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 Blue cards from Kaldheim!
#10: Alrund, God of the Cosmos / Hakka, Whispering Raven
Alrund certainly isn’t my personal favorite out of the new Kaldheim gods, but he does fit into some interesting niches in Oathbreaker. The front half of this card seems made for planeswalkers looking to manipulate the top of their deck, such as Aminatou, the Fateshifter or Jace, Mirror Mage. Although the bird half of Alrund compliments that kind of game plan pretty well, Hakka is also just an oddly efficient flying creature on its own as a two-mana 2/3. This efficiency is definitely due to the downside of Hakka bouncing itself whenever it connects in combat, though there are decks that can actually take advantage of such an effect. I don’t expect Alrund to see much widespread play in Oathbreaker, but I suspect he’ll be an interesting roleplayer in very particular types of decks.
#9: Cyclone Summoner
Cyclonic Rift this is not, but I won’t hold that fact against this giant fella. I normally wouldn’t be much of a fan of a seven-mana, sorcery-speed board wipe in Oathbreaker, but Cyclone Summoner does have a couple of strengths going for it; namely the fact it’s a one-sided board wipe that comes with a 7/7 attached. Although this card is templated to work well in either a giant or wizard tribal list, I suspect it will prove to be more effective in giant tribal decks simply due to its high mana-cost. Giants tend to be on the heavier end in terms of mana-costs, so one more seven-drop in such a list wouldn’t be so unusual. Furthermore, this kind of one-sided board wipe will leave all of your opponents open to a mass—and potentially lethal—attack from your giant army. I suspect Cyclone Summoner will ultimately see a pretty limited amount of play in Oathbreaker, but I’m sure it will prove to be very powerful in the decks built to take advantage of it.
#8: Saw It Coming
I won’t lie, this next card on the list may actually be my favorite counterspell ever printed. I’m normally not much of a fan of the “strictly better cancels” that are printed in nearly every set, but Saw It Coming has proven to be the exception for me. Stapling foretell to this sort of effect seems very fun to me, albeit not especially mana-efficient. Saw It Coming is the sort of card that will make your opponents think twice before casting a card when you have a foretell card facedown. There isn’t anything particularly powerful about Saw It Coming, but I suspect its uncommon rarity and mind-games-factor will make it a fairly fun and budget-friendly counterspell in Oathbreaker, at the very least.
#7: Icebreaker Kraken
Nothing can ever truly replace Marit Lage, but Icebreaker Kraken is still quite the chilly monstrosity. Reducing this kraken’s cost shouldn’t prove to be much of a difficulty, even less so now that snow-covered dual lands exist. The enter-the-battlefield trigger does only target a single opponent, but this trigger can also be blinked for additional value. Oathbreakers like Aminatou, the Fateshifter or Venser, the Sojourner can easily get repeated value out of this enter-the-battlefield trigger in a short amount of time, to the great frustration of your opponents. It’s also always nice to see big blue beasties like this kraken have a way to protect itself, even if it is a bit of a costly effect; oh, and let’s not forget that “sea monster” decks are already most-definitely a thing in Oathbreaker thanks to Whelming Wave. Overall, Icebreaker Kraken is definitely a card that requires a bit of set up, but I believe the ceiling on this kraken is noteworthy nonetheless.
#6: Reflections of Littjara
It feels a little strange to be ranking this card so low on the list, but allow me to explain. Make no mistake; the ceiling on this sort of enchantment is ridiculously huge, and the fact it can be used in any blue tribal deck means it can fit into a fairly wide range of lists. At worst, Reflections of Littjara will help you push through opposing counterspells by lending you additional copies of all your tribal spells; however, if your opponents aren’t running an especially high number of counterspells, this enchantment will straight double all of your tribal cards. In my mind, the only factor holding this card back on the list is the fact it costs five mana—not that I think this card should cost any less. Reflections of Littjara seems like a card designed with EDH in mind—the format where mana-ramp is a staple section of most every list. Oathbreaker decks, however, tend to run slightly lower mana curves. While five mana is certainly a reasonable cost in the format in general, it also means this enchantment will likely be hitting the board after you’ve already deployed a number of your threats. Even still, I have no doubt Reflections of Littjara will lead to some absolutely ridiculous-looking board states in Oathbreaker.
#5: Behold the Multiverse
Behold the Multiverse may not be the most blatantly powerful card from Kaldheim, but there is a sort of subtle strength to it. Four mana is a pretty standard cost for this sort of effect, as seen previously with cards like Glimmer of Genius. When it comes to Behold the Multiverse specifically, the added “upside” is simply being able to split its cost across a couple of turns through its foretell cost. Similar to Saw It Coming, there’s nothing particularly powerful about Behold the Multiverse; it’s simply a solid card (at a low rarity) that isn’t constrained to any particular strategy. I’m sure plenty of control lists in Oathbreaker will want to take a look at this little piece of card draw, but I could see it being a budget-friendly in just about any blue deck.
#4: Cosima, God of the Voyage / The Omenkeel
Speaking of card advantage! I think Cosima is one of the more interesting new gods from Kaldheim, mainly due to the unique forms of card advantage each side of this modal-double-faced card can lend. The front half of the card functions somewhat similarly to the suspend mechanic, offering the chance for card draw in the later in game that’s heightened the longer you wait—stapled onto a giant god creature, of course. As far as the back half of this card, I really enjoy how The Omenkeel gives its effect to every vehicle you control. Vehicle decks have typically been pushed towards Boros colors over the years, but blue is already the most popular color for artifact decks in Oathbreaker. I’ll admit I’m not 100% precisely how much play this particular god will see in the format, but I for one am looking forward to brewing with it in a variety of ways.
#3: Orvar, the All-Form
RIP Mistform Ultimus, you will be missed. In all seriousness, Orvar is a very exciting new legend with a very odd mix of abilities. I suspect the discard trigger on Orvar won’t prove to be very relevant most of the time, but their other two abilities offer many more possibilities. Simply being a changeling means that Orvar can hypothetically be jammed into just about any tribal deck running blue, and their first triggered ability is even more interesting. It’s kinda difficult to fully visualize how powerful this particular effect is—after all, not many cards can casually allow you to clone any of your permanents simply by targeting those permanents with any instant or sorcery. The main reason Orvar didn’t make it any higher on the list is that their uniqueness makes it somewhat difficult to build around them in a singleton format that isn’t EDH. Even still, I’ll be curious to see the many ways player will find to go off with Orvar in Oathbreaker.
#2: Ravenform
Now that we’ve gone over the super cool legendary creatures/vehicles, let’s talk about the common removal spell that can permanently answer any of them! I’ve already seen quite a number of players argue that Ravenform should have been a white card, and for what it’s worth, I don’t think those arguments are without merit. Regardless, it is certainly interesting to see blue get a permanent form of spot removal for artifacts—and one that can also target creatures, at that. While blue has seen a number of similar creature removal spells in the past, I can’t recall ever seeing one that can also target artifacts. In Oathbreaker specifically, being able to interact with artifacts in this way is certainly relevant with cards like Heart of Kiran, Smuggler’s Copter and Sword of Sinew and Steel running around. I wouldn’t go as far as to say that Ravenform is blue’s new Abrade, but I do expect to see it showing up in a fair number of mono-blue and/or Dimir-colored decks, at the very least.
#1: Mystic Reflection
If there’s one blue card in Kaldheim that’s more wonky than Orvar, the All-Form, it’s probably this card. Mystic Reflection is a very strange instant with very interesting applications. On one hand, this spell can function as pseudo spot removal when used to ambush one or more of your opponent’s creatures—or their Oathbreaker, for that matter. On the other hand, this spell can also be used to upgrade one or more of your own creatures—or your opponent’s creatures, if you’re feeling political. Foretell ups the “gotcha” factor of this card even more, though honestly, I could even see Mystic Reflection being a solid Signature Spell. To me, Mystic Reflection really just seems like one of those wacky, open-ended cards that will inevitably catch you/your opponents off-guard in whatever ways you’d least expect. I have no idea where exactly I’m going to start with brewing around Mystic Reflection, but I’m sure it will prove to be an exciting experience no matter what.
What are your favorite blue cards from Kaldheim? Are there any blue 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 Black 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