Crimson Vow Standard Set Review: Blue

Posted on November 23, 2021

Welcome back everyone! Yesterday we went over the White cards in Crimson Vow and today we will be going over the Blue cards. Before we start, let's go over how I will be rating them.

I will not be going over cards that I believe will not see play in Standard and I will not be going over the Commander cards that will not see Standard play. For example, cards like Nebelgast Beguiler and Unholy Officiant will be omitted since they are just Limited cards and saying, "This is just a Limited card" repeatedly gets old rather fast. Do not worry though, I will be covering all the rare and mythic cards in the actual Innistrad: Crimson Vow set. So, if you like a certain rare or mythic, it will be mentioned in the review.

Keep in mind I'm rating all these cards for Standard playability. I will mention Modern applications if I believe the card has some.

Each card will be listed by color, then alphabetically by name.

Each card will be given a rating of 1-5. If a card would receive a 0, meaning it will see no play in that format ever, its rating is left off the list.

Rating | Explanation | Standard Examples

0 - Will never see play in this format (0 ratings are not listed).

1 - Unlikely to see play. (Divine Gambit)

2 - Could see fringe play, or occasional sideboard card. (Disdainful Stroke, Annul, Candletrap)

3 - Commonly played, staple in a single deck, or frequent play in several decks. (Righteous Valkyrie, Behold the Multiverse, Wash Away)

4 - Format staples. Sees play in multiple decks, one of the best cards in the format. (Werewolf Pack Leader, Elite Spellbinder, Ranger Class)

5 - Format warping. If you are in these colors, you play that card or keep that card in mind when building decks. (Thalia, Guardian of Thraben, Alrund's Epiphany, Hullbreaker Horror)

Now that we have that out of the way, let's begin!

	Cemetery Illuminator - 2 - A spirit that can be a little Future Sight for spells. 3 mana is just a bit much for a 2/3 though. This card really wanted flash or even 4 toughness so it could deal with Elite Spellbinder. Three is a bit too small.
	Consuming Tide - 2.5 - A bad Upheavel. Would much rather have Aetherspouts or Aetherize as my Blue wrath of choice.
	Dreamshackle Geist - 3 - Dungeon Geist stopped doing leg day at the gym and its booty shrunk. A recurring way to tap down creatures and freeze them is solid for a Blue tempo deck.
	Geistlight Snare - 2.5 - If we have a deck that can reliably make this cost 1 mana, it would be nuts. Thankfully we do not. I would rather not deal with one-mana Mana Leak in Standard.
	Geralf, Visionary Stitcher - 2 - Could see fringe play in a zombie deck but I believe Geralf was designed more so for Commander.
	Hullbreaker Horror - 5 - Goodbye Alrund's Epiphany and hello Hullbreaker Horror. Now you will not die to a bunch of 1/1 birds and a bunch of extra turns but you will also have nothing but lands in play and will not get a good permanent to stick on the battlefield. This Horror is the truth!
	Inspired Idea - 2 - Play this with Reliquary Tower or Wizard Class for some fun jank brewing. Outside of that, the drawback is massive here unless your entire deck consists of one- and two-mana spells.
	Jacob Hauken, Inspector // Hauken's Insight - 2 - My favorite Blue card in the set! While it is definitely a meme, it is a meme I want to build. Jacob reminds me of Jace, Vryn's Prodigy but with a sweet enchantment side!
	Lunar Rejection - 2 - Into the Roil but only 2 mana if you are targeting wolves or werewolves. Solid sideboard card if wolves becomes a deck!
	Mirrorhall Mimic // Ghastly Mimicry - 2 - Front side clone with backside being Followed Footsteps, this is would have been strong back when us boomers played Magic, but Magic has changed a lot since then. As is, Mirrorhall Mimic // Ghastly Mimicry is too expensive and gets tossed in as a Commander card.
	Necroduality - 2.5 - Necroduality is game changing if you untap with it and start Double Majoring all your zombies. Would love to see a Zombie deck play this one!
	Overcharged Amalgam - 2.5 - Four is a bit much for this affect, especially since you must Exploit something. Frilled Mystic did not do that and was playable. I know you can make Exploit beneficial, but the times you play this as a four-mana counterspell is not worth it.
	Patchwork Crawler - 1 - Throw this one back in the dumpster and make a new patchwork creature because, holy moly this thing takes forever to do absolutely anything. Necrotic Ooze you are not Mr. Crawler.
	Syncopate - 3.5 - Syncopate is great because it gives control decks a turn two counterspell that can hit anything. Exiling also does not hurt. I expect this one to see play, but Thalia is going to be a nightmare.
	Thirst for Discovery - 2.5 - Compulsive Research is that you? Solid filtering card or even a card played to pitch some big creatures in the yard to reanimate them.
	Wash Away - 3 - Wash away is right on time to see Alrund's Epiphany get switched out for Hullbreaker Horror. There are other foretell cards and other ways to cast spells not from your hand where Wash Away will shine.
	Winged Portent - 2.5 - Powerful card in a flying deck but you will need a low mana curve to make it work. Do not think it is better than Winged Words though.

Top 5 Blue Cards

Hullbreaker Horror

Syncopate

Wash Away

Dreamshackle Geist

Necroduality

Yesterday we saw White get a meta warping card in Thalia and today we see it Blue with Hulllbreaker Horror. The Horror will replace Alrund's Epiphany in decks and will see play as a finisher in control decks. You will need to kill you opponent before they get the Hullbreaker Horror going. Sadly, both five-star cards just improved already existing archetypes in Mono-White Aggro and Izzet Spells. Hopefully, we get some powerful cards that make new archetypes. Come back tomorrow as we go over the Black and multicolored cards!