Kaldheim/Trivia

Kaldheim/Trivia

 

Commander decks

 

Trivia

 

Card comparisons

 

Art Series

 

Cards from the Kaldheim set heavily reference Norse mythology and the Viking Age.

Analogs and references

Mythology

Pantheons

• Skoti — similar to Æsir
• Einir — similar to Vanir

Celestial beings

• Alrund — similar to Odin
  • Hakka — similar to Odin's ravens, Huginn and Muninn
• Birgi — similar to Sága, Bragi and the Fylgjur
• Cosima — similar to Rán
• Egon — similar to Hel
• Esika — similar to Freyja and Idunn
  • Esika's Chariot — similar to the unnamed chariot ridden by Freyja
• Firja — similar to Freyja
• Halvar — similar to Týr
• Jorn — similar to Skaði
• Kolvori — similar to Sif
• Koma, the Cosmos Serpent — similar to Jörmungandr
• Reidane — similar to either Freyja or Sól
• Sarulf — similar to Fenrir
• Tergrid — similar to Nótt or Hel
• Toralf — similar to Thor
  • Toralf's Hammer — similar to Mjolnir
• Toski — similar to Ratatoskr
• Valki — similar to Loki

Locations

• The World Tree — similar to Yggdrasil
• The Prismatic Bridge — similar to Bifröst.
• The Ten Realms — similar to the Nine Worlds
  • Axgard — similar to Svartálfheimr or Niðavellir
  • Starnheim — similar to Asgard
  • Surtland — similar to Jötunheimr
    • Gnottvold — also similar to Jötunheimr (via trolls being interchangeable with Jötunn or "giants")
  • Isfell — similar to Helheimr.
    • Karfell — also similar to Helheimr
  • Bretagard — similar to Midgard.
  • Skemfar — similar to Álfheimr.
    • Also has aspects of Vanaheimr, as the elves descend from the Einir gods, which are equivalent to the Vanir gods of Vanaheimr.
  • Littjara — similar to Niflheim.
  • Immersturm — similar to Muspelheim.

Other

• Doomskar — akin to miniature Ragnaröks.
• Draugr — similar to the undead draugr.
• Replicating Ring — similar to Odin's ring Draupnir.

Viking Age

• Kaya handles two Bearded Axes, a typical tool and weapon of the Viking Age.
• Pyre of Heroes, Funeral Longboat and Return Upon the Tide refer to Norse funeral rites.
• Harald, King of Skemfar — Harald Fairhair was the first king of Norway, and the name Harald is still common in the royal family
• Haunting Voyage and the Set Booster packaging features Viking ships, slender and flexible boats with a dragon's head protruding from the bow.
  • Raiders' Karve depicts a Karve
• Jarl of the Forsaken — Jarls were the equivalent of dukes and earls in ancient Scandinavia; ancient Scandinavian cheiftains
• Showdown of the Skalds — Skalds are poets who composed at the courts of Scandinavian leaders.

Maro's Kaldheim Teaser

Mark Rosewater gave his traditional teaser with the following hints.

First up, here are some things you can expect:

• a five-color legendary enchantment — The Prismatic Bridge
• for a 6/6 with deathtouch — Egon, God of Death
• a card that allows you to kill someone with poison — Fynn, the Fangbearer
• A card with a , activation — The World Tree
• a card that lets you use a creature’s toughness to perform an action normally using a creature’s power — Giant Ox (Crew)
• numerous new noncreature tokens — Shard (Niko Aris); Replicated Ring (Replicating Ring); Icy Manalith (Svella, Ice Shaper)
• a card that can make a token that’s a copy of target permanent for no mana — Orvar, the All-Form
• a black creature that can copy other creatures — Valki, God of Lies
• the introduction of a creature type that players have been wanting for years — Phyrexian (Vorinclex, Monstrous Raider)
• a card with three activation costs, one that’s only ever used once before and the other two have never been used before — Ascendant Spirit

Here are snippets of rules text, you’ll see:

• “protection from God creatures” — Sigrid, God-Favored
• “Sacrifice five Treasures:” — Magda, Brazen Outlaw
• “if three or more creatures died this turn” — Inga Rune-Eyes
• “Choose 1, 2, or 3 at random.” — Tibalt’s Trickery
• “except for Giants, Wizards, and lands” — Cyclone Summoner
• “you may search your library and/or graveyard for a Rune card” — Runeforge Champion
• “As long as you control three or more legendary creatures” — Kolvori, God of Kinship
• “X is the number of Vehicles you control plus the number of Equipment you control” — Reckless Crew
• “As long as you have at least 7 life more than your starting life total” — Righteous Valkyrie
• “create X of those tokens instead” — Starnheim Unleashed

And finally, here are some creature type lines you’ll see:

• Angel Warrior — Resplendent Marshal
• Zombie Rogue — Draugr Thought-Thief
• Dwarf Cleric — Warchanter Skald
• Horse Spirit — Cosmos Charger
• Vampire Dragon — Immersturm Predator
• Legendary Creature – Wolf — Sarulf, Realm Eater
• Legendary Creature – Bird Spirit — Vega, the Watcher
• Legendary Creature – Giant Wizard — Aegar, the Freezing Flame
• Legendary Creature – Demon Berserker — Kardur Doomscourge
• Legendary Creature – Squirrel — Toski, Bearer of Secrets

Banned and Restricted cards

• Tibalt's Trickery is another spell in the long line of polymorph abilities, with the distinction of being much cheaper than many of the others. Its ability to cast the spell also opens up many branches for combos, notably with cascade, which led to a changing of the rules to cascade. The decks borne of this card in Historic and Standard tend to be on the glass-cannon type, with a pile of haymakers, some number of 0-cost cards, and Trickery, but the builds in Modern had cascade support, which ups the consistency through the "another name" clause. This lead to a ban in Modern in February 2021. Due to the introduction of cascade cards, specifically Throes of Chaos in Jumpstart: Historic Horizons, Trickery was then banned in Historic during October 2021.
• Alrund's Epiphany stood out early as an extra turn effect that gave itself a way to finish the game, one of the usual (and typically only) liability for extra turn effects. With Foretell to protect against discard, Galvanic Iteration to double it, Unexpected Windfall to accelerate, Blue-Red became the default control-combo deck that had a kill turn at turn five or six, making for a hostile format to anything that couldn't race that effect. It was already a recipient for Alchemy's rebalancing earlier. With its best reactive spell Divide by Zero, Alrund's Epiphany was banned on January 2022.
• Faceless Haven was another spin on creature-lands that used snow as the restriction for the untapped and high-efficiency creature. For the purposes of Standard, the only way a deck could possibly keep up with Alrund's Epiphany was to never stumble, and so tapped snow duals and two-color aggro without Haven were not feasible; Mono-Green and Mono-White were the only popular non-Epiphany decks, with a few Black control decks on the fringes. Faceless Haven too was a recipient of rebalancing for Alchemy and a banning in January 2022.