Farewell, Kaldheim

Today is part two in the series, looking at sets that departed the standard environment this month. It is time to look at Kaldheim.

Released in February 2021, Kaldheim was a nod to Nordic mythology. The Nordic gods featured strongly (though in veiled form- Wizards comes up with similar names rather than copying 'Odin' or 'Thor' directly into its games, even when it is in public domain). Tribes like angels (yay!), giants, dwarves, and elves abounded- I picked up some key cards for my angel and elf decks. Green featured some strong cards, and the snow lands (featured at common level) were fun.

Favorites

Doomskar is a great board wipe. Righteous Valkyrie became a staple in several angel decks of mine. I enjoyed Ascendant Spirit for its leveling up abilities. Skull Raid was a nice way to gain card advantage. Tergrid- either side- was a cool card. Goldspan Dragon was both amazing (to play) and horrible (to face). I loved the dwarves, exemplified by Magda. Elvish Warmaster slotted nicely into my modern elf tribal deck. Esika's Chariot, Old-Growth Troll, and Toski are examples of the strong green offerings in this set. And Woodland Chasm is an example snow land.

Good Riddance

I encountered Alrund's Epiphany frequently enough that it grew annoying. I don't enjoy long, drawn-out games, and this card only appeared in such decks. (It was eventually banned in standard, showing how dominant it had become.)

Final Thoughts

Looking back, Kaldheim was fun. That said, I was disappointed by one facet: they made too little use of the snow concept. Only 18 cards (like Ascendant Spirit) made use of the snow aspect, and only one of those were designed as 'anti-snow' cards- Reidane (see below). The result: it was easy to ignore the snow aspect entirely (which I found disappointing), but if you did want to play snow, there was very little reason to play anything other than snow lands, as 17 cards benefited from them and only the one penalized you. I wish snow had featured in twice as many cards, and had far more 'anti-snow' to encourage more interaction in that space. This factor aside, Kaldheim was a fun set, and its absence is noted from standard.