Last updated on February 23, 2024
Doomskar | Illustration by Piotr Dura
Kaldheim is WotC’s viking adaptation to the Magic multiverse. Think snow, cold hard metal, and Norse gods. It was a cool break from 2020 which saw a Theros set, companions, the introduction of modal double-faced cards (MDFCs), and more bans than any of us want to see again. Let’s bundle up and dive in!
Oh, this is a “metal” themed set too…
Kaldheim Basic Information
| What | Key Info |
|---|---|
| Official Name | Kaldheim |
| Set Symbol |  |
| Set Code | KHM |
| Hashtag | #MTGKHM, #MTGKaldheim |
| Number of Cards | 285 |
| Rarities | 121 commons, 80 uncommons, 64 rares, 20 mythics |
| Mechanics | Boast, Changeling, Foretell, Modal double-faced cards, Sagas, Snow |
Kaldheim Important Dates
| Event | Date |
|---|---|
| Previews start | January 7, 2021 |
| Full gallery available | January 28, 2021 |
| Available on Draftsim's draft simulator | January 28, 2021 |
| Prerelease Week | Jan. 29 to Feb. 4, 2021 |
| Digital Release Date | January 28, 2021 |
| Available on Arena Tutor | January 28, 2021 |
| Paper release date | February 5, 2021 |
Is Kaldheim Modern Legal?
This set is legal to play in Modern and non-rotating Magic’s formats, and was Standard-legal until Fall 2022.
Kaldheim’s Flavor and Story
We actually saw Kaldheim before this set! You don’t remember? Yeah, neither did I. We visited it briefly in the Planechase set from 2009 and only on a single card. The Skybreen plane card featured Kaldheim. Check it out:
Skybreen is a very cold, mountainous region of Kaldheim. It is harsh and its inhabitants are aggressive and territorial. But let’s not speculate too much, take a look at how WotC described Skybreen:
Skybreen, a blizzard-wracked mountain range on the plane of Kaldheim, is no place for the meek to visit. The scouring winds tear at gear and skin alike; the frigid temperatures congeal blood and generate a frosty deterrent to magic; ice sheets, as sharp as straight razors, slice up travelers and form blind cliffs in the constant blizzards. The primitive barbarian race that survives here is not known for its hospitality or reasoned discourse; they practice both surgery and diplomacy with axes.
Doug Beyer, WotC
In 2018, “Glimpse the Far Side of the Sun” told a story of Huatli and Angrath who at one point glimpsed into the Kaldheim realm, but were “yanked back.” Perhaps because of the “deterrent to magic” mentioned earlier in the description of Skybreen.
Wizards has released the first five episodes of the Kaldheim story, and it's definitely worth reading.
Themes and Mechanics
Modal Double-Faced Cards
Remember the MDFCs from Zendikar Rising? Well, they're back in Kaldheim — some in the same form, and some quite different.
Since Zendikar Rising was a lands-matter set, it had MDFCs with spells and lands. Kaldheim will use this mechanic but in a slightly different way, on nonland cards too.
Remember, you can choose the “mode”/side of the card you want to use when initially playing it for as long as it's on the battlefield. In any other zone, it is only the “front” type of card.
Kaldheim Gods
The gods are also legendary permanents, you play whichever side you need, and that makes them versatile inclusions.
Foretell
The new mechanics in Kaldheim begin with foretell. It reminds me a little of morph in that it allows you to space out your payments on a card over the course of multiple turns. And it also has some really cool “hidden information” gameplay implications.
On your turn, foretell allows you to pay and exile a card face down. Then on a different turn, you can play it from exile for its foretell cost.
What do you have under there? A creature? A harmless draw spell?
Remember that you have to play foretell spells whenever you would be able to cast the spell normally (so you can only play the raven for its foretell cost on your turn).
I love it, and this is one of the defining gameplay elements of the set.
Boast
This one's a little less interesting, in my opinion. Boast means “If you attacked with this creature this turn, you get to activate this ability.” We've seen a lot of attacking-is-incentivized mechanics throughout the years, like raid and exert, for example.
Don't forget that you can play the boast ability as an instant, so you can do it immediately after you declare the creature as an attacker. You can even suicide the creature into your opponent's blockers just to activate the boast ability.
Sagas
Sagas returned in Kaldheim. Sagas are, of course, famously associated with Viking history. This card type originally premiered in Dominaria and continues to appear in new sets.
Sagas are meant to tell a multi-act story through a card. The first chapter gets triggered as soon as the enchantment enters the battlefield, and then the subsequent chapters trigger after your draw step on later turns. Afterwards, the card is sacrificed.
Snow
Speaking of cool returning mechanics, what would a plane set in the frozen reaches be without snow? We see the snow mechanic in Modern Horizons and, of course, in Coldsnap and Ice Age.
Snow is simply a special property of mana, represented by a distinctive snowflake symbol. If you tap a Snow-Covered Mountain, you'll get one mana that is both red and snow.
Some cards will care about this…
Changeling
Changeling is a mechanic that really ties your tribal decks together. The concept is simple, but the mechanic is a little complicated. Remember that anything that mentions a specific creature type will apply to all your changelings too!
Kaldheim Card Gallery
White
Blue
Black
Red
Green
Multicolored
Colorless
Modal Double-Faced Cards
Lands
Notable Cards
Kaya
Kaya's back as the featured planeswalker of the set, and appears all over the packaging!
Tibalt
Our formerly-maligned Tibalt once was known as the worst planewalker ever (Tibalt, the Fiend-Blooded). Tibalt takes a turn as Loki the Trickster.
Tyvar Kell
Read all about Tyvar Kell.
- An elf from Kaldheim, and an “elf-tribal” planeswalker
- Most like a wood-elf in stature and muscularity
- Younger brother of King Harald
- Charismatic character who's out to prove something
- Cheerful and likes to drink
- Can transmute his body and the environment around him
- Shares “buffs” (haha, get it?) with his allies
- Does not own shirts, akin Oko, Thief of Crowns
Niko Aris
- Athlete planeswalker from Theros
- Looking to become a “true hero”
- Spark ignited after tussle with the god Klothys's agents
- Can conjure shards of mirrorlike magical energy and turn them into daggers/spears (pictured)
- Traps “targets for a short time”
- Creative, nimble, and tactical thinker
- Will be blue
- Tells a story to “express the shared experience of non-binary people”
Find out more about Niko.
Pathways
We get the completion of the powerful pathway cycle. Handy versions of two-color lands that will stay in style for a long time.
Set and Theme Booster Exclusives
Here we go again! We've got some Standard legal cards being printed outside of “regular” circulation. This time we're not talking about the irrelevant planeswalker deck exclusives. The cards below will be found in theme boosters and set boosters (described in the products section below).
Snow Basic Lands
Snow basics are back! We'll be seeing all five of em return in Kaldheim.
Available Kaldheim Products
Draft Boosters
Kaldheim draft boosters have the typical 15-card composition (1 rare/mythic, 3 uncommon, 10 common, 1 land) with a token. They're perfect for doing a draft with your friends.
- 36 Kaldheim (KHM) Magic: The Gathering Draft Booster Packs
- 1 snow land card in every booster pack
- 36 assorted rare and mythic rare cards per box
- First appearance of powerful mechanics: foretell & boast
- The return of sagas and legendary gods
Collector Boosters
Kaldheim collector boosters are perfect if you love to get premium, high end versions of cards. Bling to the max. These collector boosters include:
- 15 high-end cards in pack (each box has 12 packs)
- A bunch of foils
- Five guaranteed rares or mythics
- A showcase rare or mythic
- An extended art rare or mythic
- Two showcase uncommons and two foil uncommons
- Unique card styles that are not found anywhere else
- 12 Kaldheim Magic: The Gathering Collector Boosters
- Shortcut to the coolest cards in Kaldheim
- 132 foils—including rares, alternate frames, and foil snow lands
- 12+ extended-art cards not found in KHM Draft Boosters
- Return of sagas and double-faced cards
Set Boosters
Kaldheim Set booster boxes are all about the experience of opening them and discovering what's inside. They're just fun to crack. They have:
- 30 packs in one box
- A foil in every pack
- Special art cards
- A snow land
- Possible cards from The List and up to four rares.
- 30 Kaldheim (KHM) Set Booster Packs
- Best booster for opening packs just to see what you'll get
- 12 Magic: The Gathering cards per pack
- Every pack includes 1 snow land, 1 foil, and a chance at a reprint
- 1–4 rares per pack, incl. up to 3 mythics
Theme Boosters
Kaldheim Theme boosters give you a little more direction while you're trying to collect a set. They revolve around one particular color or theme. For example, in Kaldheim, you might get one centered around green cards, or you could get one with a bunch of Vikings.
The packs contain:
- 33-34 commons and uncommons
- 1-2 rares
- And if you're lucky, you will see some uncommon showcase cards
- Vikings. Gods. Myths. Legends. So many beards. Kaldheim is here!
- These larger booster packs are full of cards all based on a single theme, like a color or set-based premise.
- This listing includes 6 packs (1 of each version). 35 cards per pack.
- Release Date: February 5, 2021
Bundles
The Kaldheim bundle is a great way to get an infusion of cards and immerse yourself in the world of Kaldheim.
This bundle comes with:
- 10 draft boosters
- Lands (20 foil and 20 non-foil lands)
- 1 alternate art promo card
- An oversized spindown life counter
- Reference cards
That's 150 cards in a nice, collectible bundle.
- 10 Kaldheim (KHM) Magic: The Gathering Draft Booster Packs
- Exclusive foil alt-art promo card, Reflections of Littjara
- 40 basic land cards (20 foil & 20 non-foil) + life counter and card storage box
- First appearance of powerful mechanics: foretell & boast
- The return of snow lands and sagas!
Commander Precons
Read our full review of the Kaldheim Commander precons and all the strong cards WotC curated.
Elven Empire
First up is Elven Empire, a black/green deck led by Lathril, Blade of the Elves. Clear elf tribal going on here. Golgari is usually a mix of black’s deathtouch and green’s counters to boost creatures, and this deck focuses on boosting elves on the board. (We have an upgraded build with Lathril.)
- 100-card ready-to-play KHM Commander deck
- 1 foil Commander card
- 8 Viking-inspired Magic cards make their debut
- 10 double-sided tokens + life tracker and deck box
- Lead an army of elves to absolute victory.
Phantom Premonition
Next is the white/blue Phantom Premonition, commanded by Ranar the Ever-Watchful. Similarly to our Empire up there, this deck focuses on spirits. Lots of fliers in here, even if they’re of a different creature types.
- 100-card ready-to-play KHM Commander deck
- 1 foil Commander card
- 8 Viking-inspired Magic cards make their debut
- 10 double-sided tokens + life tracker and deck box
- Create a horde of spirits to do your bidding!
Ragnarök
I’m a big fan of Kaldheim. It felt like forever between Commander Legends and this set. It’s nice to have the rest of the “pathway” cycle, which will be playable for forever. And snow cards have carved out more than a niche on Commander tables, so I love rockin' some more Kaldheim.
What do you love about Kaldheim? Do you think the metal theme sunk in? Were there viking-dragon themes that should have been focused on? Join our Discord and get involved in the conversation.
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4 Comments
Huatli and Angrath were yanked back because the Immortal Sun on Ixalon prevented Planeswalkers from leaving.
Theres some toys out there with some Kaldheim names/creatures that you could mention here.
Great!
Friends,
Really great job on the site, makes work breaks much more fun. But I beg of you, use a different avatar for Kaldheim draft than “Niko.” He/she/it are, setting aside the aggressive political signaling, very unattractive. He also does not adequately reflect the set, being an outsider from Theros. Surely we can use a Mythic Rare god there instead?
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