Thread by @JasonILTG

Obviously it's *way* to early (literally first day of spoilers lol) to say anything for sure about the new set, Crimson Vow, but I already have some thoughts, mostly based on comparing mechanics, on how I suspect this set will play out compared to Midnight Hunt. 1/x

MID was all about efficiency and going wide: disturb and flashback gave you a lot of cheap plays, disturb and decayed meant boards were wide (magnified by decayed not blocking, so boards were wider on attacks), and plentiful efficient removal (plus Flip) punished going tall. 2/x

Werewolves in MID suffered both because a) they were playing on the wrong axis (their big threats were punished by removal and couldn't deal with decayed zombies well), and b) they were constantly being forced to play during the day because everyone was double spelling. 3/x

This is exemplified in the top commons of each color - Lunarch Veteran especially as the pinnacle of efficient tempo, but also Organ Hoarder and Eccentric Farmer to keep the gas flowing, and Ecstatic Awakener as both tempo and card draw. 4/x

And, of course, Neonate's Rush being better than Moonrager's Slash - this really points to a format where getting those small edges with cards like Rush (with its ping and 2-for-1 potential) is more important than dealing with a singular threat (which is all Slash does). 5/x

But just looking at the mechanics in Crimson Vow, I can already tell that it's going to be different. I found this most apparent when comparing mechanics between sets, so let's walk through some comparisons. (here's the mechanics article for reference magic.wizards.com/en/articles/ar…) 6/x

First of all, the GW mechanic in VOW is Training, compared to Coven in MID. Coven required different powers, so did reward big creatures a bit, but the most important part was getting 3 creatures at all. Train, on the other hand, cares a lot about having a big creature. 7/x

Next, instead of Flashback on spells, we have Cleave, which reads very similar to Kicker. These might seem pretty similar - they both give you two ways to cast a spell, one cheaper, and one more expensive. 8/x

The key difference here comes when you draw one in the lategame. For Flashback, you have to cast the front half first, so you get two small effects, one that's relatively efficient, one overcosted. But for Cleave (if it's like Kicker), you instead get one big flashy effect. 9/x

And this doesn't just apply to topdecks - with a Cleave card you're incentivized to hold it in hand to save it for when you can pay the more expensive cost, where for Flashback you're incentivized to double spell with the front half early. 10/x

We still have Disturb, but whereas in MID the backsides of Disturb creatures were creatures, in VOW the backsides will be auras. It's pretty obvious that this will lead to going taller rather than wider, but also it looks like the backsides might be generally more expensive. 11/x

This is just speculation from the few cards spoiled so far, but that would also make sense - it's hard to make a cheap aura that doesn't cost a card, but easy to make a cheap small creature that doesn't. Compare Baithook Angler to Drogskol Infantry. 12/x

A weird comparison is Decayed vs. Exploit. On one hand, you could make the obvious observation that one makes your board wider (Decayed), and the other shrinks your board (Exploit), but on the other hand Exploit could point towards token/attrition themes to support it. 13/x

I think more significant is just the absence of Decayed tokens - I don't expect Exploit to be that central to the format, whereas the dynamic of Decayed zombies making boards wider on attacks but not blocks did a ton in shaping the playstyle of MID. 14/x

And finally, Blood tokens vs. Clue tokens. It's tempting to call Blood tokens just worse than Clue tokens, but I think it also points to how I suspect VOW will be more about big threats and going tall, compared to MID being about efficiency and tempo. 15/x

Slightly inefficient card draw plays much better with decks filled with efficient plays - cards like Lunarch Veteran or Eaten Alive. Rummaging isn't very valuable when you're likely to leverage your cheap plays, and just want to draw into more efficient gas. 16/x

On the flip side, paying 2 to draw a card is worse for big, expensive threats - your individual cards do more on their own, so you need less card quantity. Cheap rummaging provides what you really need - filtering to ensure you hit your land drops and play on curve. 17/x

Conclusion: it's way to early to say for sure, but looking at mechanics gives me plenty of reason to believe that, where MID was all about tempo, efficiency, and going wide, VOW will be about big spells and going tall. Maybe werewolves will be playable this time ;) 18/18

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