Glacial Crasher MTG Card
2014-07-18 - Number 57
2019-11-07 - Number 391
2020-09-26 - Number M15-57
| Card sets | Released in 3 setsSee all |
| Mana cost | |
| Converted mana cost | 6 |
| Rarity | Common |
| Type | Creature — Elemental |
| Abilities | Trample |
| Power | 5 |
| Toughness | 5 |
Key Takeaways
- Glacial Crasher excels in MTG decks that leverage land manipulation and thrive on elemental synergies.
- The card’s need for a mountain to attack or block limits its versatility across various strategies.
- While potent in the right deck, higher mana cost and specific color requirements may deter some players.
Text of card
Trample (If this creature would assign enough damage to its blockers to destroy them, you may have it assign the rest of its damage to defending player or planeswalker.) Glacial Crasher can't attack unless there is a Mountain on the battlefield.
Card Pros
Card Advantage: Glacial Crasher’s Trample ability can help you deal excess combat damage to a player, which can often translate into maintaining pressure on the board and indirectly leading to card advantage. By forcing your opponent to block with multiple creatures or valuable targets, you can deplete their resources more effectively.
Resource Acceleration: While Glacial Crasher itself doesn’t directly provide resource acceleration, its synergies with decks that manipulate lands can be impactful. For instance, in formats where land manipulation is present, such as Modern, pairing it with cards that turn lands into Mountains can unexpectedly accelerate the Crasher onto the battlefield, disrupting your opponent’s strategy.
Instant Speed: Though Glacial Crasher is a creature card and not played at instant speed, having it on the battlefield forces your opponents to play as if you have instant-speed interaction. Knowing that any attack could result in a substantial trample damage could alter their decisions, essentially granting you a form of psychological advantage at instant speed.
Card Cons
Discard Requirement: For the Glacial Crasher to reach its full potential, the battlefield must contain a Mountain. Without one, this icy giant doesn’t thaw, essentially leaving you with a card that cannot attack or block, reducing its effectiveness considerably.
Specific Mana Cost: The casting requirements for Glacial Crasher are quite strict, needing both blue and red mana. This stipulation can restrict deck-building options and potentially exclude Glacial Crasher from a variety of strategies not aligned with these mana colors.
Comparatively High Mana Cost: With a mana value of six, Glacial Crasher demands a significant investment. Cards of lower mana cost could present earlier threats or control options, providing more immediacy and versatility to your gameplay.
Reasons to Include Glacial Crasher in Your Collection
Versatility: Glacial Crasher excels in decks centered around land manipulation and elemental synergy, able to become an aggressive threat in the right environment.
Combo Potential: This card has a natural connection with spells that change land types, allowing it to swiftly become an unexpected force when combined with cards that turn lands into Islands.
Meta-Relevance: With a meta that sometimes favors red and blue archetypes, Glacial Crasher can be a substantial addition, making waves in decks designed to exploit its trample ability in tandem with land-type altering mechanics.
How to beat
The Glacial Crasher card provides a unique challenge in the arena of MTG, requiring a nuanced strategy to tackle effectively. With its trample ability, this card can prove to be a potent threat by potentially dealing excess damage to a player even when being blocked by creatures. One efficient method to overcome Glacial Crasher lies in employing creature removal spells, such as Doom Blade or Path to Exile, which can effectively dispatch the Crasher before it has the opportunity to unleash its damage potential.
Another strategic move is to limit the Crasher’s ability to attack by controlling the number of lands an opponent has. Without a mountain on the battlefield, Glacial Crasher can neither attack nor block, which makes land destruction or transformation spells useful tools in your arsenal. Cards such as Field of Ruin can disrupt an opponent’s mana base and indirectly neutralize the Crasher.
Additionally, playing defensively with creatures that have high toughness can diminish the impact of the Crasher’s trample ability, keeping the threat at bay and buying time to establish a more dominant board position. Overall, Glacial Crasher requires specific responses, but with a well-crafted deck and strategic gameplay, you can prevent this icy Titan from running rampant.
Cards like Glacial Crasher
Exploring the icy depths of Magic: The Gathering’s card pool, Glacial Crasher emerges as an intriguing creature for any deck capitalizing on frozen terrain. Glacial Crasher shares common ground with cards like Frost Lynx, both tapping into the frost theme of MTG. Frost Lynx may be less daunting in size, but it carries the advantage of temporarily neutralizing an opponent’s creature upon entering the battlefield.
Looking at larger entities, we encounter Water Elemental, another blue creature with a substantial power and toughness for the mana cost. While Water Elemental lacks Glacial Crasher’s requirement for a red or white land to unlock its attack, it also doesn’t present the same speed potential that Glacial Crasher does when conditions are right. Similarly, Illusionary Forces packs a punch with its flying ability. It requires a steady upkeep cost, in contrast to Glacial Crasher, which once outmaneuvering its initial constraint becomes a persistent threat on the board without further resource demands.
Despite the particular stipulation tied to Glacial Crasher, its potential to become a swift and powerful force on the board is undeniable. As players navigate the diverse choices within Magic: The Gathering, Glacial Crasher offers a compelling option for decks designed around its unique attack conditions.
Cards similar to Glacial Crasher by color, type and mana cost
Where to buy
If you're looking to purchase Glacial Crasher MTG card by a specific set like Magic 2015 and Mystery Booster, 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 Glacial Crasher and other MTG cards:
- eBay
- TCG Player
- Card Kingdom
- Card Market
- Star City Games
- CoolStuffInc
- MTG Mint Card
- Hareruya
- Troll and Toad
- ABU Games
- Card Hoarder Magic Online
- MTGO Traders Magic Online
See MTG Products
Printings
The Glacial Crasher Magic the Gathering card was released in 3 different sets between 2014-07-18 and 2019-11-07. Illustrated by Mark Winters.
| # | Released | Name | Code | Symbol | Number | Frame | Layout | Border | Artist |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2014-07-18 | Magic 2015 | M15 | 57 | 2015 | Normal | Black | Mark Winters | |
| 2 | 2019-11-07 | Mystery Booster | MB1 | 391 | 2015 | Normal | Black | Mark Winters | |
| 3 | The List | PLST | M15-57 | 2015 | Normal | Black | Mark Winters |
Legalities
Magic the Gathering formats where Glacial Crasher has restrictions
| Format | Legality |
|---|---|
| Commander | Legal |
| Legacy | Legal |
| Paupercommander | Legal |
| Modern | Legal |
| Oathbreaker | Legal |
| Pauper | Legal |
| Vintage | Legal |
| Duel | Legal |
| Pioneer | Legal |
| Penny | Legal |
Rules and information
The reference guide for Magic: The Gathering Glacial Crasher card rulings provides official rulings, any errata issued, as well as a record of all the functional modifications that have occurred.
| Date | Text |
|---|---|
| 2014-07-18 | If the only Mountains on the battlefield leave the battlefield after Glacial Crasher attacks, it stays attacking. |
| 2014-07-18 | It doesn’t matter who controls the Mountain. |
