Blue is a disruptive color in Innistrad: Crimson Vow Limited that supports both tribal and non-tribal strategies.
Zombies and Spirits are the two primary tribal strategies for Blue in Crimson Vow. Spirits use Blue and White cards to cast evasive fliers and counterspells to gain tempo advantage and swing for lethal. Blue and Black is centered around Zombies and uses Exploit and graveyard synergies to out-value the opponent and run away with the late game.
Other strategies supported by Blue are self-mill with Green and noncreature spells matter with Red. These strategies are less fleshed out than some of the powerful tribal themes, but when they come together are formidable in Limited.
Here are the best Blue Common and Uncommon cards in Crimson Vow Limited.
Cradle of Safety
This is a lot better than most protection spells in Limited. This instant-speed Enchantment can protect a key Creature while also providing a permanent +1/+1 buff. Even if a Creature isn’t being targeted by a removal spell, sometimes the extra stat boost is all that’s needed to deal a lethal blow or force unfavorable blocks. Cradle of Safety shouldn’t be dead in hand at any point of the game and that’s why it will make most Blue decks.
Diver Skaab
A five-mana 3/5 Creature is a hefty blocker that can prevent Creatures from attacking you. This would be fine without its excellent Exploit ability. When a Creature is sacrificed to the Exploit trigger, a target Creature is put on the top of bottom of its owner’s library. This is a powerful removal effect. With Disturb cards in the format, simply killing a Creature and sending it to the graveyard isn’t enough.
Cards in graveyards can generate value for your opponent. Forcing an opponent to put a key Creature on the top of their library is a strong tempo play. It blanks their next draw step and makes them spend their next turn recasting that card. In a Blue deck, gaining small tempo advantages are key to winning. Diver Skaab is a solid five-mana play that sets up late-game dominance.
Fear of Death
If your opponent has a big, aggressive threat, Fear of Death is a decent answer. This two-mana Enchantment mills two cards when it enters the battlefield. For decks that run a lot of Disturb cards, this is a benefit and can sometimes amount to an equivalent value of drawing two cards.
Fear of Death gives a Creature -X/-0 equal to the number of cards in your graveyard. In a dedicated Blue and Green self-mill deck, X should be enough to drop a Creature’s power down to zero, effectively shutting it down from attacking.
Repository Skaab
Repository Skaab is an effective common in spell-based decks and Zombie decks. Being able to get a spell back from the graveyard is a strong ability. This allows counterspells and removal spells to be used more than once. In the late game, you can also get back card draw spells to close out the game.
Both spellslinger and Zombie strategies should have enough Creatures on the battlefield that are worth sacrificing by the time Repository Skaab becomes a relevant play on turn five or later.
Screaming Swarm
Screaming Swarm is an interesting Uncommon. At six mana, this 4/4 Flying Creature is fine, but not a great rate. The incidental mill attack trigger won’t be too relevant outside of extreme late-game situations. You can mill yourself if you find yourself in Blue and Green.
This card will live and die in Crimson Vow Limited because of the three-mana-activated ability. Turning Screaming Swarm into a threat that can return makes an opponent’s removal much worse.
Whispering Wizard
Whispering Wizard demands an answer before it takes over the game. This fits into any Blue deck and helps you flood the battlefield with 1/1 Flying Creatures. These tokens are strong in a Spirits shell but will be effective in any strategy.
This card generates Exploit fodder, blockers, and evasive attackers. Building around Whispering Wizards should be a great option for players looking to grind out value in Crimson Vow Limited.
