To the layman, red tidings in December almost always mean good news, since Christmas is coming. But for those well-versed in Magic: The Gathering will know that this only means one thing: the release of the Innistrad: Crimson Vow expansion pack.

The latest expansion brings us back to everyone’s favourite Gothic horror realm of Innistrad. Picking up things from where the supernaturally-charged Midnight Hunt left off, Crimson Vow hones in on the wedding between Olivia Voldaren and Edgar Markov, two members of the powerful Voldaren and Markov vampire bloodlines. This was marked with a beautifully-crafted invitation letter that we received as part of the Set Booster box.

While full details of this clandestine wedding between vampires are not privy to the prying eyes of the public, here are some snippets of what’s to come for those keen on playing Crimson Vow. 

In this bloody beautiful new expansion hailing from Innistrad, we were treated to a whole host of bone-chilling new Creature, Sorcery and Land cards with some of the most hauntingly beautiful art in any Magic expansion to boot.

In terms of mechanics, Innistrad: Crimson Vow’s sanguine theme carries over strongly in the form of Blood tokens. Exclusive to Vampires, Blood tokens are colourless artifact tokens which allow players to draw an extra card when sacrificed. 

Other mechanics brought to the fray in Crimson Vow include:

• Cleave – a new keyword ability found only on instants and soceries, which offer players an alternate cost for said cards, granting them a modified version of the card’s ability in return.
• Training – a keyword ability found only on Human creature cards, which lets players add +1/+1 counters to them when attacking alongside a creature of higher power.
• Transform and Daybound/Nightbound – a  returning feature from Midnight Hunt for Werewolves.
• Disturb – another returning keyword ability from Midnight Hunt for Spirits.
• Exploit – a returning feature from Dragons of Tarkir, this Zombie-only keyword ability lets players sacrifice their other creatures on the battlefield to power up these cards.

Amidst all the chaos of our unboxing, we even got the darkest of blessings from the iconic Dracula himself! This expansion in particular pays special homage to the one and only lord of Vampires (there are a whopping 17 total variations of Dracula here!), and we’re only just scratching the surface of this midnight treat.

And of course, what better way to top off a wedding with a glass filled with everyone’s favourite crimson liquid?

Magic: The Gathering’s Innistrad: Crimson Vow is available now at your nearest card game store.