Snow-Covered Forest MTG Card


Card setsReleased in 10 setsSee all
RarityCommon
TypeBasic Snow Land — Forest

Key Takeaways

  1. Enables card advantage through interactions with snow mechanics and related cards like Into the North.
  2. Offers mana acceleration and ramps up casting spells sooner by tapping for snow mana.
  3. Crucial for instant-speed snow spells, allowing strategic, untelegraphed plays within the game.

Text of card

oc T: Add o G to your mana pool.


Card Pros

Card Advantage: While the Snow-Covered Forest itself doesn’t directly grant you additional cards, its presence in your deck can enable synergies with numerous snow mechanics throughout the game, indirectly translating into card advantage. Cards such as Into the North or Scrying Sheets can leverage the distinct nature of snow-covered lands to fetch or scan the top of your library for more resources.

Resource Acceleration: As a land, the Snow-Covered Forest can be pivotal in mana acceleration. Not only does it tap for green mana, but the ‘snow’ supertype also interacts with cards that search for snow lands specifically, potentially ramping your mana availability even faster than with regular forests, giving you that crucial edge for casting spells ahead of the curve.

Instant Speed: Though lands play at sorcery speed, the intrinsic value of the Snow-Covered Forest lies in the instant-speed plays it enables. Many snow spells and abilities require snow mana — mana produced by a snow source. Being able to tap the Snow-Covered Forest for that crucial snow mana at instant speed lets you seamlessly integrate powerful effects and counters within your strategic plans, without having to telegraph your moves in advance.


Card Cons

Discard Requirement: While the Snow-Covered Forest does not have a discard requirement itself, it often features in decks with cards that do. This can lead to situations where you are required to discard valuable cards to reap the benefits associated with snow mana.

Specific Mana Cost: A vital aspect to consider is that the Snow-Covered Forest provides only green mana and one snow mana. This specificity means it might not fit into multi-colored decks that don’t heavily rely on green mana or snow mana synergies, limiting its versatility.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: In some MTG formats, using land cards with any additional function can come at a higher cost. While Snow-Covered Forest itself does not have a mana cost, it may necessitate the inclusion of other higher-costing snow-oriented spells in your deck, thereby potentially slowing down your game strategy.


Reasons to Include Snow-Covered Forest in Your Collection

Versatility: Snow-Covered Forest is a land card that taps for green mana, just like a regular Forest. However, its status as a “snow” land allows it to enable powerful synergies with spells and abilities that require snow mana, making it a must-have for decks that capitalize on the snow mechanic.

Combo Potential: This particular land has the potential to interact with cards such as Glacial Revelation or Ice-Fang Coatl, providing you with card advantage or board presence. Its inclusion can be the cornerstone of many combo strategies that revolve around snow permanents.

Meta-Relevance: In a metagame filled with snow-centric strategies, Snow-Covered Forest can be a subtle yet valuable asset. By seamlessly fitting into snow decks without taking up a spell slot, it enhances your deck’s functionality while keeping to the expected card count of lands, giving you an edge over opponents.


How to Beat

The Snow-Covered Forest card in MTG introduces a captivating dynamic to deck building by enabling the activation of snow abilities. Due to its nature as a basic land, the card itself is resilient against most forms of removal which often target nonland cards. Nevertheless, players can strategize against opponents using Snow-Covered Forest with a few effective tactics.

Strategies include employing land destruction cards, though they must be used judiciously due to their potential to inhibit your own gameplay progression. A more subtle approach involves hindering the payoff of snow synergies—by targeting the spells and abilities that capitalize on snow mana rather than the lands themselves. Moreover, cards that restrict the number of lands or type of lands an opponent can play each turn can help neutralize the advantages that Snow-Covered Forest may offer within a resource-heavy deck. Additionally, competing against the speed at which a snow-based deck operates by accelerating your own mana generation and board presence can offset the incremental value that Snow-Covered Forest provides over the course of a game.

Understanding and mitigating the strategies that utilize Snow-Covered Forest can be the key to maintaining a solid footing against such decks in the world of MTG.


Cards like Snow-Covered Forest

The allure of the Snow-Covered Forest in the realm of Magic: The Gathering stems from its subtle distinction from the basic Forest card. While it taps for green mana similar to its standard counterpart, it thrives in decks that capitalize on snow mechanics, granting it a unique edge within the game’s ecosystem.

Considering other snow lands, like Arctic Flats, we recognize a dual nature in generating both white and green mana. However, this comes at the cost of entering the battlefield tapped, whereas the Snow-Covered Forest does not carry this hindrance. Glacial Revelation, though not a land, supports the snow theme by helping players dig through their library to find snow permanents, including cards like Snow-Covered Forest.

Intersection with the snow theme can also be seen with Into the North, a ramp card that searches for a Snow-Covered Forest directly, showcasing its integral role in specific deck builds. As players delve into the depths of strategy and card synergy, the value of a Snow-Covered Forest remains steadfast for those building around the chilling allure of snow-influenced power.

Arctic Flats - MTG Card versions
Glacial Revelation - MTG Card versions
Into the North - MTG Card versions
Arctic Flats - Coldsnap (CSP)
Glacial Revelation - Modern Horizons (MH1)
Into the North - Coldsnap (CSP)

Cards similar to Snow-Covered Forest by color, type and mana cost

Forest - MTG Card versions
Havenwood Battleground - MTG Card versions
Slippery Karst - MTG Card versions
Pendelhaven - MTG Card versions
Rushwood Grove - MTG Card versions
Boseiju, Who Endures - MTG Card versions
Wirewood Lodge - MTG Card versions
Okina, Temple to the Grandfathers - MTG Card versions
Mosswort Bridge - MTG Card versions
Tranquil Thicket - MTG Card versions
Khalni Garden - MTG Card versions
Vivid Grove - MTG Card versions
Turntimber Grove - MTG Card versions
Treetop Village - MTG Card versions
Memorial to Unity - MTG Card versions
Blighted Woodland - MTG Card versions
Oran-Rief, the Vastwood - MTG Card versions
Hashep Oasis - MTG Card versions
Llanowar Reborn - MTG Card versions
Thriving Grove - MTG Card versions
Forest - Ravnica: Clue Edition (CLU)
Havenwood Battleground - Commander Anthology (CMA)
Slippery Karst - Commander 2014 (C14)
Pendelhaven - Masters 25 (A25)
Rushwood Grove - Mercadian Masques (MMQ)
Boseiju, Who Endures - Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty Promos (PNEO)
Wirewood Lodge - Onslaught (ONS)
Okina, Temple to the Grandfathers - Champions of Kamigawa (CHK)
Mosswort Bridge - Murders at Karlov Manor Commander (MKC)
Tranquil Thicket - Commander 2021 (C21)
Khalni Garden - Planechase 2012 (PC2)
Vivid Grove - Commander Legends (CMR)
Turntimber Grove - Duel Decks: Zendikar vs. Eldrazi (DDP)
Treetop Village - Duel Decks: Nissa vs. Ob Nixilis (DDR)
Memorial to Unity - Dominaria (DOM)
Blighted Woodland - Commander 2018 (C18)
Oran-Rief, the Vastwood - Neon Dynasty Commander (NEC)
Hashep Oasis - Amonkhet Remastered (AKR)
Llanowar Reborn - Commander 2021 (C21)
Thriving Grove - New Capenna Commander (NCC)

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Snow-Covered Forest MTG card by a specific set like Ice Age and Coldsnap, 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 Snow-Covered Forest and other MTG cards:

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Printings

The Snow-Covered Forest Magic the Gathering card was released in 7 different sets between 1995-06-03 and 2021-02-05. Illustrated by 8 different artists.

#ReleaseNameCodeSymbolNumberFrameLayoutBorderArtist
11995-06-03Ice AgeICE 3831993normalblackPat Lewis
22006-07-21ColdsnapCSP 1552003normalblackJim Nelson
32008-09-22Masters Edition IIME2 2451997normalblackPat Lewis
42018-07-14MTG Arena PromosPANA 2612015normalblackTitus Lunter
52019-06-14Modern HorizonsMH1 2542015normalblackTitus Lunter
62019-12-02Secret Lair DropSLD 14772015normalblackELK64
72019-12-02Secret Lair DropSLD 52015normalblackAlayna Danner
82019-12-02Secret Lair DropSLD 3292015normalblackJubilee
92021-02-05KaldheimKHM 2852015normalblackOmar Rayyan
102021-02-05KaldheimKHM 2842015normalblackAdam Paquette

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Snow-Covered Forest has restrictions

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

Rules and information

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

DateText
2021-02-05 In a Limited event (usually Booster Draft or Sealed Deck), you can’t add basic snow lands to your card pool as you would other basic lands. You can play with basic snow lands only if you open them in your sealed deck or draft them.
2021-02-05 Snow is a supertype, not a card type. It has no rules meaning or function by itself, but spells and abilities may refer to it.
2021-02-05 Snow isn’t a type of mana. If an effect says you may spend mana as though it were any type, you can’t pay for {S} using mana that wasn’t produced by a snow source.
2021-02-05 Some cards have additional effects for each {S} spent to cast them. You can cast these spells even if you don’t spend any snow mana to cast them; their additional effects simply won’t do anything.
2021-02-05 The Kaldheim set doesn’t have any cards with mana costs that include {S}, but some previous sets do. If an effect says such a spell costs less to cast, that reduction doesn’t apply to any {S} costs. This is also true for activated abilities that include {S} in their activation costs and effects that reduce those costs.
2021-02-05 The {S} symbol is a generic mana symbol. It represents a cost that can be paid by one mana that was produced by a snow source. That mana can be any color or colorless.

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