Tour de Cards articles take a long time to write. Providing historical context is easier for me as the series moves to newer cards I’ve played with, but when I’m trying to fit forty to fifty cards in an article, there’s a lot of stuff to look up.

Fortunately, Coldsnap has only five cycles to discuss. This is a lighter, breezier Tour de Cards. I have no idea what that means. In any event, Coldsnap’s cycles aren’t too well known, but they’re decent, certainly better as a group than what Ice Age had to offer.

A reminder of the Tour de Cards rules:

• I’m looking at horizontal cycles (Titans) and not vertical cycles (Penumbra Bobcat/Penumbra Kavu/Penumbra Wurm). They need at least five cards, though they don’t have to be in five colors.
• No all-common cycles. They tend to be boring.
• No land/mana cycles. They tend to be too similar for my purposes. Besides, every dual land is good.

I’m grading each cycle on three categories:

• Playability – Does this cycle have any cards people want to play?
• Depth – Was it hit-and-miss or strong overall?
• Resonance – Memorable cycles should be able to pass the flavor test, although some cycles are mechanical and are not intended to have shared flavor. Still, making all the cards cost the same, have similar names, or share other characteristics can make a cycle memorable when it otherwise wouldn’t be.

High Maintenance

(Joetun Owl Keeper, Krovikan Whispers, Balduvian Fallen, Earthen Goo, Arctic Nishoba)

Depth: B+

Resonance: C−

All of these look promising. They tend to offer decent bodies and do something interesting with their counters. And Joetun Owl Keeper has an umlaut, so top marks from me. But it’s the age-old (or age-counter-old) problem with cumulative upkeep cards: At what point do you stop investing? Joetun Owl Keeper and Earthen Goo are probably the best for keeping around awhile, as their effects are good and on reasonable bodies. Arctic Nishoba wants to stay around, but a 6/6 trample for is already on the high side; G/W decks normally get the Nishoba’s services better from Mycoid Shepherd and Pelakka Wurm. Krovikan Whispers doesn’t want to stay too long; its risk level worries me. Balduvian Fallen looks bad compared to Earthen Goo, but maybe I underestimate having a 3/5 for .

Vorel of the Hull Clade could work with Joetun Owl Keeper, doubling its counters before it blocks. (“I bought you many owls; I hope they will comfort you in death. Very truly yours, Vorel.”) The basic issue with this cycle is that there’s not a lot of build-around potential, while other cards tend to serve the filler role better. It’s in a tough spot, sorta like a lot of Coldsnap cards.

Also, Krovikan Whispers as the only noncreature and the only one whose age counters are a drawback drains what little resonance this mechanical cycle had.

The Ancient Art of Color Hosing

(Luminesce, Flashfreeze, Deathmark, Cryoclasm, Karplusan Strider)

Depth: B

Resonance: B−

I’m giving a slight uptick on resonance because of how integral color hosing was to Ice Age and its era. In this case, the cards are sufficiently good to have established the basic power level of the genre for the last eight years. The entire cycle saw a reprint in Tenth Edition, but as Flashfreeze and Deathmark became the clear stars, they were integrated into M10 while a cycle was built for them, settling eventually on Celestial Purge, Combust, and Autumn's Veil. Cryoclasm would be an interesting M14 reprint, although I doubt it would show up over Combust. Karplusan Strider’s basic functionality went away when Great Sable Stag showed up. (Great Sable Stag was not part of the M10 cycle with Flashfreeze and Deathmark; that honor goes to Mold Adder, which did not serve its Constructed purpose but is a Fungus Snake, so . . . tradeoffs.)

A set shouldn’t be memorable from its color-hoser cycle, but at least this one’s been important.

You Make the Cycle

(Vanish into Memory, Blizzard Specter, Deepfire Elemental, Wilderness Elemental, Juniper Order Ranger)

Depth: A−

Resonance: C−

Like the cumulative upkeep cycle, there are four creatures and one noncreature. However, the noncreature was a You Make the Card that went into a cycle. Maybe that muted its reputation, but Vanish into Memory is potent across multiplayer formats. The rest aren’t bad either. Juniper Order Ranger saw Standard play in a deck called Project 420.5n, named for the rule that cancels out +1/+1 and -1/-1 counters as a state-based action. (For you lovers of updated names for decks citing rule numbers, it’s now 704.5r.) It used persist creatures the way Melira Pod uses them, just not as infinitely and with more Greater Gargadon. Blizzard Specter, Deepfire Elemental, and Wilderness Elemental are all corner-case playables, but they are very good at their jobs in those corners. Wilderness Elemental is only as good as your group’s mana fixing; the recent abundance of Guildgates might have improved it.

From the flavor side, the combination of two Elementals, two non-Elementals, and an instant is as haphazard as possible, but it’s a solid uncommon cycle otherwise. At least the debate is over playable cards.

The Pitch Spells with a Commitment

(Sunscour, Commandeer, Soul Spike, Fury of the Horde, Allosaurus Rider)

Depth: A−

Resonance: B−

A slightly resonant callback to the pitch spells from Alliances that included Force of Will, these require two cards to exile, but the effect is generally better. Okay, not better than Force of Will, but certainly better than Contagion or Pyrokinesis. Commandeer and Fury of the Horde have probably seen the most play in casual formats and Soul Spike the least, but they all have uses. Sunscour is the fastest board wipe around, and its free option lets you cast something large after it, sort of like a partial Phyrexian Rebirth. If Modern ever becomes super-fast or Dredge-like, keep Sunscour in mind. Let the opponent do all the motions on his or her first turn, and then take your turn, cast Sunscour followed by your first land, and watch him or her slump in the chair. That’s the dream scenario anyway.

It’s hard to say much about these because their effects are simple. They are among the best cycles in the set, and they’re probably among the best remembered.

Three Colors, Three Legends, Five Cards?

(Zur the Enchanter, Garza Zol, Plague Queen, Sek'Kuar, Deathkeeper, Tamanoa, Diamond Faerie)

Depth: B−

Resonance: C

Before Commander was popular, a multicolored cycle wasn’t automatically thought of as needing to be legendary. There were the Invasion Dragons and the Elder Dragons before them, but they were a Dragon cycle, so they could be memorable even if nonlegendary. In this cycle, legendary status seems to be a way of balancing the creatures. Commander has pushed Tamanoa and Diamond Faerie to relative obscurity (and Thraximundar has pushed Garza Zol there, too), but the cycle wasn’t so fractured when it was made.

As you might guess from the description, Commander upped the viability of the most playable cards, Zur and Sek’Kuar. The others are more cool than good and cool, though you can certainly build with them; I’m partial to Diamond Faerie’s global pump.

Judging from the lens of the time, this is an all right cycle. These are the only three-colored creatures between Invasion and Time Spiral blocks; that was exciting enough for the era.

Conclusion

Cycles were much more important to set branding before planeswalkers took center stage. That gives an indicator as to why Coldsnap wasn’t more of a success. There are definite callbacks to Ice Age and Alliances—three-colored cards, color hosers, and pitch spells—but they tend not to have flavor text or any unifying theme other than slight nostalgia. Time Spiral block at least pushed the nostalgia buttons hard; Coldsnap didn’t push them hard enough given that its cycles were otherwise all mechanical. Overall, the cycles feel like missed opportunities to be greater. Maybe that’s from being spoiled by later sets; I don’t know. Coldsnap feels like the “.” in between the “!”s of Ravnica: City of Guilds and Time Spiral blocks, which is a shame; its cycles point at why.