Kaldheim: Top 10 Cards

Another Magic the Gathering set is right around the corner. What were your Kaldheim predictions?  What cards will become new staples in your deck? Check out some of the best cards in the upcoming set, Kaldheim!

10. Tibalt’s Trickery

Hands down, this is one of the most unique cards printed in a while. Tibalt’s Trickery is 2 mana, 1 and 1 red is set up to create some of the craziest combos. You guessed right: a red counterspell. The way this card handles countering spells in red is precisely how you would expect it to- by allowing the controller of the countered spell to cast a random spell instead. 

The most obvious way to play this card is similar to a reactive version of Chaos Warp. The galaxy brain way to play is to counter your own spell. Now, you must be thinking this is insane, but think about it. If you counter your own spell, you get to be the one to randomly cast a spell from your library! Think about all the advantages that adding Tibalt’s Trickery to your library will bring to your gameplay.

Tibalt’s Trickery

9. Rise of the Dread Marn

Another Instant, Rise of the Dread Marn, is a 2 and 1 black card that has earned the #9 spot in our Top 10 Cards. 

While powerful standing alone, this card also comes with the brand new foretell mechanic. During your turn, it allows you to exile a card with foretell face down for 2 mana for any type. On a later turn, cast it for its foretell cost, which is printed on the card similarly to morph. The best part is: the foretell cost of this card is 1 black mana. So by paying 2 black mana on one of your earlier turns, you can obtain this powerful effect for only 1 mana! 

Using this card in play is optimal. It is an easy inclusion in any aristocrats deck, most notably any witch’s familiar deck, allowing you to sacrifice a ton of creatures to provide you with an army of 2/2 zombies, with the goal to kill your opponent. 

Pro-Tip: Play this card in any black aggro deck as an answer for board wipes. By playing this card early in the game you have the opportunity to slam your creatures without fearing your opponent playing board wipes. The second your opponent tries to clean up your mess of creatures, cast Rise of the Dread Marn to fill your board with zombies in an instant.

Rise of the Dread Marn

8. Legendary Planeswalker- Tyvar Kell

Planeswalkers are the current staple card of magic. They appear in every set, and lucky for you, Kaldheim has introduced three new additions to the Planeswalker lineup. One of these cards, Tyvar Kell, a 4 mana Legendary Planeswalker that enters with 3 loyalty, has landed #8 on our Top 10 Cards list. 

Overall Tyvar is a very solid Planeswalker. His +1 is a nice way to buff up your board and make it difficult for your opponent to block your creatures. His 0 ability to produce a 1/1 pairs nice with the party mechanic from Zendikar Rising. Most importantly, his ultimate can win you the game. All your Elves gaining haste and drawing you 2 cards when you cast them will end the game very quickly. In addition, his static ability gives all of your Elf creatures the ability to tap, add 1 black.

Tyvar Kell

7. Glorious Protector

Seems like Kaldheim is showing the color white some much-needed love. Glorious Protector is a 4 mana, 3/4 creature with flash and flying, securing #7 on our Top 10 Cards list.

The Glorious Protector is here to save you, he’s always got your back. Play this card in response to a board wipe so you can exile all of your creatures. Once you let the board wipe resolve, all of your creatures will be back, unscathed– the ultimate payback.

Glorious Protector

6. Esika, God of the Tree & The Primsatic Bridge

Modal Double-Faced Cards are back in Kaldheim. Esika, God of the Tree, is a 3 mana, 1 and 2 green, for a 1/4 Legendary God creature that takes the front of this card. The backside of this card, The Prismatic Bridge, is a WUBRG Legendary Enchantment.

Uniquely, the front side of this card is a Legendary Creature, which can be a commander. Since the rules of magic say we cast either side of an MDFC, that means we can cast The Prismatic Bridge from our command zone, quite possibly making this the most powerful five-color commander.

Esika, God of the Tree (front)

The Prismatic Bridge (back)

5. Snow-Dual Lands

A shiny new mana base, Snow-Dual Lands takes spot #5 on the Top 10 Cards List. Kaldheim was so kind to give us all 10 Snow-Dual Lands and made them Fetchable. Who knows, maybe there are some cards from previous snow-themed sets that go well with these lands, such as Into the North.

Snow Lands

4. Maskwood Nexus

Now all of your opponent’s synergy can be your synergy with Maskwood Nexus, taking the #4 spot on our list. Maskwood Nexus is a 4 mana artifact that has a very unique effect: It makes all of your creatures in play, in your deck, in your hand, in your graveyard, in exile, and even on the stack, all creature types. The greatness doesn’t end there, with this card in play we are only one Kindred Summons away from amassing a giant board state. Pick this card up for all of your commander decks, you will not regret it.

Maskwood Nexus

3. Vorinclex, Monstrous Raider

Kaldheim is a tribal player’s dream, full of a great variety of creature types. #3 on our list goes to the big green beast himself, Vorinclex, Monstrous Raider. Vorinclex is a 6 mana, 4 and 2 green, for a 6/6 Legendary Creature, Phyrexian Praetor.

Not only is he Doubling Seasons on a creature, but he also pulls double duty by halving the number of counters your opponents put on players on permanents. We highly recommend this card for all Atraxa players out there!

Vorinclex, Monstrous Raider

2. Vakil, God of Lies & Tibalt, Cosmic Imposter

We have all been waiting for this day since 2012. Securing #2 on our Top 10 List is a playable Tibalt! Valki, God of Lies, is a 2 mana, 1 and 1 black for a 2/1 Legendary Creature God. All things considered, knowing what is in your opponent’s hand is very useful information, however, the real value lies in your ability to take away their best creature, and turn it into Valki later. 

On this card’s backside lives Tibalt, Cosmic Imposter, a 7 mana, 5 red and 1 black for a Planeswalker. Tibalt is the first Planeswalker to give you an emblem when he enters the battlefield, which makes all of his abilities that much better. 

The front side is a Legendary Creature, meaning similar to our #6 entry, you can play Valki as your commander, but then cast Tibalt from the Command Zone. The front side of this card is only 2 mana, meaning if you were to cascade into Valki with a card such as Bloodbraid Elf, you can choose to cast its backside instead.

Vakil, God of Lies (front)

Tibalt Cosmic Imposter (back)

1. The World Tree

#1 on our Top 10 List list goes to the center of Kaldheim itself, The World Tree. The World Tree is a land, weirdly non-legendary, that enters the battlefield tapped while tapping for green. This card stands apart from the rest because it lets all of our lands tap for any color as long as we have 6 or more lands. That effect alone makes us want to play this card. In addition, all changelings are also gods, since they have all creature types. With plenty of options to choose from, you’ll be able to put a ton of creatures into play. 

The World Tree

That is it for this set of Kaldheim! Don’t forget to get your pre-orders in!