Kaldheim has been one of the most exciting sets for me in quite a while, and I’m excited to dig into this set’s Top 10s for Oathbreaker. To be more specific, I’ll be doing a Top 10 article for cards of each color, as well as one for multicolor cards. The last pair of Top 10s for this set will be one covering the colorless/land/theme booster exclusive cards and one covering all the new cards from the Commander precons (plus my overall Top 10 cards from Kaldheim, of course). My Top 10s are based on 1) how strong I think a card will be in Oathbreaker, and 2) how many different types of Oathbreaker decks I expect the card to see play in. While I do try to be as objective as I can, these are ultimately just my own thoughts/opinions.
In regards to Kaldheim, I’d also like to reiterate one important factor at the beginning of each of these articles: no, foretell does not work the way you want it to with Signature Spells. Your Signature Spell can only exist either 1) in the command zone, or 2) on the stack. It cannot go to exile—or anywhere else—for any reason, meaning you can not foretell a Signature Spell.
With all that out of the way, let’s keep things moving with my Top 10 Black cards from Kaldheim!
Honorable Mentions
Ordering this Top 10 list was particularly difficult for me, so I feel it would be wrong not to give a small shoutout to this very near inclusion on the list. Tergrid’s Shadow is very reminiscent of Barter in Blood, with two notable differences; Tergrid’s Shadow has foretell, and it is an instant instead of a sorcery. Although these types of edict effects won’t always be as effective as a regular board wipe, this kind of card can still do a lot of work in multiplayer formats like Oathbreaker. I wouldn’t call Tergrid’s Shadow one of the more powerful instant-speed edict effects we’ve ever seen, but it’s still worth mentioning.
#10: Dream Devourer
This frilled fella may just be my favorite card from all of Kaldheim, and it really hurts me to place them so low on this list. I’ve already mentioned in the past couple of Top 10s how much I dig the foretell mechanic as a whole, so it shouldn’t come as a surprise that I really like the card that straight up gives all of your nonland cards (in hand) a foretell cost. I’ve seen some discussion over ways to “go off” using Dream Devourer paired with an abundance of two-drop-or-less artifacts, but I suspect Oathbreaker won’t be the best format for such brews. To be totally honest, I’m not 100% sure what Oathbreaker lists “want” to run this card in particular, other than perhaps black lists with high mana curves. That being said, I’m still going to inevitably try jamming this demon cleric in plenty of different decks, and I’m very excited to see what the rest of the Oathbreaker community does with this card.
#9: Elderfang Disciple
Ah, Burglar Rat has finally made their triumphant return! In all seriousness, Elderfang Disciple is a nice little common that packs a bit more of a punch than meets the eye. The enter-the-battlefield trigger by itself is a noteworthy effect, especially given how well it scales into multiplayer formats. In addition to the dedicated discard decks that love this kind of card, I could easily see this two-drop appearing in certain blink-heavy lists. Elderfang Disciple is also an elf cleric—two creature types that are receiving more and more support these days—meaning it could easily fit into a respectable number of tribal decks. This little two-drop won’t be swinging any games by themselves, but they’re still a neat common that will likely see a decently diverse amount of play in Oathbreaker.
#8: Feed the Serpent
Before anyone says anything, yes, Vraska’s Contempt is strictly better than this card; however, it’s also true that Feed the Serpent will likely remain more budget-friendly in the long run. It’s pretty rare to see this type of spot removal at such a low rarity, especially for such a reasonable mana-cost. This kind of card won’t exceed in any particular type of strategy, but that’s fine—sometimes you just need a solid piece of spot removal. Y’all know by now that I’m always excited to see more budget-friendly playables get printed, and Feed the Serpent is no exception to this rule.
#7: Varragoth, Bloodsky Sire
To be totally honest, Varragoth didn’t really stand out much to me when I first read the card; however, this little legend has grown on me a bit since then. A 2/3 with deathtouch for three mana is a fine rate on its own, making this creature pretty okay on offense or defense. That being said, you’ll probably be staying offensive with this card more often than not thanks to that boast ability. This form of tutor effect is pretty reasonably-costed at two mana, though the fact you can activate on each of your turns is kind of nutty. Even still, my favorite part of Varragoth is actually something I did not notice until after reading the card several times over; Varragoth’s boast ability can actually target any player, which opens up plenty of political potential for this card. I’m not sure how much widespread play this demon rogue will ultimately see in Oathbreaker, but they’re bound to lead to some very interesting deals being made at the table.
#6: Skemfar Shadowsage
Next up, Kaldheim brings you Skemfar Shadowsage; because elf tribal decks definitely needed their own Gray Merchant of Asphodel. In all seriousness, Skemfar Shadowsage isn’t quite as strong as good old Gary, but it’s still going to pack some serious power in the right tribal strategies. In my mind, a fairer way to evaluate this card is to think of it as a Shaman of the Pack that drains each of your opponents, rather than a single target. I suspect the first mode will prove to be the “default” option for most players, though having the option to gain some life shouldn’t be underestimated either. I also wouldn’t surprised if Skemfar Shadowsage—along with other pieces of cleric tribal support from Kaldheim—helps Orzhov clerics become a more established archetype in Oathbreaker. At the very least, I suspect Skemfar Shadowsage will wind up being a new staple for Golgari-colored elf tribal decks in the format.
#5: Crippling Fear
And the tribal train continues! While not quite as devastating as Kindred Dominance, Crippling Fear is still a tribal-themed board wipe that packs quite a bit of potential. Four mana is a much more reasonable mana-cost in the world of Oathbreaker, and -3/-3 will often be enough of a de-buff to remove a decent number of creatures on-board. This particular form of board wipe will also leave most surviving creatures of your opponents’ significantly smaller until the end of turn, which can suddenly leave them much more vulnerable to an attack on your end. I’m not sure I’d go as far as to say that Crippling Fear will become a new staple for black tribal strategies in Oathbreaker, but I certainly wouldn’t be surprised if that ended up being the case.
#4: Draugr Necromancer
I consistently enjoy the various theft effects that show up in black, so it’s no surprise that Draugr Necromancer is one my personal favorite cards out of Kaldheim as a whole. It’s pretty cool to see a means of light graveyard hate double as some decent card advantage—not to mention function as a fantastic flavor win, in the case of this specific card. Another nice aspect of this card is that even if your Draugr Necromancer dies, its templating will still allow you access to any exiled cards with ice counters if you manage to recur the necromancer later on. The only factor keeping this zombie cleric from a higher spot on the list is the fact that you do still need the necromancer in play in order to have access to your iced-over cards, unlike with other black theft effects like Gonti, Lord of Luxury. Even still, I am very excited to try out this frosty fella in some games and see how many of my opponents’ threats I can steal over to my own side.
#3: Tergrid, God of Fright / Tergrid’s Lantern
Oh jeez. Tergrid, God of the Fun Police is here, and she is not messing around. The triggered ability on the front half of this card is clearly very powerful, especially in a multiplayer format like Oathbreaker. Black discard decks are already fairly popular in the format, and I’m sure Tergrid will pair wonderfully—or terribly, if you’re on the other side of the table—with Oathbreakers like Davriel, Rogue Shadowmage and Liliana, Waker of the Dead. I really can’t overstate the strength of being able to steal any permanents your opponents sacrifice/discard for no additional cost; as much as I love Draugr Necromancer, this form of theft effect really puts that card to shame. It’s also pretty sweet that Tergrid can function as a small discard enabler when needed, thanks to the back half of the card. I doubt that Tergrid will see much play in Oathbreaker outside of dedicated discard and/or stax strategies, but she will certainly be one heck of a powerhouse in those types of decks.
#2: Eradicator Valkyrie
If I didn’t know better, I’d say Eradicator Valkyrie must have been designed with Oathbreaker specifically in mind. There’s a decent chance this card would have made it somewhere on this list even if its rules text stopped after its several keywords—all of which are pretty darn relevant in Oathbreaker, by the way—but wait, there’s more! Any deck with the sacrifice fodder to regularly fuel this card’s boast ability can turn Eradicator Valkyrie into a repeated source of removal, albeit not targeted removal. Since boast abilities can only be activated once per turn, I don’t see Eradicator Valkyrie as much of an aristocrats card so much as I see it as a solid creature threat that happens to pair well with sacrifice fodder. I could see this angel berserker being run alongside just about any Oathbreaker that can fuel its boast ability without too much trouble; Garruk, Cursed Huntsman and Sorin, Vengeful Bloodlord immediately come to mind for me, but they’re far from the only options. I definitely wouldn’t call this card black’s equivalent to Questing Beast, but I’m sure its abundance of abilities will ensure it sees a fair amount of play in Oathbreaker.
#1: Rise of the Dread Marn
The more I read Rise of the Dread Marn, the more excited I become to try it out in as many Oathbreaker (and EDH) decks as I can. My personal fondness for sacrifice-based strategies could be skewing my judgement here a bit, but I genuinely think this card is nuts in multiplayers formats. Imagine, if you will, being able to add one black mana onto the cost of a board wipe in order to generate a ton of zombie tokens after that board wipe resolves—that is essentially the way I view this card. You can also always cast this card right after an opponent uses their board wipe and thinks they’re safe. In addition to pairing this card with mass removal, Rise of the Dread Marn can also function pretty well in a number of aristocrat decks. Casting this card after sacrificing most of your board isn’t quite as good as reanimating all of your dead creatures with something like Promise of Tomorrow, but it’s pretty darn close. To my surprise, I haven’t actually seen much hype around this card in the Oathbreaker community or elsewhere, but I for one am very excited to ambush my opponents with a zombie horde at instant-speed.
What are your favorite black cards from Kaldheim? Are there any black cards you’re particularly excited to try out in Oathbreaker? Make sure to tell me on Reddit or on Twitter! My goal is to have my Top 10 Red cards from Kaldheim out tomorrow, so keep an eye out for that!
About the author: My name is Alex Enders. I am a college student that’s been playing MTG for almost eight years, though I only recently began experimenting with writing content. My personal formats of choice are Oathbreaker, EDH, and draft. My other interests include music, education, and most things nerdy. You can find me on Twitter (@AAAEnders) or email me at aenders2112@gmail.com