Snow is the big returning mechanic in Magic: The Gathering’s upcoming set, Kaldheim. Snow decks look to take advantage of payoffs that occur from controlling Snow permanents. What makes Snow payoffs great is that they can be used in decks that aren’t dedicated to Snow.
With Snow basic lands and tapped Snow dual lands being introduced back into Standard, most decks will run more than enough Snow permanents in the mana base to effectively use these payoffs. And today, Wizards of the Coast revealed a modal double-faced Snow God that supports both combo and value strategies in Kaldheim.
Jorn, God of Winter // Kaldring, the Rimestaff
Front:
- CMC: 2G
- Type: Legendary Creature God
- Rarity: Rare
- Stats: 3/3 trample
- First ability: Whenever Jorn attacks, untap each Snow permanent you control.
Back:
- CMC: 1UB
- Type: Legendary Snow Artifact
- Rarity: Rare
- First ability: Tap: You may play target Snow permanent card from your graveyard this turn. If you do, it enters the battlefield tapped.
Standard Snow decks now have their essential value engine. Jorn is an interesting value engine. To untap each Snow permanent, he must attack. This leads the deck in multiple ways. Players can take advantage of this trigger by protecting Jorn across turns with combat tricks to have multiple big-mana turns. Jorn also enables combos that win the game on the spot, which makes it irrelevant if he survives combat.
Any deck running Jorn will run exclusively Snow lands. Jorn’s trigger effectively doubles your mana during the turn. This can lead to a turn where you flood the board with tons of creatures or use that mana to cast a couple of huge Hyrdroid Krasis or Steelbane Hydra spells.
Kaldring, the Rimestaff is playable, too. While Jorn looks to enable big plays, Kaldring excels in providing consistent value throughout a game. The ability to play Snow permanents from your graveyard diminishes the value of the opponent’s removal. As with Jorn, any deck running Kaldring will look to run mostly Snow permanents, which will maximize the Artifact’s effect. The downside of these permanents entering the battlefield tapped seems negligible.
The big question surrounding Jorn, God of Winter // Kaldring, the Runestaff is what deck it fits in. With one side being mono green and the other being Dimir, it can fit in multiple strategies. A mostly mono-green deck could still take advantage of Kaldring due to dual lands and strong color fixing in green. The card could be played in a Sultai value-based shell as well.
Snow returns to Standard when Kaldheim arrives in Magic Arena and Magic Online on Jan. 28. The set’s full release will take place on Feb. 5.
