Glacial Fortress — Magic: The Gathering card

Glacial Fortress

Land

This land enters tapped unless you control a Plains or an Island.

{T}: Add {W} or {U}.

*Ships blown north in their voyage across the Stormwreck Sea become trapped in the unmelting ice.*

Set Edge of Eternities Commander
Rarity Rare
Mana Value 0
Artist James Paick
Collector # 160
Scryfall

Why Play Glacial Fortress

White-blue decks rely on consistent mana fixing to deploy threats and hold up counterspells effectively, making Glacial Fortress essential for competitive play. The untapped condition is easily met in most two-color builds since you'll naturally draw basic Plains or Islands, allowing aggressive curves when needed. Control decks particularly value the flexibility to tap for white early game removal like Swords to Plowshares, then switch to blue for late-game card draw and countermagic.

Format Notes

Pioneer and Modern see the most play for Glacial Fortress, where fast mana bases are crucial for competitive white-blue strategies like Azorius Control and Spirits tribal. Commander players frequently include it in multicolor decks as reliable dual-land fixing, though it's less impactful in casual metas where speed matters less. The card has never faced banning issues and maintains steady relevance whenever white-blue archetypes are viable in eternal formats.

Combos & Synergies

Hallowed Fountain provides both Plains and Island types to guarantee Glacial Fortress enters untapped, creating smooth three-color mana bases in decks splashing a third color. Teferi, Hero of Dominaria benefits from consistent white-blue mana to deploy on curve while holding up protection. Supreme Verdict requires double white in control mirrors, making the reliable colored mana access from Glacial Fortress critical for consistent board wipes.

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Land