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Coldsnap (Magic: The Gathering)

Ice Age
common expansion symbol
Released June 1995
Size 383 cards (121 commons, 121 uncommons, 121 rares, 20 basic lands)
Keywords Cumulative Upkeep
Mechanics Allied color alliances, cantrips, Snow lands
Designers Skaff Elias, Jim Lin, Dave Pettey and Chris Page
Development code Ice Age
Expansion code ICE
First set in the Ice Age block
Ice Age Alliances Coldsnap
4th Edition Chronicles
← No previous blocks Mirage Block
Alliances
Alliances symbol
Released 10 June 1996
Size 199 cards
(144 functionally different)
Keywords Cumulative Upkeep
Mechanics Allied color, cantrips, pitch spells, snow lands
Designers Skaff Elias, Jim Lin, Dave Pettey and Chris Page
Development code Quack
Expansion code ALL
Second set in the Ice Age block
Ice Age Alliances Coldsnap
Homelands Mirage
← No previous blocks Mirage Block
Coldsnap
Coldsnap common expansion symbol
Released July 21, 2006
Size 155 (40 rares, 55 uncommons, 60 commons)
Keywords Cumulative Upkeep, Ripple, Recover
Mechanics Snow Supertype, Pitch Cards
Designers Bill Rose (lead), Aaron Forsythe, Devin Low, and Mark Rosewater
Developers Randy Buehler Jr. (lead), Devin Low, Zvi Mowshowitz, and Michael Turian
Development code Splat
Expansion code CSP
Third set in the Ice Age block
Ice Age Alliances Coldsnap
Dissension Time Spiral
← No previous blocks Mirage Block

Ice Age is a block of three sets in Magic: The Gathering, consisting of the Ice Age, Alliances and Coldsnap sets. It is also the titular first set in the block. The Ice Age set is the eleventh set and the sixth expansion set, released in June 1995. Set in the years from 450 to 2934 AR, the set describes a world set in perpetual winter due to the events in Antiquities. Ice Age was followed up June 1996 with Alliances, the fourteenth Magic: The Gathering set and eighth expansion set.; and on July 21, 2006 with Coldsnap. The time period between Alliances and Coldsnap was the longest period of time between the beginning and the completion of a full block in Magic. Originally, the set Homelands, released in October 1995, was the second set in the Ice Age block (with Alliances being the third set), but following the release of Coldsnap, Homelands was removed from the block in favor of Coldsnap.

The Brothers' War, referenced in the set Antiquities and the Urza block, has thrown Dominaria into a drastic climate change. The temperature has dropped sharply and a new Ice Age has begun. Most of society has been lost; all that remains are the soldier nation of Kjeldor, the barbarians of Balduvia, and the elvish society of Fyndhorn. These people must battle against the necromancer Lim-Dûl who has begun to conduct twisted experiments. Meanwhile, the wizard Zur the Enchanter trains new wizards to survive in the harsh environment.

The story follows the events of Ice Age, after the so-called goddess (actually a planeswalker) Freyalise had used her magic to end the Ice Age. As the lands grew warmer, conflicts began to erupt. The Balduvian Barbarians were under constant attacks from a vigilante group headed by a former Kjeldoran knight, General Varchild, and needed to turn to their former foes for help. The Soldevi alliance was breaking down amid fears that their unearthing of artifacts of the Brothers' War (as described in Antiquities) could restart that destructive conflict. And all the while, the wicked necromancer known as Lim-Dûl gathered forces to conquer the entire world.


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