Innistrad: Crimson Vow Notable Commons and Uncommons Review for MTG Arena

We’re only a few short days away from Magic: the Gathering‘s newest set Innistrad: Crimson Vow on Magic Arena. We’ve taken a look at the Mythics and Rares in the set and reviewed them for their viability in Constructed and whether or not you should be crafting them. Today we’re going to take a look at some of the notable commons and uncommons from the set, and these ones are cards that you should be crafting.

White

Adamant Will

Adamant WillAdamant WillTarget creature gets +2/+2 and gains indestructible until end of turn. (Damage and effects that say "destroy" don't destroy it.) is apretty nice combat trick. +2/+2 and indestructible is nothing to sneeze at. For 2 mana, this could be worth running in Mono White in Standard as it allows us to trade up against Mono Green.

Circle of Confinement

Circle of ConfinementCircle of ConfinementWhen this enchantment enters, exile target creature an opponent controls with mana value 3 or less until this enchantment leaves the battlefield.
Whenever an opponent casts a Vampire spell with the same name as a card exiled with this enchantment, you gain 2 life. is really interesting. It’s a Portable HolePortable HoleWhen this artifact enters, exile target nonland permanent an opponent controls with mana value 2 or less until this artifact leaves the battlefield., but ramped up a bit. If you happen to find a vampire to exile and you get the 2nd part to trigger, then great, but really we’re using this for is the cheap creature exile effect.

Valorous Stance

Valorous Stance was a pretty important removal spell in the original Khans block, so it should be a nice pick up here. Of note, this can hit some pretty powerful creatures in Standard and Historic, such as Goldspan DragonGoldspan DragonFlying, haste
Whenever this creature attacks or becomes the target of a spell, create a Treasure token.
Treasures you control have "{T}, Sacrifice this artifact: Add two mana of any one color." and Esika’s ChariotEsika’s ChariotWhen Esika's Chariot enters, create two 2/2 green Cat creature tokens.
Whenever Esika's Chariot attacks, create a token that's a copy of target token you control.
Crew 4.

Blue

Cradle of Safety

Cradle of Safety is a great option for the Azorius Auras deck. Giving your suited up creature hexproof at instant speed is pretty incredible, and it plays so well into the deck already. It’s cheap, but I’m not sure exactly if this would fit into the main or side right away. Either way, if you play the deck, consider this.

Geistlight Snare

Geistlight Snare is a basically a Mana LeakMana LeakCounter target spell unless its controller pays {3}. for Spirits, and if you’re happening to also run some enchantments, then it’s even better. If you’re playing Mono Blue Tempo in Historic, this could be a fantastic option to play.

Stormchaser Drake

Stormchaser DrakeStormchaser DrakeFlying
Whenever this creature becomes the target of a spell you control, draw a card. is a very cool card. It’s almost like a Feather the Redeemed, and it should fall nicely into a Jeskai Feather deck.

Syncopate

Syncopate has been a powerful counter spell in the past, and it should definitely be great here. This should be a nice addition to Standard’s counter spell pool for sure.

Thirst for Discovery

Thirst for Discovery is the 3rd in the “Thirst” Cycle following Thirst for Knowledge and Thirst for Meaning. A 3 mana Draw 3 is pretty powerful stuff, and often times, discarding a Basic land is a pretty small downside, so I expect this is going to make some waves.

Wash Away

Wash AwayWash AwayCleave {1}{U}{U} (You may cast this spell for its cleave cost. If you do, remove the words in square brackets.)
Counter target spell [that wasn't cast from its owner's hand]. is just a Cancel Cancel CancelCounter target spell. with upside, but the upside is pretty relevant. The amount of cards in Standard and Historic that aren’t cast from our opponent’s hand is pretty high. I think that this is a pretty solid sideboard option.

Black

Fell Stinger

Fell Stinger is the kind of card that Black based aggro decks would really love to have. It’s a great blocker that draws us a couple of cards. At worst, it sacrifices itself to draw.

Hero’s Downfall

Hero’s Downfall was a great removal spell back in the day and having it back is nice. It saw play, and even a different version of it saw play in Murderous Rider. I expect that we’ll see a full return to this awesome spell in Standard at the very least.

Vampire’s Kiss

Vampire’s Kiss could be a very interesting card for a burn deck in Historic. It helps solve some of the draw issues that a burn deck could have by giving us blood tokens to loot away extra lands. Sometimes the extra 2 points is all you need.

Red

Abrade

Abrade Abrade AbradeChoose one —
• Abrade deals 3 damage to target creature.
• Destroy target artifact. is already in the game in Historic, but it’s going to be a pivotal card in Standard. This is a great card to deal with some of Mono Green’s plays, like Werewolf Pack Leader and Esika’s ChariotEsika’s ChariotWhen Esika's Chariot enters, create two 2/2 green Cat creature tokens.
Whenever Esika's Chariot attacks, create a token that's a copy of target token you control.
Crew 4. This is an all star card for sure.

Green

Cartographer’s Survey

Cartographer’s SurveyCartographer’s SurveyLook at the top seven cards of your library. Put up to two land cards from among them onto the battlefield tapped. Put the rest on the bottom of your library in a random order. is kind of insane. Digging 7 cards deep to ramp from 4 to 6 is great. There’s so many applications for this kind of card. Landfall decks, and general ramp strats are definitely going to want this card.

Mulch

Mulch is a killer reprint. While it may be luke warm in Standard, Historic could definitely find room for this card. There are some self mill “Dredge” style / reanimator strategies that would love to see this card. Keep an eye on this one.

Multicolor / Artifact

Sigardian Paladin

Sigardian Palain is a cool card for humans decks. We can pretty easily get this a +1/+1 counter with Luminarch Aspirant. It’s a pretty fair card but can definitely get the job done.

Wandering Mind

Wandering MindWandering MindFlying
When this creature enters, look at the top six cards of your library. You may reveal a noncreature, nonland card from among them and put it into your hand. Put the rest on the bottom of your library in a random order. acts like a Collective Conjuring of sorts but with fewer restrictions, but also gives you a 2/1 flyer as well. In any spell heavy deck, digging 6 deep for a spell is a godsend. I expect it to show up in the Izzet Dragons.

Lantern of the Lost

Lantern of the Lost is a pretty great card. It takes the best of Relic of ProgenitusRelic of Progenitus{T}: Target player exiles a card from their graveyard.
{1}, Exile this artifact: Exile all graveyards. Draw a card. and Soul-Guide Lantern and smashes it into 1 card. This is a for sure inclusion in sideboards of non-white decks that just want to deal with the graveyard.

And that’s it! Be sure to stay tuned for our 10 Best Cards for each format, and Limited guides coming out this week so you know what to pick up at prerelease this coming weekend!