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It's almost time for Magic the Gathering's second of two trips to the plane of Innistrad, and this time we're attending the biggest vampire wedding ever held. With only a few days to go until the full preview stream, here's everything you need to know about Innistrad: Crimson Vow's spoiler season.RELATED: The 5 Best Infinite Damage Combos In Magic The Gathering

What Is A Spoiler Season?

Crimson Vow by Lenka Šimečková
Crimson Vow by Lenka Šimečková

Spoiler seasons are some of the most exciting times in the year for Magic the Gathering, where cards from the incoming set are revealed by the community.

Over the course of about a week, official channels and members of the MTG community will drip-feed reveals from the set, until eventually the whole thing has been revealed. During this week, new cards come in thick and fast, and there's always something new being revealed.

When Do Innistrad: Crimson Vow's Spoilers Begin?

The spoiler season officially begins on Thursday, October 28 with a livestream hosted by Becca Scott and True Blood's Deborah Ann Woll. The stream will introduce us to the story of Innistrad: Crimson Vow, as well as show off the major mechanics and first few cards to be coming in it.

The stream will be through both the official Magic the Gathering YouTube and Twitch channels at 5PM BST (16:00 BST). Though the stream for any set is generally considered to be the opening of the spoiler season, other websites are scheduled to reveal cards that day which may happen a few hours before it.

How Long Is Innistrad: Crimson Vow's Spoiler Season?

Olivia's Midnight Ambush by Chris Rallis
Olivia's Midnight Ambush by Chris Rallis

The main set will be revealed by various websites, content creators, communities and official MTG sources every day from October 28 to November 4. Spoiler seasons are community-wide affairs, with creators like LadeeeDanger, Crokeyz, Kristen Emily, Arin Hanson (of Game Grumps), Dicebreaker, PleasantKenobi, Paulo Vitor Damo Da Rosa, the PlayEDH Discord, and StarCity Games among the dozens of places showing off cards.

Wizards of the Coast gives creators a lot of freedom in how they go about their reveals. Some tweet them out, others write articles, while some even do fully-fledged videos. Cards may also be revealed in many different languages. To make keeping track of them easier, though, Wizards does tend to collect all the revealed cards in its official card gallery within a few days of them being spoiled.

To see a full list of sources involved in the Crimson Vow spoiler season, check the schedule on the Magic the Gathering website. TheGamer is part of this spoiler season, too, with our reveal happening on Saturday, October 30.

When Are The Innistrad: Crimson Vow Commander Preconstructed Deck Spoilers?

Bat Whisperer by Jodie Muir
Bat Whisperer by Jodie Muir

Because they're not considered part of the Crimson Vow set itself, the two Commander precon decks – called "Spirit Squadron" and "Vampiric Bloodline" – will be spoiled on the later date of November 8.

This time around, the popular Command Zone podcast (who also host the Youtube series Game Knights) and MTG Muddstah are revealing the decks.

Where Can I See All The Spoiled Cards?

Florian, Voladren Scion by Justine Cruz
Florian, Voladren Scion by Justine Cruz

Keeping track of spoiler season can be difficult, but there are ways to see every card revealed.

The official way is through the official website, where the card gallery will be updated at the most a few days after a card has been revealed. Sometimes it is a lot quicker, though.

Alternatively, the two best unofficial resources are MythicSpoiler, which tends to update its pages within hours of the card being spoiled, and the MTGGoldfish Twitter, which translates cards previewed in languages other than English and often provides competitive insight into whether the cards are good or not.

How Are Previews Organised Behind The Scenes?

Arrogant Outlaw by Aurore Folny
Arrogant Outlaw by Aurore Folny

There is often some confusion from the community on how spoiler season works on the side of the creators previewing the cards.

Previews are organised privately between the creator and Magic the Gathering's public relations (PR) team. An NDA will be signed and a date for the preview will be agreed upon and then, a few days before the spoiler season begins, Wizards of the Coast will send an email with scans of the cards in them.

Creators generally don't get any input into which cards they reveal, and won't even know what they are until the email comes through. However, Wizards may tailor them based on formats or deck archetypes a creator is particularly known for. From there, it's generally down to the creator how they want to reveal the card, and what time on the assigned day they reveal it.

A really important thing to clarify is that no money changes hands for the vast, vast majority of these previews, regardless of who is doing the preview or what card they're assigned. They're unpaid promotions that people take part in just because of their big community-driven focus. Creators also don't actually get a physical copy of the card they preview, either. If they want a copy to keep for sentimental reasons, they have to pull it in a pack or buy it as a single like anybody else.

When Is The Next Spoiler Season After Crimson Vow?

Kamigawa Neon Dynasty Key Art by Bryan Sola
Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty Key Art by Bryan Sola

Exact dates for spoiler seasons aren't announced until we're close to a set's release. However, the next preview season will be for Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty in Q1 2022.

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