Ice Age (Magic: The Gathering)

Ice Age was the eleventh Magic: The Gathering set and the sixth expansion set, released in June, 1995. Set in the years from 450 to 2934 AR, the set describes a world set in perpetual winter due to the events in Antiquities.

Ice Age was the first "stand-alone" expansion; that is, it was the first set that could be played independently of other Magic: the Gathering products. It was the first expansion to print the basic lands (aside from an Arabian Nights misprint that left a Mountain on the print sheet). Also, a new type of basic land was printed: the snow-covered land. Some cards had effects that were stronger when a player used snow-covered lands rather than normal basic lands. Currently, snow-covered lands are the only basic lands ever printed beyond the five normal basic lands.

Another new mechanic introduced in Ice Age was Cumulative Upkeep. This was a way to get better effects for a cheaper price; however, a player had to keep paying more and more each turn to keep that card in play. Although cumulative upkeep did not have a large impact on the game, similar mechanics (such as Urza's Saga's Echo and Nemesis's Fading) that were born of cumulative upkeep were successful.

Ice Age was also the first set to have legendary permanents of a single color. In Legends, the first, and, until Ice Age, the only set with Legendary permanents, they were either lands, or were at least two colors. This was due to the fact that the designers of Legends wanted these legendary permanents to be more exotic than regular permanents. By the time Ice Age was developed, this stance was softened, and the single-color legends Marton Stromgald and General Jarkeld were printed.

As Ice Age was the first "stand-alone" expansion set, the designers believed that some "staple" cards from the basic set and expansins should be in the set. Thus, the set was also the first expansion set (aside from the Mountain misprint) to reprint cards. Staple cards like Swords to Plowshares, Giant Growth, Counterspell, and Dark Ritual, as well as popular older cards like Icy Manipulator were reprinted in Ice Age. Also, many cards were functional reprints of already-printed cards; that is, aside from the name (and possibly the creature type), these cards were identical to cards in other sets. Examples include Fyndhorn Elves, a functional reprint of Llanowar Elves; Zuran Spellcaster, a functional reprint of Prodigal Sorcerer; and Order of the White Shield and Knight of Stromgald, functional reprints of the "pump knights" from Fallen Empires.

Notable Cards

Necropotence — The lynchpin of the "Necro" deck, this black card allowed a player to trade life for cards. This effect was powerful enough to fuel the deck, but surprisingly, not powerful enough to get the card restricted. Other prominent cards in the deck, most notably Hymn to Tourach, were restricted instead, and this controlled the Necro deck sufficiently. Necropotence would be reprinted in 5th Edtition.

Zuran Orb — This card also allowed a tradeoff; in this case, a player traded lands for life. This, combined with a casting cost of 0, made this card a staple in many decks, including the Necro deck (where a player could trade the lands for life, and then the life for more cards), and the "Erhnam-geddon" deck (where a player could trade the lands for life instead of having them be destroyed by Armageddon). The "Zorb"'s power was such that it eventually had to be restricted.

Incinerate — Not quite a functional reprint of Lightning Bolt, this red damage card added to red's already substantial arsenal of "burn": Instant and sorcery spells that dealt damage. In fact, it would replace Lightining Bolt in 5th Edition when that spell was deemed too powerful. Ironically, Incinerate itself would be replaced by Stronghold's Shock in 6th Edition when Incinerate was also deemed too powerful.