At the risk of looking foolish in a few weeks or months, it’s nice to get a set that doesn’t look like it will completely change the meta. Kaldheim seems like more of a return to sets of years past where there’s a few cards that decks will adopt but nothing seems like it’s going to drastically shake up Legacy (hopefully upcoming bans do that!).

Without further ado, these are the cards I think are most relevant to Legacy Nic Fit.

Worth a look

While Junk Fit isn’t seeing a lot of play lately, Kaya the Inexorable looks like a card worth considering in those colors. Kaya’s +1 ability fits very well with Nic Fit’s usual value engines and ticking up to six loyalty can be pretty powerful as we’ve seen with certain other walkers. Exiling a permanent is obviously also quite good. Her ultimate will usually be popped as soon as it’s available since it can be used to re-cast Kaya the next turn. In a deck that runs quite a few higher CMC legends, it seems great.

Rector decks may also adopt the new Kaya, but it’s worth mentioning that if a Rector is exiled with its ability, the ghostform counter will not let you also return it to your hand. Nonetheless, it is an on-color, fairly castable walker that can exile most problematic permanents (eg. Leyline of the Void) while still threatening to take over the game on its own. It definitely won’t replace Ugin, the Spirit Dragon, but in more fair oriented Arena Rector lists, it’s worth considering in addition to Ugin.

A lot of folks are looking at Valki and Tibalt as a combo with the cascade mechanic. This will allow casting the Tibalt side even off of something like Shardless Agent. Nic Fit decks, on the other hand, may just want the option to cast Valki which is good on its own as it will help future Therapies or can temporarily deal with a problematic creature. In games that go long, Nic Fit will have the lands needed to cast Tibalt as a finisher. Having these kinds of cards that can be played early or scale into the late game a big reason to play Nic Fit. I think Jund lists will definitely give Valki and Tibalt a try.

While Sarulf, Realm Eater suffers from the usual problems (its just an elk with no ETB ability), some Nic Fit pilots will adopt this card. Sarulf is similar in many respects to Pernicious Deed, a card that sees play in some Nic Fit lists. This can be used to clear the board of small permanents or tokens and being Zenithable makes it pretty low cost to include. Notably, it exiles other permanents so it can’t be used to kill your own Vets but it can deal with Marit Lage assuming you have a blocker or Uro, Titan of Nature’s Wrath.

Mystic Reflection is a tough card to evaluate. On one hand, it requires a bit of setup but on the other hand it is an answer to most creature-based combo decks in the format. It single-handedly deals with Thassa’s Oracle or Emrakul, the Aeons Torn or it can be used to duplicate any creature with an ETB ability. In a perfect scenario, your Primeval Titan can find Field of the Dead. By casting this with Field triggers on the stack, you can make additional Titans to get even more lands. I’m not sure it’ll end up being a fit, but I expect some people to try this card.

Not quite enough to see action

Ravenform seems like a good card overall although it’s a bit of a color pie bend. It gives blue the ability to permanently deal with creatures and artifacts which it hasn’t had in the past. However, given that Nic Fit would pair blue with green and black which allow for Abrupt Decay and Assassin’s Trophy, I don’t think it’s adding much to our archetype.

Since the banning of Sensei’s Divining Top, Nic Fit has been on the lookout for something to help with card selection and drawing. However, In Search of Greatness isn’t the new answer. The converted mana costs just vary too much in Nic Fit and it doesn’t seem likely that this card will result in more than one or at most two free spells in a game. I think most decks will stick with Sylvan Library which is easier to cast and seems better overall.

This card is pretty close actually and if it was a 3/4 instead of a 4/3, I think some decks would try it. Being flying, lifelink, and protection from pesky planeswalkers like Oko, Thief of Crowns or Teferi, Time Raveler seems great. It has a relevant Boast ability to boot! Nic Fit decks can sometimes struggle to stabilize against Delver decks and being out of bolt range with the ability to block a Delver would be a big deal. As it is, in the matchups where you really want this, you’ll just trade 4 mana for a 1 mana bolt.

Neither of the big green beaters seem quite good enough for the current meta. While hasty Zenithable creatures like Vorinclex, Monstrous Raider shouldn’t be ignored, I think it isn’t quite as good as Questing Beast. Vorinclex has the same downside of being legendary (and thus vulnerable to Karakas) and it’s pretty rare you’ll want the extra power for more mana. Likewise, Foretell seems like an interesting mechanic but I don’t think a 5 mana creature that doesn’t do anything when it enters the battlefield is quite where we want to be. Battle Mammoth seems worse than Elder Gargaroth which sees virtually no play.

Creature types in Nic Fit are pretty varied and as a result, this seems worse than Birthing Pod which isn’t exactly seeing a lot of play. Also, being vulnerable to Abrupt Decay is a definite downside.

Cards to watch out for

This is a new section for this set but I wanted to feature some cards you might not want to see on the opposing side of the table.

In Weathered Runestone, Wizards decided to print a new alternative to Grafdigger’s Cage. While I don’t think this card will be super common, this will give Chalice decks an option with a friendlier CMC. It also might be part of a Karn wishboard. Weathered Runestone works a little differently than the original Cage. Notably, it stops Rectors from doing their thing but it does not stop fetching Dryad Arbor. Like Cage before it, it will still prevent flashing back Cabal Therapy and getting anything with Green Sun’s Zenith.