The Icebound Cycle - Reviewing the Trial by Frost spoilers!

Hello, everyone!

With PAX Unplugged 2024 now in the books, Altered TCG has been officially presented to north-american gamers.

In order to build up the hype, Equinox had a series of spoilers from the next set in Altered TCG, which will release on January 31st: Trial by Frost!

Some preliminary information had already been released, but it was during PAX that we had more spoilers for the edition, and in a very fun way: the winners of the various events promoted throughout the days were awarded oversized versions of the new cards! This also allowed some playful banter from the winners themselves, who sometimes held back the reveal of the cards to make the public even more hyped.

DISCLAIMER: as these spoilers had not yet been posted on an official website until the conclusion of the article, we used photos and images of the cards as posted by the event participants were used, so the quality may not be the best!

The "Icebound" Cycle

Throughout the PAX tournaments, six cards were revealed, one for each faction, which togehter form a cycle called “Icebound X”.

For those who are not very familiar with card games, “cycle” is normally used to indicate a series of cards that have some common design. In the case of “Icebounds”, they are all Landmarks, that is, a permanent type, and when a condition is met, which varies depending on the faction, it receives a “trial counter”. Upon receiving the third trial counter, the card is sacrificed and a 5/5/5 Dragon/Illusion/Shade token is created in an expedition of your choice, and you also get some bonus effect, which also varies depending on the faction.

To better analyze this cycle, it is necessary to take into account the condition for getting the trial counter, that is, how easy can you get something back for the mana and card investment.

They all cost 3 mana, except for the Yzmir, which costs 4 mana. So, for 3/4 mana you will in the future gain at least a 5/5/5 plus some effect - therefore, you should get something above the curve for the investment. Let's analyze each one separately:

The Axiom card gains counters when you put a card in the Reserve from your hand or deck - that is, through the Resupply ability of Axiom Salvager C and the like, or through effects like Ada Lovelace C or Kelon Elemental C, for example.

It's relatively easy to fulfill the condition in this faction, in probably one or two turns. The main issue is that the bonus effect, ready your cards in Reserve, is impossible to evaluate right now, as it depends on more cards being revealed that feature this mechanic of “readying” cards in Reserve. The only thing currently known is that exhausted cards in Reserve cannot be played, and it is necessary to wait for the next day to untap them naturally.

For now, the interesting thing is that the faction gains a new 3-cost Landmark - relevant for heroes like Sierra & Oddball H - and another card that indirectly interacts with the Reserve, in addition to at some point placing a 5/ 5/5 on an expedition.

The Bravos card has a lot of potential, as the faction handles very well when its characters gain Fleeting, with spells and abilities that remove this condition. In fact, the text of the new card does not mention that Fleeting needs to be applied by you - if your opponent applies Fleeting to your character, Icebound Peak will also gain a counter!

In the end, the reward ends up being even more than a 5/5/5, since the bonus effect is to grant a boost to all your characters. As it is necessary to have at least one character that has received Fleeting - the most common, probably, will be simply playing one from the Reserve -, the Braavos Dragon will give at least 2 boosts, one for itself and one for the other character . In the end, it's 3 mana for +7 in all region types, something really above curve and very powerful.

At first glance, the condition of the Lyra card is somewhat unfavorable. The text indicates that it is necessary to play a character in a region type where its base statistic is 0. In other words, it wouldn't work, for example, to use a Lyra Chronicler C in a region that doesn't have the Mountain type.

This in turn means you need to make suboptimal plays, since you will either be in a region of two or more types, but affecting only one of these types - since in the other one you'd have zero stats -, or play characters that will need some support due to inability to win expeditions by itself, like Ouroboros Trickster C for example.

In the end, getting a 5/5/5 and a Reserve card back to hand may not have been worth making 3 suboptimal plays in a row. Perhaps in a list more focused on spells and board control, with All In C or Off You Go! F, the new Landmark could find a home.

The Muna Landmark, like the Lyra one, is also connected to the region type of characters you play, but in a somewhat simpler condition to fulfill. You only need to play characters in regions that have the Forest type - that is, five out of eight possible regions.

The reward is also extremely strong, not only a 5/5/5 Dragon but also an Anchored on it, to guarantee its presence in the next day as well. Considering the low investment of 3 mana, it seems like an extremely efficient Landmark for the faction.

It should be pointed out, however, that the condition is not easily fulfilled in one turn, and that thus the opponent has due time to prepare and save an answer for the anchored 5/5/5. It will be important for the Muna player to pay attention to this and makestrong plays in conjunction with the 5/5/5, to make it difficult for the opponent to respond everything.

The Ordis Landmark has a somewhat peculiar condition, as the basis of the Altered TCG is to play characters to win expeditions. The only thing is that it requires playing characters on expeditions that you are “behind”, that is, losing in relation to your opponent.

This implies that the Ordis player is in theory playing a game focused on just one of the expeditions, purposefully losing on the other side to guarantee the usefulness of this Landmark. With the faction's ease in playing low-cost characters, it is relatively simple to fulfill the Icebound quest.

And, let's be honest, it’s a great reward! The Ordis faction received the only “Icebound” that has board control attached, thanks to Asleep in addition to the 5/5/5 token. In other words, the Ordis player will have the choice of putting their own character to sleep - getting almost the same effect as the Muna Landmark - or forcing an opposing character to fall asleep, in order to advance in expeditions.

This flexibility makes the Landmark very interesting for the faction - it remains to be seen whether it is actually a needed effect in current decklists, which tend towards a more proactive game, while using the Landmark oftten times means focusing on a more passive/reactive game.

Finally, the only Landmark in the cycle that costs 4 mana instead of 3! Not only that, the condition is somewhat difficult to evaluate for now, as it implies an action, exhaust a card in Reserve, that is not present in the first edition - therefore, it depends on more Trial by Frost cards to be revealed so that their potential can be adequately assessed.

However, it is worth noting that, being a condition directly linked to the cards in Reserve, some heroes should have an easier time activating it, such as Afanas & Senka H. And because it brings with it the bonus of an extra card, in addition to the 5/5/5 in stats, it is a great Landmark within the way that the faction usually plays out.

Conclusion

It was really an excellent opportunity to analyze a new cycle, specially being permanents/Landmarks, since so far it seems only character cards get all the hype, due to the unique cards mechanic exclusive to the Altered TCG.

This shows that the designers are paying attention and providing more options and cards that are fun and powerful to use and play with across all factions!

In a preliminary analysis, all Icebounds revealed should appear in future lists, with the exception perhaps of the Lyra one, and with Yzmir depending on more cards revealed that help fulfill its condition.

And you, what did you think of this new cycle? What are your expectations for the new set? Share with us!

Hugs, and see you next time!