Early Frost
Instant
Tap up to three target lands.
- CMC
- 2
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- U
- Rarity
- common
- Set
- Fifth Dawn
- Price
- $0.12
- EDHREC rank
- #24543
Early Frost taps all lands a player controls until their next turn for a single blue mana — it's a one-sided pseudo-Time Walk that costs nothing but a card. The effect is powerful; the problem is that instants win games and Early Frost just delays them, making it a role-player rather than a staple.
Format Analysis
Where it lives, where it can’t
| Format | Verdict |
|---|---|
| commander | legal |
| legacy | legal |
| modern | legal |
| pioneer | not legal |
| standard | not legal |
| vintage | legal |
| pauper | legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
In Commander, Early Frost is a tempo tool that buys you one full rotation around the table — useful for protecting a combo turn or surviving a lethal attack step, though four opponents means three of them untap fine. In Legacy and Vintage, the raw power ceiling is higher but dedicated tap-out strategies have faster and more reliable ways to close games, so Early Frost rarely makes the cut. Pauper is where it has the most structural relevance, slotting into blue tempo and Faeries shells that can capitalize on a single opponent being frozen out for a full turn cycle.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.12 bulk tier
At $0.12, Early Frost is deep bulk — you're paying for the cardboard, not any scarcity premium. It won't appreciate, but if the effect fits your deck, the cost of admission is essentially zero.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.