Ice is nice, and will suffice!
Ice Block is an epic mage spell card, from the Classic set.
How to get
Ice Block can be obtained through Classic card packs, through crafting, or as an Arena reward. Regular Ice Block can also be obtained through the Highest Rank Bonus chest at the end of a Ranked season, or as a first-time reward for first time reaching Platinum 10 or Diamond 10 in Ranked mode.
| Card | Crafting cost | Disenchanting |
|---|---|---|
| Ice Block | 400 | 100 |
| Golden Ice Block | 1600 | 400 |
Notes
- Ice Block triggers before any damage has been taken, and well before any on-damage triggers have been run, and makes it so the damage is not incurred at all,[1] meaning triggers like Mistress of Pain and other secrets like
Eye for an Eye will not run. - Replacing your hero while the Ice Block Immune effect is active will cause you to lose the effect. Since Secrets can only be activated on the opponent's turn, currently the only way for this to happen is for a
Majordomo Executus controlled by the player with Ice Block to die after Ice Block has been activated. The player will lose the Immune effect, allowing them to be destroyed that same turn.[2]
Strategy
Can be very effective as an endgame surprise and can be a clutch game saver, giving you one more guaranteed turn.
Note that Ice Block will be triggered in response to any attack (during the opponent's turn) that would deal fatal damage to the user - the user's health will then be frozen at its current value. For this reason it is generally desirable for opponents to attempt to get the user's health as low as possible before triggering damage. In this way, when the user loses Immune at the start of the next turn, they will have a minimum of health remaining.
Since this secret will only trigger once your health gets below 1, playing this card with the Ethereal Arcanist is a fairly strong mid-game combo, giving the minion continual +2/+2 boosts.
As with all secrets, it should be noted that Ice Block will not activate on the controlling player's turn, meaning that sources of damage such as Fatigue, Mad Bomber or a paladin's Eye for an Eye on the mage's turn are capable of destroying the user despite the presence of an unactivated Ice Block.
Background
Ice Block is a mage spell from World of Warcraft. It encases the mage in unbreakable ice for 10 seconds, but prevents the mage from moving or acting for the duration. Unbreakable by all but the most powerful spells, the ice block renders the mage completely immune to all damage, and other hostile effects. It is commonly used in PvP to frustrate and delay opponents, as well as to give the mage time for their cooldowns to recover, at which point the mage may try to escape, using spells like Frost Nova and Blink to make their getaway. It can also be useful to buy time until a healer can get to you, or can be used immediately after activating a heal over time effect to allow the mage to 'stealth-heal', invulnerable from further attack. Similar to Hearthstone's version, mages can also use it specifically to avoid damage from a particularly powerful attack.
Artist
References
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-7xuKVH99sM Tested in Patch_2.7.0.9166 (Tavern Brawl patch))
- ↑ interesting interaction:Majordomo Executus & Ice Block. (2015-04-13).