As always, we start with the link to the gallery.
While I thought Midnight Hunt was a solid if not very innovative set, my feelings on Crimson Vow are a bit muted. This might start with the mechanics:
Disturb, a mechanic I was lackluster on previously I am still feeling meh about. I still like the daybound/nightbound shift from the werewolves' previous mechanic. Which brings us to the new stuff.
The return of Exploit is something no one was clamoring for. However, it does appear that while the effects of Exploit don't seem to be stronger than their Khans counterparts, the attached bodies appear to be better. Perhaps this, partnered with the token generation of this set and Midnight Hunt, will give Exploit the boost it needs.
Training: is bad. First, there is a mechanical disconnect whenever I see it on a card like Torens, Fist of the Angels or even Gryffwing Cavalry: a card that should represent a leader should be boosting others, not needing a boost. Note that most of the cards with training have names including novice level descriptions: Apprentice, Trainee, that sort of thing.
Second, it's conditional and finite. First you need a creature with greater power (not too hard since they mostly start at 1), but we're already at: you need two creatures for this to do anything. So that's two conditions already. Then, those creatures have to survive to attack step. And if it works and you get to attack with a 1/1 and a 2/2, your reward is a 2/2 and a 2/2. That's payoff, baby!
Now you need a 3/x creature to train again. If you don't find it, no training for you!
So it's slow, it's conditional, and it's got a low ceiling.
Cleave feels awkward. I understand what they are trying to do, but it feels weird and that's because they want to give you more spell by taking words away. Also, visually, I wish that the brackets had been put in bold, so it would be easier to see which phrase goes away. Finally, I don't think the cards are all that strong.
Finally there are Blood Tokens. Thematically I like these but they seem like a lot of work for not enough payoff. Food, treasure and clue tokens have all made headways into the game but paying one mana and discarding a card to draw a card as a one shot effect seems weak. I wonder if Blood tokens were broken if the mechanic didn't have a mana cost.
Still, the other tokens have been useful across multiple formats, so I might be underestimating these a little.
But since none of these mechanics really excite me, Crimson Vow is already at a disadvantage. That said, the art is a lot of fun and well executed, as with Midnight Hunt.
White
First off; great to see a Thalia reprint. The card was getting expensive and it's a staple across formats.
Arm the Cathars is a pretty strong card: six power boost for three mana is nice. And Fleeting Spirit strangling a vampire is an awesome piece of art.
That's...about it. Which feels weird!
Blue
Cobbled Lancer is...messed up. Is what that is. Heck of a piece of art.
Patchwork Crawler looks pretty cool but it's a bummer it can't remove cards from opponent's graveyards. Still, there's got to be some cool stuff to do there. Of the Cleave cards, I think Winged Portent is one of the most playable ones, as the basic version of the spell can draw cards. And Stormchaser Drake will probably take up space in my brain in that 'there's got to be a way to use this' way.
I also like the flavor of Wretched Throng. That's pretty great.
Black
As is frequently the case, Black gets some of the standout art and named cards of an Innistrad set. Catapult Fodder, Unhallowed Phalanx, Dying to Serve, Undead Butler; it goes on. I dig it.
I'm not sure what's interesting here, if anything. Many of Black's cards revolve around the use of Blood tokens so I suppose a great deal hinges on how good those tokens are.
I am pleased to see a Headless Horseman in Innistrad, after all this time. Cool to see that there are still fun references to make.
Red
Seems like Red is getting in on a little bit of Black's 'let's have fun art' action. The party storyline of Crimson Vow feels like it gets a lot of play here, along with cards like Weary Prisoner make for some entertaining imagry.
Manaform Hellkite is a beatstick of a card and another player in Red's 4 mana nightmare dragon posse.
I do see a few cards here and there that might have some nice role player effect like Kessig Flamebreather but nothing out of the ordinary for Red.
Green
Of the Cemetery cycle, Green's is probably the strongest one. I like all of them, but Cemetery Prowler makes for a nice compliment to cards like Endurance.
Nature's Embrace seems unique as the first Aura I can recall that can enchant either a creature or a land. It's a pretty versatile card that should find a home in both Limited and Commander.
Finally, the art for Witch's Web is outstanding.
Multi
Of the cards here, Old Rustein seems weird: why is a human making Blood tokens? It's literally the only human card in the set that does so.
Similarly, why is Kaya, Geist Hunter making spirit tokens for players? That character is known for destroying spirits! She feels wedged in mechanically to make the B/W tokens deck a thing.
That's right: the complaints about Odric, Blood Cursed are all off the mark. A 3/3 for three that generates tokens-tokens that can enable Madness and filter your hand? What is everyone's problem? At least Odric is a vampire now. It's not as though previous incarnations of Odric were off the hook.
That's the hill I'm gonna die on.
Artifact
The artifacts mostly land in the 'solid utility' slot, especially for Limited. The flavor of Boarded Window is great and I think Investigator's Journal will find a home in any controlish decks that want to keep their hands fed.
Lands
As with Midnight Hunt, I'm happy to see some two-color lands giving options to budget players especially. I also like the way Voldaren Estate came out and it's a near auto include in any Vampire tribal Commander deck-including mine.
So....all in all, what do we have? Is this enough to shake the metagame up for Standard? Is it a solid Limited environment? These are the questions that Crimson Vow has to answer to justify WotC's experiment of staggering sets like this.
I personally feel this set errs on the side of de-powered cards, and aside from a couple obvious standouts, won't do a lot to change the decks people are already playing. I don't think the set is bad but it isn't popping out, either. A step down from Midnight Hunt might make sense, since we've witnessed plenty of overhyped weddings.
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