Kaldheim is in my opinion, the most well-designed set from a balance perspective. Over the course of the past year and a half, we've had absolutely busted cards rampage across multiple formats. Kaldheim is a set filled with powerful rare and mythic rare cards but none of them seem capable of warping the Standard format. Looking at you Uro and Omnath. Instead, they look to add subtle enhancements to already existing decks, and new fun archetypes are likely to immerge thanks to the new Kaldheim cards. Today we'll be covering our list of ten cards likely to make a meaningful impact in Standard. Most of these powerful cards synergize well with supporting cards from the rest of the set so we'll also be running through the cards that will help facilitate the new archetypes that will rise in the meta. #10
Snow permanents are making their return to Standard and with them came some powerful Snow Sorcery and Instant spells. Tundra Fumarole can handle both creatures and Planeswalkers by dealing four damage. However, this spell also gives you back some generic mana for each Snow mana used to cast this spell. The deck that I feel could make the most of Tundra Fumarole is the Mono-Red control decks as adding Snow-Covered Mountains in place of regular Mountains is no real cost at all, but this Red deck runs cards like Mazemind Tome and Solemn Simulacrum to utilize the generic mana you get back. We also have Graven Lore as a powerful card draw spell for Blue and Blood on the Snow as a powerful sweeper for Black decks that can utilize Snow lands. #9
Righteous Valkyrie is very exciting for plenty of reasons. Firstly we do have Angel support in this set so we could see an Orzhov midrange Angel deck that utilizes life gain synergies and a grindy graveyard engine. Secondly, it is a Cleric which is a tribe worth playing in Standard already. Clerics can take full advantage of the life gain with cards such as Cleric of Life's Bond and Vito, Thorn of the Dusk Rose, while we also have Speaker of the Heavens which is a Cleric that produces Angels when you gain enough life. Whether you are playing this in an Angel, Cleric, or any White deck with life gain synergies, Righteous Valkyrie is a very powerful addition with a +2/+2 pump to your team being very powerful. #8
Battle Mammoth isn't the flashiest card but slapping a Shaper's Sanctuary on to a reasonably costed Trampling threat makes for a powerful card. What makes Battle Mammoth likely to see Standard play is the lack of competition in the five mana slot in green decks. We have Vivien, Monsters' Advocate and Elder Gargaroth which see play in small amounts in both the Gruul Adventures and Mono-Green Food decks. These are both top tier strategies and gaining Battle Mammoth will help these decks when opponents are loaded on removal. #7
Gods are out and about on Kaldheim and they are very powerful. From Blue powerhouses in Alrund, God of the Cosmos, and Cosima, God of the Voyage, we also have the value-generating Gods in Black with Egon, God of Death, and Tergrid, God of Fright. The God we'll be putting a special spotlight on is Valki, God of Lies. On the front half, we have a very powerful two drop for Black decks that can take a creature from the opponent's hand, which we can then pay mana later to have Valki become a copy of that creature. Valki, God of Lies will be very impressive in Standard and even more so in older formats such as Modern or Historic. We also have a powerful Tibalt on the back that has all the staple abilities of a beastly midrange Planeswalker. From grinding out card advantage to a removal spell as a minus ability Tibalt will be adding a powerful tool for Rakdos Midrange decks that have fallen from favor in the Standard meta. #6
Giants are a tribe that has been getting subtle support since as far back as Throne of Eldraine, but it appears the pieces are finally coming together. Quakebringer is reasonably priced as a 5/4 for five mana, however, we can Foretell it for only four mana. Quakebringer wants to be in the graveyard as it has the ability to deal 2 damage to each opponent if we Quakebringer is either on the battlefield or in our graveyard and we control a giant. This creates an incentive to move into black for cards such as Mire Triton and Tymaret calls the Dead to fuel our graveyard. Moving into Black also brings in Kroxa, Titan of Death's Hunger which is an elder giant. A simple Izzet shell could work with Strategic Planning and Thrill of Possibility to help get this Giant into the graveyard. For the supporting cast, we have Aegar, the Freezing Flame to help us draw more cards, and we have Calamity Bearer to double up our damage. Glimpse the Cosmos is a great cantrip and has essentially Flashback if we control a giant. We also still have Bonecrusher Giant dominating Standard and we had Tectonic Giant as an overlooked card from Theros Beyond Death. #5
I think Niko Aris will be very strong in Standard control decks. Shard tokens are essentially better versions of Clues, which were very powerful in Standard and still see play as far back as the Modern format. The Scry 1 is what puts it over the edge when comparing them to Clues, but they're also enchantments which is very relevant in a format with Constellation cards still legal. A card like Setessan Champion will give us value right away as we'll draw cards when the Shards enter the battlefield. The +1 ability is rather useless in a control shell but the middle ability can be a removal spell if need be. Overall, Niko Aris could be comparable to Sphinx's Revelation, although it does not gain life. Expect to see a decent number of Niko Aris in control decks moving forward in Standard. #4
Tyvar Kell is a very powerful Planeswalker that will help create a top tier Elves archetype in Standard. Giving all of your creatures the ability to tap for mana with the static ability will lead to explosive turns and can swing the game in your favor. Tyvar Kell can only be as good as the Elves that surround him and Kaldheim brought him tons of support. Harald Unites the Elves and Harald, King of Skemfar are the glue that holds this deck together. We have Elvish Warmaster to help win in combat, and we have Skemfar Shadowsage to win outside of it. Skemfar Avenger will add some recovery against board wipes, and we have Realmwalker for card advantage. I'm personally very excited to see how this tribe takes shape in Standard and even in Historic where we have access to Llanowar Elves. #3
Daddy's home! Green decks have been set atop the pinnacles of the Standard format and Vorinclex, Monstrous Raider is looking to take them to even further heights. The Standout deck that Vorinclex would slot into is Golgari Adventures. The Great Henge gives Vorinclex more counters to double across our creatures and we can pair our Phyrexian Praetor with powerful Planeswalkers. Garruk, Cursed Huntsman could win the game on the spot with the Overrun effect on the ultimate ability, we also can go big with Ugin, the Spirit Dragon, and perhaps even Nissa, Shadowed Boughs could get in on this. Having the ability to ultimate your midrange Planeswalkers on the spot is game-winning no matter the match and I have full confidence that Vorinclex will have an enormous impact on green decks in Standard. #2
Mono Red has taken a bit of a hit since rotation this past fall. Of course, Mono-Red still sees plenty of play with cards like Torbran, Thane of Red Fell, and Robber of the Rich, but it has suffered a bit with the loss of Runaway Steam-Kin. Goldspan Dragon is expected to bring some firepower to the archetype as it curves well from Torbran and the 4/4 flying haste threat has been historically successful when we look at cards such as Stormbreath Dragon or Glorybringer. A treasure subtheme looks promising with Magda, Brazen Outlaw, and Gilded Assault Cart, and this could help the deck have some late-game power against the control and midrange decks.
Jorn, God of Winter looks very powerful and resembles the raw power of Wilderness Reclamation. However, in order to gain full access to this power, we need to be a dedicated Snow deck. Putting Jorn, God of Winter at the top of the list represents my hope that we may see a Sultai Snow deck among the very best of the Control and Midrange decks we currently have in Standard. Kaldring, the Rimestaff is a powerful value engine in that type of deck so hopefully, we see this deck come together. We have the Snow Spells such as Graven Lore and Blood on the Snow to help mesh the deck together. The Snow-Covered dual lands also help you get those extra colors of mana while not deviating from having all Snow cards. This Sultai Snow deck is the deck I'm excited for the most and perhaps we'll see a deck tech for this archetype coming soon from yours truly.
That is going to do it for our list of top ten cards likely to impact Standard from Kaldheim. The set of Vikings and Norse mythology is, in my opinion, one of the most balanced sets we've had in quite some time, and rather than warping formats it will add subtle enhancements, and make the Standard overall better. If you're looking for video deck techs then subscribe to our YouTube channel and you can see us in action over on Twitch where we stream MTG Arena every Monday night. Finally, if you're looking for a place to discuss the new Kaldheim cards then hop into our Discord where we can chat about all things Magic. Thanks so much for reading and for joining the Fellowship.
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