Magic: The Gathering’s newest expansion is the Kaldheim set, and Kaldheim is set on the Norse-inspired plane of the same name. Mechanics such as the Foretell ability and the Boast ability are all over this set, not to mention the familiar “snow” card type and the presence of modal double-faced cards (first introduced in Zendikar Rising).
How about the booster draft Limited experience of playing with Kaldheim? Like most sets, Kaldheim has a handful of draft archetypes, most of them built around the ten two-color combinations of mana, plus a few others on the fringe. Players who are ready to draft Kaldheim can get a real edge when they review the ten archetypes and the inner workings that make them run.
10 White-Blue Spirits And Foretell
When white and blue mana come together, the result is typically a slow, control-oriented deck, an Azorius build. In some sets such as Kaldheim, aggression rules the day, so this archetype is a bit faster than most white-blue decks. It can go on the offensive with Spirits fighting together, such as Clarion Spirit and Vega, the Watcher.
This archetype likes to plan ahead, and when drafting white-blue, the player can take all kinds of Foretell cards from the packs and make a deck that can spring low-cost traps on the opponent, if they invest in enough Foretelling in the early game. This will leave the player somewhat vulnerable to early-game aggression, however.
9 Blue-Black Zombie Mill And Control
Together, blue and black mana are tricky, ruthless and opportunistic, and these colors often mill each player to fill up the graveyard or “mill out” the opponent. In Kaldheim, blue-black has some self-mill, such as Koma’s Faithful and Pilfering Hawk. Then, the Zombie tribal effects can take off.
The Zombies in this deck can be cast from the hand and return from the graveyard, fueled with self-mill and recursion effects alike, such as Raise the Draugr. This strategy is backed up by extra card draw, countering spells and creature kill effects to have some control elements.
8 Black-Red Aristocrats
Red and black make for an aggressive, even reckless combination, and these colors also support a lot of removal effects and burn. In particular, Kaldheim’s black-red archetype is based on “aristocrats,” sacrificing weak creatures to fuel the larger creatures or enable powerful spells. At the cost of blood, this deck can pump its best creatures, draw cards, drain life and more.
This deck can use Equipment cards, removal effects and token generation, then finish off the opponent with heavy hitters such as Immersturm Predator and Eradicator Valkyrie, sacrificing lesser creatures along the way. Demons and Berserkers are common creature types in this deck, too.
7 Red-Green Trolls And Beatdown
This archetype isn’t as well defined as the others, but it is still worth pursuing. Red and green mana can compromise between red’s aggression and green’s patient mana ramp, and the result is a bone-crushing deck that can’t wait to begin an all-out brawl.
Mana ramp, “fight” effects and burn spells can support this deck’s larger creatures, which can range widely from Quakebringer and Calamity Bearer to Battle Mammoth and Rootless Yew. These creatures are cheap for their large stats and often reward combat, so there’s no need to hold back with them. It’s always time to attack.
6 Green-White Human Midrange
Given enough time, green and white mana can build up an unstoppable board state, and maintain enough momentum to win the game sooner or later. The green-white deck of Kaldheim focuses on creature token generation and pumping up creatures, combining white’s “go wide” with green’s “go tall” to make a slow but tough army of creatures.
Token generators such as Esika’s Chariot, Usher of the Fallen, Battle for Bretagard and Maja, Bretagard Protector are a fine start, and then this deck can pump the entire team with cards such as Warhorn Blast and Rally the Ranks to gear up for an all-out assault of Soldiers, Elves and Berserkers. Any other powerful green or white card can be added for variety’s sake, since this deck has limited tribal effects in it.
5 White-Black Angels And Two Spells Per Turn
White and black mana combine to form an archetype that’s based on Angels, generating creature tokens and casting two spells per turn, rather than creature tribes. Such a deck can easily make use of Foretell, and since cards are cheap to fast with their Foretell costs, it’s easy to cast two spells per turn. That’s what makes this deck run.
Many cards in the white-black archetype, such as Doomskar Oracle or Infernal Pet, grant bonuses if two spells are cast on that turn (and they count themselves). Other than that, this deck can gain lots of life, whittle down the opponent with Angels (token or otherwise), and wipe out large enemy creatures with destroy or exile effects. This deck is a bit slow, but it works.
4 Green-Black Elf Tribal
The green-black draft archetype in Kaldheim is heavily based on the Elf tribe; in fact, this might be Kaldheim’s strongest tribe, and the game as a whole has a proud history of strong Elf decks. In Kaldheim’s case, the Elves can make tokens, cast Sagas, assassinate enemy creatures, destroy artifacts and far more.
In fact, this tribe boasts the all-new planeswalker Tyvar Kell, and the mighty Saga called Binding of the Old Gods. Tribal must-haves such as Elvish Warmaster, Elderleaf Mentor and Skemfar Avenger can round out this powerhouse deck nicely.
3 Blue-Red Giant Wizards
This eccentric deck is made up of several ingredients that seem like they would clash, but actually fit together neatly. In the early game, this Kaldheim archetype casts cheap Wizards of any tribe, then plays Giants once the player has enough lands. Most creatures in this deck should be a Giant, a Wizard or even both.
Such Giants can crush nearly any foe underfoot, and they are backed up with tricky spells such as Frost Bite, Icebind Pillar and Bind the Monster. Sagas such as Battle of Frost and Fire fit the colors and can really turn the tables if the player has enough Giants on the battlefield.
2 Green-Blue Shapeshifters
This archetype is an odd one by any standards. Many Shapeshifters are found in these colors, all of which have the changeling ability to be all creature types at all times. These Shapeshifters can form a “tribe” of their own, but more importantly, green or blue creatures from other tribes can fit into this deck and reap the benefits, such as the odd Elf, Wizard or Troll.
Green and blue mana also care a lot about snow, so this archetype can gather snow lands and spells during draft, such as Moritte of the Frost, Blessings of Frost, Boreal Outrider and Graven Lore. Red mana can be splashed into this snow deck, too, to use cards like Tundra Fumarole and Frost Bite.
1 White-Red Dwarf Equipment Aggro
This just might be Kaldheim’s fastest archetype, being largely built around Dwarves and Berserkers, though some Humans are welcome, too. Red and white mana are quick but disciplined when combined, and this speedy deck makes good use of creature tokens, Equipment cards, cheap but efficient Auras and even vehicles.
Dwarven Hammer, Tormentor’s Helm and Valkyrie’s Sword are a fine start, and Gilded Assault Cart can really play into this archetype, too. In addition, some cards in the white-red deck create Treasure artifact tokens or use those tokens, so be sure to look out for that, too.
