Ice Age block

The Ice Age block is the first block of sets, consisting of the large expansion Ice Age in June 1995 and two small expansions, Alliances  in June 1996 and Coldsnap  in July 2006.

The Homelands expansion, released after Ice Age and before Alliances, was originally considered to be a member of the Ice Age block, although it included none of the mechanics or themes of the block.

The block mechanics include Snow and cantrips and introduced the following keywords: Cumulative upkeep, Recover, Ripple; while reusing Rampage from earlier sets.

The block focuses on allied colors. Each set in this block has two cycles of multicolored cards: One cycle of uncommon two-colored spells and one of rare three-colored spells.

The Ice-Age block is the only block in Magic's history in which one expansion (Homelands) has been removed and replaced by a newer one (Coldsnap). This also means that Coldsnap is the only Modern legal set from this block.

Theme decks
Theme decks were not introduced until the Tempest block. But, because of the later addition of Coldsnap to this block, this block now has theme decks.