The Kaldheim spoiler season is off to an incredible start thanks to Magic: The Gathering’s Week of Metal. Thanks to several popular metal band players got the first look at a returning planeswalker and a new God card. Bands Amon Amarth and Oceans of Slumber brought these spoilers to players, both of which are going to impact the Standard format in a huge way.
Kaya is coming to Kaldheim
[+1]: Put a ghostform counter on up to one target nontoken creature. It gains “When this creature dies or is put into exile, return it to its owner’s hand and create a 1/1 white Spirit creature token with flying.”
[-3]: Exile target nonland permanent.
[-7]: You get an emblem with “At the beginning of your upkeep, you may cast a legendary spell from your hand, from your graveyard, or from among cards you own in exile without paying its mana cost.”
The ever-elusive ghost assassin Kaya is coming to Kaldheim. Metal band Oceans of Slumber brings this spoiler to fans. This time around, Kaya the Inexorable is focused on board presence and control. Kaya’s +1 ability is one of the best anti-removal abilities seen on a planeswalker. By putting a ghostform counter on a creature it guarantees protection against any form of removal. Most of the time, players will be upgrading their creature by giving it flying once it dies.
Kaya’s minus ability is very straight forward, just exile a nonland permanent. Take out your opponent’s biggest threat and still have a planeswalker around for the next turn. This ability is great for dealing with an opponent’s indestructible God or enchantment or artifact that most removal cannot target. Her ultimate ability is a classic case of “good but not good enough.” While strong, it may be more at home in Commander.
The only thing holding Kaya back is here 5 mana casting cost. In the right deck, however, it won’t make much of a difference.
A new type of God is coming in this Kaldheim spoiler
Gods in Magic are changing on Kaldheim, and thanks to Amon Amarth we know how. Losing one of the strongest features of the creature type but gaining a powerful new model. Halvar, God of Battle // Sword of the Realms is a creature and equipment flip card, similar to the pathway lands spoiled earlier in the Week of Metal.
As a creature, Halvar, God of Battle lets players move auras and equipment to new creatures at the start of combat. Creatures with an enchantment or equipment attached also all gain double strike which is a nice little bonus. As equipment, Sword of the Realms provides extra protection against removal and a stat boost at a low cost. Having a legendary card with a flip side is great at preventing dead draws when there are multiple copies in hand.
Together, the two cards give a functional kind of invulnerability similar to the Gods from War of the Spark. While not indestructible, Halvar with the Sword equipped is a hard god to kill.
Kaya and Halvar are coming to Magic: The Gathering and Kaldheim early in 2021. The full spoiler season kicks off on January 7.
