Kaldheim, Magic's 86th expansion, will be released on February 5, 2021. Set on a new, Norse mythology-inspired plane of the same name, Kaldheim contains 285 cards and will continue to include randomly inserted premium versions of all the cards. Players will be able to purchase regular Draft Boosters, Theme Boosters, Set Boosters, Collector Boosters, a Kaldheim Bundle, and two Commander decks.

Marketing-wise, Wizards is leaning into the "metal" stylings and iconographies often associated with fans of Norse mythology. Check out the collector booster and awesome WPN poster sporting some of their new metal stylings that were revealed in an article titled, "Welcome to the Face-Melting World of Kaldheim" posted on the mothership on December 14th.

Spoilers are slated to start Tuesday, December 15th, and are slated to follow this schedule. Check back with us frequently for the latest spoilers and our MTG Finance flavored commentary! We’ll be covering our favorite highlights from spoiler season – if you want to see the entirety of everything that has been spoiled you can check out Wizards’ updated card gallery here.

January 20th

Finally, we have reached the day of the full set reveal! There wasn't much more to see as far as rares go for the main Kaldheim set, but we do get to see a whole slew of new Commander cards! You can see the whole set over at Wizards' card gallery. What do you think about the set? Are you as excited as I am? What cards did I leave out of coverage that you think are going to be important? Let's take a look at two impactful blue cards from today's spoilers, and I'll leave the commander rares below them for you to look at and evaluate!

Bind the Monster is rad and I think it will definitely see lots of play in Pauper. It's not quite Swords to Plowshares, but this is excellent removal in its own right, and besides Pauper I think this will see play in Standard and Historic as well. Binding a Questing Beast will hurt, but it will only hurt you once as opposed to getting hit by it repeatedly. Icebreaker Kraken has the potential to be a fantastic top end for the snow control deck (plus, the art is fantastic.) As a primarily aggro player, I'm not looking forward to having to race against the clock that this thing will represent.

Below, you'll find a bunch of the spoiled rares from the upcoming Commander decks! I'm going to leave them without commentary because I am a very inexperienced Commander player and do not trust myself to evaluate them fairly. However, I can say that this latest batch of Commander action looks like a ton of fun and I'm looking forward to playing the precons against each other!

January 19th

Today we got some runes, some Commander cards, and some more cool rares and mythics!

With Resplendent Marshal we get our 3/3 flyer for three mana, but with a powerful upside. I think this warrior will see a lot of play in aggressive white decks, and I'm looking forward to testing it out myself. Orvar, the All-Form is a super interesting blue mythic. I'm not sure exactly where this changeling will fit, but I do know that being able to make copies of your permanents is a powerful ability - and I'm excited to see where this shapeshifter gets played!

Runeforge Champion was, unfortunately, one of the early leaks from this season, but it's been officially spoiled now! This dwarf warrior makes the runes spoiled today a whole lot better for constructed, and I wouldn't be surprised if an enterprising brewer out there comes up with a sweet rune-based list centered around this champion. King Narfi's Betrayal seems like a sweet addition to the UB control lists out there, and I imagine it fits in with any of the builds out there running Ashiok, Nightmare Muse.

We got a peek at some of the upcoming Commander cards today! Wolverine Riders is a fun addition to casual elf decks, guaranteeing you at least one life a turn as long as it stays on the table (and realistically plenty more in this style of deck), and Inspired Sphinx seems like a decent blue creature for many of the fan-favorite casual blue Commander decks out there.

The runes are here! Each of these runes has an on-color effect and allows you to enchant a permanent, though you will want to be enchanting either a creature or an equipment to get the full value out of them. These are all going to be limited all stars, and I wouldn't be surprised to see a few of them played in constructed as well. I know I want to enchant an Embercleave with Rune of Mortality at some point!

January 17th and 18th

Just a few more days before we get the whole set reveal! Let's take a look at some of the cool cards we got over the weekend.

Doomskar has the potential to be a better Wrath of God and Wrath of God seems like it would be darn good in standard right now. You have to take turn three off to really profit off of this board wipe, but I think the decks that run this are totally fine with that. There are going to be a lot of angels and clerics in standard come Kaldheim, and I think Righteous Valkyrie is primed to take advantage of that - this is going to be a three drop to keep your eyes on!

Graven Lore seems like a cool addition (heh, "cool", get it?) to the snow control deck that will likely be played after Kaldheim releases. That's a potential scry 5 in the late game, which could  be super useful if you're behind and need to stack your deck. Dream Devourer might just be a gimmick, but I could actually see this demon being a cool part of a foretell deck. The cynic in me makes me think it won't be that impactful, but I'm hoping I'm wrong!

Birgi, God of Storytelling, piques my interest something fierce. I think there's the potential for this being super powerful in the right shell, though I'm not certain what that shell is going to be. The ability to boast twice seems pretty powerful, and lategame having Harnfel, Horn of Bounty seems like a great way to filter through your deck and get some card advantage going.

Daaang, The Bloodsky Massacre is metal as all get out. If there's a berserker tribal deck that gets played this next season, I expect this saga to be in it. It makes a berserker, draws you cards, and ramps you - what more could you want? Similarly, The Raven's Warning seems like a pretty good addition to the UW flyers deck. You can gain life and get a bird, take a peek at your opponent's hand and draw a card, and grab something from your sideboard! I wouldn't be surprised to see this played.

I'm not sure how good Cosmos Elixir is going to be in a competitive setting, but it looks like a fun lifegain tool to play around with! Is Tyrite Sanctum too slow to be much good? I like the idea of making the Kaldheim gods indestructible like their Theros counterparts, but I'm not sure if the sanctum will cut it in standard.

January 16th

Arni Brokenbrow's flavor text, "I headbutted a troll. And won." made me laugh out loud, and he seems like an awesome addition to the standard mono-red list! On its own, a 3/3 with haste for three mana is fine, but the boast ability could make this berserker a key piece of the new aggressive red build. Immerstrum Predator is a vampire and a dragon! I think this will be an awesome addition to RB sacrifice strategies and expect to face down a ton of copies of this dragon on the Arena ladder.

I could see Blessing of Frost seeing play in a snow-based big green creature deck as a one or two of, possibly? If you can find a way to make sure that you're drawing cards for each creature you control this could be pretty powerful, but that seems like magical Christmas land. Doomskar Titan seems like a fun addition to the limited giant/berserker deck, but I'm not sure if we'll see it in standard. (Also, I was broken-hearted when I looked closer at the little green beings and realized they weren't goblins.)

Ascent of the Worthy continues the tradition of sagas having fantastic art, but I'm not sold on its constructed potential. In an aggressive BW deck, taking turn three off to play this seems like it would be a bit too slow, but perhaps there is a more control-oriented BW deck that would want to play this? Maja, Bretagard Protector seems like it has potential in an aggressive GW creature deck, but the five mana cost seems a bit steep.

January 15th

BIG GREEN MYTHIC TIME! Battle Mammoth fulfills a lot of checkboxes that make it good for a big green creature deck. It has a big body with trample, it draws you cards, and it has a foretell cost that could allow for playing it early. However, taking turn four off could be a big stumbling block for a lot of decks, so the foretell might not be the best way to play this. At first glance, I'm a fan of Glorious Protector. A flyer with flash and a 3/4 body seems like a decent card on it's own - and being able to temporarily exile creatures of your own at instant speed could definitely come in handy.

Is it just me, or does In Search of Greatness seem kind of bonkers in a big mana creature deck? I can see this going great in mono green creature lists, gruul lists, and probably also the UG lists that are high on permanents. I might be overvaluing it, but I think the ability to put out progressively larger permanents or at the very least scry is going to be very powerful in standard. The goblin lover in my heart hates Crippling Fear. You could see the conditional part of this boardwipe as a downside or an upside, depending on what kind of deck you stick it in, but I think the ability to leave your creatures on the battlefield will be an upside with most lists (unless you end up in a mirror match.)

Reidane, God of the Worthy seems like a super cool hate card to fight against both snow decks and big mana control decks. Flying and vigilance might make Reidane more than just a super good sideboard card as well. Valkmira, Protector's Shield also seems like a super fun hate card. Preventing one damage is fairly negligible, but I like the counter ability paired with it. I know I'm interested in playing both sides of this god in standard!

I love the art for Niko Defies Destiny, but I'm not sure how competitive it is going to be. Foretold decks might end up being a big deal, in which case this could see some play, but based on what we've seen so far I doubt this will see a ton of constructed play. Arni Slays the Troll looks like it will see a lot more play. Gruul decks already run some number of fight cards, and I think this saga's next chapters give it a pretty good upside.

January 14th

I think Cosima, God of the Voyage is a really neat design. I'm not much of a blue player, so I'm sure I'm missing the true potential of the card, but it seems sweet. Drawing cards and getting counters is always good, and The Omenkeel seems like it could be really advantageous in a vehicle heavy deck.

I have the same opinion of Gates of Istfell that I do the rest of the cycle - gorgeous art and decent limited potential. Now, Tundra Fumarole is a burn spell I can really get behind! It may be sorcery speed, but the fact that it can also help you ramp seems really good.

I love the art on both Skemfar Elderhall and Gnottvold Slumbermound, but like Axeguard Armory, I'm unsure of how good they'll actually be outside of limited.

Cyclone Summoner seems like it could be decent as the top end of a giant or wizard control deck, though I'm a little worried that it's seven mana cost might make it a bit prohibitive if standard speeds up even more with the release of the new set. I think Mystic Reflection seems super cool and like pretty decent pseudo-removal. As my friend Skinner pointed out, this is a pretty fun answer to Ugin, and the foretell cost means it can be waiting there for you to use just in time to stop the annoying planeswalker.

Again, we've already seen Aegar, the Freezing Flame and Narfi, Betrayer King, but I couldn't help but bring up these amazing showcase versions. I don't think I've seen a showcase version of a card from Kaldheim I didn't immediately love, and I know I'm definitely going to be trying to add plenty of these to my personal collection.

Runed Crown seems like a really interesting design, and depending on how good runes end up being this could end up being a decent piece of equipment. I think Axegard Armory's cost to actually search for an equipment or aura is too high to be very useful, but I could be wrong!

Skemfar Avenger seems like a sweet aggressive two drop for the GB elf deck. The art is super rad, it looks like it will be great in draft, and I'm sure it will find its way into an aggressive elf/berserker standard deck at some point during its time in standard. I really like Ascendant Spirit, though I'm not sure how much play it will actually see. The potential with the different levels is definitely there, and I'll be excited to see it on the battlefield if it catches on!

January 13th

It's Wednesday, my dudes! The spoilers keep coming, and we're getting closer and closer to having the full set revealed!

At first glance, Firja's Retribution looks like it is going to be incredibly powerful in Standard. It's powerful enough alone, but pair it with something like Doom Foretold and this is going to be even more of a force to be reckoned with. I'm seeing a lot of people on Twitter worrying about the power level of this card, and I'm not going to jump the gun on worrying, but this does seem like it is going to be one of the premier cards of the new standard.

I believe Burning-Rune Demon was already spoiled, but today was the first time I saw the English translation, and with the cool borderless version too! A 6/6 flyer for six mana seems fine, especially in draft, but the rest of the text makes this seem like a pretty fun card to play around with. Being able to tutor up a card is powerful, but I'm not sure about letting your opponent choose which one of the two you get.

Snow zombies! Narfi, Betrayer King seems like a super powerful uncommon to me. Narfi can be returned from the graveyard at instant speed, and I doubt you'll be paying the full mana cost to play this wizard. Pitch it to your bin with something like Rotting Regisaur or something similar, and then return it with your snow lands.

Aegar, the Freezing Flame is another powerful uncommon, and I imagine it will slot in nicely with the rest of the giant cards we've been seeing.

We get to see two new rare sagas today! Battle for Bretagard looks like some good old fashioned GW token fun. This will be right at home in all of the casual Trostani, Selesnya's Voice Commander decks out there, and I wouldn't be surprised if it saw some standard play as well.

With Battle of Frost and Fire, I'm becoming convinced there are going to be several different versions of the giant deck being played in Standard. This will fit right in with the Izzet control variant (maybe with another color?) I think. It does a lot of what control decks want to do - wipe the board (in non-giant matches), scry, and draw cards.

January 12th

Tuesday brings us the god of death, more giants, and some fantastic showcase arts!

We've already seen both of these cards, but I just had to take a second to mention how fantastic I think both of these showcase arts are. Look at how metal they are!

Stranheim Unleashed basically gives you a Serra Angel token! Using the foretell cost can net you several Serra Angel stand-ins, but that seems unlikely unless you're playing a deck that lets you get to the long game.

My friend Tom showed me Weathered Runestone, saying, "So, this is a slightly better Grafdigger's Cage that costs one more mana?" I think in a lot of cases I would prefer to be playing the cage since it hits the battlefield sooner, but I'm sure this runestone will be a super useful sideboard card in the right metas.

Jorn, God of Winter seems like a fantastic card in a snow-based deck if you can consistently attack with them. Being able to untap lands is always good, and Jorn lets you untap your lands and snow creatures to act as blockers. Kaldring, the Rimestaff seems like more of a late-game component for a snow deck, but nonetheless, I can imagine it being powerful in the right build.

We got two giant wizards today! I can see the potential for Basalt Ravager to fit into the giant tribal deck we've seen developing, or even just as a powerful finisher in any tribal deck that has access to red. Frostpyre Arcanist will likely almost always cost one less in the decks it slots into, and is an interesting way to tutor for instants and sorceries.

I'm having a hard time evaluating Egon, God of Death. A 6/6 for three mana is nothing to scoff at, but with the need to exile two cards from your graveyard without losing it, the likelihood of you playing it as early as you would want to seems slim. If you pair Egon with their backside, Throne of Death, you'll have a lot more cards in your graveyard to work with. Maybe Egon will be in a stand out self mill style deck?

January 11th

The spoilers keep coming, and today we got a look at a new god, a red counterspell, and tons of gorgeous showcase versions of new and previously spoiled cards!

I think Harald, King of Skemfar is a really cool addition to the elf tribal strategy we're starting to see develop. He's a decent body and allows you to dig for more creatures or Tyvar Kell which seems like things the deck will want to be doing. Harald Unites the Elves does similar things in saga form, and it might actually end up being better than Harald the creature? Do you think they'll be played in the same deck? Either way, I dig the flavor on these and look forward to seeing them played.

Holy moly, as someone who has been piloting a ton of Doom Foretold decks in Standard recently, I am incredibly hyped to try out Tergrid, God of Fright in that style of deck. There are a ton of available sacrifice effects to experiment with, and my gut feeling says this is going to be one powerful god. Tergrid's Lantern also seems like a decent way to make your opponent sacrifice things and paired with Tergrid will be a force to be reckoned with!

Red gets a counterspell, and it is certainly befitting of its namesake! Tibalt's Trickery is kind of goofy, and definitely has a bit of a downside, but it looks like good silly fun and might actually prove to be pretty decent in the right deck. Reflections of Littjara seems like it could be super powerful in the right creature deck (Muxus, Goblin Grandee jank maybe?) and I'm excited to see what people come up with this one!

Today we got to see Kaldheim's version of Thor - Toralf, God of Fury and Toralf's Hammer! Toralf looks like a ton of fun to play with, and I'm sure there will be red burn decks created just to take advantage of his ability to deal excess damage to other permanents. I'm less sold on his hammer though. It's a super cool design, and I'm sure it will see some good standard use, but it's not my favorite new equipment by any means.

January 9th & 10th

Saturday and Sunday brought us some more awesome looking Kaldheim action!

I was super hyped on Eradicator Valkyrie when I first saw it, but then I saw someone on Twitter mention that it was basically a worse Rankle, Master of Pranks and now I'm not so sure how much I like it. I think the Valkyrie being a 4/3 is a big improvement, and sometimes lifelink matters more than Rankle's haste. I know I'll play the Valkyrie for sure - but only time will tell if I end up liking this Angel Berserker more than our old rogue friend Rankle.

Draugr Necromancer is giving me Skyrim flashbacks and I love it! This seems like a super fun card. I love the idea of stealing my opponent's creatures after they die, and the snow mana tie-in makes this even more appealing to me.

There was a whole slew of commons and uncommons spoiled this weekend, but I wanted to highlight these two legendary creatures that caught my eye. Vega, the Watcher seems like a super fun draw engine in UW and I imagine that it will see plenty of Standard, Historic, and possibly even the paper non-rotating formats. I could see Firja, Judge of Valor seeing play in the BW control list I imagine we'll be seeing in Kaldheim standard, and this angel seems like it will be right at home in casual EDH Angel tribal lists. Flying, lifelink, draws cards, and allows you to fill your graveyard - these are all great abilities for a creature to have!

Maskwood Nexus is blowing up Twitter right now with a  lot of users speculating on its combo potential. I think this is a card we'll see a lot of in the early access Arena event for the set and one many players will be building with in the early Kaldheim standard. Faceless Haven is a snow man land! I love the art, but I'm not sure how useful this card will actually be competitively. I imagine that it will find a spot as a one or two of in Historic colorless control style decks, but I'm unsure where else it fits right now.

I'm super excited about Quakebringer being added to the Giant tribal cards we've been seeing. This giant seems super powerful already at five mana, and if you can use Foretell it gets even better - this is a card I'll definitely be playing with on the Arena ladder.

Vehicles are back with Esika's Chariot! Based on Freya's chariot of myth, this cat powered vehicle seems like a powerful addition to Standard green decks (with adorable art to boot!) The crew cost is a little high, but I don't think many of the aggressive green decks we'll be seeing will have a problem paying for it.

January 8th

Kaldheim spoilers continued their awesome, metal fury today! We're starting to get a much better idea of what the set is going to look like, and in my opinion, it's shaping up to be a fantastic, flavorful hit.

I love the flavor of Esika, God of the Tree and The Prismatic Bridge! The nod to the Rainbow Bridge of myth is fantastic for Norse mythology fans, and I can definitely see this card being a powerful addition to the Temur Ramp [card]Genesis Ultimatum[/cards] decks that are currently popular in Standard.

I'd be lying to you if I said I didn't roll my eyes a little when Koma, Cosmos Serpent was spoiled. Uro and Oko have left a bad taste in many players' mouths when it comes to powerful UG creatures, and this serpent seems like it is aiming to add its name to the list. Cosmos Charger seems like it could be pretty powerful in a Foretell based deck and I'm excited to see if one develops and makes good use of this new horse spirit.

I think Kolvori, God of Kinship and The Ringheart Crest are an interesting design. I'm sure with all of the gods floating around there will be a deck that makes good use of the legendary creature requirement to buff Kolvori, and the crest seems like a decent mana rock.

Cassius Marsh spoiled The World Tree on Twitter today - and the internet immediately started complaining about how the world tree isn't a legendary land (and honestly, I'm a little confused about it too from a Vorthos perspective.) This seems like a powerful land in the ramp strategies we have available to us right now, and I'm sure you'll hear me complaining about it's prevalence in a future podcast episode.

We also got a look at Tyvar Kell, which seems like a huge hit for elf tribal fans. This seems like a pretty fantastic planeswalker for elf tribal EDH, and if we get enough elves in this set there's no way we won't see an elf tribal deck featuring Tyvar. I'm excited to give him a shot!

We got to see two new Sagas today! Forging the Tyrite Sword seems a little underwhelming, but outside of being decent in draft I'm sure it will find a place in some sort of equipment deck. I'm debating how good The Trickster-God's Heist actually is in constructed, but it looks like a hilarious flavor win to me. This is going to lead to a ton of goofy, exciting games against UB and I'm pumped for the fun!

Calamity Bearer was, unfortunately, one of the early leaks, but Jess Estephan's official pie-filled preview hit Twitter this morning (the berry pie she made to tie in with the card looks amazing, by the way.) Calamity Bearer looks like another decent piece of the giant tribal deck we're anticipating and I think it has potential to be a hit in Kaldheim standard.

The band In Hearts Wake previewed Goldspan Dragon on Twitter this morning as well, and I think there's a good chance it will fit in with a future big red styled standard deck, possibly going hand in hand with Magda, Brazen Outlaw.

January 7th

Spoilers kicked off with a bang today! Jimmy Wong was joined by metal band Immersturm to ham it up and show us some awesome cards on the Magic Twitch channel and I'm more hyped than ever for the set.

Okay, so one of the big leaks that was floating around the internet was also confirmed today. I didn't believe it could be true (all right Casey - you win this one), but Vorinclex is back in Vorinclex, Monstrous Raider. We still don't know how or why the Praetor is devouring people on Kaldheim, but this is sure to be a sought after card. There are three versions of the art, one being in actual Phyrexian, it has trample and haste, and buffs your counters while hampering your opponent's counters. At first glance, I think this has a lot of action with sagas in standard, but I'm sure I'm only scratching the surface at this Phyrexian's potential.

TALK ABOUT METAL! Varragoth, Bloodsky Sire is our first look at the boast mechanic (and also has one of the gnarliest showcase arts we've seen yet) and at first glance, I think this card will see a good amount of play. You can only activate the boast once per turn, and only if the creature attacked, but at least in this case I imagine you'll be fine attacking with your creature because it's a 2/3 with deathtouch. Being able to tutor a card to the top of your deck is awesome (maybe less awesome with all the mill in standard right now) and I think this is one of the big flashy black cards people will be doing a lot of experimenting with early on with Kaldheim's release.

Apparently, Kaldheim is composed of ten realms, with each realm being populated by a particular creature type, and Old-Growth Troll is our first glimpse at Kaldheim trolls! This troll seems like a great addition to mono-green strategies and I'm sure will see standard play. Sigrid, God-Favored seems like it will fit in great with the mono-white strategies we've been seeing in standard, especially with protection from God creatures, Flash, and being able to exile a creature. This is the kind of value that white, taxes-ish strategies will be looking for in Standard for sure, though I'm not sure Sigrid will see much eternal play. I guess it depends on how good the gods are!

Snow duals and snow instants! People have speculated about these coming into existence someday - and that day is now! Alpine Meadow is the RW version of this cycle (each pairing is in the set but I didn't think we needed to have them all here.) I'm not entirely sure how I feel about these yet other than I think they're cool (heh, get it?) and will probably see some pauper play. Frost Bite however, is guaranteed to see pauper play, and maybe in other formats too! Snow basics are also coming to Kaldheim, as was expected.

Binding the Old Gods is another new saga that I think will actually see a good amount of play. The removal might be sorcery speed, which can be a downside, but it also helps you ramp with the second chapter and then finishes with deathtouch. I think a lot of the Golgari control style decks we've been seeing in standard could slot this in even if nothing else synergistic comes out in the set, but I'm sure we'll see more cards that play well with it down the line. Elvish Warmaster seems like a pretty typical elf lord. I doubt this elf warrior will see much play in eternal formats, but I could see it being good in standard.

We also got another one of the modal gods today! Alrund, God of the Cosmos (this set's nod to Odin from Norse mythology) may be a 1/1, but he gets +1/+1 for each card in your hand and each foretold card you own in exile, which paired with his effect could make for a pretty large and in charge god. I really love his other side, Hakka, Whispering Raven, which is a flyer that lets you scry and also returns to your hand so you can play Alrund later! I think this one will see a lot of play.

We got to see the full Niko Aris planeswalker card today, which seems like a great addition to standard control lists. This is our first look at shard tokens, which will be decent card draw advantage (and will be interesting with enchantment matters cards), and all of Niko's abilities seem like they do things that you want to be doing as a control player. Returning your own creatures will be pretty great with the modal cards we're getting this set, doing damage is always good, and shard tokens seem like a decent thing to be making when the game slows down! We also got to see Alrund's Epiphany today, which shows off the Foretell mechanic (and seems like a huge headache for a mono-red player like myself.) Players will always find ways to abuse taking extra turns - I think this is a card to keep an eye on.

Tibalt is back, baby! I think this is such a cool way to bring the fan-favorite planeswalker back. He's impersonating a god from Kaldheim known as Valki, God of Lies - which has an interesting mechanic that lets you copy creatures that you exiled from your opponent's hand, but the backside of the card is a fairly expensive Tibalt, Cosmic Impostor. Coming in with the emblem makes him seem pretty powerful, even though seven mana can be rather steep. My first impression of this card is that it is going to be a powerful addition to standard Rakdos control style builds, and I'm sure he'll be seeing play.

January 6th

We weren't expecting any more official spoilers until tomorrow, but Amy the Amazonian got to share a preview early on Twitter today!

Invasion of the Giants is a new saga (with amazing art, which seems typical of sagas), this time for Izzet players. This seems pretty cool with the apparent giant tribal we'll be getting and seems like it will at least play well with all-star Bonecrusher Giant! I for one am incredibly excited about the idea of giant tribal and can't wait to see how this archetype develops.

December 24th

We've been on the edge of our seats since the 17th waiting for more spoilers (not counting the potential weird leaks floating around) and today brings something super flavorful!

Look, a standard-legal squirrel! Toski, Bearer of Secrets is obviously based on Ratatoskr from Norse mythology, which I think is a super cool reference. The jury is still out on how competitive this card will end up being, but I think we can all agree that it is an incredible flavor win. I think it being uncounterable and also indestructible is pretty relevant - but being a 1/1 for four mana doesn't' seem super impactful in today's standard meta.

December 17th

During the Weekly MTG: Metal Week Recap today, we got a glimpse at two new legendary creatures from the new Kaldheim Commander decks! Both Lathril, Blade of the Elves and Ranar the Ever-Watchful look like a ton of fun to play with and I'm excited to see what the rest of the pre-cons look like!

It looks like someone let a wolf out of the bag! Sarulf, Realm Eater is another super cool flavor win for Kaldheim. At first glance, a 3/3 for three mana doesn't seem great, as the Spikes of Reddit are already yelling about, but I could see the +1/+1 counter interactions being useful in the right shell, and being able to exile multiple permanents at once is something that has been proven to be incredibly useful this Standard season.

December 16th

We're onto Day 2 of a very Metal week of spoilers!

Metal legends Amon Amarth spoiled a really rad Kaldheim card today in Halvar, God of Battle and flip side Sword of the Realms. Halvar is a fantastic creature for an equipment matters style aggressive deck. I could see him working well alongside Maul of the Skyclaves, Archon of Emeria, and my favorite Zendikar Rising card Skyclave Apparition.

Sword of the Realms is a sword that any brave creature would be honored to wield in battle, with the awesome-for-aggro upside of returning the equipped creature to its owner's hand.

Continuing the previews from metal bands, Oceans of Slumber previewed the newest Kaya planeswalker card, Kaya the Inexorable! Kaya's mana cost seems a bit high for my tastes, but the minus three is an awesome ability that fits with Kaya's flavor really well, and I think the plus one ability will probably be useful in several different shells come the new standard season.

Changelings in the house, baby! Realmwalker looks like a fantastic addition to all kinds of tribal strategies and being able to look at the top card of your library and cast it if it's a creature of the chosen type is an awesome ability I'm excited to play with. This card was spoiled today by the band Rhapsody of Fire.

Heavy metal band Smoulder revealed this sweet new aggressive red dwarf today. Magda, Brazen Outlaw looks like a super fun indicator that we might be able to play an aggressive dwarf tribal deck in the upcoming standard season! Being able to buff your dwarves, create treasures, and also search up artifacts or dragons seems super impressive for this new two-drop.

Wizards also dropped an article today going over the additional set and theme booster cards that will be legal in any format Kaldheim is legal in. There's a neat assortment of super flavorful cards listed in the article (I'll share the rares below) and we also learn that the names for the upcoming Kaldheim commander decks are Canopy Tactician, Elderfang Ritualist, Elven Ambush, and Surtland Elementalist.

I also included Rampage of the Valkyries here because the art is incredible. At first glance, none of these cards seem super relevant for competitive play, but I think Wizards did a great job of including fun, flavorful cards in their set and theme booster product for the newer players that gravitate towards them.

December 15th

Today is kicking off with some reveals from popular Metal bands. Mastodon kicked off spoiler season with previews of the new Kaldheim pathways:

We found out from Brazil-based metal band Angra's preview that sagas are coming back, with Showdown of the Skalds:

This seems like a pretty rad re-introduction to Sagas, and one that will fit well with aggressive creature-based strategies. Speaking creatures:

Pyre of Heroes is a neat artifact that supports creature strategies. I could see this being useful in a tribal type deck or possibly an updated standard Winota list.