The spoiler list is out, and can be seen here!
There is one issue that hangs over the set, and I think Danny West outlines it pretty well. I'm not sure how WotC is going to deal with the issue that Snow Covered lands are now fundamentally better than basic lands-there's zero downside and now an entire set worth of upside.
But I can't imagine the people at Wizards don't know this already so how they answer that should be interesting. With that concern noted, let's move to the mechanics overview.
Foretell looks like the most dynamic of the mechanics. Always having something to do on turn two is excellent, and having a card that can be set aside and is now immune to discard or other hand manipulation seems like a win to me. I don't see why this wouldn't have some possible play in older formats, either; sure, there might only be one card that makes it but who knows?
Boast is a limited mechanic and it's...fine. Since Boast costs mana to use and is reliant on a creature attacking, there's a a high bar for the mechanic to reach for it to be worth the effort. My feeling is that it generally won't be worth it: few of the effects are good and it follows a less awesome path: strong Boast effects are attached to creatures with glass jaws, weak Boast effects are attached to creatures who don't really need them.
The cards do have fun flavor text though, which makes me wish Blue had gotten a card, just for the style of boasting.
Double Faced-Cards are...what they are. I still prefer this implementation of them to that of Innistrad or the Core sets, and it looks like they're coming in the next set too, so there's no point in re-hashing the downsides. The lands are fantastic, the other cards are hit and miss but at least they're always usable.
I don't know that 'Snow' is a mechanic, but since Mr West already outlined some of the issues there I don't feel a need to get into it.
Sagas continue their popularity and for good reason. I had wondered about the relevance of enchantments in a game that made colored artifacts and I'm happy to see that there is a use for the enchantment card type that artifacts really cannot do.
Changeling isn't a mechanic in my opinion but it does fill in a gap left from the last Zendikar set, as well as playing into the tribal themes of Kaldheim, so I'm not mad at it, either. Good for what it is and it does it well.
White
After going with the 'cast two spells in one turn' trick in Red and Blue, it looks like they're giving it a go in White/Black. From a color philosophy, I'm not sure why-Red and Blue want to be tricky and they want to cast cheap spells. But giving players a bigger payoff to the 'two in one' gambit by expanding it to other colors to play aside from Red/Blue can't be a bad thing. In addition, the payoffs seem better-lifegain, token generation and beefing up a 1/1 all feel good. (Though the payoffs in Black aren't as strong).
That said, if Search for Glory isn't the card of the set, then it has to be in the top five.
Blue
Alrund's Epiphany feels a little 'Glory of Cool Things' right? Two 1/1 birds and an extra turn? Usually an extra turn means the game is over anyway.
Mystic Reflection looks very interesting and I like that take on Blue's way to mess with the game.
There's been a lot of online chatter about Ravenform and...I get it. If it merely targeted artifacts, that might work, and why it doesn't just destroy (as with effects like Pongify) instead I don't understand, except as a way for Blue to deal with an upcoming set that has indestructible artifacts. It certainly feels like a break, which if it was at rare, like Curse of the Swine I could understand better. Rare cards should do cool things and there's some space for this effect. But as a common, this opens a door I don't like for Blue.
Black
I'm having a challenging time coming up with anything in Black that really pops out to me. I love the art on Eradicator Valkyrie, with her indigo wings!
I suppose it will be interesting to see if there's a deck for Dream Devourer. It's cheap and the payoff is at least interesting. In addition, I think this is how one can quickly distinguish between limited and constructed mechanics. Sure, Foretell will work fine in limited, but Boast doesn't have the same kind of support, from what I can tell and even the pushed cards won't likely get far in Constructed.
Red
And I spoke too soon! (Or did I?) Arni Brokenbow is on rate as a 3/3 for 3 with haste. That's solid-and any time after turn three, it's possible it could get a power boost when attacking. Now, the "it's possible" part of that is important. Attacking for three is still good, but you can get that with a Breakneck Berserker, too.
Compare this to Dragonkin Berserker, which wants to give people a reason to use Boast abilities...if they have Dragons.
I submit to you that if you have two or more dragons in play, you're probably already winning and don't need the Dragonkin to help. Yes, there are some synergies with Changelings, a character type notably absent from Red in this set, but I don't think it's enough.
I also find it fascinating how many Red cards are getting the 'X but make a Treasure' treatment- Seize the Spoils and Smashing Success in this set (as Tormenting Voice and Demolish, respectively) but Red's been involved in Treasure tokens for awhile now. I'm definitely curious how this plays out as part of Red's identity. Or maybe I need to start exploring this a little. Making Lotus Petals doesn't seem like a bad thing.
Green
Masked Vandal is part of a series of cards that want you to exile a creature card in your graveyard as part of the casting cost. It's likely the best of them-Master Skald, Vault Robber and Weigh Down are all 'ok if you're in limited' cards.
But Masked Vandal is likely to have a bunch of targets, in no small part because most of the DFCs have an artifact flip side. Being able to get rid of them permanently is probably going to make the Vandal a role player card.
Also, it seems they've finally gone all in on the 'elves overlap with Black' in the color pie, with Tyvar Kell really pushing what elf decks had access to. Is that good? Bad? I don't know. It's new and if it's enough to push the usually mono-green elf deck into an second color is yet to be seen. I'm not convinced, at the moment.
And I know everyone's got a take regarding Vorinclex, but I just think it's part of the drip-feed we're getting for the inevitable return to Mirrodin. No more, no less: I fully expect to see other Praetors or the influence thereof soon. We're going back to Mirrodin in Spring 2022, I'm calling it now.
Multicolor
Not so much a cohesive theme in this part, instead we just get 'all the cool ideas we couldn't fit'. Multicolored Sagas are a cool thing, but I don't see a card that just pops out. Good stuff, sure, exciting or weird? I'm not picking that up.
That said, the Sagas are mostly costed aggressively, at three or four mana. They provide solid effects and may well push players to start running Naturalize main or side.
Artifacts
Not a lot here that's interesting to me, except for Runed Crown. Three mana to for an artifact that equips for 2, to give any creature +1/+1 and either haste, trample, lifelink, flight, or deathtouch, with maybe even another power/toughness boost and drawing a card seems like it would be a decent value.
I have a soft spot for Scorn Effigy, because it's a Scarecrow and I dig that creature type, along with it being a 2/3 for 2 mana.
Land
Aside from the DFC (which are great) and the clear issues with Snow noted above, the uncommon cycle of tap lands with abilities seem like role players and I hope they don't get slept on. It's the little things that can hold weird ideas together and those lands all have something to contribute to the right deck-usually one that wants the game to go long, but there's nothing wrong with that.
And that's it! All in all I think there's a cool set coming out and while I'm dubious about the Snow land problem, overall I think this has a lot to offer us.
