Magic: The Gathering — Ice Age

Released in June 1995, Ice Age was a landmark in Magic's early history. Designed by Skaff Elias, Jim Lin, Dave Pettey, and Chris Page, it was the game's eleventh set and sixth expansion — but more importantly, it was the first "stand-alone" expansion — the first expansion that could be played entirely on its own, without mixing in cards from Alpha, Beta, or the core sets. It was also the first expansion to reprint all five basic lands, and at 383 cards it dwarfed earlier expansions.

The set leaned hard into its frozen theme. It introduced snow-covered lands, a variant of the basic lands that certain cards cared about, and the notorious "cumulative upkeep" mechanic — a tax that grew heavier every turn you kept a permanent in play, forcing agonizing decisions about when to let something go. It also brought "cantrips" (small spells that replaced themselves by drawing a card) and the first single-colored legendary creatures. The art carried the mood of an ice-locked apocalypse.

Ice Age was the inaugural set of the Ice Age block, later joined by Alliances (1996) and, more than a decade later, Coldsnap (2006). Among its cards was Necropotence, a black enchantment that let you trade life for cards — a card that went on to define one of the most dominant and feared competitive decks of the mid-'90s. For a generation of players, Ice Age's snowy borders are the look of Magic's first great expansion era.