Innistrad is home to a number of terrifying Creatures, and Magic: The Gathering‘s upcoming set Innistrad: Crimson Vow is showing off many of the horrors the plane has to offer.
The first few days of Crimson Vow previews featured many of the set’s Vampires and Humans, two of the main tribes on Innistrad. The Oct. 31 spoilers put a focus on some of the more horrific Creatures like Slugs and Demons.
These cards are expensive but are worth the mana spent to cast them. Expect to see the following Creatures against you on the battlefield when Crimson Vow releases on Magic Arena and Magic Online on Nov. 11, with a global release on Nov. 19.
Here are the best spoilers from the Crimson Vow spoilers on Oct. 31.
Toxrill, the Corrosive
- Mana value: 5BB
- Type: Legendary Creature Slug Horror
- Rarity: Mythic Rare
- Stats: 7/7
- First ability: At the beginning of each end step, put a slime counter on each Creature you don’t control.
- Second ability: Creatures you don’t control get -1/-1 for each slime counter on them.
- Third ability: Whenever a Creature you don’t control with a slime counter on it dies, create a 1/1 Black Slug Creature token.
- Fourth ability: Pay U/B, sacrifice a slug: Draw a card.
This strange slug is an expensive but powerful Commander that attacks the board from many different angles. Toxrill, the Corrosive acts as both a board wipe and a token generator for seven mana.
Since the first ability triggers on each end step, that means four slime counters get placed on Creatures each turn cycle. If Toxrill sticks on the battlefield, it will destroy all the Creatures.
Each time a Creature dies, Toxrill creates a 1/1 token that can be converted into a card draw with Toxrill’s activated ability.
This card is slow and not effective in a game with plenty of targeted removal. Commander tax will render Toxrill unusable after getting removed even two times.
The best strategy for this card is to use it as a finisher once you’ve established dominance over the battlefield. This card also has potential as a Dimir Control finisher in Standard.
Kessig Wolfrider
- Mana value: R
- Type: Creatue Human Knight
- Rarity: Rare
- Keyword: Menace
- Stats: 1/2
- First ability: Pay 2R, tap, exile three cards from your graveyard: reate a 3/2 Red Wolf Creature token.
This is a solid one drop for Red decks in Standard. A 1/2 with menace should get some early damage in. The power of Kessig Wolfrider comes from the activated ability, which creates a 3/2 token.
The activated ability is a decent late-game mana sink that gives you something worthwhile to do when you topdeck a land. A 3/2 Wolf is a strong token with a relevant Creature type for many Red decks.
The token generation doesn’t happen infinitely. You need cards in your graveyard, but this could encourage aggressive trades in combat knowing you can use your graveyard as a way to create tokens.
Dreadfeast Demon
- Mana value: 5BB
- Type: Creature Demon
- Rarity: Rare
- Keyword: Flying
- Stats: 6/6
- First ability: At the beginning of your end step, sacrifice a non-Demon Creature. If you do, create a tokent hat’s a copy of Dreadfeast Demon.
Dreadfeast Demon is a great top-end finisher for big mana Black decks. A seven-mana 6/6 Flying Creature is pretty good, but not overwhelmingly powerful.
The end step trigger is great. Being able to sacrifice a Creature and create another 6/6 flier is strong. This card demands instant-speed removal when it enters the battlefield or you’ll get 12 power in the air for your seven-mana investment.
There’s plenty of Creatures that are perfect to sacrifice in Standard. From Shambling Ghast to Decayed Zombie tokens, there’s no shortage of cheap non-Demon fodder.
