Cryogen Relic – Edge of Eternities
Date Reviewed: August 4, 2025
Ratings:
Constructed: 3.67
Casual: 3.83
Limited: 4.08
Multiplayer: 3.50
Commander [EDH]: 3.63
Ratings are based on a 1 to 5 scale. 1 is bad. 3 is average. 5 is great.
Reviews Below:
There’s almost never a bad time to draw cards, unless your opponent is rocking a fast mill deck, or Sudden Impact. Not only does Cryogen Relic draw an extra card at more than one point in its gameplay cycle, it gives you a degree of control over when it triggers – and a degree of control over the table at the same time. While it doesn’t do any of those particular things as efficiently as more specialized cards do, it offers you a lot more synergy. A lot of those cards don’t help you when you are playing a deck that intends to use artifact synergies, or sacrifice synergies. It doesn’t even have to tap to do it, which I suppose is because stun counters are seen as a “soft” form of removal; but they won’t always feel that way when the big tempo shifts happen.
Constructed: 3.5
Casual: 4
Limited: 4
Multiplayer: 3.5
Commander [EDH]: 3.5
I thought the relic’s shape and design seemed vaguely familiar; and the Fomori are apparently no strangers to the Edge. I’m sure it’s fine . . .
Cantrips with upside are always going to attract attention, and Cryogen Relic is honestly a pretty good one. It draws a card on entry, can lock a creature down for a turn, and can also draw another card on its way out…and if you have a way to blink this, you can turn it into a card-drawing engine of sorts. For a two-mana common, that’s pretty solid. I will say that this isn’t a phenomenal tool if you’re behind, but it is good if you’re even or ahead, or need to just keep a creature on ice. Workhorse cards that work well day-to-day are often underrated, but those are the things that help you win more than you lose.
Constructed: 3.5
Casual: 3.5
Limited: 4.25
Multiplayer: 3
Commander [EDH]: 3.25
Thijs
I play a lot of pauper and one of the staples of that format has been Ichor Wellspring. Card draw is of course a useful tactic in any format, but Wellspring is particularly good, because it also adds an artifact to your board, helping to activate cards like Galvanic Blast or Krark-Clan Shaman.
With Cryogen Relic, EoE sets the tone for a new staple card. It’s not colorless, but it does draw you two cards and it gives you a tempo with a stun counter on a tapped creature. It’s high value for a common card and I really like it. It already gave me some much-needed card draw during a draft.
Another possible use is the fact that you can flicker this card and immediately draw two. As it says ‘leaves’ the battlefield, that means you draw a card upon flickering and you draw when it returns.
All in all, it’s a very useful little artifact and even though you need blue mana to cast it, this might be one of the chase commons of the set.
Constructed: 4
Casual: 4
Limited: 4
Multiplayer: 4
Commander [EDH]: 4
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