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In September 2022, Magic: The Gathering’s expansion, Innistrad: Crimson Vow will be rotating out of the Standard meta. However, when it comes to more casual settings like Commander, these cards are basically good forever. As a non-rotating set, there are always cards to look out for.
Since Innistrad: Crimson Vow is going away in the next few months, it’s time to look at which cards could be slotted out of Standard and into Commander decks. It’s an expansion that has a number of really fascinating cards, but which might be the most useful?
Magic: The Gathering’s Crimson Vow to rotate soon, will remain in season for Commander
Magic: The Gathering’s Innistrad: Crimson Vow added a wealth of new cards to the game, from planeswalkers to new game mechanics. One of these mechanics, Disturb, really took things to the next level when it came to playing cards.
Once a card with Disturb goes to the graveyard, it can be cast for its Disturb cost, and put back into play as an entirely new card.
Some of these have been particularly fascinating cards when it comes to creating strategies. The expansion in general is fairly powerful, filled with cards that could be commanders for decks or simply fun ways to win a game.
Which cards are worth considering?
- Kaya, Geist Hunter
- Toxrill, the Corrosive
- Faithbound Judge
- Curse of Hospitality
- Hallowed Haunting
5) Kaya, Geist Hunter
A three-cost planeswalker in Commander? This is a major value for Black/White decks. With a default of three loyalty, Kaya, Geist Hunter is an incredible card that can flood the board with major firepower.
Kaya’s loyalty powers
- +1: Creatures you control gain deathtouch until the end of the turn. Put a +1/+1 counter on up to one target creature token you control.
- -2: Until the end of the turn, if one or more tokens would be created under your control, twice that many are created instead.
- -6: Exile all cards from all graveyards, then create a 1/1 white Spirit creature token with flying for each card exiled this way.
For Magic: The Gathering players who are fond of massive token spawn, she’s ideal. You can play her and pop that -2 when you are about to play cards that double the amount of tokens you create, making even more! Plus, in a multiplayer game, her -6 can be devastating and game-ending.
4) Toxrill, the Corrosive
Slugs are an underserviced, underrepresented creature archetype in Magic: The Gathering. This one has 7 power 7 toughness, for seven mana. It’s built around creating 1 power and 1 toughness Slugs. You can then use them to draw as many cards as necessary. This card can make a great deck leader, or commander.
Creatures you don’t control receive -1/-1 for each slime counter on them. At the beginning of each end step - not just yours - put a slime counter on each creature you don’t control. This helps wipe out foes, which in turn creates slugs. Whenever a creature you don’t control dies, create a black Slug creature token.
Then, you can pay one blue and one black mana, and sacrifice a Slug to draw a card. What a powerhouse for control and card-draw decks!
3) Faithbound Judge
Faithbound Judge, and its flip-side, Sinner’s Judgment, bring quite a few different things to a Magic: The Gathering game. The Faithbound Judge has 4 power and 4 toughness, defender, flying and vigilance, which means it can’t attack. However, if it has three or more Judgment counters, it can attack anyway.
If the card has two or fewer Judgment counters on it, put one on it during your upkeep, so it will attack before long. The best part is the other side. When this dies or goes to the graveyard, you can pay seven mana to unleash Sinner’s Judgment.
This is an Enchant Player, and each turn, this card puts a Judgment Counter on that player. If they have three or more, that player loses the game. If it would go to the graveyard from anywhere, it gets exiled. For this reason, it’s a card to wait and use on the last opponent, to secure a fun, alternate win condition.
2) Curse of Hospitality
Another Enchant Player for Magic: The Gathering Commander fans, Curse of Hospitality grants any creature attacking that player trample. That’s already a devastating blow, potentially, especially for red decks.
It gets worse, though. Whenever a creature deals combat damage to that player, they exile the top card of their library. Until the end of the turn, the controller of the attacking creature can play that card and spend any mana they wish to do so.
It’s an excellent way to endear yourself to other players on the board while singling out one for destruction and card theft.
1) Hallowed Haunting
For Magic: The Gathering players that love a good enchantment deck, Hallowed Haunting is here to make their days brighter. As long as you control seven or more enchantments, all creatures you control have flying and vigilance. That makes combat safer and easier, while making it harder to attack you.
It also adds more creatures to your game. Whenever you cast an enchantment spell, create a white Spirit Cleric creature token with “This creature’s power and toughness are equal to the number of Spirits you control.”
Suddenly, all of those one and two-cost enchantments are far more terrifying.
Are there other Commander cards from Magic: The Gathering worth using in Innistrad - Crimson Vow? Absolutely. This is just one player’s opinion on some cards that would spice up plenty of decks in the Commander meta for Magic: The Gathering.
Note: This article is subjective and reflects the writer's views.
