Kaldheim Standard Set Review: Red and Artifacts

Posted on February 4, 2021

Yesterday we went over the Black and Multicolored cards from Kaldheim. Make sure to check that out if you haven't. Today we will be going over the Red and Artifact cards, but before we begin, let's go over my grading scale.

I will not be going over cards that I believe will not see play in Standard and I will not be going over the Commander cards that will not see Standard play. For example, cards like Goldmaw Champion and Master Skald will be omitted since they are just Limited cards and saying, "This is just a Limited card" repeatedly gets old rather fast. Do not worry though, I will be covering all the rare and mythic cards in the actual Kaldheim set. So, if you like a certain rare or mythic, it will be mentioned in the review.

Keep in mind I'm rating all these cards for Standard playability. I will mention Modern applications if I believe the card has some.

Each card will be listed by color, then alphabetically by name.

Each card will be given a rating of 1-5. If a card would receive a 0, meaning it will see no play in that format ever, its rating is left off the list.

Rating | Explanation | Standard Examples

0 - Will never see play in this format (0 ratings are not listed).

1 - Unlikely to see play. (Divine Gambit)

2 - Could see fringe play, or occasional sideboard card. (Disdainful Stroke, Annul, Erebos's Intervention, Shadow's Verdict)

3 - Commonly played, staple in a single deck, or frequent play in several decks. (Righteous Valkyrie, Behold the Multiverse, Solemn Simulacrum)

4 - Format staples. Sees play in multiple decks, one of the best cards in the format. (Saw it Coming, Fabled Passage, Bonecrusher Giant)

5 - Format warping. If you are in these colors, you play that card or keep that card in mind when building decks. (Ugin, the Spirit Dragon, Embercleave, The Great Henge)

Now that we have that out of the way, let's begin!

Red

	Arni Brokenbrow - 2.5 - A three-mana 3/3 haste is okay if it has another good ability. Arni's is not great and he is legendary meaning you cannot jam multiples and he competes in the three-drop slot with Bonecrusher Giant and Anax. Not cards you want to compete with as they're some of the best 3-drops for Mono-Red.
	Birgi, God of Storytelling - 2.5 - Worse Steam-Kin in Standard but has potential to be really abused in older formats. In Historic, I think it would be great in a Temur Paradox deck as both sides are helpful in that deck.
	Calamity Bearer - 3 - This card is terrifying. A one-sided Furnace of Rath on a body is a must answer threat. If your opponent untaps with this, you could very well just be dead, especially if they drop another one and start tripling damage.
	Dragonkin Berserker - 2 - Dragonkin Berserker is great in the Mono-Red mirror match or against other decks because of First Strike, but against control or midrange decks you are better of playing cards with haste, like Robber of the Rich.
	Frost Bite - 3 - Frost Bite is no Skred but it is still good for Standard snow decks, especially since it hits planeswalkers. Kaya goes to two loyalty after she minuses and Frost Bite is an excellent way to finish her off.
	Goldspan Dragon - 4 - An amazing creature that ramps you heavily all while killing your opponent. Great in midrange decks and big mana decks. A great way for Big Red to close the gap to Ugin.
	Magda, Brazen Outlaw - 3 - Magda is a two-mana lord that also ramps you and can be used to do some silly things by tutoring a dragon. Finding a Goldspan Dragon or any dragon is a huge bonus to this card. The problem with aggressive Red decks is they are forced to play Embercleave giving you a narrow choice of cards to include and I am not sure Magda makes that cut.
	Quakebringer - 3 - Quakebringer is not scary in play but it is in the graveyard. If you can get them into your graveyard quickly, you can rapidly close out the game and make every giant you play a threat.
	Reckless Crew - 2 - Fun card but not competitive. Mostly because of Embercleave. Again, if you are encouraged to play equipment, Embercleave is the best one and Embercleave works best with cards not like Reckless Crew.
	Squash - 2.5 - Squash is good for Red decks because it hits things that Red decks usually struggle to kill. Squash will kill Lovestruck Beast and Elder Gargaroth as well as most planeswalkers. It's limited to only Giant decks, but it is a great answer to threats in that deck.
	Tibalt's Trickery - 3-5 - This is the only card I can foresee being banned, especially on MTG Arena. I think Tibalt's Trickery has a high chance to get banned in best of one Standard, someone just needs to find the best list. Losing on turn two to Ugin or some other nonsense will get old fast.
	Toralf, God of Fury - 2 -Cool card, but it competes with Torbran in the 4-drop slot and nothing beats Torbran.
	Tundra Fumarole - 2 - You do get a refund on mana when you use Tundra Fumarole but it not dealing five damage means it cannot kill Lovestruck Beast. It being sorcery speed also does not help.

Top 5 Red Cards

Tibalt's Trickery

Goldspan Dragon

Calamity Bearer

Magda, Brazen Outlaw

Quakebringer

Tibalt's Trickery gets my number one just because of best of one on Arena and how hard it is to stop the card. Goldspan should be in all-star in competitive Standard and I think Giants is the most viable tribe from Kaldheim!

Next up, we have the artifact cards!

Artifacts

	Cosmos Elixir - 1 - You will stop playing this card when you pay 4 mana to just gain two or four life and then die. Just play a better way to gain life or draw cards.
	Maskwood Nexus - 2 - Super fun brew card as it can fit in any tribal deck and does funny things with the activation ability of The World Tree! You can do many different things with Maskwood Nexus and I am sure I'll try a handful of them, I doubt any will be tier one though.
	Pyre of Heroes - 3 - Birthing Pod but for tribal creatures. I want to try this card in all sorts of tribal decks, but I am keen on testing it in Giants, especially since Quakebringer works so well from the graveyard.
	Weathered Runestone - 2 - Cards like this are always solid additions to sideboards. A good way to slow down Kroxa decks and Tibalt's Trickery.