Hexdrinkers Presents

Preparing for Kaldheim

Chev Eldrid

29 Dec 2020 - 6 min read

I’m excited for Kaldheim. You’re excited for Kaldheim. Wizards, being the terrible tricksters they are, spoiled a mere seven cards of a near 300-card set before going on a two whole week siesta. Okay, maybe there are a few holidays’ between now and January 7th, but seriously. The audacity. Anyway, here at the Hexdrinkers we won’t do you dirty and leave you on read like that. Instead, we’re going to channel some inner Viking badassery and give you a list of the top things to help hold you over until set release January 29th.

1 - God of War (PS4)

Kratos has come a long way from stabbing Ares Mortal Kombat style on the wee Playstation 2. Daddy K’s reimagining on the last generation of consoles took our Greek God farther north to fight the likes of Thor and the Valkyries. Based on the theme boosters that showed some exclusive goodies during the Week of Metal, we already know Orzhov’s theme will focus on the vicious angels of Asgard. I already know I’m going to lose one Brawl game to Rampage of the Valkyries and it’s going to hurt.

Now for those of you who haven’t played the new God of War before, not only is it a drastic change of tone from Kratos’s previous adventures (saddling him with parenthood and realizing the long road to redemption after destroying the entire Greek Pantheon), but it has one of the most challenging and engaging endgames of any 3rd person action/adventure game in a long time. That is, traveling the open world in search of angels gone insane and rendering swift judgement. Not only is this a fantastic challenge of skill and finger-breaking button-mashing.

Also, all the lore in God of War is just super solid and gives you a great crash course in the real world inspirations for Kaldheim, with a little more humor and intrigue than just sitting down with a bottle of Ice Wine and some stuffy text.

2 - Neil Gaiman’s Norse Mythology

As someone who has read the Poetic Edda, I can honestly say…sometimes the reboot is better. For those interested in the source material, both the Poetic and Prose Eddas are fantastic reads that introduce us to the classic Viking religious pantheon and beliefs that gods aren’t absolute, aren’t perfect, and have real identifiable emotions. They’re also translations of books from 800 years ago, so while most narrative elements are there, they’re not anywhere near what we’ll remember from the Thor movies or more modern interpretations.

For Valhalla!

Enter legendary writer Neil Gaiman, responsible for Coraline, Stardust, and the Sandman, among countless others. Gaiman has an absolute dedication to the power and magic of myth, exploring the relationships between belief and power in American Gods or the legacy of gods long forgotten in Anansi Boys. In 2017, Mr. Gaiman delivered a fantastic take on the source material for the modern understanding of Norse Myth by creating a cohesive narrative that follows a well-defined path of exploring the totality of the nine realms. It starts with the introduction of the classic gods like Odin, Thor, and Loki before jumping into some truly insane tales. Did you know Thor once needed to marry a Dwarven King to steal back Mjolnir? Or about Loki setting families of dwarves against each other to create wondrous weapons and technologies for the Aesir? Culminating in the world destroying Ragnarok, it’s an amazing read in general, and for Norse Hype one of the most accessible texts of the base myths of Asgard.

Also! If novels aren’t really your thing, Neil Gaiman’s Norse Mythology has recently been turned into a comic series featuring legendary industry veterans like Mike Magnolia each providing unique artistic flair to the stories that make up the collection.

3 - The True Kaldheim Playlist

Kaldheim’s initial spoilers were part of an event called “The Week of Metal” which showcased many fantastic heavy metal bands previewing some brand new cards and committing to the badass aesthetic taking center stage in this set. In honor of the collaboration, Wizards put out an official Kaldheim Spotify playlist here. The problem is….it’s over just as it’s getting started! Builds you up for some head smashing and then… poof, gone. You’re left with a sore neck and nothing to show for it.

Enter one Julian Leal. Known best for his dual loves of Rocks and Magic, Julian is also the guy who spends hours a week editing and producing our podcast which is always worthy of praise. He also happens to be a big metal guy. So much so that in honor of the most metal set yet, Julian has done his research and crafted a playlist so viking, SO GODLIKE that it would be criminal to not share it with all of you. Considering a large number of heavy metal rockers come from the Scandenavian countries, there’s a plethora of norse-infused content and when distilled you end up with a roughly 4.5 hour playlist (perfect for a pre-release wink wink) containing the likes of Dark Forest, Falconer, Skeletonwitch, and Visigoth among others to carry you to victory and Valhalla. Hell, Amon Amarth even has an album called With Odin on Our Side. This is some good stuff, and long enough to fill your days with the right kind of mindset as winter besieges us. Check it here.

4 - Mead

No one ever has said a bad thing about Mead and if they did they are wrong. Delicious divine nectar that takes all the good things about fruit and makes it boozy. Especially in this holiday season of a truly … historic… year - make friends with your local liquor store and find something special to bring home for the holidays.

For those unfamiliar, Mead is fermented honey water generally mixed with spices and fruit for taste. Mead was also tied to the divine starting in Ancient Greece where it was usually referred to as Ambrosia, or nectar of the gods, and that legacy continued to mark its consumption for centuries to come.. While Vikings did also drink wine and beer, wine required grapes imported from France and Beer was a more crude high-alcohol affair. Nothing against crude high-alcohol affairs, and The Hexdrinkers will always condone a fine ale with your mutton. But. We’re talking deep cuts, and if you want to properly fill your drinking horn and cry out to Odin - you gotta get some Mead.

That’s what we got! God of War, a Norse mythology primer, booze, and the soundtrack to accompany it all. What is getting you hyped for Kaldheim? What did we miss? Hit us up on twitter @Hexdrinkers or share in the comments below so we can welcome Odin and crew the right way come January.