Perhaps this card references an element of Norse mythology I’m unaware of (I haven’t read it since I was in grade school) or perhaps it’s a pet card that finally made it into a set. In Limited, there are no indestructible gods that need to be exiled, but at least you get the satisfaction of casting this in the late game when your opponent has nothing. White has plenty of better removal in Commander that won’t accidentally turn a player into the Archenemy. In Constructed, there is almost no situation where letting your opponent cast a one-sided Show and Tell is acceptable. Mechanically, Fearless Pup follows a line of wolves that can be pumped, but instead of having Haste or Trample, its First Strike makes it a serious threat in the mid game rather than a Fireball in the late game.ĭivine Gambit is perplexing. Not only is this just an adorable lil’ pup, but the flavor text makes clear what this little braggart sounds like. It’s wonderful that Magic is embracing more cuteness. That said, Valkyrie’s Sword, Giant’s Amulet, Draugr’s Helm are unimpressive equipment on their own, with Dwarven Hammer seeming the standout. This is inherently a Spike mechanic, since a skilled player knows when to leave value on the table and play out the equipment early. Kaldheim introduces a marriage between the two, where you can pay extra for Living Weapon but snap it into something far superior to a Germ. Zendikar Rising introduced a different twist, where snap-on equipment provided an immediate bonus. Mirrodin Besieged introduced Living Weapon, a way to offset equipment’s neither being a creature nor a removal spell. There’s just the question of whether a plow feels like a vehicle-it looks more like something you’d pull than a tractor you’d drive. This combination is especially resonant, since you can find it mechanically (the ox’s ability lets it exactly crew the plow alone) or thematically (it makes sense for a cow to pull a plow). Experienced players may balk at such an obvious combination but it’s important to provide players, especially new players, with more straightforward discoveries. Giant Ox and Colossal Plow are a clear two-card combo. Looking over the set spoiler, I’m concerned that it might be trying to have color pairs double up on strategies (as they did in Zendikar Rising), but without Party’s glue unifying more the majority of color pairs. As was the case with Mentor, this should do the great work of taking a normally familiar strategy (go wide) and spice it up with quests along the way.įrankly, the only concern I have about this archetype is that it seems there is also a WB angel subtheme (which, granted, has more support at present from cards you can’t open in Draft Boosters). This implementation looks like it’ll skew fairly aggressive-WB is better at filling out a curve with cheap creatures than cheap spells. It’s definitely a change of pace for a color pair usually defined by lifegain, creature attrition, and tribal decks to do something completely different. UR cared about drawing a second card in Throne of Eldraine and Modern Horizons and we’ve seen one-off cards like Incursion Specialist, Pyromancer’s Assault, and Thunder Drake but WB will be pioneering this ability as a major theme. I could have sworn this was a UR theme recently, but to the best of my recollection, it has never been a Limited theme. Last week, we delved into the set’s many mechanics-and we didn’t even get into mini-mechanics like vehicles, warriors, or ‘exile a creature card from your graveyard.’ Today, we’ll finish with a look at several of the set’s most notable designs. With almost the complete set revealed, Kaldheim seems to be among the most complex and mechanically diverse Standard sets this side of Time Spiral block. Spoiler season wraps up tomorrow and prerelease begins next Thursday.
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