Didn't Wizards of the Coast say they were moving
away from instant-speed card draw? I think this
card could single-handedly bring back Monoblue
Draw-Go. Four of these, all the counterspells
you can get your hands on, and a single win
condition? Yes please.
Even if you're not playing Draw-Go, this is an
amazing card for any deck with heavy blue. Now,
playing it for X=1 is a bad deal, especially
when you compare it to Reach Through Mists. So
you'll want to pour some serious mana into this,
right? Which means you'll want to cast it later
in the game... after you've already emptied your
hand. So play the reast of the cards in hand,
then drop this for X=3 or 4 and you're ready to
sling some more spells next turn. And since it
shuffles itself back in, you might get a chance
to do it again after you've exhausted all those
spells!
Finally, the fact that it targets a player means
that, with sufficient mana, you can also use it
to force your opponent to draw. This makes it a
convenient win condition in any deck that can
produce infinite mana, but is blue and not red
and doesn't want to splash.
The next in a line of cards that includes Braingeyser,
Stroke of Genius, and Mind Spring, Blue Sun's
Zenith is likely to have a similar impact on the
world of Magic. It's an open secret that the
best cards in blue control decks of bygone days
were not the counterspells but the "at the end
of your turn, draw lots of cards" spells, and
the Blue Sun will fit very well in modern decks
that combine counterspells with Everflowing
Chalice and Cultivate. And I love that it says
"target player" - I'm going to try and find a
reason to point it at an opponent one of these
days!
Welcome back readers continuing our review of
the Zenith cycle today we have Blue sun’s
Zenith. For the low cost of three blue mana and
X and you get variant of the classic card Stroke
of Genius. While Stroke of Genius was used as a
kill in combo decks and as a super draw spell
Blue Sun requires a heavier commitment to blue
but it also shuffles back into its owners
library, thinning your deck means you have a
better chance of drawing this card again. In
standard maybe this card will see fringe play
its instant speed which is good but its also
expensive. In extended and eternal this could
possibly be used in some sort of combo decks as
a kill condition or to get to the good stuff
being a variant of Stroke of Genius is pretty
powerful. In casual and multiplayer this card
will see play in every blue EDH deck the chances
of drawing it again are abysmal but its great
card draw, it will be used in infinite mana
combo decks as well it’s a solid card. In
limited its card draw but it requires a heavy
commitment to blue if your already in blue pick
this up im unsure if I would be tempted to go
blue with this, its not a card you can just
splash. Overall a powerful variant on a classic
combo card.
Today's card of the day is Blue Sun's Zenith
which at three Blue and X is a bit expensive for
a card draw, but being instant speed is fairly
useful later in the game and works well with an
infinite mana combination like the myr offer.
Overall there are better options that work
earlier in the game as well for most decks, but
in the right build this Zenith can be useful to
add more cards or even be a finishing move.
For Limited the card draw is a draw option,
but three Blue does restrict it to primarily
Blue decks and the later stages of the game. The
shuffle effect becomes a bit more noteworthy
with the smaller library as it can be played
earlier, if three Blue mana happens to be
available, to try for a later draw. That
scenario seems both unlikely and a poor usage of
resources overall. Better cards are likely to be
present at the uncommon or common level in the
pack which can be drafted first in Booster,
though this may depend on your personal style of
play. In Sealed if your pool is heavily Blue
oriented there is little reason not to play this
card, but given the format the likelihood of
half your deck or more being a single color is
low.
Today’s card of the day is Blue Sun’s Zenith
from Mirrodin Besieged. For three blue mana and
X, target player draws X cards, shuffle the
zenith back into your library. Not that bad of a
card, but limitless potential.
In standard, this card quickly combos around.
For one thing, Jace’s Erasure means any card you
draw, your opponent mills. And having a fat hand
never hurt anyone. Not to mention that with some
of the zenith’s fellow Besieged cards, this
combo could prove fatal. Take for instance,
Psychosis Crawler, power and toughness equal to
cards in hand, and when you draw, your opponent
loses one life. Now, add in the Consecrated
Sphinx. Now, target your opponent with the
zenith. They draw X, you draw twice the value of
X. And they lose one life for each card you
draw, and mill one card for each card drawn.
As always, vintage applications mean there are
ways to further exploit these kinds of cards.
For instance, Thought Reflection. With the
Thought Reflection and the aforementioned cards
out, things just simply get out of hand. Let’s
just hope you also have from Scars of Mirrodin
Venser’s Journal at that point.
Simply put, another great card out of this fun
set.
