Frostpyre Arcanist is one of those cards players keep asking about. Here is, in plain words, what its official text says, the rulings published by Wizards of the Coast, and the combos players actually run.
Official card text
This spell costsless to cast if you control a Giant or a Wizard. When this creature enters, search your library for an instant or sorcery card with the same name as a card in your graveyard, reveal it, put it into your hand, then shuffle.
Complete guide
Frostpyre Arcanist is a powerful Giant Wizard that rewards you for having a focused graveyard and a board of tribal allies. By lowering its own mana cost and searching for specific spells, it ensures your most impactful instants and sorceries can be cast a second time.
Casting at a Discount
The first ability of Frostpyre Arcanist is a static ability that reduces its cost by one generic mana if you control at least one Giant or Wizard. Note that this reduction is capped at one mana; even if you control a dozen Giants and Wizards, you only receive a total discount of {1}. Once you begin the process of casting this spell, your opponents cannot respond by destroying your creatures to increase the cost.
The Tutoring Trigger
When Frostpyre Arcanist enters the battlefield, its triggered ability checks your graveyard for instant and sorcery cards. You then search your library for a card with the exact same name as one of those cards. This means you must have already cast or discarded the spell you want to find before the Arcanist arrives. If your graveyard is empty, the ability still triggers, but you won't be able to find anything.
Common Mistakes
A common point of confusion involves the timing of the search. You do not choose the target name when the ability is put on the stack; you choose which card to find as the ability resolves. However, if the only eligible card is removed from your graveyard in response to the trigger (such as with exile effects), you will no longer be able to find a copy of that specific card in your library.
When to Play It
This creature is best utilized in the mid-to-late game once your graveyard is populated with utility spells or finishers. Because it counts itself as a Giant and a Wizard once it is on the battlefield, it can help discount future copies of Frostpyre Arcanist or satisfy other tribal synergies you might have in play.
Interaction examples
Roaming ThroneIf you control Roaming Throne with 'Giant' or 'Wizard' chosen as the creature type, Frostpyre Arcanist will cost only {3}{U} to cast. Furthermore, when the Arcanist enters the battlefield, Roaming Throne causes its search ability to trigger twice, allowing you to find two spells from your library that match names in your graveyard.
Solemn SimulacrumWhile Solemn Simulacrum provides excellent mana ramp and color fixing, it does not share a creature type with Frostpyre Arcanist. If you only control the Simulacrum, the Arcanist will cost its full {4}{U} to cast. However, the land fetched by the Simulacrum can help you reach the mana required to cast the Arcanist sooner.
Guide written with AI from the official text and rulings. Official English text prevails.
How it works : Frostpyre Arcanist
Original English text — Wizards of the Coast / Scryfall
- #1· Wizards of the Coast
If you control more than one Giant and/or Wizard, Frostpyre Arcanist still costs only
less to cast.No other card is named in this ruling.
- #2· Wizards of the Coast
Once you announce that you’re casting Frostpyre Arcanist, no player may take other actions until the spell’s been paid for. Notably, opponents can’t try to change the cost by removing your Giants and Wizards.
No other card is named in this ruling.
Legal formats
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Meta decks with Frostpyre Arcanist
No archived Top 8 deck with this card yet.