Kaldheim: Top 10 Commander Precon Cards/Overall Top 10

We’ve finally reached the end of Kaldheim Top 10 Season! I’ve already done a Top 10 article for cards of each color, as well as one for multicolor cards. Yesterday’s Top 10 covered the colorless/land/themed booster exclusive cards, and today we’ll finally be tackling 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 Commander Precon cards from Kaldheim!

#10: Pact of the Serpent

Life is certainly a much scarcer resource in Oathbreaker than in EDH, but this painful form of card advantage still has its uses. Certain tribal strategies, such as vampires, tend to run a lot of incidental lifegain that would make this sort of effect a bit more reasonable. Such decks may choose to run Pact of the Serpent as their Signature Spell, though I believe it would be perfectly fine as an inclusion in the 58 as well. Although the number of decks capable of comfortably running this sorcery will ultimately be pretty limited, Pact of the Serpent will still make a fine addition for certain tribal Oathbreaker lists. (As a side note, I think it’s kind of hilarious how you can theoretically target another player with this spell and kill them. Just saying.)

#9: Lathril, Blade of the Elves

I wouldn’t say that Lathril is the most exciting new piece of elf tribal tech out of Kaldheim, but that doesn’t change the fact they can do a lot of damage. Although this creature does come with both menace and a triggered ability, this card’s activated ability is actually what I’m most interested in. Ten elves may sound like a lot, but “elfball” lists tend to aim towards getting a massive number of elves on board anyways. Once you’ve got your elfball train rolling, Lathril’s activated ability can be used to kill the rest of the table in just a couple of turns. Yes, this form of win condition is slower than something like Craterhoof Behemoth, but this ability will also allow you to circumvent combat entirely—meaning it won’t matter how strong of a board presence your opponents have, so long as they can’t kill you first. Obviously Lathril will only be showing up in Golgari-colored elf tribal Oathbreaker decks, but they’re a solid new piece of support for those strategies.

#8: Bounty of Skemfar

This sorcery is far from flashy, but I think the basic utility Bounty of Skemfar provides is solid nonetheless. Three mana for a pseudo Rampant Growth plus a weird elf cantrip is some fine value, albeit not blatantly powerful. Bounty of Skemfar also definitely seems like a card better suited for the 58 than as a Signature Spell since Commander tax will quickly make this card very inefficient. This sorcery’s ability to be played in virtually any elf tribal Oathbreaker deck—regardless of color combination—is primarily what earned it a spot on this list, even if its power level doesn’t quite match up with other new pieces of elf tribal tech.

#7: Ruthless Winnower

The elf tribal support really does just keep on coming. I like to think of Ruthless Winnower as an elf-tribal equivalent of Anowon, the Ruin Sage, even though their triggered abilities are templated slightly differently. This type of board-wide edict effect scales excellently into a multiplayer format like Oathbreaker, making it well worth the mana-cost. I’d say the least appealing aspect of this card is that it isn’t exactly a quick killer; most elf decks I’ve seen usually try to end the game quickly, which is a type of game plan Ruthless Winnower doesn’t really build towards. That being said, this kind of card could help other players brew up a more grindy, attrition-based elf deck—how fitting for Golgari! With these types of new tools, I’ll be curious to see what all the new Golgari-colored elf tribal brews will look like in Oathbreaker

#6: Elderfang Venom

And on we go with the elf tribal support! I’m usually more of a fan of cards that actively protect one’s board state, such as Heroic Intervention; however, Elderfang Venom doesn’t provide quite the incentive for your opponents to leave your creatures alone. Draining the whole table for one whenever any elf you control dies is the sort of clock that can add up very quickly out of nowhere. Black also has access to plenty of sacrifice outlets that could turn this card into a legitimate win condition. On top of that, this card’s first ability will make blocking your elves even less appealing. I could see Elderfang Venom acting as another support piece for a more attrition-based elf tribal deck, and I look forward to seeing this card in action in Oathbreaker.

#5: Spectral Deluge

Wait, what’s that? A card that *isn’t* all about tribal support? Oh, thank goodness! In all seriousness, Spectral Deluge is a neat new blue board wipe. Six mana is definitely on the expensive side for Oathbreaker, but this card’s foretell cost makes it much easier to cast. It’s also worth noting this particular effect is a one-sided board wipe, even if it isn’t nearly as devastating as Cyclonic Rift. Control strategies are the most obvious home for this sort of sorcery, but it can also act as a fine way to open up your opponents to an all-out attack from your creature-based deck. The fact this board wipe is conditional on the number of Islands you control means it will definitely be at its best in mono-blue builds; however, I could also see Spectral Deluge showing up in two-colored Oathbreaker decks that primarily focus on blue.

#4: Hero of Bretagard

You know, I would not have expected to see foretell strategies to receive support that looks quite like this card. Hero of Bretagard is clearly designed with foretell-heavy decks in mind, though its triggered ability coincidentally pairs well with other archetypes like blink strategies. Being able to build up this white weenie will definitely be important for any deck it’s in since this creature is only a 1/1 for three mana; however, once this hero is built up enough, it becomes a very serious threat. Although Hero of Bretagard is technically built for foretold decks, I actually view it as more of a target/payoff for a dedicated +1/+1 counters deck. Such strategies should have no trouble turning on this card’s conditional keywords in a fairly short amount of time, especially when aided by cards like Hardened Scales. Regardless of what specific type of Oathbreaker list you choose to run Hero of Bretagard in, I’m sure there are plenty of fine homes for this card in the format.

#3: Ethereal Valkyrie

In my humble opinion, this next inclusion from the list may be one of the coolest cards from the set. I’ve been a fan of the foretell mechanic from the start, and Ethereal Valkyrie gives you the ability to smack foretell onto any of your spells while drawing extra cards. Even if this creature only drew cards whenever it hits play or attacks, it likely would have made it somewhere on this list; however, on top of acting as card advantage, Ethereal Valkyrie acts as a weird form of mana acceleration via foretell. Six mana is definitely on the expensive end of the mana-cost scale for Oathbreaker, but there are certainly still decks that can use this card. Blink strategies is probably the most obvious place for this card, but spirit tribal is also alive and well in the format (cause yup, this card is a spirit). I have a feeling I’m going to be looking for excuses to run Ethereal Valkyrie in various different Oathbreaker builds in the coming months, and I look forward to hearing funny stories about how other players put this triggered ability to good use.

#2: Wolverine Riders

Eat your heart out, Verdant Force! On top of providing a free 1/1 on each upkeep, Wolverine Riders will net you a bit of lifegain whenever another elf enters the battlefield on your side of the board. I’d say these two abilities are generically strong in a format like Oathbreaker, but they do get even more ridiculous in any decks looking to buff these tokens up a bit. Any lists running a decent number of anthem effects, such as elf tribal and token strategies, can gain even more life off of the elf tokens created by Wolverine Riders, all of which can start to snowball very quickly. Six mana is a bit much for the average Oathbreaker list, but green’s ever-efficient forms of mana ramp will likely help mitigate this minor concern for most decks.

#1: Cosmic Intervention

Teferi’s Protection this is not, but I’m still very excited about this new white instant. In simple terms, Cosmic Intervention is essentially an improved version of Faith’s Reward. Four mana is a bit expensive for this sort of instant-speed trick, but the foretell cost greatly negates this small shortcoming. I’d gladly pay two mana in the late game for this sort of spell in a variety of different white decks. Cosmic Intervention definitely seems to be at its best in a dedicated blink list, but I could see it showing up in almost any white creature-based deck. After all, Cosmic Intervention can also function as a weird sort of protection spell for any strategies that don’t overly rely on token permanents. My personal fondness for enter-the-battlefield value and these sorts of instant-speed tricks may be biasing my judgement a bit here, but I genuinely believe Cosmic Intervention may be the best new card out of Kaldheim for Oathbreaker.

Now that I’ve gone over all of these new cards, it’s time for my overall Top 10 cards from Kaldheim for Oathbreaker:

*insert drumroll*

That’s it for the new cards! What are your favorite cards from Kaldheim? Are there any new cards you’re particularly excited to try out in Oathbreaker? Make sure to tell me on Reddit or on Twitter!

I’ll be taking the next week off from article-writing, but I’ll be back the week after that to start sharing my Kaldheim Oathbreaker brews with all of you!

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