Collecting Innistrad: Crimson Vow
(Editor's Note November 16, 2021: We've updated details to reflect that two Box Topper boosters are found in each Collector Booster display.)
Welcome to Castle Turian! I've been expecting you. I know that you have fine taste for booster packs and have come to my castle to find out all that Innistrad: Crimson Vow has in store. I hope you have already had a chance to check out Harless Snyder's Product Overview and Clayton Kroh's Innistrad: Crimson Vow Booster Fun article and are now here to learn all the details about how to find the cards, art, and Booster Fun treatments that Innistrad: Crimson Vow has to offer.
Dracula Series
The Dracula series cards bring Bram Stoker's Dracula novel to life within Magic. We have taken 18 cards from Innistrad: Crimson Vow and given them alternate artwork featuring characters, locations, and objects inspired by the original novel. These cards are mechanically identical to the cards in Innistrad: Crimson Vow and use the Dracula series frame to capture a creative take that brings together Magic and Dracula.
There are three places that you can find the Dracula series cards. Seventeen of the eighteen will be in single-card Box Topper boosters and Collector Boosters. The eighteenth Dracula series card, Castle Dracula (Voldaren Estate), is the Buy-a-Box promotional card.
One single-card Box Topper booster will be found in each Draft and Set Booster display, with two found in each Collector Booster display. For the single-card Box Topper Booster, the Dracula series card will always be a traditional foil card. Each Dracula series card matches the rarity of its Innistrad: Crimson Vow equivalent. For example, Sorin the Mirthless is a mythic rare and Count Dracula, which is mechanically the same, is also a mythic rare. You will get one of the five Dracula series uncommons in slightly over half of the Box Topper boosters, and you will get one of the seven rares and five mythic rares in the remaining packs.
One addition we have made for the Draft and Set Booster displays is that the single-card Box Topper booster now comes attached to a cardboard insert that sits right atop the inside of the booster display. Featuring the art of Magali Villeneuve on one side and Martina Fačková on the other, this cardboard insert has been designed to protect the single-card Box Topper booster inside the display.
These 17 Dracula series cards can be opened in Innistrad: Crimson Vow Collector Boosters. Every Innistrad: Crimson Vow Collector Booster is guaranteed to have one Dracula series card in non-foil with the chance of getting up to two more Dracula series cards in traditional foil. For the non-foil Dracula series card that comes in every Innistrad: Crimson Vow Collector Booster, it will be an uncommon just over half of the time and a rare or mythic rare otherwise. For the traditional foil cards, you have around a 14% chance to receive an uncommon Dracula series card and a separate 11% chance to receive a rare or mythic rare. This is in addition to the two single-card Box Topper boosters that come with every Collector Booster display.
For the Buy-a-Box card, we are featuring the home of Dracula, Castle Dracula! The Castle Dracula card is available via your local game store (while supplies last) and is an alternate art of Voldaren Estate. The Buy-a-Box promo is only available in traditional foil and only through the Buy-a-Box program.
Lastly, for MTG Arena players, the Dracula series cards will be available through event rewards. Stay tuned to the MTG Arena Weekly Announcements for more details on how you can earn these in events!
Draft Boosters
Beyond the Dracula series cards, we aligned the structure of Innistrad: Crimson Vow to match what was done with Innistrad: Midnight Hunt. In many ways, we created the two sets in parallel to feature the world of Innistrad. Innistrad: Midnight Hunt's design and creative focused on Werewolves, and Innistrad: Crimson Vow's focused on Vampires.
This mirroring can be seen in the set structure as well. For example, both sets have the same number of single-faced and double-faced commons (90 SFC/10 DFC), uncommons (60/23), rares (53/11), and mythic rares (15/5). Each Innistrad: Crimson Vow Draft Booster is guaranteed to have at least two double-faced cards (DFC) in it. One in three packs will have a traditional foil card of any rarity that replaces a common. When this traditional foil card is a double-faced card, then your Draft Booster will have three DFCs within.
For the Booster Fun card treatments of the set, we have brought back showcase eternal night cards, borderless planeswalkers, and borderless dual lands. We are also introducing showcase fang frames that feature each of the 30 vampires in the main set, as well as Sorin the Mirthless.
The showcase eternal night cards feature each of the legendary creatures in the set, with the exception of most legendary Vampires who are found only in the showcase fang card treatment. For each of the Booster Fun (showcase and borderless) cards that shows up in only one version, one out of every three times you open a given card, it will be the Booster Fun version of the card. For cards, such as Sorin the Mirthless, that show up in more than one Booster Fun treatment, the one-in-three Booster Fun version finds are split evenly between borderless and showcase fang frames.
Every Draft Booster will have one of the ten new showcase eternal night basic lands in the land slot, and you can see all of them over in our dedicated Innistrad: Crimson Vow Booster Fun article.
Set Boosters
As the Set Boosters for Innistrad: Midnight Hunt and Innistrad: Crimson Vow are structured the same, I've done small updates to this section from what was shared in my Collecting Innistrad: Midnight Hunt article.
Set Boosters have a guaranteed showcase eternal night basic land, which is in traditional foil 15% of the time. They feature an art card (95%) or a signature art card (5%), which are full art and highlight some of the many striking pieces that were done by our artists for Innistrad: Crimson Vow.
The List continues to show up in 25% of Set Boosters. Of the 300 cards, we swapped 75 cards to bring in extra Innistrad-feeling goodies and keep the excitement of opening cool reprints fresh, such as Vampiric Tutor and Wooden Stake.
The wildcard slot for Set Boosters can have practically any non-foil card in Innistrad: Crimson Vow! With anything from commons to borderless planeswalkers (but not regular-frame rares and mythic rares), the wildcard slot also has the possibility of borderless dual lands, showcase eternal night legends, showcase fang frames, and more!
One new feature of the Set Boosters that we introduced in Innistrad: Midnight Hunt and are continuing with are eight new cards (six rares and two mythic rares) that can be found in the wildcard slot. These cards are mechanically new and designed for Commander players. While you can find these in Collector Boosters in an extended-art version as well, these cards aren't found in the Innistrad: Crimson Vow Commander decks.
In addition to these eight new cards, Set Boosters also have the four traditional foil cards from the Commander decks available in the wildcard slot in a non-foil version. As all twelve of these cards can't be found in Draft Boosters, we could design them without having to worry about disrupting a great draft experience. This let us create cards such as Wedding Ring to highlight the themes of Innistrad: Crimson Vow and make for the best multiplayer experience.
Whenever you get any one of these eight new cards or four non-foil Commander cards in your Set Booster, you will have gotten at least two rares in that booster. The Set Booster always gives you one standard rare or mythic rare from the main set, so any rare or mythic rare in the wildcard slot is just extra goodness!
As we want to make sure the Set Booster continues to be an amazing opening experience, there is a guaranteed traditional foil slot where standard, showcase, and borderless cards can all appear. You won't get a traditional foil basic in this slot, and the eight new Commander cards and four Commander deck cards won't show up in this slot either.
Collector Boosters
Collector Boosters for Innistrad: Crimson Vow will always have a combination of five rares and/or mythic rares, two of which will be traditional foil. In addition to the two traditional foil rares and/or mythic rares, there are eight additional traditional foil cards and a traditional foil double-faced token.
Let's take a look at all of the contents, then I will highlight a few specific slots with more information.
Non-foil extended-art Commander rare or mythic rare – This slot features each of the 32 new rares and 6 new mythic rares from either the Commander decks or the Set Boosters. Each rare shows up twice as often in this slot as each mythic rare. The card you find here is in an extended-art frame that shows off more of the standard card's artwork. For instance, you could get Strefan, Maurer Progenitor in an extended-art version.
Non-foil extended-art rare or mythic rare from Innistrad: Crimson Vow – For any rare or mythic rare from Innistrad: Crimson Vow that isn't getting a showcase or borderless treatment, we wanted to make sure that there was a special version available, and we accomplish that by giving those 40 rares and 12 mythic rares an extended-art version. Both of these extended-art cards and the Commander slot above are treatments that can only be found in the Collector Booster. As a note, being part of the Dracula series didn't exclude a card from getting an extended-art version with the Innistrad: Crimson Vow art. There are cards that are available in both an extended-art version and a Dracula series version.
Non-foil showcase or borderless rare or mythic rare – This slot features a Booster Fun card in every Collector Booster. You always get a rare or mythic rare that is a card with the showcase fang treatment, a showcase eternal night legend, a borderless dual land, a borderless planeswalker card, or a Dracula series card. Of note, if you don't receive a Dracula series rare or mythic rare card in this slot, then you will instead get a Dracula uncommon in the Dracula uncommon or showcase common/uncommon slot instead.
Traditional foil showcase fang card treatment, showcase eternal night legend, borderless dual land, borderless planeswalker, Dracula series card, or extended-art rare or mythic rare from Innistrad: Crimson Vow – The last card in your pack is always one to look forward to! This slot features a traditional foil card every time and gives you a Booster Fun treatment to sink your teeth into. These cards feature all the amazing styles I've been showing off today and are your best opportunity to get a traditional foil version of a Booster Fun treatment that you have been looking for. Of note, the traditional foil Dracula series cards that you find here are the same as the seventeen traditional foils that you can get in your Box Topper booster. Also, the extended-art rares and mythic rares that are available in traditional foil are the same subset of cards that come from the main set. There aren't any traditional foil extended-art Commander or Set Booster Commander rares or mythic rares in this slot.
With the Collector Booster breakdown complete, we have come to the final chapter of our story. I hope you have enjoyed this deep dive into all the contents of Innistrad: Crimson Vow Draft, Set, and Collector Boosters.
If you want to read more about our Innistrad: Crimson Vow products, I'd recommend Harless Snyder's Product Overview and Clayton Kroh's behind-the-making look at Innistrad: Crimson Vow Booster Fun treatments. I'm always available on Twitter @mturian if you want to share your thoughts!