First of all, it's a 6/6 for six. Decent by
blue's standards. It's ability to make spells
and abilities targeting it cost more seems a
little strange.While it's nice that the ability
doesn't affect anything you control, it seems
like it would be so much simpler just to give it
shroud. Sphinx of Jwar Isle didn't have any
problems just having shroud. And finally there's
it's ability to tap down permanents. I do like
that it triggers on entering the battlefield and
on attacking, and lasts an extra turn, because
it can be used to eliminate blockers who might
challenge the Frost Titan's ability to hit the
opponent for six. But then. Sphinx of Jwar Isle,
or any Sphinx for that matter, has flying and
thus is less worried about blocking. Sure, the
tapdown can be used on any permanent, which
could in theory be used to deny your opponent
mana, but really, the sad truth is that at six
mana, blue has better options for a big angry
creature to swing with. If it just had actual
shroud, or flying, or some other evasion ability
instead of that weird built-in Rune Snag
ability, it might be a contender.
Note how good Frost Titan at attacking past Wall
of Omens and Wall of Frost and hitting
planeswalkers - which is only becoming more
relevant, not less. I think the blue decks will
pick up Sphinx of Jwar Isle if they want to
finish games quickly, but this creature is a
solid choice because of his immediate impact on
the table (and it's just plain cool to call on
Ymir's icy breath).
Today's card of the day is Frost Titan which is
part of a new cycle in
2011 giving each color a six mana 6/6 Giant with
an ability that triggers as it comes into play
and as it attacks in addition to one other
ability from the respective color. For
Blue this manifested as the classic pay more or
the effect is countered, but as it is not played
at instant speed most of the advantage of that
is lost. Paying an additional two for a
Doom Blade is still quite cost effective and can
be prepared for, so while an inconvenience it is
hardly a threat by the later stages of the game
when compared to what the other Titans offer.
The second effect however is a bit better as it
can lock down an opposing creature unless the
Titan is removed or prevented from attacking.
A 6/6 attacking Blinding Mage without the mana
cost is quite nice, but the cost to play and
vulnerability will keep it from being a force in
any constructed formats.
For Limited this is a solid first pick despite a
few flaws and the overall weakness compared to
stronger bombs like Baneslayer Angel or even the
other Titans. It is difficult, but nowhere
near impossible for your opponents to handle and
when supported with other decent threats makes
for a powerful anchor in a Blue deck. Two
Blue out of six in the mana cost is not a major
drawback and even a deck with a splash of a
third color should reliably be able to play this
in the sixth to ninth turns.
