Greetings fellow Cubers and welcome back to Unboxed: the weekly article series that shines a spotlight on themes and topics about the best format in Magic: The Gathering! Thank you to everyone who has supported the series and if there is a topic or theme you would like covered, leave your thoughts in the comments below! With that said: Let’s get Cubing!
It is that special time once again! An opportunity for us to play with brand new cards! If you know anything about me, some of my favorite weekends are the various Pre-releases throughout the year for a whole bunch of reasons, but one of the biggest is that I get to add new and exciting cards to my Cube. To start off 2021, we have ventured to the brand-new plane of Kaldheim, a snowy world based on Norse mythology. The artwork displayed on the cards never fails to impress me, but the real excitement comes from the new and innovative designs, which this time includes multiple new mechanics, Gods, and the return of Snow. I have certainly got my cards that I want to try out, but there is always something for everyone in a new set, so let us take our first look at Kaldheim! To celebrate the release of Kaldheim, this week’s article will focus on cards that have the potential to become excellent options or includes for Cubes.
Important Notes:- Since all of these cards are new, there are no rankings this week and the cards will talked about in WUBRG order and continuing to multicolored, artifacts, and lands from there. Rares/Mythics will be discussed first and Uncommons/Commons will have their own sections afterwards.
- All the cards mentioned from Kaldheim are brand new. Maybe I’ll be right, maybe I’ll be wrong, but that’s what makes an article like this awesome to write!
- I have plenty of noteworthy cards mentioned in this article, but this is by no means all of them or a guide of any kind. It is your Cube, so build it the way you want to!
Story Time of the Week (My stance on Snow): I like Snow. It is awesome to play with and a interesting element to add to a normal game of Magic. While it is designed to have you draft your Snow lands out of the packs, there will be some number of Cubers who will make the switch or just errata their lands into Snow-covered basic lands. I have decided, at least for my Cube, to offer my players the ability to use a Snow package I will be building as if it were a modifier for my drafts. I have a similar package established if my drafters wanted to play with a fully powered environment and one for silver-bordered cards if they want something wild and crazy. With my Snow package, I will have a few cards here and there switched in and all basic lands will have the Snow super type while non-basic lands will not be given the same benefit. It will be interesting to see how these new additions to my Snow package interact with cards from Coldsnap and Modern Horizons and having my packages set up like this keeps the flexibility of preserving my cube to constantly be how my drafters would like to play it. Perhaps this may be the approach you take yourself when trying to decide what to do with Snow!
White has good set of options to consider in a new board wipe, several strong three mana creatures, and a powerful new spell that can end the game rather quickly. Doomskar is an interesting option for five mana Wrath of God effects and it almost seems better if this is the only Foretell card in your list when your opponent knows exactly what you have and chooses not to develop their board as fast to try and mitigate their losses. Reidane is an exciting three drop if you support Snow and is solid even without it, along with the flexibility of playing her shield for different, yet good effects. Sigrid’s removal effect may be more conditional than Banisher Priest, but the flash and first strike abilities make it much better as your opponent can not play around it quite as easily. Starnheim Unleashed provides the value of a Serra Angel for four mana, which is nothing to underestimate, and can create even more angels if you Foretell this card. Reidane seems like an excellent inclusion for my Snow package, but I am not quite as sold on the other three. Good options for sure, but I think they get outclassed by other cards in those mana slots. I’ll definitely get alternate art copies of pretty much all of these to have as the showcase and borderless frames once again look excellent.
Kaldheim was not too kind to Blue at these rarity levels (See below for Commons/Uncommons though) for Cubes outside of ones playing with Snow, which certainly makes me happy as Blue does not need any more unbelievably strong cards. Cosima provides an interesting vehicle option and she works very well with fetchlands and cards that allow multiple land plays in one turn to take advantage of her card draw effect immediately. Orvar is an odd mashup of a card that cares about you playing buff effects on your other creatures while also acting as anti-discard tech and while neither of those effects alone are particularly strong, packaging them onto a 3/3 that is all creature types is definitely unique. Ascendant Spirit and Graven Lore are exciting cards to add if you support Snow as one acts as a riff on Figure of Destiny while the other can let you have card information up to eight cards deep, which is usually one third of your remaining deck in an average game. Both of these cards will be in consideration for my Snow package and outside of that, I do not think Blue gets any new additions for my list for this set.
In terms of rares and mythics, I think Black did the best of the five colors in Kaldheim as there are several great cards to consider. Draugur Necromancer allows you to recast your opponent’s creatures after they are destroyed along with giving you perfect mana to do so if you support Snow. Eradicator Valkyrie reminds me quite a bit of Gisela, the Broken Blade and that card is very strong as a four mana four power creature with flying, not to mention every other ability it has. Skemfar Avenger is a straightforward card, but sometimes it is the simple cards that are exactly what a cube designer is looking for. Valki has a lot of text on its front side and a whole planeswalker on the back side, but this combination of cards together along with the interaction it has if you run Cascade effects makes this have quite a bit of potential. Draugr Necromancer will probably get a chance in my Snow package and I am going to test all three other black cards I have mentioned above. Black creatures are a section I shake up every now again, so I am excited to see what sticks from this group of potential includes.
Red got some cool options for our consideration, including the card that has probably created the most discussion amongst the players from the entire set. Arni Brokenbrow is an aggressive three mana creature that has the keyword it needs to in haste, along with the chance to substantially increase his power that is best used in Gruul midrange strategies. A two mana 2/2 with first strike and no downsides does not come around often and Dragonkin Berserker should see a good amount of testing simply on those merits alone. Toralf is intriguing as his stats are massive, trample ensure he gets in for damage, and his ability allows your burn spells to turn into miniature Arc Lightnings. Tibalt’s Trickery has seen comparisons to Chaos Warp and I feel that in certain cubes, this card might be extremely strong depending on what else you are already running. I plan to give Arni and Dragonkin Berserker a try, but I would be thrilled if Tibalt’s Trickery turns out to be worth playing.
I think Green had a good set release with Kaldheim, particularly with its mythic rares. Battle Mammoth is the latest and greatest in green five mana creatures with the upsides of this one being that you have the flexibility to cast it as early as turn four and it is highly likely to replace itself with its ability that also applies to your entire field. Vorinclex in name alone would have me excited, but this new version is both fast and strong, a mighty combination for a green six mana creature and that does not even begin to cover the wide variety of uses his abilities have. Jorn is an interesting option for cubes with Snow as he only gets better the more snow permanents you play with and the same can be said for his staff found of the back side of the card. Esika’s Chariot provides some token value and a 4/4 body to attack with, but I think this card will be maximized in a cube that goes out of its way to make powerful tokens. The only green card I will be testing is Vorinclex, but that alternate art for Battle Mammoth looks great and I will probably get a copy of it regardless.
Gold cards are usually a spot to keep an eye out for some of the strongest cards in the set and once again, Kaldheim is no exception. Battle of Frost and Fire is the card of this set I am most hopeful for its success in that it is a board clear for Izzet while providing additional upside later in the game. Firja’s Judgement is yet another card in this set that can create a Serra Angel for only four mana and with the number of angels a good amount of cubes already play in their White sections, the other chapters might be more relevant than you think. Orzhov also got the best planeswalker in the set in Kaya and while I do not think she is absurdly powerful, she is an interesting option to consider and her -3 ability is excellent. Koma is (yet again) another strong option for Simic and if he had been released even two to three years ago, he may have been in the running for the strongest Simic card for cubes. I am not entirely sold on the Orzhov cards just yet, but I will absolutely be testing the other two. As mentioned above, I am optimistic Battle of Frost and Fire will turn out to be a solid option and I also think Koma is one of the best new cards in the entire set.
For cubes that are going to have a Snow package or fully make the transition, there are a few cards at the Pauper and Peasant levels that should catch your attention. Icebind Pillar is a cheaper Icy Manipulator and while only Blue decks can use it, this card is quite good and just think of the possibilities if you run a list where you can have both in play at once. Frost Augur has a cheaper Scrying Sheets ability stapled onto it and it will only get better for you as you increase the amount of Snow cards you run in your list. Frost Bite compares a lot to Skred and if you are going to run a full Snow list, I would think you would give both a chance to see how they perform. If you make the transition, Blizzard Brawl is one of the better Prey Upon variants out there by ensuring your creature will not die in the fight effect. I will be picking up foils of all of these for my snow package so that I can give everything a try to see how they all perform.
For Peasant cubers, this set provided a few strong uncommons to help shake up your lists. Usher of the Fallen is so good that it will probably see play at many levels of cube as it is both your turn one and turn two plays if you have nothing else to do. Inga makes a stalled board state much more interesting as your opponent will have to think twice about attacking or blocking as normal to try and not give you the additional three cards. The sagas are where things are very interesting as both the Binding of the Old Gods and Arni Slays the Troll are good effects that have so much additional value stapled on to them. For these, I will get foils of both sagas along with the FNM promo border for Usher of the Fallen. Inga’s showcase art is perhaps my favorite artwork from the entire set, so getting a foil copy of that will look great.
Do not fret Pauper players. Kaldheim not only gave you new options, but these commons are so strong that they could see play at the Peasant level and perhaps even beyond. Stalwart Valkyrie can be a two mana 3/2 flyer and those stats with evasion for that cost is nothing to ignore. Ravenform got plenty of conversation due it being a Blue card that can straight up exile artifacts and while I think it is good and worth testing, Blue non-creature spells have the smallest margins for flexibility as they are so many strong options to choose from. I actually think Feed the Serpent is a better card for Peasant level due to the presence of uncommon planeswalkers, but I do not think any cube is going to say no to an efficiently costed black removal spell, especially an instant. Masked Vandal is a great option for slowing down early aggressive decks while also providing you the value of artifact and/or enchantment removal if you draw it later. I will be getting my foil copies of all of these, except for Masked vandal who has an FNM promo frame.
Top 5 Cards I am Most Excited to Try- Koma, Cosmos Serpent - His ability triggering on each upkeep makes this card so much better!
- Vorinclex, Monstrous Raider - Could be the best card in the set and another good green six mana creature!
- Battle of Frost and Fire - I am optimistic on this one since it also hits planeswalkers!
- Reidane, God of the Worthy - Perhaps the best new card if you go full Snow!
- Graven Lore - Giving Snow its own Dig through Time effect is awesome!
And that is the list for this week! I hope you enjoyed a look at the potential new inclusions from Kaldheim. Even if not every card mentioned in this article makes your list, there are still plenty of options and strategies to consider and maybe these new cards inspire you in other ways. I am excited to make a dedicated Snow package as an option for my drafters to play with and if you are planning on adding Snow, let me know how your testing goes!
Join me next time for a birthday celebration and until then, may you enjoy everything Kaldheim has to offer your Cube!
Special thanks to Cube Cobra for letting me contribute to the best Cube resource around, Gary Thompson for compiling the bulk of the data used for this article, and Maegan for being the best editor a writer can ask for!
