I'm not a huge mountain biker. I have a Giant talon 29er 2. I use it to commute in bad weather, and occasionally ride some local trails, all cross country type stuff. Anyway it has maxxis icon 2.2 29ers on it now. I feel like they are not aggressive enough for snow, and really muddy conditions. I'm good to swap back to the icons when it driess out but looking for a winter, shoulder season tire. Kinda overwhelmed when I start looking. Budget is about 100$ for a set. Any thoughts would be great, thanks in advance.

Maybe talk to your LBS to see if a wider tire will fit. For grip it's all about a wider contact patch. One of the reasons trail riders reduce their tire pressures is to allow the tire to flatten a little, thus creating a wider point of contact to the ground. That said, this is easier to achieve with tubeless tires. Looking at Giant's website, your wheels are not tubeless ready. Given your budget of $100, tubeless is not an option.

All that said, riding through slippery conditions will help improve balance and technique and work your core a little more than casual riding. :-)

Good luck

Fat bike for the win.

Or a 27.5+ for the best of both worlds, which is the route I took when I did my research.

Quite possible depending on how much snow he is dealing with.

My gravel bike is set up tubeless and where I invest most of my money. I don't ride trails in much snow more of a mud issue when the snow melts and the snow is road slush courting type stuff. I did swing by my LBS and they had a limited supply in stock. Said they will be ordering up for the spring soon.