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Snowfall in the Heart of Winter

Commander / EDH Budget Control Counters Forgotten Realms GWU (Bant) Landfall Ramp Snow Stompy Tap/Untap

Craeter

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Creature (29)

Enchantment (16)

Artifact (8)

Instant (6)

Commander (1)

Commander: Isu the Abominable

Land (34)

Sorcery (6)

Sideboard

Enchantment (1)

Maybeboard

Creature (24)

Enchantment (12)

Sorcery (5)

Instant (10)

Artifact (5)

Land (4)

Isu the Abominable

Snow + Landfall = Snowfall

The freezing touch of Auril's icy embrace slows the opponent's creatures to a crawl. Hence they are tapped down, or even frozen completely in place (stun counters / not untap). Other cards combo off of this as well, see below for more details.

For a more {Budget} friendly deck, there's a few expensive cards that could be swapped for cheaper alternatives. IE: Teferi's Protection, The Great Henge swapped for Flare of Fortitude, Tribute to the World Tree. Although based on my Commander deckbuilding standards, this is already pretty budget as far as I'm concerned. Most of my other decks are double to triple this price.

Forgotten Realm's Icewind Dale definitely influenced some decision making behind this deck, can you spot the Easter egg(s)?

{Snow}

Isu the Abominable, Abominable Treefolk, Adarkar Windform, Ascendant Spirit, Boreal Outrider, Conifer Wurm, Diamond Faerie, Frost Augur, Frostweb Spider, Ice-Fang Coatl, Icebreaker Kraken, Ohran Frostfang, Ohran Viper, Pilfering Hawk, Rime Tender, Rimefeather Owl, Sculptor of Winter, Spirit of the Aldergard, Squall Drifter, Wall of Shards, Cover of Winter, Gelid Shackles, Marit Lage's Slumber, On Thin Ice, Winter's Rest, Graven Lore, Blessing of Frost, Blizzard Brawl, Search for Glory, All lands except Command Tower and Reliquary Tower, Icebind Pillar

{Landfall}

Aesi, Tyrant of Gyre Strait, Bristly Bill, Spine Sower, Scute Swarm, Tatyova, Benthic Druid, Felidar Retreat, Primeval Bounty,

{Control}

Icebreaker Kraken, Squall Drifter, Gelid Shackles, Opposition, Solitary Sanctuary, Winter's Rest, Cryptic Command *list*, Icy Blast, Freeze in Place, Hylda's Crown of Winter, Icebind Pillar

{Draw}

Isu the Abominable, Aesi, Tyrant of Gyre Strait, Ascendant Spirit, Bonny Pall, Clearcutter, Evercoat Ursine, Frost Augur, Hylda of the Icy Crown, Ice-Fang Coatl, Ohran Frostfang, Ohran Viper, Pilfering Hawk, Tatyova, Benthic Druid, Vega, the Watcher, Verity Circle, Blessing of Frost, Graven Lore,

{Ramp}

Isu the Abominable, Aesi, Tyrant of Gyre Strait, Oracle of Mul Daya, Rime Tender, Sculptor of Winter, Druid Class, Exploration, Mirari's Wake, Zendikar Resurgent, Sol Ring

{+1/+1 Counters}

Isu the Abominable, Ascendant Spirit, Boreal Outrider, Bristly Bill, Spine Sower, Drizzt Do'Urden, Frostweb Spider, Hylda of the Icy Crown, Felidar Retreat, Hardened Scales, Primeval Bounty, Solitary Sanctuary, Blessing of Frost, Ozolith, the Shattered Spire

{Creature Tokens}

Hylda of the Icy Crown, Scute Swarm, Felidar Retreat, Primeval Bounty

{Power}

Isu the Abominable, Abominable Treefolk, Bonny Pall, Clearcutter, Conifer Wurm, Icebreaker Kraken, Rimefeather Owl, Spirit of the Aldergard, Marit Lage's Slumber,

{Flying / Reach}

Adarkar Valkyrie, Ascendant Spirit, Bonny Pall, Clearcutter, Diamond Faerie, Frostweb Spider, Ice-Fang Coatl, Kellan, the Kid, Pilfering Hawk, Rimefeather Owl, Squall Drifter, Wall of Shards, Marit Lage's Slumber, Snow Devil

{Lifegain}

Kellan, the Kid, Tatyova, Benthic Druid, Druid Class, Primeval Bounty

{Protection}

Adarkar Valkyrie, Cover of Winter, Clever Concealment, Heroic Intervention, Teferi's Protection, Sunstone

{Removal}

Ovinomancer, On Thin Ice, Winter's Chill, Blizzard Brawl, Calming Verse, Farewell

{Tutor}

Spirit of the Aldergard, Search for Glory

{Counterspells}

Cryptic Command *list*, Ice Out

Isu the Abominable + Any {Snow} card

{Tap 'em Down Value}

Hylda of the Icy Crown, Hylda's Crown of Winter, Solitary Sanctuary, Verity Circle

{Commander Ability + cast a spell other than hand}

Kellan, the Kid, Vega, the Watcher

{Land Ramp / Bounce Synergies}

Isu the Abominable, Aesi, Tyrant of Gyre Strait, Bonny Pall, Clearcutter, Oracle of Mul Daya, Druid Class, Exploration, Ovinomancer, Icebreaker Kraken,

Marit Lage's Slumber can actually be pretty ridiculous if you get it out turn 2, I've had some simulations get the 20/20 flying indestructible creature token out on turn 7. The built in Scry let's you ramp the snow permanents hard, and since it only takes 10 and almost all of the lands are Snow.. well hence why this can be surprisingly fast.

The Icewind Dale (2000) video game was the earliest exposure in life I had as a kid to the Dungeons & Dragons game systems and the Forgotten Realms universe.

"Snowfall in the Heart of Winter" is a play on Icewind Dale: Heart of Winter (2001) which was the expansion on the original game.

Drizzt Do'Urden - The main character of the Icewind Dale book trilogy by R.A. Salvatore, I started reading The Legend of Drizzt after college.

The Great Henge - Represents the town of Kuldahar from the Icewind Dale game, which is nestled into the warmth of a great tree and holds back the perpetual cold of the Spine of the World mountains. "The Severed Hand / The Hand of Seldarine" could also be represented by this card.

Isu the Abominable - The chieftain of the Frost Giant tribes who caused the avalanche in the pass that doomed the expedition from Easthaven.

Hylda's Crown of Winter & Hylda of the Icy Crown - Represents Auril, the goddess of winter and cold in Forgotten Realms. She has many worshipers in the Icewind Dale region, and is mentioned numerous times in the game.

Sunstone - Crenshinibon, the ancient "Crystal Shard" artifact that was born of the souls of powerful lich lords. It's sentience and evil survived the centuries, and has tempted many mages and even demons to use it's power to build armies of monsters. It draws its power from sunlight. It can also grow into a "Crystal Tirith" mega structure, which could be represented by Icebind Pillar and Solitary Sanctuary.

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Updates Add

Jan. 13, 2025
Edit

amarthaler Got me thinking and I'm making a few tweaks to play around with:

IN The Great Henge Glacial Revelation Rimehorn Aurochs Snow-Covered Island

OUT Evercoat Ursine Sunstone Freeze in Place Kellan, the Kid

With this change, the deck will gain +2 Snow permanents, which is highly desirable with the Isu synergy. Glacial Revelation provides deeper Draw, Rimehorn another Removal option (provided a big creature is in play). The Great Henge is really expensive but I'm still tempted to try it out since the potential in here seems pretty enormous, as there are multiple means of getting creatures out with 7+ power including Isu himself.

As for the cut cards, Sunstone may make a reappearance in the future, it's not Snow but it has synergy with Bonny Pall, Clearcutter, just not likely to have both those combo pieces together in a game with little Tutor available. Kellan was cut because the total added CMC to the deck makes me think another Land is necessary, and while simming I was noticing that I wasn't getting to make use of his cheat ability very often. The tri cost can also be awkward early game, which is the main incentive of playing a 3 drop card.

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93% Casual

Competitive

Revision 10 See all

(3 weeks ago)

-1 Abominable Treefolk maybe
+1 Rimehorn Aurochs main
+1 Rishkar's Expertise maybe
+1 Snow-Covered Island main
+1 The Great Henge main
+1 Tribute to the World Tree maybe
Top Ranked
Date added 2 months
Last updated 3 weeks
Legality

This deck is Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)

7 - 0 Mythic Rares

33 - 1 Rares

20 - 0 Uncommons

15 - 0 Commons
Cards 100
Avg. CMC 3.48
Tokens Beast 3/3 G, Beau, Cat Beast 2/2 W, Copy Clone, Elemental 4/4 WU, Guenhwyvar, Insect 1/1 G, Marit Lage, Replicated Ring, Sheep 0/1 G
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