Following the events of Magic the Gathering's Innistrad: Midnight Hunt, the eternal night has arrived. For the monsters of the plane, the world has become a free-for-all, with no daytime to limit their hunts.For the humans, though, it's potentially the biggest threat they've ever faced, and it's time to rally the forces and fight back. With both Avacyn and the Dawnhart Coven slain, it's up to them to defend themselves through Crimson Vow's new mechanic, Training.Updated April 27, 2022 by Joe Parlock: Though we haven't seen training in a main set since Innistrad: Crimson Vow, it did make a return for the Street Fighter x Secret Lair set. The article has been updated to include Ryu, World Warrior in the count.
What Is Training?
Training is a triggered ability that happens when a creature with Training attacks alongside a creature with higher power than it. When it does, you put a +1/+1 counter on the creature with Training.
For Magic veterans, Training will seem very similar to Guilds of Ravnica's Mentor. The big difference is that Training reflects a creature (the one with Training) learning from bigger allies and growing themselves, whereas Mentor represents a stronger creature (the one with Mentor) building up a smaller one. Training likes you to have bigger creatures, Mentor likes you to have smaller ones.
As an attack trigger, Training happens after attackers have been declared, but before blockers or damage. That means you can swing with a 1/1 with Training and a 2/2 creature, have Training trigger, and suddenly your opponent needs to try and block two 2/2 creatures instead.
Training will only trigger once per turn for each creature, no matter how many bigger creatures are attacking with it. It isn't a check to see how many creatures are bigger, simply if there is one or not.
Something to remember is that Training will only trigger if a creature has more power than it before attackers are declared. If you do any combat tricks or buffs after attackers are declared that make a creature bigger than one with Training, it won't cause Training to trigger.
How To Use Training
The problem with Training is that there is a limited lifespan on its effectiveness. Eventually, your creature with Training is going to be tied as the biggest creature you control, and then it won't get any bigger. That means the best way to use it is to have multiple creatures with Training triggering off of each other. You'll still come to a half eventually, but both of them getting bigger each turn will keep things going a bit longer.
There are also creatures who do other things when they Train, such as Savior of Ollenbock, who can exile creatures from the battlefield or graveyard until it dies, then return them all to the battlefield. You could use this as a Banishing effect on an opponent's creatures, or even use it on your own graveyard as a form of creature reanimation.
Training is a +1/+1 counter mechanic, meaning there are lots of other cards that will fit nicely with it. Sigarda's Summons, Vorinclex Monstrous Raider, Iridescent Hornbeetle, Animation Module, and more will synergise with the mechanic, even if they themselves don't have it.
What Colour Is Training?
Training was the least common mechanic in Innistrad: Crimson Vow, but it was also the one to make the quickest comeback in a later product thanks to a surprise appearance in the Street Fighter x Secret Lair promotion.
As of Streets of New Capenna, there are ten card with training: six white (although one is Ryu, World Warrior, who is a Boros Commander) three green, and one multi-colour, the Selesya (white/green) Torens, Fist of the Angels.