Tracing Cyclone Summoner's Place in MTG Timeline

Tracing Cyclone Summoner's Place in MTG Timeline

In TCG ·

Cyclone Summoner MTG card art from Kaldheim

Image courtesy of Scryfall.com

Where Cyclone Summoner Fits in Magic History

Blue has long been the backbone of tempo, permission, and card advantage in Magic: The Gathering, but Cyclone Summoner from Kaldheim brings a dramatic, board-shaking twist to that tradition. With a mana cost of five generic and two blue mana ({5}{U}{U}), this 7/7 Giant Wizard is nothing if not a statement piece. Its presence on the battlefield signals a moment where the game spins on a new axis: a powerful ETB effect that asks you to weigh timing, opponent plans, and your own deck wiring. The flavor text—“Frost giants study for centuries in isolation, honing their ability to harness elemental mayhem.”—frames Cyclone Summoner as a conduit between icy, patient study and a sudden, tempestuous disruption ⚔️💎.

Timeline placement in MTG history

In the long arc of Magic’s history, there have been several landmark moments where a single card or a block redefined how players approached the game’s tempo and board state. Cyclone Summoner sits in that tradition as a blue card that doesn’t merely counter or draw—it reorders the battlefield. The card’s delay is part of its charm: you must cast it from hand for the ETB trigger to fire, which means you’re committing to a high-stakes tempo play at a seven-mana investment. When Cyclone Summoner enters, you effectively press a reset button for all permanents except Giants, Wizards, and lands. This is not just a wipe; it’s a curated reset that preserves your chosen tribes (Giants and Wizards) while preserving the resource base of both players’ lands. In a timeline that has seen powerful reset effects (think of effects that reconfigure the board or revert it to a previous state), Cyclone Summoner carves out a blue, tribal-leaning niche that rewards careful setup and precise timing 🧙‍♂️🔥.

Strategically, Cyclone Summoner nods toward the recurring MTG theme of “board presence vs. board state.” The exemption for Giants and Wizards isn’t just flavor—it’s a design constraint that nudges you toward tribal synergies. A deck leaning into blue Giants and blue Wizards can leverage this spell to swing from a comfortable board to a dramatic, post-sweep position where your main threats survive while the rest of the battlefield reforms. It’s a bit of a paradox: you invest heavily to reset the field, but the board you return to is shaped by your own tribe and your opponent’s layout. That paradox is what makes this card so interesting to track in MTG lore—an emblem of how blue can tilt the balance by reshaping the battlefield rather than simply removing it 🧙‍♂️🎲.

“Frost giants study for centuries in isolation, honing their ability to harness elemental mayhem.”

From a lore perspective, Cyclone Summoner embodies Kaldheim’s overarching theme of mythic, timeless power meeting the frostbitten, mythic landscapes of the set. The artwork by Andrey Kuzinskiy presents a stark, glacier-blue aesthetic that mirrors the card’s mechanical chill: a giant wizard stepping into a maelstrom of glacial energy. The flavor and design together anchor Cyclone Summoner within the broader MTG mythos as a rare creature that feels both ancient and explosively relevant in the right moment of a game 🧊🧙‍♀️.

Design, playability, and collector perspective

As a rare from Kaldheim, Cyclone Summoner stands out for its high-impact ETB and the tribal conditioning embedded in its text. The mana cost, a hefty {5}{U}{U}, means you’re looking to ramp or accelerate into a pivotal turn; the payoff is a 7/7 body that can anchor a blue control or value-based deck while delivering a dramatic board state shift. In practice, this card shines in formats that reward big tempo plays and board control, such as Modern or Commander when you can maximize the timing of the hand-cast condition. The card’s foil print and non-foil options broaden its collector appeal, with EDHREC rankings and market data hinting at modest but steady interest for players who prize unique board-state interactions and tribal synergies. The flavor-laden, high-contrast art helps this card stand out on display, making it a favorite for collectors who enjoy both aesthetics and power in blue’s toolkit 🧙‍♂️💎.

For competitive and casual players alike, Cyclone Summoner invites a “big turn” game plan: protect your Giants and Wizards, cast Cyclone Summoner at the optimal moment, and be prepared for a surprising reshuffle that can turn a losing position into a winning surge. When you pair it with flicker or blink effects that rebounce your own things, you can pressure opponents while preserving your defined tribal core—though remember the ETB condition; cast from hand to trigger the grand reset, not from a leftover zone acquired through tricks or cheating the timing 🌀🧪.

Practical deck-building notes

  • Timing is everything: aim to cast Cyclone Summoner on a turn where you’re ready to capitalize on the new board state—but only if you cast it from hand to unlock the permanent-bounce effect.
  • Tribal mix: Giants and Wizards synergy can be your backbone; protect your on-board Giants/Wizards to maximize the benefit when the field resets.
  • Blue resilience: build toward card advantage and interaction to ensure you can rebound after the reset, reestablishing threats quickly as the opponents’ boards reform.
  • Commander considerations: in a multiplayer format, this card can flip the table in a single swing, reshaping alliances and rival plans in a dramatic fashion.

Whether you’re chasing nostalgic echoes of MTG’s evolving timeline or simply savoring the thrill of a well-timed reset, Cyclone Summoner invites you to narrate a fresh chapter in the history of blue magic. It’s a card that rewards planning, patience, and a willingness to let the storm do the heavy lifting while you keep the giants safe and your wizards ready to weave the next spell 🔮⚡.

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Cyclone Summoner

Cyclone Summoner

{5}{U}{U}
Creature — Giant Wizard

When this creature enters, if you cast it from your hand, return all permanents to their owners' hands except for Giants, Wizards, and lands.

Frost giants study for centuries in isolation, honing their ability to harness elemental mayhem.

ID: b2d40071-cadf-48de-a8ed-d55adbfab632

Oracle ID: 2088e791-9ce5-4e97-a4ce-f51adaa3f42b

Multiverse IDs: 503660

TCGPlayer ID: 230494

Cardmarket ID: 531122

Colors: U

Color Identity: U

Keywords:

Rarity: Rare

Released: 2021-02-05

Artist: Andrey Kuzinskiy

Frame: 2015

Border: black

EDHRec Rank: 6603

Penny Rank: 7838

Set: Kaldheim (khm)

Collector #: 52

Legalities

  • Standard — not_legal
  • Future — not_legal
  • Historic — legal
  • Timeless — legal
  • Gladiator — legal
  • Pioneer — legal
  • Modern — legal
  • Legacy — legal
  • Pauper — not_legal
  • Vintage — legal
  • Penny — legal
  • Commander — legal
  • Oathbreaker — legal
  • Standardbrawl — not_legal
  • Brawl — legal
  • Alchemy — not_legal
  • Paupercommander — not_legal
  • Duel — legal
  • Oldschool — not_legal
  • Premodern — not_legal
  • Predh — not_legal

Prices

  • USD: 0.19
  • USD_FOIL: 0.24
  • EUR: 0.25
  • EUR_FOIL: 0.28
  • TIX: 0.02
Last updated: 2025-11-20