The Norse err Kaldheim Gods are being featured in the upcoming set and the new mechanic of these cards offers a double-face use. Gods from the previous sets were usually indestructible and are dependent on certain conditions before it can attack or block. In the Kaldheim version, the Gods give you an option to play them as Legendary Equipment and for today’s card feature is Toralf, God of Fury. Check out the double-faced version below.

The God version is an average 5/4 for four mana with a passive ability that triggers when a creature or planeswalker an opponent controls is dealt with excess noncombat damage. That is a lot of condition but with Red’s nature of having burn spells in their lineup, it is good to maximize the damage by redirecting it to other threats or directly to the opponent’s dome.

Let us now discuss what the equipment’s use: Toralf’s Hammer. It is a two-mana with two equip cost which buffs Legendary creatures with +3/+0. It is sub-par for a regular Red aggro deck but the other ability it gives is what I think will shine in the late game. Basically paying 4 to equip and activate the ability will Bolt any target and then return the equipment to its owner’s hand.

This only requires you an untapped creature for the activation which lessens the risk of attacking into blockers that can kill it. However, this is quite a slow set up which made me say that it is more efficient in the late game which usually finishes people with the final points of damage and this as a source.

This gives also an option that returning Toralf’s Hammer to your hand and make you cast Toralf on its creature side. The late-game scenario is again is what it benefits from.

Overall, if the Red aggro in post-Kaldheim Standard gives you more options for Legendary creatures, then having two to three copies of Toralf, God of Fury is is the main count. Aside from Embercleave, you also have cheap equip early on that can chip out opponents’ life total without committing your other critters to mass removal. Again, we will check once the complete Kaldheim spoiler is out.

That is a wrap for now. Until the next blog spot.

In the lore of Kaldheim based on the Norse mythology, it is quite unusual to see other creature types that are far related to the theme but is included in the set. One good example is today’s Kaldheim card preview: Cleaving Reaper.

A Black Angel is not uncommon, but having a Berserker as an additional creature type adds to the possible tribal deck in the Kaldheim Standard metagame. Also, a 5/3 with Flying and Trample for five is a decent stat but what is good here is the recursion trigger when another Angel or Berserker enters the battlefield.

You won’t be afraid of trading it with the opponent’s critters early on as long as you can just recur it after. The only drawback is the frequent use of graveyard removal and exile effect of spells in the metagame, greatly decreasing its card advantage.

To conclude, I still hope for a Berserker tribal aggro deck in Standard, though it might just look like an improved Rakdos Escape deck if there weren’t enough creatures in the new set to be listed in the “tribe”.

Until the next blog post.

The enchantment type Saga is returning in Kaldheim and I think this will be a norm in the future Magic: the Gathering events. Saga depicts significant events in the set’s storyline and lore, which impersonates it into the card flavor. For today’s Saga card feature, we have the Battle of Bretagard. Check it out below.

Text spoiler says:

Battle for Bretagard – 1GW

Enchantment – Saga – Rare

I: Create a 1/1 white Human Warrior token.

II: Create a 1/1 green Elf Warrior token.

III: Choose any number of artifact tokens and/or creature tokens you control with different names. For each of them, create a token that’s a copy of it.

While its power level is not the same as that of the likes of History of Benalia, it will be of relevant use given the right deck. As for the current Standard, there is the Selesnya counters tokens deck that curves out and might include this card in their list with a little adjustment in the build. It is important that as soon as the third lore counter is placed and the ability triggers, there is a sufficient number of tokens that will be copied.

I am looking for some reference decklists for now and soon might have a first version of the deck in Kaldheim Standard once the complete spoiler is up.