Kaldheim is coming!

Another quarter, another Magic: The Gathering set!

I know the official release date is February 5th, but (if game stores are still offering SOMETHING) the pre-release date is January 29th, which is still within my birthday month ... and, considering this is a Norse mythology/viking-themed set, and I am 1/8th Norwegian, you can probably guess that I MUST treat myself to ALL of the cards next week!

There are some cards I'm looking forward to more than others, of course -- I think we all have favourites. I wanted to share mine here.

SNOW LANDS

I know this isn't a new concept -- I've seen some of the past Snow cards in the less than two years I've been playing somewhat-consistently with my boyfriend (who has been playing for 20+ years, and who lives and breathes MTG!). It's new to ME though, and I can't help but be in awe of the incredible artwork! There are more Snow cards than just the lands, but I wanted to highlight the lands specifically. The Basics (like the beautiful Island pictured above!) aren't the only Snow lands ...

... I'm in love!

5-COLOURED MANA CARDS

When I went to Monday night drafts (pre-pandemic), I'd be scared to play with 3 colours ... yet I've been really wanting to make a 5-coloured deck. Probably Commander. The World Tree is more specific than I'd like -- you'd need a lot of God cards to make it worthwhile, I think ... but it's so gorgeous! (So I may need to make a God deck, lol).

Then there's The Prismatic Bridge, a modal double-faced card. Again, I may just want it more for the artwork ... but who can blame me? The Northern Lights vibe, the gorgoues colouring! Plus, the text is not as specific as The World Tree, so I think it could easily go in any 5-coloured deck.

ENCHANTMENT SAGAS

I've seen these before, in Theros Beyond Death. (I believe they were also major in Dominaria.) I loved playing with them, I think the concept is really neat. The ones I've seen from Kaldheim all sound incredible, and it was hard picking a favourite, but I think I'm most looking forward to playing with The Trickster-God's Heist. (Forging the Tyrite Sword was a close second!)

I have to say though, I did get super excited when I saw The Bears of Littjara -- my boyfriend LOVES bears, and it's a green/blue (which are his two favourite colours)! I think it was also the first one I saw. This is when I knew Kaldheim was going to be a great set.

THE RUNES

I love when there's similar cards, but in one of each colour -- I like to try to collect each one. I think Wizards does this in all sets, and in this case it's the Rune cards. I am most wanting the Rune of Flight card -- I love anything that makes my creatures fly. Plus the artwork shows the rune is on a necklace, and compared to the other runes (on a shield, on a helmet, etc.), I love the necklace the most.

RAVENS

As I just said, I love flying creatures and any card that makes my creatures fly. (I also love playing blue, and I think the majority of flying cards are white or blue.) I also, for whatever reason, really like ravens ... so there were two cards that made me stop and go "Ooh!" when I saw them. The first is the Augury Raven ... which is how I also found out about the Foretell mechanic. (Side note: I think I'm going to really like the Foretell mechanic ... it may bite me later, I don't know, but right now, I'm looking forward to trying it out.)

Then we have another Enchantment Saga: The Raven's Warning! I don't know if I love this one as much as the others I listed, but I will admit I still want this one just for the artwork alone.

ASCENDANT SPIRIT

I think I'm most excited for this one particular card: Ascendant Spirit. I saw it and was instantly intrigued by the art alone, then once I started reading it just added to my excitement with each new ability. It can go from a 1/1 creature to a 6/6 Flying creature just by paying 9 mana -- no tapping, just mana! I don't know, maybe that's not as cool as I think it is (I don't know any better), but I know I really wanna play with it and test this beauty out.

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My only major disappointment with this set is -- from what I can tell -- there is no Seb McKinnon artwork being featured in Kaldheim. I wish Seb could do art for every set, but perhaps he needed a break ...

In any case, January 29th is less than a week away, and honestly it can't come fast enough!