Blaze effects are always good in Limited, but
they don't see much use in Constructed unless
they have some other benefit. Demonfire and
Banefire saw use mainly because they could force
their way through countermagic. Red Sun's Zenith
is if anything even MORE vulnerable to
countermagic-- if it doesn't resolve, or if its
target isn't there when it tries to, you don't
get to shuffle it back in. In trade, we get the
ability to exile whatever creature we use it to
kill, which would be a great addition if anybody
still played Bloodghast. I think Red Sun's
Zenith will be at its strongest in Limited.
I also think that Red Sun's real strength
doesn't come from exiling its targets, but from
shuffling itself back in. All too frequently, if
someone has a Blaze in their Limited deck, they
wait and wait to cast it with dreams of
unleashing it for their opponent's entire life
total, only to end up losing games they could
have won if they'd just used their burn to take
out the creature that was wailing on them. But
no, because people feel like they wasted their
burn spell if they use it to kill a 3/3. Red
Sun's Zenith doesn't make people feel like they
wasted it, because it shuffles itself back in,
where you can draw it again later. Later, as in,
when you have more mana to put into X. You can
fire off an early one to take out a 2/2 with
confidence, because now your opponent knows that
even if you don't draw it, he;ll run out of
creatures before you run out of kill spells.
Red has been the most straightforward color in
recent times, and Red Sun's Zenith is perhaps
the easiest to use of its cycle. I've already
heard some unfavorable comparisons involving
this card and how it's never uncounterable like
Banefire, but personally I'm not huge on
those. It exiles Vengevine, it prevents
Praetor's Counsel from regrowing creatures,
and it gives you a chance of using it again. It
may not scream "This is the deck I should go
in!" - but not every good card does.
Welcome back readers today's card of the day is
Red Suns Zenith unsurprisingly the red member of
the Zenith cycle. For a single red mana and X
you get to deal X damage to a target creature or
player and a creature that would be put into a
graveyard is instead exiled. An interesting
twist on blaze the fact it gets shuffled into
your deck again means it can single handedly
take care of an opponent. In standard I could
see myself playing this card as a finisher in a
Pyromancer's Ascension deck or some sort of
other combo related deck, its too mana intensive
for most aggressive red decks. In extended and
eternal its too expensive and I doubt it will
see much play due to its mana cost among other
factors. In casual and multiplayer the ability
to put it back in your library means the longer
the game goes on the more damage you can do and
remove threats from the game. In limited its
removal and a win condition all in one and
requires only a splash of red a very powerful
card. Overall a predictable member of the cycle
but it still has its uses.
Today's card of the day is Red Sun's Zenith
which costs one Red and X to cast and functions
much like Blaze with the added benefits of
returning to the library if not countered and
exiling the target instead of sending to the
graveyard. This is a solid and flexible
burn spell and should find a home in several
decks or at least sidedecks as an exile option.
For Limited the flexibility and chance to redraw
it make this a very efficient choice for removal
in a format that always appreciates a good burn
spell. Easily a first pick in Booster and
at a single Red it is worth splashing whenever
possible in Sealed.
Welcome back to another
installment here on Zenith week. Today’s Card of
the Day is Red Sun’s Zenith from Mirrodin
Besieged. This is perhaps the best Zenith
printed in terms of function and cost. Cost
wise, this is the only other one mana plus X
drop, next to Green Sun’s Zenith. This Zenith’s
X cost gets you X damage to a creature or
player, if a creature dealt damage this way
would be put into a graveyard, exile it. Shuffle
the Zenith back into your library. A very decent
burn spell indeed.
While not the greatest burn spell ever, it holds its own in
terms of standard. There really isn’t another
GREAT burn spell in standard anyways, except for
perhaps Comet Storm. But being this is rare, and
Comet Storm is mythic, you have a better chance
of pulling the Zenith. For its use, it can
remove trouble some creatures that may other
wise be shuffled back into the library. But also
in terms of removal, it is good because black
decks will not be able to bring their creatures
back to their hand if destroyed by the Zenith.
So in terms of limited or standard, I guess that
is good enough.
In vintage formats, this is probably not someone's first
choice for an X burn spell. I know mine floats
more towards Banefire, but this is easily my
second choice. I think this spell was what
Besieged needed to start bringing red players
back to type by giving them a good spell to have
fun with. And in any format, using this spell
with Fire Servant means the potential of damage
could easily remove a large number of creatures
from the game the hardest part could be choosing
which one. But, then again, maybe you could make
that choice easier, too. By using cards such as
Pyromancer’s Ascension or Reverberate, you could
get extra copies, which copies the X value.
Therefore, you get to pop multiple targets out
of the game, or even just deal that final blow
to your opponent. Again, with those cards, I
would still choose Banefire, but for standard
play, how could you argue that kind of damage?
