Magic: The Gathering's newest expansion set is Kaldheim, set on the plane of the same name. The December 2020 previews made the Norse mythology theme clear, with legendary warriors and Gods doing battle in a frosty world split into ten realms. One of those realms is the brutal Immersturm, and the black/red deck is really shaping up.
Immersturm first appeared on a Planechase card, but now it's been adopted into Kaldheim for flavor reasons. This unforgiving world is home to fire, blood, demons and a never-ending lightning storm. Naturally, this leads to a black-red deck that has an aristocrats/reanimation flair -- and the newest cards really push it over the top.
Kaldheim's Aristocrat Overlords Arrive
This color combination is a fast and relentless one, and the realm of Immersturm is populated by bloodthirsty berserkers and demonic overlords. Such a deck will not only tear apart the opponent in battle, but also harvest its own creatures to gain even more power. The black-red deck wants the blood to flow freely on both sides, and The Bloodsky Massacre is a fine start.
This three-drop Saga will make a 2/3 Demon Berserker token with menace with its I mode, and the II mode will allow the player to draw a card and lose one life anytime a Berserker attacks this turn. Finally, the III mode will add R to the mana pool for each berserker the player controls, and that mana sticks around until the end of the turn, not just the end of that phase.
This saga synergizes with itself just fine, but given these colors, a player can easily add far more Berserkers to their deck, such as Immersturm Raider and any number of red Dwarf creatures. Those Dwarves often work best in their own white-red Equipment deck, but in a pinch, they can serve in this deck instead, fitting the colors and creature types. Immersturm Raider can also "rummage," or discard a card to draw one card, something red mana is known to do.
Skull Raid is one of the few cards in this deck that doesn't impact the battlefield somehow, and while its inclusion is not a must, players in a game of booster draft Limited might try it out to put pressure on the opponent in unexpected ways. At {3}B, Skull Raid is a more costly version of Mind Rot, but it can be Foretold for {1}B. What's more, if the opponent doesn't have enough cards to discard, then Skull Raid's caster may draw cards instead. This is one of several Kaldheim cards that prevent waste; Mind Rot is a dead card if the opponent has zero cards in hand, but Skull Raid will make sure that the caster gets something out of the deal no matter what.
Immersturm Predator is the centerpiece of this deck, fitting the color and themes perfectly. It's a 3/3 Vampire Dragon with flying, and anytime it becomes tapped for any reason, its controller can exile a card from anyone's graveyard and put a +1/+1 counter on Immersturm Predator. Attacking is the most obvious way to get the Predator tapped, but if it crews a Vehicle, that counts, too.
Also, the Predator can sacrifice another creature to gain indestructible until end of turn and become tapped. This will save it from damage and destruction effects, and tapping it enables the triggered ability. This 3/3 flying beater will get huge in a hurry and shrug off removal by eating a fellow creature.
How the Kaldheim Aristocrats Deck Comes Together
Plenty of other Kaldheim cards have been spoiled that fit snugly in to this deck, sometimes in creative or unexpected ways. Even this set's instants and sorceries can be added, such as Demonic Gifts. For {1}B, a creature will get +2/+0 for maximum carnage. Should it die, it will return to the battlefield. This can either be used to push damage to close out a game, or be used when a useful creature is sacrificed (especially if it has ETB or death triggers).
Raise the Draugr can return a creature from the graveyard to the hand, or two creatures if they share a type (such as Berserker or Demon). Village Rites will sacrifice a creature to draw two cards, and Rise of the Dread Marn can be cast from Foretell for just B to make a 2/2 Zombie for each noncreature that died this turn. Such Zombies may then be fed to this deck's aristocrats to keep the carnage going.
Eradicator Valkyrie is a star in this deck, being a 4/3 flier with lifelink, and its Berserker creature type is actually quite important for Raise the Draugr or The Bloodsky Massacre. It can Boast to sacrifice a creature -- and it's not the only boasting creature here. Fearless Pup is a one-drop that can become a 3/1 first striker, easily killing its enemies while surviving with impunity. Or, when it becomes outclassed in the midgame, it becomes ideal sacrifice fodder.
Of course, Kardur Doomscourge is a 4/3 that will force all enemy creatures to attack, and any attacking creature's death will allow Kardur to drain life from opponents. Overall, this deck should remind players of the black-red aristocrats deck from Commander Legends, but with less of an artifact theme and more of a mechanical theme tied around Boasting and the Berserker creature type to fit Kaldheim's flavor and lore.