Hello!
So… Vikings… I mean, Kaldheim!
The new and latest M:TG set with a lot of cool Commons for our Cause.
Check the full Common spoiler, courtesy of Scryfal.
Between new prints and reprints, we got 121 cards of Pauper goodness.
New Mechanics
This set offers two new mechanics to the game.
Boast – Creatures only
Pay something. Do something when this creature attacks and only once per turn.
It’s a mana-sink ability, not bad for a format that in some turns it has mana to spare.
But it depends in how much powered the ability is.
Foretell – Cost
Pay 2 generic mana and exile this card.
Play this card in a later for its Foretell cost.
Yes, it may sound a bit like a card type from a kids CCG… maybe a bit…
Again, this is situational regarding how powerful is the card’s effect and how cost-efficient it may become.
You can “trick” Foretell cards with CMC:4 in a Turn#3 play if they have Foretell: 3 or less. That may sound solid but… let’s see… do you remember any relevant M:TG card that did nothing when it was played?
That’s the problem with this mechanic. When you exile a card you’re paying 2 mana for nothing. An effect that may or may not trigger later. That may or may not benefit later. But in that turn where you’re paying 2 mana, you’re not doing anything to improve your board state or card advantage and also not doing anything to your opponent.
It may sound better in late-game situations but not on curve and not when you’re dealing against aggro or fast decks.
Important piece of advice:
Foretell cards cannot be played in the same turn they were exiled.
Foretell cards respect their timing, so a Sorcery/Creature card can only be Foretell’d in your own turn, the next one after you exiled it.
Lands
Well, I covered the Lands in one piece on this blog.
In my opinion, the Dual Lands are the clear winners of this set and will change the format. Not in a way it would warp it, as past cards did, like Arcum’s Astrolabe or Fall From Favour, but in a good way, allowing more builds and more consistency in multicolored decks.
Artifacts
The best Artifact in the set.
I’ve also wrote about it in my previous entry.
I think it’s a great card for Pauper. It’s honest, at least. Its cost, its Crew, its stats and its ability.
What decks would play this?
I see this making a splash in Brute Squad. It plays some 1/1’s and 1/2’s and uses Metalcraft and Affinity for Artifacts so it’s the best place to use it.
It can also be used in some sort of aggro decks with early 1/1’s, like Goblins. Those decks tend to suffer a bit against midrange or against those 1/3 U blockers you know… and this card can bring some punch into the deck, making it more vertical.
And, as I wrote in my article, it could be a good beater in a Sligh deck.
When I looked into this card I thought “Cool, the poor-man’s Courser of Kruphix“
It has a nice CMC for its stats, 3 for a 4/4 is not bad Pauper-wise, depending of what ability the card gets.
The ability… well, is pretty neat!
It ramps one Land each time it attacks if the topdeck is a Land card. A bit like Courser does.
But it needs to attack while Courser won’t. And Courser also pings a life point.
The main problem is the Crew:3. And that’s what makes this card unplayable.
You’ll trade 3 power for a 4 powered Vehicle. You’ll be using two cards to make a 4/4 attack and maybe hit a token or hit an Angler. Not very effective.
The idea is cool. Maybe with less stats and a cheaper Crew cost and this card would see play.
As it is… well… sorry.
Its total cost is what puts me on the fence.
Its Equip cost is nice, but CMC:2 and Equip:1 means a 3 mana play.
Also, you need some kind of evasion in one of your creatures to then benefit from this Equipment’s ability.
The ability itself is nice. It also reminds me another kids CCG, a digital one, that has a creature that creates a “coin” each time it strikes.
The good thing… is that this can fix mana.
But apart from that is not a ramping tool and is mostly not a playable card. It only appears here for the fun aspect of it.
White
The best W card in the set.
3/2 Flyer for 1W. Yes, please!
This card can play in any deck that uses creatures and splashes W.
Remember, this is a format of Card Advantage and Removal. Your creatures will die.
You don’t need to do anything besides playing a normal game of Magic to make this card work. Your Thraben Inspectors and Squadron Hawks will die. And you’ll not reuse them, will you? So… here’s a card for your deck, a solid beater for a solid cost.
A marginal gain for an Aura. But with a benefit.
Its cost is appealing. Just a W.
The +1/+1 ain’t much.
But leaving a body behind, with added benefit from being a Flyer, that’s not bad.
It may be played in White Heroic but not with a certain.
The GW Auras may also use it but… again, not much of a game breaker.
It’s a card that can improve the CA by leaving a body behind and that’s what it does.
This is a cool card for the RW Monarch Tokens deck and any other deck that uses Tokens.
It’s a neat card to exile in Turn #3, when you have something swinging and a board presence, to then profit in the late game.
It’s not as efficient as Rally the Peasants that can be dumped in the GY and played later, but it also does not suffer against GY hate.
It may see some play but residual.
Flying, one-drop, trades with any X/1, survives Fumes and ‘trickery. Solid.
Will it see play? I think so.
Don’t know in what deck but… it will see play.
Maybe the rebirth of the White Weenie.
Turn #1, tapped land (if into multicolored manabase)
Turn #2, untapped W source, play Thraben Inspector, play this, Inspector becomes 2/3
Turn #3, untapped source, play Kor Skyfisher and target this, play this, Skyfisher becomes 3/4
This is the nut draw. But… a great example of how this card can work.
This won’t directly work with Ephemerate but it works if it’s the next spell you cast after a Rebounded Ephemerate.
And at worst, it requires a spell to be cast first and then becomes a 2/2 with Vigilance for W, which is not that bad.
Again, a card with some potential to be played in some decks.
And again, maybe a rebirth of the White Weenie with some one-drop 2/1’s and this in the mix. Add the traditional W bounce creatures and some Artifacts to improve CA and you have something to work with.
Blue
Great draw spell! And totally honest.
CMC:4, Instant. Ok.
Scry:2 and then draw 2 cards?! Very good. Very, very good.
You can also exile it for 2 and Foretell it in a next turn for 1U. Great.
A solid card. It does not improve CA as other cards in the format but it’s a great solid card.
Don’t know what decks would want to play it but maybe UR and/or UB will surely give it a spin.
Talking about solid cards? And again, honest.
It’s a 3/3 Flyer for CMC:4.
The “cheat” is that this can be exiled Turn#2.
And then Foretell’d in Turn#3. For 1U. A 3/3 Flyer with a tempo loss… but still a 3/3 Flyer.
Another great card that will see play in the future, once players break it.
And a totally strange concept. Mana ramping in U.
For its stats, it’s neat. It costs CMC:2 and has that 1/3 body that U creatures like to use.
It ramps U for Sorcery and Instant spells.
This is the strange part. But again, is what makes our heads tinker.
You keep this card on defense. It blocks a 2/2 and then it can turn itself to Counterspell a removal card or to pay a, for example, Behold the Multiverse.
I think this one can improve that UR Spells design that LSV tried to play a few months back. And surely can work in the UB shell as well.
Intriguing card.
And talking about All-Spells decks, what about a good looking beater?
Sure, it does not combat-trick during the opponent’s combat step but its a great EOT card.
Also, 5/6 means it can block an Angler.
I think this one will improve the U Flash/Instant deck that made some buzz a few seasons back.
It’s also a good card to play in UB shells.
Not much of a game changer here.
It has a neat body for its cost. It may be a good beater as well.
Its ability is what makes the question, “where to play it”?
This can be abused by bounce shenanigans and (de)generate some kind of Lock deck.
It can be used in any UB Reanimation shell that needs a ground presence with a marginal chance of putting some stuff in the bin.
There are possibilities here.
And it is a 3/2 creature. It can do a good beating.
Black
What’s the worst thing about discard spells in Pauper?
Most of them won’t hit.
This is a different kind of spell.
With its modal cost, you can cast it on curve at Turn#3. Not bad considering it has a similar power of a Wrench Mind (discard 2 cards for CMC:2).
But the cute thing about this spell is that if it didn’t force any discard or a difference in discard, you draw cards equal to that difference. And that’s neat.
You can sit this card in exile and then, later, can you use it as a Night’s Whisper without the life loss.
I don’t see nothing wrong in this card except its speed. For a discard spell it’s slow. But for its modal nature I think this might see some game play here and there.
Another neat spell is this one.
Sure, we have Ghoulcaller’s Chant that does the same for Zombies for just B at Sorcery speed.
The cool thing about this card is that, for starters, it’s Instant speed. And we don’t have any kind of pay 2, retrieve a body from GY at Instant speed.
And it has potential to give back 2 cards instead of one, if they share types.
This can see some game in BG decks like Rock decks or any kind of midrange deck. It’s also good for valuing creatures like Mulldrifters after being Evoked.
This card can go places… let’s see.
Ok, ok… let’s jump into Brewtown.
1/2 for B, ok. It’s power is not much but it’s in the same field as Serrated Scorpion.
It also as a mana-sink ability that pings life.
This card tells me Suicide Black over and over. Will it be played? Don’t know. But there is room for it.
Another similar card for the same deck.
It’s a Zombie, it may be relevant in some circumstances.
3/2 for CMC:3 ain’t bad.
It has a mana-sink ability for 2 mana that makes it 4/2 Menace. And that’s what might make it to the table. It has the same feel of an Order of the Ebon Hand and can have a place in the Suicide Black plan or in a more aggro Zombie build.
Red
This is the most interesting card in R.
It has an ability that is typical of R cards but not in Pauper. The ability to exile the topdeck and play it was never ported (decently, I guess) into Pauper.
In my last article I was talking about Sligh decks and the lack of board presence in Pauper for that kind of archetype to shine… well, this is a card that can work.
It’s a 3/2 for CMC:3, the same as the U and B versions I’ve mentioned before. For R is more than fine if we need something to beat and keep beating.
But it’s ability is awesome. Sure, it costs 1 and requires the creature to swing. But it generates CA.
In a low-curve deck that tops at CMC:3, this creature can be a 3-Drop that when it swings can draw a Bolt and cast it for 1R. Sign me in.
The question is if this creature will keep its presence in the field. Because Toughness:2 trades with a lot of things, including removal.
I confess that I like this ability and I’m glad to see it in Pauper. But again, its “vehicle” may not be the best.
This card can be resumed in just one sentence: Instant-speed Land Destruction.
This is another interesting card for the UR Spells I’ve mentioned before. LSV may be happy to see it.
It’s normal CMC is a bit steep but it’s Foretell is great.
Envision this, you play this on curve on Turn#2. You skip your Turn#3 play with only a Land drop to then, on your opponent’s turn cast a Fiery Cannonade and deal with the board.
On your Turn#4 you spend 1R and you’ll have 2 2/1’s in the field.
The issue is being x/1’s. They can be dealt with pretty easily. If they had Haste, this card would really be something. Or if this card was an Instant. But as it is, is just a cute card and one step from being a great card.
Another card for the aggro/Sligh plan.
It’s cool to use in Goblins or go-wide decks.
It pumps one of those creatures and acts like a “Trample:1” card.
Its cost is pretty good for what it makes. If only the Pick had this kind of cost…
Green
A SB card. Mostly. But an interesting card.
This is a protection spell with an advantage. It improves anything in the field besides protecting it.
And that is what makes this card interesting. Because between this and a Vines, I think this one is a bit better, not making and immediate pump but making the creature bigger.
It also covers River Boa’s weak ass, by dodging -X/-X removal and improving its stats.
With improvements made in Pauper’s manabase, this card can earn a splash in White Heroic decks.
I like this card. It’s tech. Let’s see how the meta will use it.
I pretty like this segment of CMC:3 creatures.
This one has a mana-sink ability that does not need to Boast which is good. It can be triggered any time. And when triggered it gives the creature protection and a power boost.
The power boost can be used in combat, turning it into a 4/3. It can happen both ways, attacking or defending.
It’s not a great big of a deal. Or maybe it is. Indestructible is nice but requiring a cost and taking it out from a block (if forced before the Combat Step) may not be that good. But it’s still good to see a creature in Pauper that can protect itself.
People are talking a lot about this one in the GW Auras deck.
Sure, it’s an Aura. It gives +2/+2 for a G. Is good, is good. Also Reach, which is situational.
The low cost can, in fact, make it playable in the Auras shell. But apart from that deck I don’t see this being played anywhere.
No, it’s not for the mana-ramp. It’s for Reach.
This Elf is neat because it’s a 1/2 one-drop with Reach in G. It’s a solid piece of defense against Faeries and Birds. In G, which has to wait a bit until hitting the silver-bullets against flyers.
This card is also tech and has room to be played as a SB card if the meta becomes too saturated of small flyers.
Green has tech.
Sure, it hates Artifacts and Enchantments as G normally does.
So why even bother with it?
It Exiles its target. Meaning Sentinel’s Eyes is no more.
This is the aspect that makes this card’s relevant. But only that.
I don’t see how much it will play, if it plays… it depends on what course the meta takes and if Auras or Affinity became heavy in the format.
I cheated. Here are three cards in one entry.
These cards have two similarities:
-they have an ETB trigger
-they can be played in the same shell
These 3 creatures can be played in the new and cool Cascade shells.
The Wolf is a 3/3 that draws a card. On curve it may be a Turn#3 play, giving a card back and having a better body than Llanowar Visionary.
But again, as with any Foretell card, this card represents a tempo loss. But it can be easily Cascade’d into the field. And providing a card back. Do I hear Jund?!
The Wurm is more steep.
I included it here because it reminds me of a creature that was once the king of its format, Thragtusk.
This does not leaves a body behind but it gains some life and has a big body.
And it also may be used in some sort of GB or GW Reanimation deck.
The Elf is the less spicy of them, in my opinion.
For its overall CMC, it represents 4 power in the field among two bodies.
It has good synergies with other Elves that use ETBs and creatures ETBs.
It also represents CA by offering two bodies for one card.
And that’s it.
Overall, I think this set is really good for Pauper.
Not great and game changing like the previous set, but with a good balance between cards all around.
The Dual Lands will make the difference. They are the clear winners of the set.
The W 3/2 Bird and the G protection spells are the easy go-to when looking at the already established decks in the meta All the other cards have potential or spiciness but still a bit of a mystery.
There will be Vikings… beware!
Common Cause 