Magic: the Gathering's newest expansion set is the Kaldheim set that takes place on the Norse-inspired world of Kaldheim. It's a regular large expansion set meaning its cards are primed and ready for exciting games of booster draft Limited. Novice and veteran players alike should know what the ten archetypes look like; this is one busy set.
The Kaldheim set has one archetype for each two-color combination of mana. It also has some sub-themes, as well, such as Snow or making a Shapeshifter deck of any combination of colors. But some cards in this set really stand out from the pack for draft. From dedicated removal spells to Equipment cards and heavy-hitting creatures, they're first-pick material in any draft pod. Which cards stand out most?
10 Rally The Ranks: A Cheap Anthem For Many Tribes
"Anthem" effects are enchantments that give +1/+1 to all creatures that a player controls. Normally, this effect applies equally to all creatures. The original "Glorious Anthem" cost {1}WW while "Rally the Ranks" knocks off a white mana symbol in return for focusing on tribes.
The player must choose a tribe for Rally the Ranks' effect, but its aggressive cost may be worth it. This card can easily fit into a white-red Dwarf aggro deck, the green-white Human beatdown deck, or the white-black deck and name either Angels, Humans, Clerics, or Berserkers.
9 Reflections Of Littjara: Copying Creatures With Abandon
The Kaldheim set has a distinct tribal component to it, not unlike earlier blocks such as the Kamigawa block and the Lorwyn block. Together, blue and green mana care deeply about Shapeshifters, but there is room for creatures of other types to fit in, too. "Reflections of Littjara" is just as flexible.
A player can name Shapeshifter for a dedicated tribal deck or splash in some other creatures, such as Wizards of Humans, and name that tribe instead. This card comes down late, but once it does, copying spells of that type can fill the board in a hurry. What's better than one strong creature? Two of them.
8 Poison The Cup: Foretelling A Creature's Doom
Black mana has always been adept at killing creatures unconditionally thus setting itself apart from white mana and the burn of red mana. "Poison the Cup" is like Murder with some upsides such as the ability to Foretell it if the player doesn't have a better turn-two play. Casting it for just {1}B turns this card into a better Doom Blade, too.
If Poison the Cup was foretold, then its caster can scry 2 on top of everything else and smooth out their draws. This may be critical in Limited so the caster can get a good creature onto the battlefield ASAP or scry an unneeded land card to the library's bottom. In Limited, any library manipulation is powerful.
7 Frenzied Raider: The Boast Demon
Interestingly, while "Frenzied Raider" does not have Boast itself, this Demon Berserker rapidly gains strength from hearing its allies boast of their battlefield prowess, getting a +1/+1 counter each time. In Limited, any method of pumping a creature can pay off hugely since Limited largely revolves around creatures and the board state (dedicated control or combo decks are difficult to make in Limited).
Frenzied Raider fits well into the black/red aggro/boast/aristocrats deck and its creature types are just right for that deck, too. Even if the boasting creature falls in combat, Frenzied Raider will still get that counter, generating value turn after turn. Then it will attack and finish off the opponent.
6 Esika's Chariot: And Cat Tokens To Operate It
In the words of ProZD, "The vehicle part is next!" Thankfully, Vehicles have become a deciduous mechanic; that is, Vehicles don't appear in every set, but they can appear more often than most mechanics do. In Kaldheim, "Esika's Chariot" is a green Vehicle with a 4/4 body for 3{G} and a crew cost of 4. By Vehicle standards, that's not very good, so the Chariot brings its own crew to compensate.
Esika's Chariot will make two 2/2 green Cat creature tokens -- just enough to crew it. But the creatures can be used for other purposes, as well. When Esika's Chariot attacks, it will copy a token on its side of the battlefield from those Cats to Dwarf tokens or even a 4/4 white Angel token. Now that's some value -- Limited style.
5 Binding Of The Old Gods: A Fine Golgari Saga
Unlike many of Kaldheim's multicolored cards or its Sagas, "Binding of the Old Gods" is not based on a specific tribe or archetype (not even the on-color Elf tribe). This Saga can fit into any deck that includes black and green mana and it has diverse effects to offer.
The I mode can hit any nonland permanent and the II mode will tutor for a Forest (not necessarily a basic one either). Last up is the III mode that can grant all friendly creatures deathtouch to complicate an opponent's blocking plan.
4 Immersturm Predator: The Aristocratic Dragon
The black-red aristocrats deck is based largely on cheap, aggressive creatures that have boast effects. "Immersturm Predator" is a fine curve-topper after the low-cost Berserkers and tokens are already on the field. This Vampire Dragon starts off as a 3/3 flier, but it'll soon grow into a true finisher.
Anytime the Predator becomes tapped, such as in attacking or crewing a Vehicle, it can exile a card from a graveyard and get a much-needed +1/+1 counter. It can also sacrifice another creature and becomes tapped while also gaining indestructible. This not only protects the Predator but also grants it a +1/+1 counter (since it became tapped).
3 Koll, The Forgemaster: Armed For War
The white-red Dwarf aggro deck is based on Auras, Vehicles, Treasure tokens, and Equipment to match the dwarvish craftsmen and blacksmiths of real-life Norse mythology. These colors support many such cards and Koll is ready to push this concept to the next level.
Koll comes down early and it can give a +1/+1 boost to allied creatures that are equipped or enchanted and turn them into true masters of war. If an equipped or enchanted creature dies, Koll will bring it right back to the owner's hand, giving this deck some grindy persistence in the face of an opponent's hardened defenses.
2 Narfi, King Of Undeath: Also King Of The North
Together, Kaldheim's blue and black cards care about Zombies, self-mill, reanimation, and the graveyard, and "Narfi, Betrayer King" is an excellent lord for that deck. It's a 4/3 Zombie Wizard, and it grants +1/+1 to all friendly Zombies and snow creatures of all types.
If the player drafts enough snow lands, then they can use Narfi's activated ability to return it from the graveyard to the battlefield tapped, laughing at the opponent's removal spells and combat damage. Remarkably, this persistent Zombie lord is merely uncommon, making it easier to find and draft.
1 Maskwood Nexus: Bringing All Tribes Together
Blue and green mana can form the flexible Shapeshifter tribe and, if the colorless artifact called "Maskwood Nexus" enters the picture, making a universal tribal deck is easier than ever. A deck of any color(s) and creature type(s) can make use of this rare artifact.
Maskwood Nexus will effectively turn all friendly creatures into changelings. It can pay {3} and tap to make a 2/2 Shapeshifter to add even more value. Now, a player can use tribe-oriented cards such as Narfi or an Elf-lord to pump all friendly creatures, not just the creature's original type. Imagine a Dwarf Berserker benefitting from Narfi or a Dragon growing stronger from Elf cards. That's the power of Maskwood Nexus.