There was a lot of hoopla over Thing in the Ice when it was first spoiled. People saw the Thing possibly fitting into Delver decks, where the player was spending most of the time casting instants and sorceries anyways. There were a few who thought it could also see play in Storm's sideboard. I initially bought into the hype and when Thing in the Ice became legal I quickly threw a playset into UR Delver and jumped into a League. I ended with a 1-4 record...

Okay, I thought, four is too many. It slows the typically fast UR deck down too much. I tried it again, this time running just one Thing in the Ice in the slot usually reserved for the fourth Price of Progress. I went 3-2. Better, but I still hated it. The matches I managed to win were close, too close for my liking, and it felt like Thing didn't actually improve upon the deck. I shelved the idea of Thing in the Ice being Legacy playable and moved on...until I saw a list that made a top 8 in the hands of Guillaume Perbet.

I tweaked Guillaume's list just a little bit, stealing a few ideas from Andrea Mengucci's like Creeping Tar Pit and Invasive Surgery, which is a good option to have in the sideboard against spells like Infernal Tutor and even Terminus. Reaching Delirium's threshold should be pretty easy, too, since we can always sacrifice a Baleful Strix to a Cabal Therapy. Really, the only thing I included not seen in the other two lists is one Null Rod. I love that card and I always try to jam it into every sideboard. It shuts down Sensei's Divining Top, Umezawa's Jitte, Batterskull, Aether Vial, MUD, and also does something Pithing Needle can't do which is turn off Lion's Eye Diamond and Lotus Petal.

Seriously, this deck looks sweet. I am a little hesitant playing with Cabal Therapy but only because I haven't played a ton of decks with it. I do know when in doubt name Force of Will, which is probably what I'll be doing most of the time. I'm thinking another good card to name is Abrupt Decay if your opponent plays Underground Sea, Tropical Island or Bayou. It's an indication they have Decay in their arsenal and it's one spell we really can't deal with when trying to win with Thing in the Ice. Hopefully we won't have to cast too many Therapies blind because this deck runs the full playset of Gitaxian Probe.

Between Dismember, Baleful Strix, and Awoken Horror (along with things like Disfigure and Murderous Cut post-sideboard), I would really hate to be a fair creature deck going up against this, and that's what I like about BUG in the Ice, it's tuned to beat the crap outta creature decks. But it also isn't stone-cold to combo decks. We have a nice array of spells to bring in to complement the Therapies in order to beat combo. Thoughtseize, Vendilion Clique, and Invasive Surgery all help in ripping opponents' hands to shreds. Personally, discard is my favorite strategy when fighting combo and it's one reason why I enjoy BUG decks so much. I find it's better than trying to lock them out with things like Meddling Mage or getting yourself caught up in a counter war. With enough discard spells it leaves your opponent top decking as their only out, and this deck has plenty of spells to accomplish just that.

One problem with including Thing in the Ice in a Delver deck is resetting your Delver of Secrets once Thing flipped. Now you could kind of get around this in UR Delver since Monastery Swiftspear and Stormchaser Mage have haste so you're not really losing out on tempo, but it's BUG in the Ice that truly utilizes the Cyclonic Rift type ability. Bouncing Snapcaster Mage is great because it allows us to flashback another spell when we recast him, and drawing two cards off one Baleful Strix through the course of a game is also great. The same kind of value can be reached with Vendilion Clique, as well. The only creature in the deck that doesn't combo well with Thing in the Ice is Deathrite Shaman, but I can live with that 'cause Shaman is just too good not to include.

Another great thing about these three creatures is they all have Enter the Battlefield effects. They've already done their job in my book so it's not very painful when you kill one to flashback Cabal Therapy.

The ole Bounce 'n Take

A neat little trick I never thought of until I played with the deck is bouncing a creature with Awoken Horror and then snatching it up with Cabal Therapy As you can tell, I didn't even need to cast my Gitaxian Probe first to see what was in their hand; I already knew what I wanted to name. Call this the ole Bounce 'n Take.

At the Mountains of Madness

I couldn't resist getting in a nod to H.P. Lovecraft, the master of horror. This particular match against Burn was close and even though I won this game I ended up losing the match. Sad face. But yeah, I can't get enough of this deck and its making me put Sneak and Show back in it's digital deck box for a while. BUG in the Ice feels Delver-esque in a way even though we aren't running any of the hallmark cards like Daze, Wasteland and Delver of Secrets, we are still just trying to stick a threat while answering everything our opponents try to do. I wonder if including Wastelands would be profitable for a deck such as this? I may give it a go, but that's for another time. I hope you enjoyed the article and until next time, thanks for reading!