Ice Cave
Enchantment
Whenever a player casts a spell, any other player may pay that spell's mana cost. If a player does, counter the spell. (Mana cost includes color.)
- CMC
- 5
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- U
- Rarity
- rare
- Set
- Apocalypse
- Price
- $0.81
- EDHREC rank
- #20572
Ice Cave turns every spell on the stack into a negotiation — any player can counter anything for its mana cost, which sounds symmetrical until you realize you're the one who built the deck around it. It rewards blue-heavy lists that can consistently out-mana opponents, and punishes everyone else.
Format Analysis
Where it lives, where it can’t
| Format | Verdict |
|---|---|
| commander | legal |
| legacy | legal |
| modern | not legal |
| pioneer | not legal |
| standard | not legal |
| vintage | legal |
| pauper | not legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
Ice Cave is legal in Commander, Legacy, Vintage, and Oathbreaker, and Commander is the only format where it's actually worth building around. In Legacy and Vintage, five mana for a do-nothing enchantment is too slow against turn-one and turn-two threats, and opponents can simply pay the counter cost out of their large mana pools. In Commander, Ice Cave at five mana is expensive but not crippling, and a three-player table means the collective cost of policing the board falls on everyone — which, in a blue-heavy list, tilts sharply in your favor.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.81 bulk tier
At $0.81, Ice Cave sits firmly in bulk territory, which makes sense given its narrow application. It's a safe pickup for the niche lists that want it, but don't expect the price to move — demand is too low and supply too steady for that.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.