Rimeshield Frost Giant MTG Card


Card setsReleased in 3 setsSee all
Mana cost
Converted mana cost5
RarityCommon
TypeCreature — Giant Warrior
Abilities Ward
Power 4
Toughness 5

Key Takeaways

  1. The Frost Giant’s fortell lowers costs, setting the stage for surprise maneuvers and efficient use of mana.
  2. Its defensive stature can preserve player resources, giving room for strategic plays and board development.
  3. Inherent color protection makes the Frost Giant a solid choice against mono-colored decks, enhancing its meta relevance.

Text of card

Ward (Whenever this creature becomes the target of a spell or ability an opponent controls, counter it unless that player pays .)

Frost giants carry the trophies of their greatest victories into battle, fashioned into armor of strength and savage beauty.


Card Pros

Card Advantage: Rimeshield Frost Giant comes into play with a solid body, helping you to maintain presence on the battlefield. With its fortell ability, you can effectively reduce the card’s cost while hiding it from your opponent’s knowledge, potentially leading to advantageous surprise plays.

Resource Acceleration: While the Frost Giant itself does not directly provide resource acceleration, its sheer size can deter opponents from attacking, indirectly preserving your resources. This defensive capability allows you to allocate mana to other spells and build your board rather than spending resources on recovery.

Instant Speed: Although Rimeshield Frost Giant does not operate at instant speed, its feature to be cast through fortell can act as a form of instant threat during your turn. This aligns with maintaining strategic flexibility and surprise, as you leave mana open for other instant speed interactions while still deploying a significant threat when the moment is right.


Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Rimeshield Frost Giant imposes an upkeep cost that requires you to discard a card. This can be particularly troublesome when your hand is already depleted, forcing you to make difficult decisions that could hinder your game plan.

Specific Mana Cost: This giant comes with a mana cost that is heavily skewed towards blue, necessitating a significant commitment to that color. Decks not running heavy blue may find it hard to reliably cast the Frost Giant on curve.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: The investment of five mana for a creature that simply offers a large body might not be the optimal play. In the current meta, where players seek value and versatility, there are alternative creatures and spells that could provide more immediate impact or utility for the same cost or less.


Reasons to Include Rimeshield Frost Giant in Your Collection

Versatility: The Rimeshield Frost Giant easily fits into decks that value durability and stamina. With its formidable presence, it can be a game-changer in battles, acting as both your defensive fortress and formidable attacker.

Combo Potential: This card’s innate protection from a specific color can align well with strategies that aim to exploit an opponent’s weaknesses. Its capability to become unblockable opens avenues for combo plays, especially in decks that enhance creature abilities.

Meta-Relevance: In a game environment crowded with mono-colored strategies, Rimeshield Frost Giant gains significant edge due to its inherent color protection. A savvy player can leverage this trait to turn the tides in matches where color-based threats dominate.


How to beat

In the realm of Magic: The Gathering, Rimeshield Frost Giant presents a formidable challenge with its towering presence on the battlefield. Notably known for its eight health points and hexproof ability, this icy behemoth often demands a strategic approach to overcome. In games where it’s deployed, removing it requires bypassing its hexproof—which shields it from targeted spells and abilities. One effective method includes board-wiping spells that don’t target specific creatures, such as “Day of Judgment” or “Shatter the Sky,” thereby circumventing its primary defense.

Another avenue to consider is overpowering the Frost Giant in combat. Since it lacks the trample ability, chump blocking with smaller creatures can be a viable temporary solution. However, the ultimate tactic would be to leverage spells that change the rules of engagement. Cards like “Mass Manipulation” or “In Bolas’s Clutches”, which take control of any creature, sidestep hexproof by not targeting the Frost Giant directly but rather changing the allegiance of the battlefield’s entities.

Whether it’s through mass removal or tactical control spells, players must adapt their strategies to manage the glacial strength of the Rimeshield Frost Giant. Understanding the flexibility and range of tools at your disposal can be key to besting this colossal adversary in a game.


Cards like Rimeshield Frost Giant

Rimeshield Frost Giant stands out in the realm of Magic: The Gathering as a sturdy addition to decks that relish the presence of sizable creatures. Comparable to other sizable beings such as Hill Giant, the Frost Giant offers a similar body with a 4/5 stat line. However, this frosty creature brings a distinct advantage with its icy shield ability, granting it ward whenever a snow land is tapped.

When stacking it up against Colossal Dreadmaw, another giant with a strong presence on the board, Rimeshield Frost Giant demonstrates resilience with its protective ward ability. Colossal Dreadmaw boasts its trample ability but lacks the defensive capabilities that Rimeshield provides. Meanwhile, Frost Titan, although at a higher mana cost, similarly manipulates the battlefield with freezing abilities and also presents a challenge for opponents to remove it from the board.

Assessing the qualities of these titanic cards, Rimeshield Frost Giant aptly fits within the niche of snow-themed decks, offering both offense and a unique line of defense, making it a valuable contender among similar creatures within the world of Magic: The Gathering.

Hill Giant - MTG Card versions
Colossal Dreadmaw - MTG Card versions
Frost Titan - MTG Card versions
Hill Giant - Limited Edition Alpha (LEA)
Colossal Dreadmaw - Ixalan (XLN)
Frost Titan - Magic 2011 (M11)

Cards similar to Rimeshield Frost Giant by color, type and mana cost

Vesuvan Doppelganger - MTG Card versions
Water Elemental - MTG Card versions
Air Elemental - MTG Card versions
Sandbar Crocodile - MTG Card versions
Pirate Ship - MTG Card versions
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Mawcor - MTG Card versions
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Infiltrator il-Kor - MTG Card versions
Mulldrifter - MTG Card versions
Chasm Drake - MTG Card versions
Mirror-Mad Phantasm - MTG Card versions
Vesuvan Doppelganger - Foreign Black Border (FBB)
Water Elemental - Collectors' Edition (CED)
Air Elemental - Core Set 2020 (M20)
Sandbar Crocodile - Media Inserts (PMEI)
Pirate Ship - Fourth Edition (4ED)
Segovian Leviathan - Fourth Edition (4ED)
Sun Ce, Young Conquerer - Portal Three Kingdoms (PTK)
Mawcor - Seventh Edition (7ED)
Timin, Youthful Geist - Magic Online Promos (PRM)
Geology Enthusiast - Magic Online Promos (PRM)
Coastal Hornclaw - Eighth Edition (8ED)
Meloku the Clouded Mirror - Champions of Kamigawa (CHK)
Azami, Lady of Scrolls - Champions of Kamigawa (CHK)
Cloudhoof Kirin - Saviors of Kamigawa (SOK)
Drelnoch - Coldsnap (CSP)
Adarkar Windform - Coldsnap (CSP)
Infiltrator il-Kor - Future Sight (FUT)
Mulldrifter - The List (PLST)
Chasm Drake - Magic 2012 (M12)
Mirror-Mad Phantasm - Innistrad (ISD)

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Rimeshield Frost Giant MTG card by a specific set like Adventures in the Forgotten Realms and Adventures in the Forgotten Realms, there are several reliable options to consider. One of the primary sources is your local game store, where you can often find booster packs, individual cards, and preconstructed decks from current and some past sets. They often offer the added benefit of a community where you can trade with other players.

For a broader inventory, particularly of older sets, online marketplaces like TCGPlayer, Card Kingdom and Card Market offer extensive selections and allow you to search for cards from specific sets. Larger e-commerce platforms like eBay and Amazon also have listings from various sellers, which can be a good place to look for sealed product and rare finds.

Additionally, Magic’s official site often has a store locator and retailer lists for finding Wizards of the Coast licensed products. Remember to check for authenticity and the condition of the cards when purchasing, especially from individual sellers on larger marketplaces.

Below is a list of some store websites where you can buy the Rimeshield Frost Giant and other MTG cards:

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Printings

The Rimeshield Frost Giant Magic the Gathering card was released in 2 different sets between 2021-07-23 and 2022-07-07. Illustrated by 2 different artists.

#ReleaseNameCodeSymbolNumberFrameLayoutBorderArtist
12021-07-23Adventures in the Forgotten RealmsAFR 692015normalblackMatt Stewart
22021-07-23Adventures in the Forgotten RealmsAFR 3102015normalblackJeff Dee
32022-07-07Alchemy Horizons: Baldur's GateHBG 1302015normalblackMatt Stewart

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Rimeshield Frost Giant has restrictions

FormatLegality
HistoricbrawlLegal
HistoricLegal
LegacyLegal
PaupercommanderLegal
OathbreakerLegal
GladiatorLegal
PioneerLegal
CommanderLegal
ModernLegal
PauperLegal
VintageLegal
DuelLegal
ExplorerLegal
TimelessLegal

Rules and information

The reference guide for Magic: The Gathering Rimeshield Frost Giant card rulings provides official rulings, any errata issued, as well as a record of all the functional modifications that have occurred.

DateText
2021-07-23 If a player casts a spell that targets multiple permanents their opponent controls with ward, each of those ward abilities will trigger. If that player doesn't pay for all of them, the spell will be countered.

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