You’re staring at a 0/4 defender. It’s blue. It’s cheap. It basically does nothing. At least, that’s what your brain wants to tell you when you see MTG Thing in the Ice hit the table on turn two. But if you've played Magic: The Gathering for more than a week, you know that quiet feeling of dread. It’s the sound of ice cracking.
Originally printed in Shadows over Innistrad, this card didn't just find a niche; it defined entire archetypes in Modern and Pioneer. It’s a ticking time bomb. You cast four spells, and suddenly, your opponent’s entire board state—their hard-earned creatures, their tokens, their blockers—is back in their hand. And you? You have a 7/8 Horror named Awoken Horror staring them down. It's mean. It's efficient. Honestly, it’s one of the best designed "flip" cards Wizards of the Coast ever put on paper.
The Mechanics of a Melting Glacier
Let’s get into the weeds. MTG Thing in the Ice costs $1U$. When it enters, it has four ice counters. Every time you cast an instant or sorcery, you remove a counter. When the last one goes? Flip it.
The "bounce" effect is key. It doesn't just clear the path; it resets the tempo of the game. Because it specifically returns "all non-Horror creatures," it’s asymmetrical. If you’re playing a deck built around Horrors or just spellslinging, you lose nothing. Your opponent loses everything. It’s the ultimate "gotcha" moment in a game that usually rewards incremental advantages. Here, the advantage is a landslide.
Why It Peaked (And Why It Stayed)
When Arclight Phoenix entered the meta, Thing in the Ice became a superstar. They were the perfect pair. You wanted to cast three spells to get your birds back anyway; why not flip a giant monster while you were at it?
Modern Izzet Phoenix was a monster of a deck. You’d spend turn one Opting or Serum Visions-ing. Turn two, you drop the Thing. Turn three? You might just flip the damn thing. Imagine the swing. Your opponent spent their first three turns developing a board of Noble Hierarchs or Tarmogoyfs. You cast a Manamorphose, a Lightning Bolt, and a Faithless Looting. Suddenly, their board is gone, and you have 7 power on the board ready to swing next turn. It felt like cheating, honestly.
The Pioneer Factor
In Pioneer, the card has had an even more interesting life. Without the hyper-efficient cantrips of Modern (rest in peace, Ponder and Preordain), you have to work a bit harder. But cards like Consider and Pieces of the Puzzle keep it viable. It’s a control deck’s dream. It blocks early aggressive creatures—4 toughness is a huge hurdle for Red Deck Wins—and then transforms into a finisher that ends the game in three swings.
Misconceptions and Playing it Wrong
A lot of players treat this as a "must-flip-now" card. That’s a mistake. Sometimes, the threat of the flip is more powerful than the flip itself.
If you have one counter left, your opponent is terrified to commit more creatures to the board. They know you can flip it at instant speed with a single Opt. You are essentially holding the board hostage. If they play their big finisher, you flip in response. If they don't play anything, you just wait. You’re the one in control.
Also, people forget the "non-Horror" clause. If you’re playing against a deck that happens to run Horrors—maybe a rogue Bedlam Reveler or something from the newer Phyrexia sets—it stays on the board. Don’t get caught off guard by that. It sucks to bounce your own board and realize your opponent’s biggest threat is still standing there laughing at you.
The Art and Flavor
We have to talk about the flavor. It’s peak Innistrad. The idea of something ancient and eldritch trapped in the ice, slowly thawing as you weave your magic... it’s evocative. The art by Tiago Iputo captures that murky, underwater claustrophobia perfectly. When it flips to the Awoken Horror, the scale changes. You see the ship. You see the tentacles. You realize just how screwed that little fishing village actually is.
Countering the Horror
How do you beat it? It’s not invincible.
- Fatal Push: It’s a two-mana creature. Push hits it. Unholy Heat hits it.
- Teferi, Time Raveler: This guy is a nightmare for Thing in the Ice. He bounces it back to your hand, and you lose all those counters. You have to start the whole process over again.
- Pithing Needle: Doesn't work. Thing in the Ice uses a triggered ability, not an activated one. Don’t be the person who tries to Needle a Thing in the Ice. It’s embarrassing.
Strategies for Success
If you’re slotting MTG Thing in the Ice into your deck today, focus on density. You need at least 20-24 instants and sorceries. You want "free" spells or cheap cantrips.
- Free Spells: Gut Shot or Mutagenic Growth. These let you flip the card when you’re tapped out, which is the ultimate trap.
- Protection: You need to keep it alive. Slip Out the Back is a phenomenal card for this. It protects the Thing, and the phasing doesn't reset the counters. Plus, it puts a +1/+1 counter on it, making your Awoken Horror an 8/9.
- Tempo over Control: Don’t just try to be a long-game control deck. Be a tempo deck. Use the bounce to create a window where your opponent can’t recover.
The card has stayed relevant because it asks a question that many decks can't answer: "Can you win before I cast four spells?" In a format like Pioneer, the answer is often "no."
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To get the most out of your plays, start by practicing your "stack" management. Remember that the "remove a counter" part is a trigger that goes on the stack on top of the spell you just cast. If that spell is the fourth one, the Thing will flip, its bounce trigger will resolve, and then your original spell will resolve. This is crucial if your fourth spell is something like Chart a Course—you want those creatures bounced before you decide what to do with your new cards.
Next, look at your local meta. If you see a lot of "Go-Wide" decks like Humans, Spirits, or Elves, Thing in the Ice is your best friend. If you see nothing but heavy removal like Terminus or Supreme Verdict, maybe move it to the sideboard. It’s a meta-dependent powerhouse, but when the meta is right, it’s the best card in the room.
Check your decklist for "filler" spells and replace them with high-impact cantrips like Consider or Sleight of Hand to ensure you're consistently hitting those four triggers by turn four or five. That is the gold standard for a competitive Thing deck. Stop treating it like a defensive wall and start treating it like the inevitable win condition it is.