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Main » Articles » Breaking the Ice

Breaking the Ice

Chris Henderson
Posted on August 11, 2016
 Reddit

The upcoming Invitational in New Jersey is a tournament split between the Modern and Standard formats, so I’ve been testing both formats quite a bit, trying to find something broken. One card I keep coming back to in testing, due to its raw power level, is Thing in the Ice. There was a lot of talk about this card being good when it was first spoiled, but since then it has seen little play. Is the card not quite there, or is it a diamond in the rough? I set out to find the answer to this question.

Modern

As anyone who plays Modern these days knows, the format is as wide open as it has ever been. That being said, you really can’t afford to mess around. Decks like Death's Shadow and Infect can kill as soon as turn three, so you either need to be just as fast or have some way to interact. The beauty of Thing in the Ice is that it offers both speed and interaction. If you’re able to flip it on turn three, you can bounce their board while simultaneously creating a powerful threat.

This deck took second at a WMCQ in Japan, and since then has broken out on Magic Online:

Thing Ascension ? Modern | Kenta Harane, 2nd Place WMCQ Japan

One of the dilemmas presented by Thing in the Ice is that you need to have a Plan B if you don’t draw it. In the case of this deck, that plan is Pyromancer Ascension. This has the benefit of being an enchantment, so it doesn’t get bounced when your Thing in the Ice flips. It also synergizes well with the same cards that work with Thing in the Ice. Postboard, Blood Moon, Anger of the Gods, and Rest for the Weary can shore up some of the deck’s weaknesses.

This deck excels at flipping Thing in the Ice quickly, as Gitaxian Probe and Manamorphose allow you to play four spells on turn three. But these aren’t the only spells that can essentially be cast for free in Modern; there are other Phyrexian mana spells, such as Mutagenic Growth and Gut Shot, which could be played. That led me to build this deck:

Grixis Death?s Shadow ? Modern | Chris Henderson

This is essentially an amalgam of the Thing Ascension deck and the popular Death's Shadow Aggro deck. As we all know, Phyrexian mana is broken, and this deck seeks to take advantage of that fact. Having played against Death's Shadow a fair amount, the other creatures in the deck are quite underwhelming, with the combo kill being far more likely to win the game. In this deck, Thing in the Ice functions as extra Death's Shadows which have the additional upside of resetting your opponent’s board. This can buy you the time you need to win against the other aggressive decks in the format.

Another thing I noticed when playing against the Death's Shadow deck was that Become Immense was really only necessary if they didn’t have a Death's Shadow in play. The much scarier card was actually Temur Battle Rage, as Death's Shadow can often get up to an 8/8 or 9/9, which is big enough to take out an opponent who has lost life to fetchlands. Conveniently, Temur Battle Rage and Mutagenic Growth combine to let a flipped Thing in the Ice deal 18 damage exactly. Thoughtseize and Apostle's Blessing round out the deck as ways to protect against answers while fueling your threats.

The sideboard is where things really get interesting. It’s important to note that Thing in the Ice only returns non-Horror creatures to their owner’s hands. This was likely so that you could play multiple Things and have them not bounce each other. However, there are a few relevant creatures in Modern that happen to be Horrors. One of them, believe it or not, is Spellskite. The card is great against decks that have removal for Thing in the Ice, as well as against the other linear aggro decks like Infect and Death's Shadow. Another one is Hunted Horror, which I’m guessing you’ll have to look up. This seems like a good sideboard card against decks that can’t effectively use the Centaurs it creates. Also, Thing in the Ice happens to be able to block one Centaur and eventually bounce both of them, sometimes on the same turn that you cast Hunted Horror. Surgical Extraction also fits very well into the deck’s plan while disrupting graveyard decks like Dredge and Abzan Company.

Another direction to take with Thing in the Ice is to play for a longer game, rather than going for a combo kill. The best way to do that is by locking your opponent out of casting spells with a Blood Moon. I’ve seen Blue Moon lists, such as Jack Kiefer’s list that top 16ed SCG Dallas, play a few Thing in the Ices alongside Batterskull. Another new card that I think could shine in this strategy is Bedlam Reveler. Here’s a possible list:

Blue Moon ? Modern | Chris Henderson

Blood Moon, despite not being an instant or sorcery, complements Thing in the Ice well, as it gives you game against decks like Tron and Scapeshift that would otherwise be problematic for the deck. It’s also worth noting that Bedlam Reveler is a Devil Horror, meaning that it will also stay in play when you flip your Thing in the Ice.

Anger of the Gods conveniently leaves your creatures alive while killing most of the creatures in the format. Remand and Thing in the Ice also allow you to return cards to your opponent’s hand, where they will likely be unable to be cast because of your Blood Moon.

Standard

If Thing in the Ice and Bedlam Reveler work so well together, why not play them in Standard? There are obviously fewer good, cheap instants and sorceries in Standard, but as we know from the Pro Tour, there are plenty of good ways to fill up your graveyard. The one-two punch of Gather the Pack and Grapple with the Past let you find both Thing and Reveler while filling up your graveyard to make Reveler very cheap. Here’s the list I’ve been working on:

Temur Spells ? Eldritch Moon Standard | Chris Henderson

This deck allows you to trade one-for-one with your opponent’s threats, and then gas back up with Bedlam Reveler and Take Inventory, both of which are fueled by Gather and Grapple. Once you’ve drawn a bunch of cards, Thing in the Ice should be able to close out the game.

I tested this list out a bunch against the Emerge decks, and it performed quite well, as Incendiary Flow is great against them, and they struggle to answer a flipped Thing in the Ice. The deck might be somewhat weak to Grasp of Darkness and Reflector Mage, but if the metagame starts to skew towards Emerge and Emrakul decks, this might be a good choice.

If you want to try something that’s been proven at the Pro Tour, however, look no further than this list by Pedro Carvalho:

Thermo-Thing ? Eldritch Moon Standard | Pedro Carvalho, Pro Tour Eldritch Moon

I mentioned earlier that one of the keys to building a deck around Thing in the Ice is that the deck needs to have a Plan B. In Pedro’s case, that’s a burn plan built around Fevered Visions and Thermo-Alchemist. Fevered Visions in particular has impressed me as a card that’s great against the Pro Tour-winning deck, W/B Control, and the ramp decks. It’s a bit awkward against Dromoka's Command, but you’ll usually get at least a card out of it. Thermo-Alchemist and Thing in the Ice also conveniently survive the front end of a Kozilek's Return.

I also really like the inclusion of Dispel in this list. The card is the most efficient answer to Collected Company, and also does a good job of protecting your Thing in the Ice from removal. Unsubstantiate is another card that synergizes well with Fevered Visions, as putting a card back into their hand is likely going to make them continue to lose life. Collective Defiance is another new card that hasn’t found a home yet, but fits very well into this strategy.

After testing out these decks, I’ve come to believe that Thing in the Ice is the real deal in Modern, and potentially in Standard too if the metagame shifts towards Ramp. The fact that it survives Lightning Bolt is a big deal, and in Modern it can easily be flipped on turn three, which keeps pace with the fastest decks in the format. I hope this article has given you some ideas for some fun and powerful ways to use a potential hidden gem.

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TAGS articles, standard, list, strategy, metagame, constructed, modern, decklist, brewing, chris henderson, thing in the ice

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