Ice Barrier Decks are all about big monsters and cool effects, putting the opponent’s strategy on ice with tricks and tactics that stop attacks, negate abilities, and bounce away the opponent’s defenses!  Their Spell Card Medallion of the Ice Barrier lets you add any “Ice Barrier” monster from your Deck to your hand, giving you easy access to key cards and killer combos.  Let’s talk about some of the best moves that define the Ice Barrier strategy.

When you activate Magic Triangle of the Ice Barrier, you reveal 3 different “Ice Barrier” monsters in your hand and choose 1 of your opponent’s cards.  When Triangle resolves, you destroy the card and Special Summon an “Ice Barrier” monster from your hand.  You can Special Summon any Ice Barrier monster, even if it has a high Level or high ATK.

Special Summon General Grunard of the Ice Barrier, and his effect lets you make another Normal Summon.  That helps you flood the field with attackers, or put together a Synchro Summon.  Lots of Ice Barrier monsters get special effects when you control more than 1 Ice Barrier monster, so Grunard unleashes those abilities.

While General Grunard makes it easier to use your effects, General Raiho of the Ice Barriermakes it tougher for your opponents to use their effects. Raiho negates any monster effect your opponent tries to activate, unless they discard a card from their hand.  Magic Triangle lets you Special Summon Grunard or Raiho without Tribute.  It also destroys a card, so you can take out a big opposing monster.  It can even destroy a Trap Card like Bottomless Trap Holeor Torrential Tribute before your opponent can activate it.

General Gantala of the Ice Barrier is the third Ice Barrier General, and he may be the strongest.  Gantala’s effect lets you Special Summon an “Ice Barrier” monster from your Graveyard every turn.  His effect activates in the End Phase, so you’ll need to make sure he isn’t destroyed, but his 2700 ATK makes him tough to take down.  Calling forth troops from the Graveyard instead of from your hand lets you overwhelm your opponent.  It also makes it easy to use those Ice Barrier effects that need multiple “Ice Barrier” monsters on the field to work.

Cryomancer of the Ice Barrier and Defender of the Ice Barrier both have abilities that stop your opponent’s attacks cold: Cryomancer keeps Level 4 and higher monsters from attacking, while Defender stops anything with 1600 ATK or more.  Dance Princess of the Ice Barrier lets you reveal “Ice Barrier” monsters from your hand to bounce away your opponent’s Set Spell and Trap Cards.  That lets you make easy attacks with Gantala and the Princess, because you won’t have to worry about Traps.  You can even use Warlock of the Ice Barrier to freeze both Duelist’s Spells: when Warlock is on the field, both Duelists have to Set Spell Cards and wait a turn before using them.

You’ll want to draw Magic Triangle of the Ice Barrier as often as you can, and you’ll need the right monsters to make the most of it.  These 3 monsters all have effects that let you draw more cards.  Turn Samurai of the Ice Barrier to Defense Position to destroy it and draw. Strategist of the Ice Barrier lets you discard an “Ice Barrier” monster to draw another card from your Deck.  And “Blizzed, Defender of the Ice Barrier” gets you a draw when it’s destroyed by battle.  These monsters can help you get going early in the Duel, but they also combo really well with Gantala once everything comes together; by Special Summoning any of these monsters with Gantala’s effect, you can keep reusing their abilities and get more cards.

With big attackers and powerful combos that chill the opposition, the Ice Barrier strategy is a great mix of aggression and disruption!