top of that, popular extra-turn commanders that are in red, like Narset, Enlightened MasterNarset, Enlightened Master, Jeleva, Nephalia's ScourgeJeleva, Nephalia's Scourge, and Maelstrom WandererMaelstrom Wanderer, don't want to cast this for free, since it will put them at risk of losing the game completely.

I think Obeka, Brute ChronologistObeka, Brute Chronologist is the true winner here, since she already makes use of Final FortuneFinal Fortune effects. Otherwise, I would avoid this one.

(PS: Not all Cleave cards may be covered in this review. Though they technically can only be played in multicolor decks, some of the Cleave cards have been covered in mono-color reviews earlier this week.)

Anje, Maid of Dishonor

Anje is back, and she's looking great! She isn't as inherently powerful as her previous versionprevious version, but I think she's quite good.

Back in June, I wrote an article on AsmoranomardicadaistinaculdacarAsmoranomardicadaistinaculdacar, which I deemed an acceptable substitute for Anje FalkenrathAnje Falkenrath to helm Madness decks. Anje FalkenrathAnje Falkenrath was billed as a Madness commander, but instead became the centerpiece of a Worldgorger DragonWorldgorger Dragon combo deck. My goal with AsmoranomardicadaistinaculdacarAsmoranomardicadaistinaculdacar was to move the needle back to a slower, more value-based Madness deck. Looking at Anje, Maid of DishonorAnje, Maid of Dishonor, I think she can fulfill that same role, and more!

This iteration of AnjeAnje is versatile and powerful; she can create discard outlets to pitch away useless cards or Madness spells, she deals damage and procs lifegain triggers, and she's a sacrifice outlet! Her Blood production hinges around Vampires, which pushes her towards Vampire Tribal, but that just gives her another angle to build around. She isn't flashy, but AnjeAnje is a really great mesh of all the various Innistrad Vampire strategies we've seen over the years. AnjeAnje is efficient, flexible, balanced, and open-ended, and because of that, she's probably my favorite legend in the set.

Dorothea, Vengeful Victim

DorotheaDorothea, like all the Disturb creatures, is a great design, but much like her cohort from the last setcohort from the last set, she seems better in the 99 than as a commander. DorotheaDorothea isn't reminiscent of Geist of Saint TraftGeist of Saint Traft, she's reminiscent of Invocation of Saint TraftInvocation of Saint Traft, which appears in barely 750 decks. If you want blue-white beatdown, you have more exciting options available, from Daxos of MeletisDaxos of Meletis to Dragonlord OjutaiDragonlord Ojutai.

Edgar, Charmed Groom

Here comes the groom, all dressed in... gloom?

Edgar is back in Crimson Vow as Olivia's [un]lucky hubby-to-be! I saw plenty of people complaining about Edgar, Charmed GroomEdgar, Charmed Groom's power level compared to his first cardhis first card, and to that I say, thank goodness he's not that powerful! Edgar MarkovEdgar Markov is absolutely absurd! We do not want new cards trying to replicate that level of power, trust me.

Edgar, Charmed GroomEdgar, Charmed Groom is a shoo-in for Vampire decks that include black and white, like Elenda, the Dusk RoseElenda, the Dusk Rose and Vona, Butcher of MaganVona, Butcher of Magan. He's a well-costed creature that pumps the team, is hard to kill, and makes tokens! That's really solid all around! He'll be good in the original Edgar MarkovEdgar Markov too, though that Mardu deck is so fast these days that some may prefer not to use a four-mana lord.

In the command zone, it's a lot more contentious. It's nice to have more Vampire tribal options, but EdgarEdgar's biggest issue is that he's competing with himselfhimself. The pump effect isn't quite appealing enough to pull us away from the de facto best Vampire deck in the format. That's okay, though! He's still a very charming Charmed Groom.

Also, if you ever want to Rule 0 Olivia, Crimson BrideOlivia, Crimson Bride and Edgar, Charmed GroomEdgar, Charmed Groom to have Partner together, I will happily oblige. After all, who am I to stop true love?

Eruth, Tormented Prophet

Eruth, Tormented ProphetEruth, Tormented Prophet is neat, although I can't help but think I've seen a similar card before....

Look, I'm not saying EruthEruth is the exact same card as Rielle, the EverwiseRielle, the Everwise, but there are enough similarities that I had to look twice. They're both blue-red cards that want to churn through their decks. They do so in different ways, but that's the core tenet of their identities.

EruthEruth wants you to draw as many cards as possible and absolutely rip right through your library. I think Eruth, Tormented ProphetEruth, Tormented Prophet inevitably leans into a Storm-like build, exiling tons of draw spells and rituals to locate extra turn spells and combo pieces. Because her draw effect is a replacement effect, she'll never lose the game for drawing from an empty library. This is the sort of thing that makes a Thassa's OracleThassa's Oracle very happy indeed.

While interesting, the truth of the matter is that EruthEruth is very linear, so if the Storm-/Spellslinging-style isn't exactly what you're looking for, I would suggest the aforementioned Rielle, the EverwiseRielle, the Everwise or Vadrik, Astral ArchmageVadrik, Astral Archmage, which can have a little more variety to their strategies. Oh, and if you're one of the 150 Nassari, Dean of ExpressionNassari, Dean of Expression players out there, Eruth is excited to join your class.

Grolnok, the Omnivore

Usually I would complain about generic Simic value commanders, but I find Grolnok, the OmnivoreGrolnok, the Omnivore downright... ribbet-ing. 😎

As much as I despise milquetoast value commanders, I think GrolnokGrolnok is an exception. First, there's finally a commander for Frog Tribal. Would I build it purely Frog tribal? No. Do I think some Frogs are good enough to include regardless of the build? Yes! Two that come to mind are Spore FrogSpore Frog and Plaxcaster FroglingPlaxcaster Frogling. The second reason I like GrolnokGrolnok is because it's one of the few Simic commanders that enables a Self-Mill strategy. Most commanders occupying this space are Golgari or Sultai, so it's cool to see a new commander explore that space in these colors. TraumatizeTraumatize or Hermit DruidHermit Druid yourself for tons of value! Arcane AdaptationArcane Adaptation your whole team into Frogs! Play an all-permanents deck for Grolnok's effect to have a 99% hit rate, cuz your only spell is Primal SurgePrimal Surge! LET THE CROAKENING BEGIN!

Halana and Alena, Partners

It's been a long time coming, but finally, HalHal and AlenaAlena appear on a single card!

This version of the partnersthe partners brings reach, first strike, and the love of huge power that we saw in their Commander Legends iterations, while also throwing around +1/+1 counters and haste, to boot! The more powerful this dynamic duo becomes, the more power they can bestow upon their allies.

While neat, I can't help but feel like they're a more fragile and less explosive Xenagos, God of RevelsXenagos, God of Revels, which ends up being both bad and good. Xenagos is less removable and a master of one-shot kills out of nowhere, which means he draws a lot of attention to himself. Halana and Alena don't have that same presence, but they do have more consistency, and that makes them hardier. Their buffs stick around, and that's big.

Boost their stats with fun Equipmentfun Equipment and pump up your Champion of LambholtChampion of Lambholt, Dreadhorde ArcanistDreadhorde Arcanist, or Heronblade EliteHeronblade Elite. Collect tons of counters with Thundering MightmareThundering Mightmare, Forgotten AncientForgotten Ancient, and Ruinous IntrusionRuinous Intrusion. Make tons of tokens with an Iridescent HornbeetleIridescent Hornbeetle! Make the biggest Pathbreaker IbexPathbreaker Ibex the world ever did see! They also work incredibly well in a Hallar, the FirefletcherHallar, the Firefletcher or Marath, Will of the WildMarath, Will of the Wild deck as a way to get more +1/+1 counters! These two partners turn power into versatility, and they'll shine in many decks as a result.

Odric, Blood-Cursed

Turning a beloved character into a Vampire is fine, but giving them a bad card is where I draw the line.

I don't want to spend a lot of time on OdricOdric. Yeah, he cares about keywords like his second versionsecond version, yeah, he can possibly make a lot of artifact tokens, but yeah, neither of those things is going to cut it. This card's closest comparison is a Blood ServitorBlood Servitor, and that's a common. You can try to blink him with EphemerateEphemerate, or use Ghirapur Aether GridGhirapur Aether Grid and Reckless FireweaverReckless Fireweaver to ping opponents down, but you need a big board of creatures to do that, at which point you're just a bad aggro deck with a subpar artifact theme. The upcoming Chief Jim HopperChief Jim Hopper will make more artifact tokens more easily, and that one's not even confined to Boros.

If you want to play Boros artifacts, there are already fantastic options in Osgir, the ReconstructorOsgir, the Reconstructor and Alibou, Ancient WitnessAlibou, Ancient Witness. If you want to play aggro, you can use Odric, Master TacticianOdric, Master Tactician, Odric, Lunarch MarshalOdric, Lunarch Marshal, or Aurelia the WarleaderAurelia the Warleader. Even if you want to make a Boros reanimator deck by using the Blood to discard cards, Plargg, Dean of ChaosPlargg, Dean of Chaos or Mila, Crafty CompanionMila, Crafty Companion's back half provide better discard outlets for far less work.

This OdricOdric doesn't live up to either of his previous iterations, and is instead a glorified vanilla 3/3. A Hero's DownfallHero's Downfall, indeed. Here's hoping that a future Odric 4.0 is more compelling than this.

Old Rutstein

Another character from flavor text, the merchant Old RutsteinOld Rutstein finally gets a card!

Let's start with the positives. A legendary Druidic SatchelDruidic Satchel is pretty neat and flavorful, milling cards in exchange for some kind of good or service. But... that's about it.

Despite being a slick three mana, Old RutsteinOld Rutstein is pretty lackluster. Had his ETB and upkeep triggers been a separate paragraph from the effect that rewarded milling, then this would be a different story. If these were two separate effects, he could trigger more than once per round. As it stands, this value engine is too small to be truly appealing. Golgari colors are at no loss for Self-Mill or graveyard synergies: Hogaak, Arisen NecropolisHogaak, Arisen Necropolis, Grist, the Hunger TideGrist, the Hunger Tide, and Izoni, Thousand-EyedIzoni, Thousand-Eyed all facilitate or take advantage of self-milling more than Old RutsteinOld Rutstein can. Flavorful design, but the power falls a bit short. I won't be buying what he's selling.

Path of Peril

I value modality a lot, and I think playing both sides of the spectrum with this kind of card is awesome, but I'll be honest, the majority of the time, EDH players would end up needing to pay six mana for this spell. Commander's Herald and fellow EDHREC writer Dana Roach wrote a fantastic article on this exact issue. If you're using one mode 90% of the time, is the extra cost worth it? On top of that, if you're able to run Path of PerilPath of Peril, that means you have access to white and Austere CommandAustere Command and Merciless EvictionMerciless Eviction, both of which will be better in terms of power and flexibility. I like Path of PerilPath of Peril for its fine design, but it's a notch below other tools in our format.

Runo Stromkirk

Move over WrexialWrexial, there's a new Dimir Sea Creatures commander in town, and his name is Runo StromkirkRuno Stromkirk!

Runo StromkirkRuno Stromkirk pushes Sea Creature Tribal into Dimir colors, giving us a new archetype and a new style of play that is distinct from other Simic sea monster counterparts. Instead of ramping into huge beasts, like Arixmethes, Slumbering IsleArixmethes, Slumbering Isle or Aesi, Tyrant of Gyre StraitAesi, Tyrant of Gyre Strait, RunoRuno utilizes blue and black's penchant for lootinglooting, card selectioncard selection, and reanimationreanimation to manipulate your deck and make sure your big, expensive sea crits aren't stranded in your hand.

Then, once RunoRuno summons the object of his worship, Krothuss, things get really spicy, multiplying your ocean beasts and washing out your foes. Remember, Krothuss's trigger does not exile the tokens at end of turn! Spawning KrakenSpawning Kraken, Quest for Ula's TempleQuest for Ula's Temple, Whelming WaveWhelming Wave, and Unmarked GraveUnmarked Grave are all stellar here, synergizing with either half of RunoRuno, and pushing our salt water agenda even further.

I'm happy you finally got a card, RunoRuno. It was worth the wait!

Torens, Fist of the Angels

A couple months ago, I'd be hooting and hollering, saying that TorensTorens was one of the best Human commanders ever printed, since he can easily spit out a heaping helping of tokens.

However, your honor, let us please bring exhibits A, B, and C before the jury.

In Midnight Hunt alone, we were graced with three fantastic Human Tribal legends, from SigardaSigarda's aggressive card advantage, KatildaKatilda's ramp and +1/+1 counters, to KylerKyler's massive team pumps. Each one of these is terrific, too!

I'm actually a huge fan of TorensTorens. He's almost like a legendary Monastery MentorMonastery Mentor, but for creature spells, which is awesome. Thing is, while there would have been space for him a few months back, a lot of that equity has been eaten up by the other three already. Torens, Fist of the AngelsTorens, Fist of the Angels is a really cool card, but I think he'll end up serving a role similar to Maja, Bretagard ProtectorMaja, Bretagard Protector, helping make tokens for all the other Human tribal commanders we have now. He won't be the star of the show, but he will absolutely shine in the 99.

Uncommons

• Ancient LumberknotAncient Lumberknot is real nice redundancy for Doran, the Siege TowerDoran, the Siege Tower or Sapling of ColfenorSapling of Colfenor. Seems solid!
• Child of the PackChild of the Pack is another nice pickup for Werewolf decks. These decks love creatures with activated abilities and ways to pump their team, and this has both!
• Sigardian PaladinSigardian Paladin is probably not quite enough for +1/+1 counter decks. It gives some great keywords, but it does so clumsily, and those decks are brimming with other really excellent options already.
• Vilespawn SpiderVilespawn Spider is a nice little token-maker in Simic for Self Mill or Token strategies. It isn't anything flashy, but establishing a board presence with just one card is always worth thinking about.
• Wandering MindWandering Mind can nab any noncreature, nonland card from the top six of your deck. That is a lot of reach, especially if you have ways to Blink or reuse this helpful flying friend!

Fang-tastic!

There we have it, all of the interesting multicolor cards from Crimson Vow! While there weren't as many gold cards as Midnight Hunt, there are still some very impressive cards here, including plenty of fantastic legends that add a lot of depth to the format (and Odric). I'm very excited to crack some packs and make changes to my decks, and can't wait to play with all the goodies and party favors this set has provided us.

Next stop, Kamigawa! Until then, stay ever-charming!

As always, you can reach me on Twitter (@thejesguy), where you can always hit me up for Magic- or Jeskai-related shenanigans 24/7. Do you have any comments, questions, or concerns? Please don’t hesitate to leave them below or get in touch! Stay safe, wear your mask, and keep fighting the good fight. I support you. No justice, no peace.

Angelo Guerrera

Angelo is a New England resident who started playing Magic during Return to Ravnica, and has made it his mission to play Jeskai in every format possible. Along with Commander, he loves Limited, Cube, and Modern, and will always put his trust in counterspells over creatures. He is still hurt by Sphinx's Revelation's rotation out of Standard.