Welcome all to the Daily Dose of Kaldheim. Today I’ll be talking about some new Control cards from Kaldheim and how they will frustrate players for months. Control decks are a staple of any Magic format as the struggle between aggressive, midrange, and control decks rage on kitchen tables across the country. Today I have a mix of spell types, from a God, a Saga, a counterspell, and a sweeper. All can be used to help Control players win the game. One of the best ways in Kaldheim to do that is with the new Foretell mechanic.
To start off, I have a Blue God that wants you to have a deck full of Foretell cards. Here is Alrund, God of the Cosmos // Hakka, Whispering Raven.
Alrund, God of the Cosmos // Hakka, Whispering Raven
I love the design of this card. In the early game, you can get a 2/3 Flying creature out there to either block or get in some attacks. Once it gets in for some damage you can bring it back to your hand and cast the God Alrund, God of the Cosmos. Each turn you’ll get to choose a card type and draw some extra cards hopefully. This will be made easier with any Scry abilities you might have from spells and permanents. You do get a Scry two from the bird once it returns to your hand. There are plenty of other Scry cards to out in the deck to help you maximize value. It works very well with Mazemind Tome allowing you to Scry and know your next draw for four straight turns. In the right deck with a ton of Foretell cards, this God can have some hefty power late in the game and could be a quick clock against your opponent.
I love instants with Foretell as they can really play mind games with your opponent. This includes the new Saw it Coming.
Saw it Coming
Saw it Coming is your typical three-mana counterspell that appears in almost every set, except it becomes more valuable once you Foretell it. At that point you have a two-mana counterspell at your disposal you can use when handy. It pairs well with Control decks wanting to use their mana at any time and frees up some mana for future turns. Often Control decks aren’t doing anything on turn two, so foretelling this could be a smart play. Saving it for turn four as well, allows you to Foretell it and cast it during your opponents’ turn if needed. If you can find some other two-mana Instant spells to have in your deck like Revitalize or the new card drawing Foretell card Behold the Multiverse it will be hard for your opponent to know what you have in exile.
Next up is a Blue/White Saga that wants your deck to be filled with Foretell cards. Here is Niko Defies Destiny.
Niko Defies Destiny
Although this is a three-mana Saga, you often won’t want to be playing this on turn three. Often the later in the game you cast it, the more value you’ll gain from it. In Chapter One you gain two life for each foretold card you own in exile. This means playing it on turn three will only get you at most two life. Holding off until you have multiple foretold cards in exile, will help you gain even more life. Ideally, you want to gain four-six life to get good value out of Chapter One. In Chapter Two, you get two mana you can use for your existing foretold cards or Foretell a new one. This could mean a free spell in some cases. You probably want to cast one of your foretold cards after Chapter Two thanks to the ability seen in Chapter Three. This ability allows you to reuse one of your spells with Foretell. As you can see, the later in the game you cast this Saga, the more value you will get from each Chapter along the way.
Finally, is one of the best sweepers we have seen in years. Here is Doomskar.
Doomskar
This is a very flexible sweeper that you can either cast for three mana or five mana. There are advantages to both. Casting it for three mana allows you to clear house on turn three. If you don’t believe the threat is that urgent, you can Fortell other spells and cast this for five mana later in the game. Fortelling seems like a no brainer if the game state allows you to. Having a cheaper sweeper later in the game will allow you to destroy all creatures and keep up mana for a counterspell or perhaps even Fortell another spell. Being stuck with a five-mana sweeper when you need it on turn three or four can cause you to lose games sometimes and now you have the option to play out the game the way you want to thanks to having this key design choice on turn two.
As you can see, Kaldheim is setting up Standard to have a strong Foretell Azorius Control deck. These four cards will help the deck come out strong upon release. Thanks again for reading the Daily Dose of Kaldheim. Join me again tomorrow as Kaldheim starts to finish off its preview season.
