Magic: The Gathering's newest expansion set, Kaldheim, quickly made a strong impression when it's December 2020 spoilers came out, and before long, players realized that this frosty world is home to countless heroic, legendary warriors and Sagas that tell their tales in mead halls near and far. New spoilers have introduced even more legendary characters.
Although Kaldheim's "legends matter" theme isn't as strong as the one found in the Dominaria set, it is clear that Kaldheim games may be shaped around these great legends a great deal, and many of these legends slot neatly into the developing archetypes for games of booster draft Limited.
Meet Kaldheim's Newest Legends
Three new legendary creatures have arrived, and all of them are in the uncommon slot. Typically, Magic sets focus the legendary creatures in the rare and mythic rare slot, but more and more often, legends may show up in the uncommon slot as well, if the set has a distinct legendary theme (most notably, Dominaria). The three new legends appear in every color except blue, and they are quite splashy.
Kardur Doomscourge is a 4/3 Demon Berserker costing {2}BR, and when it hits the battlefield, all opposing creatures must attack, even if they would rather not. And in multiplayer games, those creatures won't even attack Kardur's controller. The idea is that Kardur, since he comes from the Immersturm region of Kaldheim, inspires bloodlust in everyone, and the opponent's board state may be ruined if they're forced to attack with creatures that aren't meant for combat. And if any attacking creature dies, friend or foe, Kardur will drain 1 life point from the opponent.
Harald, King of Skemfar, is an Elf Warrior, a 3/2 with menace. It can search the library's top five cards for an elf, Warrior, or Tyvar card, put it into the hand and then put the other cards at the library's bottom. The synergy with Elves and Warriors is clear, and Harald is making sure that the planeswalker Tyvar Kell is invited to the party, too.
Firja, Judge of Valor, is a 2/4 flying Angel Cleric with lifelink. When the player casts their second spell that turn, they can effectively cast Anticipate for free, except the leftover cards go to the graveyard. After all, black and white mana both make use of the graveyard, especially black. Firja is a bit costly for its combat stats, but then again, it can stock up the graveyard while generating impressive card advantage each time the player casts 2+ spells in a turn.
Using Kaldheim's New Legends In The Game
These new cards can slot right into the developing archetypes of Kaldheim draft, starting with Kardur Doomscourge. So far, the spoilers suggest that the black/red archetype will be an aristocrat's build, not unlike the aristocrat's archetype found in Commander Legends. Black mana can easily make aristocrats deck when partnered with any other color, and Kardur wants red mana to be that partner. Other cards in that deck will also want creatures to die on either side of the battlefield, such as Eradicator Valkyrie. Once it attacks, it can use Boast to sacrifice a creature and force the opponent to do the same, and Kardur will leech 2 life points from the opponent each time that happens. Village Rites, meanwhile, is a black instant that sacrifices a creature to draw two cards. If an attacking creature is doomed to die or has low power, it can be fed to the Rites, and Kardur will leech the opponent.
Clearly, Harald fits right into the black-green Elf tribal deck of Kaldheim, and any number of Elves in these colors will work well alongside Harald. Elvish Warmaster is a good start, being an Elf and a Warrior, and Canopy Tactician and Elderfang Ritualist should come along, too. Not to mention the black-green Saga enchantment Binding of the Old Gods.
What about Firja? The white-black archetype seems to be based on Angels, lifelink and creating two or more spells per turn, and many of these creatures of all rarities benefit from 2+ spells being cast in a turn. So, this deck can make good use of the Foretell mechanic to cast spells for cheap, allowing two to be cast per turn without straining the manabase too much. Firja can generously reward this playstyle and cards like Rise of the Dread Marn, Doomskar Oracle, Iron Verdict and more.