It is time for winter; in midst of August no less. Coldsnap has a special place in my heart, not only because I started playing Magic the Gathering back in the day right after it released but also because I really like the overall theme. Now, from an outside perspective, I can totally understand that the idea of things being covered with snow and therefore being treated differently seems kinda mundane, but the addition of snow mana and some of the special interactions with snow cards in the set certainly felt like a cool theme to use; pun intended. Now, I am aware that Coldsnap is a weird set, being a singleton set in midst of blocks while also being meant as the third set to complete the Ice Age block from all those years back at the foundations of the game. It also happens to have some fairly unique cards that are rather expensive and therefore not in the scope of this article. However, I am still interested in seeing whether there is something useful in the snow-covered landscape the set introduces, with the usual focus on things being very much affordable. Let’s get right into it. White: #001: Adarkar Valkyrie #002: Boreal Griffin: The first card to look at in Coldsnap; and already, I am massively disappointed. For five mana, I would at least expect this stupid bird to have both Flying and First Strike from the start seeing how it is only 3/2 and therefore not even “Shock“-proof. However, asking for one snow mana in order to get the second keyword makes this card incredibly overpriced mana-wise; and therefore not worth running. #003: Cover of Winter #004: Darien, King of Kjeldor #005: Field Marshal #006: Gelid Shackles: “Gelid Shackles” is basically a fancy version of “Arrest“, starting at only one mana to be played but constantly asking for more snow mana in order to stop the creature from attacking; which in my opinion makes the card worse, even in a dedicated snow-themed deck. I would probably stick to the tried and tested and ignore “Gelid Shackles” for deckbuilding. #007: Glacial Plating: “Glacial Plating” is a very weird enchantment. Four mana for something that is meant to enchant a creature is pretty expensive already, but at first this thing does jackshit. During your next upkeep, you pay one extra snow mana for its Cumulative upkeep cost and then it gives the enchanted creature +3/+3 due to the effect counting the age counters on “Glacial Plating”. Sure, you can get to sizeable stats with this thing, assuming you have both too much time and mana; or you just play something better, which at that point means pretty much anything else. Skip this card. #008: Jötun Grunt: A big body for little mana. Being a 4/4 for just two mana is pretty solid; but the drawback is quite hard to work around. I mean, there are probably decks that could support “Jötun Grunt’s” need to place cards from the graveyard back in the deck, but if you play the card during the earliest possible opportunity you probably won’t have cards to put back, while it outlives its usefulness rather quickly later on. I would not play this card to be honest, since it is too much of a hassle to make it work. #009: Jötun Owl Keeper: A 3/3 for three mana that really does nothing during the first turn in play. This is one of those cards that requires age counters, which means Cumulative upkeep and additional mana costs during every upkeep. Now, “Jötun Owl Keeper” brings in small Flying creatures when dying while having age counters, but I don’t think that the creature is worth waiting or paying for; which is why I would skip it. #010: Kjeldoran Gargoyle: “Kjeldoran Gargoyle” is actually a creature that manages to be less than the sum of its parts, weird as that sounds. The creature is a 3/3 with Flying, First Strike, and Lifelink, which might as well be worth six mana; but do you really want to play this card? I mean, it is pretty expensive for hitting that badly, and while not exactly the same I would prefer using “Aerial Responder” for three mana over what “Kjeldoran Gargoyle” provides. Skip this card. #011: Kjeldoran Javelineer: Having a 1/2 for one mana is not that bad all things considered. And since “Kjeldoran Javelineer” is a Soldier, there are options to use the card in tribal decks. However, you would ask yourself why fairly soon since the effect of dealing damage to attacking or blocking creatures relying on age counters is either going to ruin your mana economy for the turns to come or outright kills “Kjeldoran Javelineer” if you refuse to pay. Don’t bother playing this card. #012: Kjeldoran Outrider: A 2/2 for two mana with a toughness boosting effect; assuming you have the mana to pay for it. Now, I have played this card in the past, but I have to admit that the power screw has been tightened over the last twenty years. Nowadays, I would probably put something else into the two-mana slot of my White decks. #013: Kjeldoran War Cry: “Kjeldoran War Cry” is actually quite an interesting card. Now, giving your entire board +1/+1 is something that costs two mana normally; but with the caveat of normally either having an additional effect or giving you an option to improve the card in some way. “Kjeldoran War Cry” is therefore weaker when played with no copies of itself in the graveyard, but is worth more than the mana cost as soon as one copy is in the graveyard to boost the effect to +2/+2. In my opinion, it should be possible to include this in a deck that can make sense of the graveyard shenanigans and therefore I am willing to add to the list at the end of the article. #014: Luminesce: “Luminesce” is one of the many color-specific cards that Coldsnap provides; and I do not like any of them since they work well in some scenarios and then become completely irrelevant in other games. And to be entire honest, a “Holy Day” that only prevents damage from Black and Red sources is not that interesting to begin with. In my opinion, you should skip this card. #015: Martyr of Sands: One of the best cards of the set in my opinion. “Martyr of Sands” in a mono-White deck can mean that you start turn one playing her, then sacrificing her turn two to gain around twelve to fifteen life points, which is a buffer that the opponent certainly cannot get rid of so easily. Combine this with cards that allow you to bring low-mana cost creatures back to the field and you can stack life points like no tomorrow. Great card, and one that is definitely worth recommending. #016: Ronom Unicorn: “Ronom Unicorn” is actually a pretty solid card to have. A 2/2 creature for two mana that you can sacrifice to imitate a “Demystify” comes surprisingly handy on a regular basis; which is why I will add it to the recommended list. #017: Squall Drifter: “Squall Drifter” is actually a solid example of two set of effects that do not work with each other but make sense on the card. For two mana, you get a 1/1 Flying creature meaning you can chip away at the opposing life points with evasion. Also, for one mana and tapping “Squall Drifter”, you can tap one other target creature, which becomes worth more during the later stages of the game where you can put massive creatures on ice with the help of this cheap option on your board. The combination makes sense to me, which is why I am adding the card to the list down below. #018: Sun’s Bounty: Four life points without anything else as an effect for two mana is pretty lackluster. This is probably where the Recover keyword comes into play, which allows you to retrieve it for its mana cost when a creature is put into your graveyard from the battlefield; but overall, I would rather play something that does … more. Skip this card. #019: Sunscour #020: Surging Sentinels: Ripple is sadly not a good keyword to begin with since there is only Ripple 4 existing and that does not really go deep enough into the deck, but out of all the Ripple cards I would say that “Surging Sentinels” is definitely the worst. I mean, a 2/1 with First Strike for three mana is pretty bad, and the tiny chance of getting the second copy does not change all that much if you ask me. Skip this card. #021: Swift Maneuver: With “Healing Salve” preventing three damage and potentially even being able to heal for three life points while costing one less mana than “Swift Maneuver”, you really have to ask yourself why you should use this card. I mean, there is the additional delayed card draw, but that is hardly a concern that could not be solved by playing other, and frankly better, cards. Skip this one. #022: Ursine Fylgia: A 3/3 for five mana with some in-built damage prevention, which is a neat little gimmick but really not worth all that much; especially since it costs three mana per healing counter you want to put back on “Ursine Fylgia”. In my opinion, this card is not worth the deckspace. #023: Wall of Shards #024: White Shield Crusader: A small White creature that comes with Protection while also getting buffs and evasion if you have mana to spend is definitely workable. However, I am not a fan of seeing only one toughness on “White Shield Crusader”. If I am willing to spend some five or more mana on providing boosts to this creature, I definitely do not want to see it being pinged to death or taken down by almost any Flying creature in the game. As such, “White Shield Crusader” can stay in the binder. Blue: #025: Woolly Razorback #026: Adarkar Windform: A 3/3 Flying creature for five mana that can turn off Flying on other creatures. The effect is certainly a bit weird, even though it can be used to make sure that “Adarkar Windform” cannot be blocked since you can simply disable the opposing flyer for some mana. But overall, the card is rather weak; which is why I would skip it. #027: Arcum Dagsson #028: Balduvian Frostwaker: “Balduvian Frostwaker” actually looks like an alright creature to play in Blue. In fact, Blue is probably the prime color to skip creatures in order to play more spells for control, so having a creature that can make up the difference by turning your mana base into beaters with evasion certainly sounds like a decent strategy. In my opinion, this is a card worth recommending. #029: Commandeer #030: Controvert: “Controvert” is basically “Cancel” for one additional mana but with the Recover keyword to give you a chance to reuse it. Now, four mana for a counterspell is acceptable still, but I highly doubt that the Recover effect will see much use at the same cost as the spell while still requiring one of your creatures to hit the graveyard to even trigger. I would skip this one. #031: Counterbalance #032: Drelnoch: “Drelnoch” is interesting from a design standpoint, but while the effect of drawing two cards when it is blocked is pretty powerful, I could see the opponent simply letting it through and taking the damage rather than giving you more resources. And, well, at that point you really just work with a 3/3 creature for five mana. Sure, you can place “Lure” on it, but is it really worth all the work? I think not; which is why I would skip the card. #033: Flashfreeze: A color-restricted counterspell, and therefore in my opinion much worse than “Mana Leak” at the same price level mana-wise. Oh sure, you counter a Red or Green spell without giving the opponent an answer; or you just play it smart and happen to not have a dead card in hand for about 50-ish percent of your games. Skip this card. #034: Frost Raptor: A 2/2 Flying creature for three mana that can give itself Shroud for the turn at the cost of two snow mana. This means that “Frost Raptor” is not that bad per se, but it has lots of competition and the amount of decks that can provide the snow mana to make this thing work are limited. Overall, I am probably leaning on the side of skipping it because I could think of better Blue Flying creatures for three mana to use. #035: Frozen Solid: An upgrade to “Paralyzing Grasp“, even though I still feel that the card does not offer enough to be played. At that point, I can afford to wait one turn longer and just play “Sleep” to take care of the entire opposing field for the turn, which is much more powerful in my opinion. Skip this card. #036: Heidar, Rimewind Master #037: Jokulmorder #038: Krovikan Mist: “Krovikan Mist” is a promising card. At the start, it is really only a 1/1 with Flying for two mana, but if you control other Illusions this card change quickly turning this creature into a pretty solid attacker. Just combine it with “Jace’s Phantasm” and “Illusory Angel“, and you have a blueprint for a deck right there. In my opinion, this card is worth working with and therefore also worth being recommended. #039: Krovikan Whispers: Getting control over an opposing creature is a pretty good deal at four mana; which is why “Krovikan Whispers” probably needed to have an additional drawback. Not only is it going to drain your mana every turn due to Cumulative upkeep, but you also lose life when the card finally hits the graveyard. In my opinion, this one should be skipped. #040: Martyr of Frost: The Blue Martyr works with countering spells, but there are various problems that I have with the card. Having a card on the field that works like a counterspell obviously telegraphs what you will do when something important is going to be played, rather than having a counterspell in the hand and working with the surprise factor. Also, the effect is not all that good, asking for two mana to be activated. Overall, I would probably not play this card and use something like “Spiketail Hatchling” instead if I desperately need a permanent that can be used to counter spells. #041: Perilous Research #042: Rimefeather Owl #043: Rimewind Cyromancer: Assuming you use snow-covered lands in your deck, “Rimewind Cryomancer” really does not have a restriction since you will control four snow permanents in form of your lands by the time you can play the creature. And to be honest, while the mana cost for the creature itself is rather high, the effect is actually rather nice. In my opinion, this is a card worth having on your radar for budget deckbuilding. #044: Rimewind Taskmage: Similarly to “Rimewind Cryomancer“, “Rimewind Taskmage” brings an interesting effect for little mana, but only if you have the necessary amount of snow permanents. Now, if you play only snow lands you will reach this threshold automatically by playing your fourth land, and the creature itself is cheap enough that tapping it to tap or untap something else is normally worthwhile. I would definitely recommend this card for budget deckbuilding. #045: Ronom Serpent: Serpents are pretty much always terrible, and “Ronom Serpent” giving the usual Serpent effect a snow-covered spin does not make it any better. A 5/6 for six mana is questionable enough, but not being able to attack if the opponent does not control a snow land while simply dying if you are not in control of a snow land is just terrible. Forget this card exists, it’s better this way. #046: Rune Snag: “Rune Snag” is basically “Mana Leak” in weak when starting off. However, there is potential here: Since every other copy of “Rune Snag” in your graveyard increases the amount of mana the opponent needs to pay, you should have an easy time getting a better version of the spell ready in a deck that fills the graveyard quickly, be it via Dredge or simply self-milling via effects. And I gotta be honest, a counterspell for 1U that asks the opponent to pay 4+ mana to get their card through sounds pretty solid; which is why I am willing to add this card to the recommended list. #047: Surging Aether: “Surging Aether” is the Blue Ripple card and, for some weird reason, not just costs one more than the usual effect would but instead two since “Boomerang” is available for two mana and does pretty much what this four-mana card does. And lets be honest, most of the time you are not going to reveal another copy of “Surging Aether”, making this a massively overpriced bounce; and therefore a surefire card to skip. #048: Survivor of the Unseen: “Survivor of the Unseen” has a solid effect, but man the card has so many problems that it is hard to believe it went through playtesting like this. Three mana for a 2/1 creature is questionable enough, but Cumulative upkeep of two mana per age counter pretty much makes this card unplayable. Now, tapping “Survivor of the Unseen” to draw two cards is pretty powerful, but the cards to make this thing work, like “Freed from the Real” or “Eon Hub“, cannot really bring it past gimmick-level in my opinion. Skip this card. #049: Thermal Flux: Changing things from snow to non-snow and vice versa really is not an effect that I need even in decks that could make sense of it; even at only one mana and with a delayed card draw. Therefore, I would skip “Thermal Flux” in deckbuilding. #050: Vexing Sphinx Black: #051: Balduvian Fallen: Let me tell you that “Balduvian Fallen” is a trap. I mean, you would think that having a 3/5 for four mana is acceptable and then, via Cumulative upkeep, you pay colored mana to make it bigger. However, the costs really outweigh the benefits here and without any form of evasion this is simply a semi-big beater for way too much mana. Skip this card. #052: Chill to the Bone: Very much an upgrade to what you normally have to pick from in terms of destruction effects, “Chill to the Bone” can hit anything that is not a snow creature specifically; which means that it pretty much says “Destroy target creature” in most scenarios. The problem here is the cost: Four mana is an amount that you could already get something like “Mortify” or “Putrefy” for, both being leagues better. Therefore, “Chill to the Bone” can stay in the binder. #053: Chilling Shade: Basically a “Drifting Shade“/”Dungeon Shade” that costs one less mana due to only taking snow mana for its buffing effect. This should really not concern you all that much if you run a snow deck anyway, so if you want to work with a card like this then “Chilling Shade” is a pretty solid option overall. #054: Deathmark: I went on record saying that I do not really like color-specific effects all that much, which makes “Deathmark” a card that I do not really want in my decks. Sure, you get a destruction effect for just one mana, but being limited to White and Green creatures specifically makes this card far worse than a “Doom Blade” in my opinion; which is why I would skip the card. #055: Disciple of Tevesh Szat: I like cards that give stat decreases, because while normally not outright killing most creatures they can make the entire situation with battles and interaction with creatures more complicated for your opponent, while also working around effects like indestructibility. That being said, “Disciple of Tevesh Szat”, while a cool card in my opinion, is too frail in most scenarios; and the sacrifice effect costs ten mana total, which is a lot to pay even for even effect that brings more to the table than “Dismember” effect-wise. In my opinion, this is a card to skip. #056: Feast of Flesh: “Feast of Flesh” could be an amazing cantrip if it had something akin to “Diligent Farmhand” for “Muscle Burst“, but it sadly does not. And while paying one mana for one damage on a creature and one life gain might not be all that bad, you really are not going to get the upgraded effect all that often which would make this card worthwhile. In my opinion, this is a card to skip. #057: Garza’s Assassin #058: Grim Harvest: Returning a creature from the graveyard to the hand should cost one mana, period. Now, if I am asked to pay more, there has to be some clear benefit to that extra mana spent on the spell, which in “Grim Harvest’s” case seems to be the idea that I can pay three mana when the spell itself is in the graveyard to get it back to the hand; but only if I pay that mana when another creature is put into the graveyard, otherwise it exiles itself. I’ll be honest, that sounds like a crap deal; and is the reason for skipping “Grim Harvest” in deckbuilding. #059: Gristle Grinner: Depending on the deck, “Gristle Grinner” can become a huge beater for a turn, and if you then give it Trample or some sort of evasion, you might just swing for game with it. Or you skip the step of making things overly complicated, get yourself a copy of “Vulturous Zombie“, which also costs five mana, comes with evasion in form of Flying, and gets to keep the stats it gains while also growing with every card put into a graveyard. Granted, it only gets half the stats compared to “Gristle Grinner” and “Vulturous Zombie” only counts what goes into the opposing graveyard which might complicate things, but I feel like it is still far superior making “Gristle Grinner” a card to skip. #060: Gutless Ghoul: “Gutless Ghoul” in my opinion is more of a utility card, because the effect is not something I would want to use proactively, but rather just when creatures I control would die anyway to get something out of it. Now, not every deck can make something out of the two life gain apart from obviously having more life points as a buffer against opposing attacks, but in case you have a deck that gives life gaining a little bit more of an edge I feel like “Gutless Ghoul” might be worth playing; which is why I am willing to add it to the recommended cards. #061: Haakon, Stromgald Scourge #062: Herald of Leshrac #063: Krovikan Rot: I understand that cards with Recover needs to be a bit weaker and/or have higher mana cost than options that don’t have the keyword; however, “Krovikan Rot” is much too weak to be of interest. Three mana for a single target removal spell is already questionable, but this one only destroys creatures with power two or less. Sure, it can target anything and therefore does not have the drawback that “Doom Blade” comes with, which cannot target Black creatures, but I definitely prefer it or many other cards over “Krovikan Rot”. Skip this one. #064: Krovikan Scoundrel: “Krovikan Scoundrel” is a 2/1 vanilla creature for two mana; and therefore not worth my time. Skip this card. #065: Martyr of Bones: “Martyr of Bones” comes with the ever-situational effect of exiling cards from a graveyard; which can be great if the opponent relies on that zone, or absolutely useless in other cases. In cases where I do actually include an effect like this, I normally pick cards that do something in addition to exiling or are cheaper like “Tormod’s Crypt“. In my opinion, “Martyr of Bones” does not make the cut. #066: Phobian Phantasm: The combination of both Flying and Fear means that “Phobian Phantasm” is almost impossible to block for most decks, and being 3/3 on top of that for only three mana is pretty crazy. Of course, there is a drawback: Cumulative upkeep. Paying one mana per age counter of the card means that it quickly becomes too expensive for the normal Black Aggro deck, which in my opinion kills the viability of this card; and therefore a candidate to skip. #067: Phyrexian Etchings #068: Rime Transfusion: The Coldsnap version of “Unholy Strength“, but for one more mana and with evasion attached to it; if you are willing to pay extra. Now, granted, making the creature only blockable by snow creatures means that it can wander through the opposing defenses unimpeded in most cases; but I am still not a fan of the entire idea or the fact that I have to pay yet more mana to give the evasion effect to the enchanted creature. In my opinion, this is one to skip. #069: Rimebound Dead: I mention “Will-o’-the-Wisp” on a regular basis as an inexpensive way of blocking all sorts of creatures the opponent could play. Now, “Will-o’-the-Wisp” cannot damage creatures it blocks due to having zero power, but can block flyers due to having the keyword. Now, if you would rather have something that can deal one damage to take care of certain attackers, you might opt to use “Rimebound Dead” instead. Switch your “Swamps” against “Snow-Covered Swamps” and this card can basically block whatever you want (without evasion) and regenerate. In my opinion, this is a solid option worth having in your collection. #070: Soul Spike #071: Stromgald Crusader #072: Surging Dementia: Simply discarding one card for two mana is very expensive; which is why “Surging Dementia” has Ripple 4, so you have a chance to play more than one copy with one cast. However, let’s be realistic here: You will not gain another copy of “Surging Dementia” in most cases, simply overpaying for an effect that could have been provided by something else. In my opinion, this is another card to ignore during deckbuilding. #073: Tresserhorn Skyknight: Big Flying creatures can be helpful since they often guarantee damage on the opponent due to having in-built evasion. However, “Tresserhorn Skyknight” is not worth the mana despite having sizeable stats. I mean, paying seven mana to get a 5/3 Flying creature that does not take damage from creatures with First Strike specifically is an odd package and one that can be topped by lots of other creatures; which is why I would skip this card. #074: Void Maw #075: Zombie Musher: Another weird combo of a card. For four mana, you get a 2/3 with snow landwalk and Regeneration. Why exactly that combo though? If the evasion actually works, this guy has only removal to fear; and that might kill it anyway seeing how “Incinerate“-like cards are a thing. Chances are though that the opponent is not using snow-covered lands, making this a pretty underwhelming creature that is, at least in my opinion, outdone by cards like “Dauthi Slayer“, which does the same damage to the player but actually gets to their face without fearing blockers. Skip this card. Red: #076: Balduvian Rage: This is basically “Enrage“, but with the delayed draw effect added to it. Now, “Enrage” is pretty bad all things considered and just getting to draw a card a turn later does not make it all that much more playable; which is why I would skip “Balduvian Rage” in deckbuilding. #077: Balduvian Warlord: A four-mana creature with subpar stats that can be tapped for weird blocking shenanigans. Now, you would need a sizeable board to make this effect work, have something from the opponent block a creature you do not want to get blocked, and then benefit from the exchange of creatures enough that “Balduvian Warlord” was actually a worthwhile card to play over other four-mana option. Needless to say, I feel like this one is never going to pull its weight, which is why I would skip the card. #078: Braid of Fire #079: Cryoclasm: There is nothing wrong with land destruction per se. I mean, it is basically how Red and Green can play Control since they will manage to keep the opposing mana base in check. However, I am really not a fan of land destruction that can only target specific land types. Sure, you will play against players that have something on their board that says Plains or Island specifically, but in most cases you are better off using “Molten Rain” to combine land destruction with burn than using “Cryoclasm”. What I am basically saying is that you should skip this card. #080: Earthen Goo: A 2/2 with Trample and grow potential; if you have too much mana to spare. Since “Earthen Goo” gains stats equal to its age counters, you might want to keep it around for some time, but this means that you will spend mana on keeping it alive against its Cumulative upkeep effect which does not seem worth it. In fact, I would just skip it and use something better altogether. #081: Fury of the Horde #082: Goblin Furrier: A 2/2 creature that can fight snow creatures without taking any damage. Now, think about when you last saw a snow creature in game and you have a pretty good idea of how useful this card is. Spoiler: I would definitely skip this one. #083: Goblin Rimerunner: “Goblin Rimerunner” is a weird card, combining a potential 2/2 with Haste with a tap effect that disallows one target creature from blocking. I am not a fan of either part of this card effectively, and would find something else to play for three mana; which is why I would skip it. #084: Greater Stone Spirit: Some cards from Coldsnap are just weird for the sake of being weird. I mean, “Greater Stone Spirit” is a 4/4 for six mana that basically has anti-Flying since it cannot be blocked by creatures with Flying specifically. And that is not all: For three mana, you can give one target creature +0/+2 and firebreathing, however this mountain dude actually achieves this. Now, aside from me not understanding “Greater Stone Spirit” design-wise, it also is not that great of a creature to play; which is why I would skip it. #085: Icefall: “Icefall” is one of the various upgrades to “Demolish“, destroying an artifact or land for four mana. Now, there are various options that do this with a small bonus, or you go for “Pillage” to get the destruction effect for one mana cheaper. Overall, whether you want to go for “Icefall” really depends on whether you can see yourself paying for its Recover effect to replay it; but in most cases, I would probably not play it and therefore would not recommend using it. #086: Karplusan Minotaur #087: Karplusan Wolverine: “Karplusan Wolverine” is an interesting one-drop in concept, being a 1/1 that can ping something when blocked. Now, this is a pretty good effect; except for the part where the opponent simply decides to let it run through and take one damage, which is kinda ruining this card. As such, I would probably not play it in any decks I build. #088: Lightning Serpent #089: Lightning Storm #090: Lovisa Coldeyes #091: Magmatic Core: An enchantment for four mana that does absolutely nothing when played and slowly accrues time counters by investing ever more mana into it to deal damage equal to the time counters to creatures; and only creatures, players cannot be damage with “Magmatic Core” at all. Why this got an uncommon slot is beyond me, but it is not worth playing regardless of its rarity level. #092: Martyr of Ashes: “Martyr of Ashes” is actually kinda nice in my opinion. Dealing damage to every non-Flying creature is a great way to keep control over the board; and in this particular case, it can even make sense to reveal less than the total amount of cards you could for the effect if only, for example, one damage would be enough to destroy cards your opponent controls. And all that on a one-mana option; which is therefore worth a recommendation. #093: Ohran Yeti: “Ohran Yeti” is a 3/3 for four mana that can give First Strike to snow creatures for entirely too much mana. And seeing how “Ohran Yeti” might be the only snow creature around, the effect normally is even worse. Just skip this one. #094: Orcish Bloodpainter: A rather terrible burn option, all things concerned. 2/1 for three mana means that “Orcish Bloodpainter” dies to everything looking at it the wrong way, while tapping it normally means that you can only use its effect once per turn. And honestly, there are better ways to turn excess creatures into something useful. All in all, this card is one to skip. #095: Rimescale Dragon #096: Rite of Flame #097: Skred #098: Stalking Yeti: A 3/3 for four mana that fights one target creature when entering the battlefield; and it can be bounced to use its effect again. The card is okay-ish, but Red does have enough ways to deal damage already and something like “Flametongue Kavu” outshines this card, even though it cannot be bounced on its own. Skip this card. #099: Surging Flame: “Surging Flame” is another one of the Ripple cards, and the problem is pretty much the same: Ripple 4 is not enough to make it worth running. And if Ripple is not that much of a winner to begin with, “Surging Flame” really is just a more expensive version of “Shock“. Skip this one. #100: Thermopod: “Thermopod” is a weird one. 4/3 for five mana is not that great to begin with, but the effects can actually work. It gets Haste for one snow mana, which actually even works in non-snow decks since the second effect of sacrificing a creature to gain one Red mana comes from a snow source and therefore serves as snow mana. Its not the greatest card to come out of Coldsnap, but I feel like there is potential in being able to turn excess creatures into mana while also have a decent beater attached to it; which is why I am adding “Thermopod” to the list. Green: #101: Allosaurus Rider #102: Arctic Nishoba: “Arctic Nishoba” might be a comparatively massive creature, but I feel like it does not have that much going for it. Being a 6/6 with Trample for six mana is decent enough, but there is this little thing with healing you for twice the age counters it had when it died; which it builds up via Cumulative upkeep and therefore means that you need to constantly put more mana into it to keep it around. In my opinion, this is another candidate for skipping. #103: Aurochs Herd: The Aurochs to bring the lackluster tribal together. Aurochs have been a thing in the Ice Age block before, with around one card that did not really give enough to make it workable. Coldsnap introduced a few more members, like “Aurochs Herd” which is a 4/4 with Trample that gains +1/+0 per attacking Aurochs while uniquely also being able to search an Aurochs card when being played. I can already spoiler that this card does not rescue the Aurochs tribal from obscurity and while it can be a decent attacker in Green you are better off playing something else. Skip this card. #104: Boreal Centaur: A 2/2 for two man that can be boosted by +1/+1 by paying one snow mana. Why exactly is this piece of trash limited to once per turn, the effect is bad enough as it is. Well, guess what, I would suggest skipping this card. #105: Boreal Druid #106: Brooding Saurian #107: Bull Aurochs: Another Aurochs card, this one being the early game drop that gets bigger the more you play of the theme. Now, there is one minor problem: One toughness. It does deal damage to the opponent when chump blocked due to Trample, but “Bull Aurochs” will rarely survive one attack, which in turn makes the entire line-up weaker since they all depend on numbers. I wouldn’t bother with playing Aurochs and therefore also not with this one. #108: Freyalise’s Radiance: An anti-snow card; and therefore a piece of cardboard that is basically useless against 99% of decks. So, skip this card. #109: Frostweb Spider: A 1/3 creature with Reach for three mana that in a way has the Vampire effect of getting a +1/+1 counter if it actually damages a creature; but in this case, this effect is limited to only blocking Flying creatures. Yeah, this is pretty sad overall and not worth the deckspace in my opinion. #110: Hibernation’s End #111: Into the North #112: Karplusan Strider: A 3/4 creature that you cannot target with Blue or Black spells, and therefore basically has a worse version of Shroud or Hexproof. Why this is an Uncommon card, I do not know; but I can tell you that this card should not be played since it is pretty terrible. #113: Martyr of Spores: Seeing how a lowly “Giant Growth” takes just one mana to be played, “Martyr of Spores” has to do quite some work to get a decent stat-boost together. And there are various problems with the card apart from that, with Green often playing more lands and therefore having potentially less colored cards to reveal, or the fact that it telegraphs its effect laying on the field while an instant can be played from the hand with a certain surprise factor. In my opinion, “Martyr of Spores” is one of the worse cards of the Martyr group and not worth playing. #114: Mystic Melting: A “Naturalize” with a delayed card draw as a bonus might seem nice, but paying a total of four mana for it is definitely too much to ask. Skip this card. #115: Ohran Viper #116: Panglacial Wurm #117: Resize: “Giant Growth” for one additional mana but with the option of being returned to your hand for its mana cost whenever a creature is put into your graveyard from the battlefield. In my opinion, “Giant Growth” is not even that good of an option to use overall, which makes “Resize” a massive mana drain for little effect. Skip this card. #118: Rimehorn Aurochs: One of the few Aurochs-themed cards. For five mana, you get a 3/3 with Trample that gets +1/+0 per attacking Aurochs (which you will not have all that many of due to the amount of options given to you) while this one in particular can force an opposing creature to block a target creature, being a way to either deal with one creature in particular or dealing maximum damage via Trample. And still, seeing how good the Aurochs tribal is overall, I would not work with this card at all since the theme is too lackluster. #119: Ronom Hulk: Let’s be honest: Protection from Snow hardly matters, even in the confines of Coldsnap. Now, “Ronom Hulk” might have more stats than normally being a 5/6 for five mana, but pays for that with the Cumulative Upkeep part of its textbox. All in all, this is not a card you should play. #120: Shape of the Wiitigo #121: Sheltering Ancient #122: Simian Brawler: A 3/3 for four mana that does not but being buffed by +1/+1 per land card you are willing to discard. Now, even in Green, where you can search for lands easily, this feels like a waste. Why not give it +2/+2, or something Trample in addition to the boost? It would certainly not break the card. Oh well, another one for the trash pile. #123: Sound the Call: “Sound the Call” could be a solid card if there was more interaction with it, or if there were cards that counted as a copy of it in the graveyard like “Diligent Farmhand” works with “Muscle Burst“. However, there are none such interaction, meaning you get a 2/2 creature token for three mana the first time you play this card, and then potentially manage to create a 3/3 later on, all at sorcery speed. Not really something I am keen to play, which is why I would ignore this card for deckbuilding purposes. #124: Steam Spitter: Ah, a “Sporecap Spider” for two more mana but with a firebreathing effect. Granted, “Sporecap Spider” was released after “Steam Spitter”, but come on, there is really no good reason to run this card over other creatures with Reach that actually do something. #125: Surging Might: “Surging Might” is pretty terrible, I am not going to lie. I mean, the idea is that you can play multiple copies of it via Ripple, but since Ripple 4 makes for a pretty inconsistent keyword to rely in a sixty card deck, you normally get one enchantment that gives +2/+2 for three mana; and is therefore a card to skip. Multicolored: #126: Blizzard Specter: “Blizzard Specter” is not that crazy of a card, lacking some offensive power having only two in front, while still needing to get through in order to use its effect. However, if you can afford a somewhat slower setup, then the extra bounce per turn can definitely pay off; and even if there is nothing worthwhile to bounce it is still a Specter and therefore capable of going for the opposing cards in hand. I would lean towards recommending the card, even though “Blizzard Specter” is certainly in a shaky spot. #127: Deepfire Elemental: Artifact removal is quite situational; but at least, it is normally cheap. So, how about we bring in a card that is quite massive in terms of mana cost and give it an overpriced removal effect that you can hardly ever make use of? Now, to be fair, you can also shoot at creatures with the effect of “Deepfire Elemental”, but you probably play this on turn six in the best case scenario seeing the color combination of this card, and at that point I am not really willing to pay five mana to get rid of a creature costing two mana; and much more if the cards you target are more expensive. Just skip this one, it isn’t worth it. #128: Diamond Faerie #129: Garza Zol, Plague Queen #130: Juniper Order Ranger: I actually tried running “Juniper Order Ranger” in a Fungus deck, which produced lots of tokens to work with and therefore ramped up “Juniper Order Ranger” to sizeable stats. And you know what: It is just a win-more card at that point. I feel like it cannot actually help winning the game when you wouldn’t coming in fairly late and needing tons of setup, while there are plenty of other options that would be crazier in token-reliant strategies; and lets be honest, if you are not producing tons of creatures per turn, you do not even think about including “Juniper Order Ranger” at all. I would skip this one. #131: Sek’Kuar, Deathkeeper #132: Tamanoa #133: Vanish into Memory: “Vanish into Memory” is another example of Coldsnap weirdness. You banish a creature for four mana, draw cards equal to its power, but during your next upkeep it comes back and you need to discard cards equal to its toughness. Now, you can have absolutely incredible scenarios with this card, like banishing a “Groundbreaker” to draw six, only discard one, and seeing it die automatically during the end of that turn. However, in most cases you are having some 2/2 to banish for little effect while imitating a rather bad draw spell. Overall, I would probably skip “Vanish into Memory”, despite the fact that it has potential for greatness. #134: Wilderness Elemental: “Wilderness Elemental” could be a solid beater with Trample if it counted the number of non-basic land cards on your side of the field. However, that is not what it does, instead looking over to the opposing side of the field and therefore regularly being like 1/3 Trample for three mana, which is pretty dogshit. In my opinion, this is a card to skip. #135: Zur the Enchanter Artifact: #136: Coldsteel Heart #137: Jester’s Scepter #138: Mishra’s Bauble #139: Phyrexian Ironfoot: “Phyrexian Ironfoot” is interesting, but not something that I would call particularly powerful. You get a 3/4 for three mana, which is more stat-wise than you could expect. Now, it does not untap normally during the untap step, but instead needs to be untapped manually by paying two mana; however, that also means that you could untap it right after attacking if you have the mana for it. All in all, I do not think that “Phyrexian Ironfoot” is worth the hassle, so I would skip the card. #140: Phyrexian Snowcrusher: A big body beater. 6/5 for six mana that needs to attack every turn is decent, not having Trample while also only being able to be boosted by +1/+0 per two mana (while also needing a snow mana) is not. I would skip this card, to be entirely honest. #141: Phyrexian Soulgorger #142: Thrumming Stone Lands: #143: Arctic Flats #144: Boreal Shelf #145: Dark Depths #146: Frost Marsh #147: Highland Weald: For some weird reason, “Highland Weald” was the only of the dual-mana-producing snow lands that was in budget for this article; and to be entirely honest, it is not that good. Now, granted, as far as I know you need to use these cards if you want something that produces multiple colors of snow mana, but I would probably just skip it and play the basic lands in whatever I am building. #148: Mouth of Ronom #149: Scrying Sheets #150: Tresserhorn Sinks Conclusion: Well, this was an interesting one for sure. I would have hoped that more cards manage to make the cut, but unfortunately there are plenty of power-crept and simply subpar cards in the midst of Coldsnap. Nonetheless, there are a few budget options that could be interesting for deckbuilding purposes. Here is the list: White: “Kjeldoran War Cry“, “Martyr of Sands“, “Ronom Unicorn“, “Squall Drifter“ Blue: “Balduvian Frostwaker“, “Krovikan Mist“, “Rimewind Cryomancer“, “Rimewind Taskmage“, “Rune Snag“ Black: “Chilling Shade“, “Gutless Ghoul“, “Rimebound Dead“ Red: “Martyr of Ashes“, “Thermopod“ Green: None. Multicolored: “Blizzard Specter“ Artifact: None. Lands: None. And with that, we have another set finished in terms of my Trash for Treasure series. These articles are rather time-consuming to make, but unless Wizards of the Coast manages to shit the bed even more than they are currently doing I have high hopes of at least finishing everything up to Aetherdrift at some point. If you are interested in more budget-focused card suggestions, stay tuned for the next article in line.