I've always thought this card was way better than people give it credit. If you support a lot of land and artifact destruction (we don't), he gets even better.
Yeah glancing at your list, there's not really anything that looks worse than this card. I probably like it better than Blistering Firecat, but that one is close.
This card is actually pretty great. Magus of the Ankh is at a good spot on the curve, doesn't have a terrible body, and gives red another form of reach to seal the deal in aggro. Ankh gets played in more decks but in a solid red aggro deck Zo-Zu is "significantly" better than ankh. Obviously the best course of action is to draft both and play them on curve right after each other.
Here's a question... do people cube this over Sulfuric Vortex? In addition to?
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Some people do cube it. I don't anymore because it was significantly worse than Ankh. My other 3cc red creatures were all much better performers.
Pretty much this. However, I and one of my players really like Zo-Zu, so if my red section expanded by, I don't know, maybe 5 or 10 cards, we'd cube him again.
I still have my copy in my on-deck binder for the same reason. But now that we got Flamespeaker and we're about to get Rabblemaster, I think his chances of returning are pretty slim.
Zo-Zu is one of those cards that is totally Cubeable. It depends largely on the archetypes supported and the style of Red that you like to play. I have Molten Rain and Pillage in my Red section, with Stone Rain removed years ago. I've considered many times throwing Stone Rain back in with Zo-Zu, but that 3cc slot is just too crowded nowadays.
Silent Edge's Tidbits of Wisdom: The Lewis Theory - When the presence of a single card makes every other card in your deck better (see Lewis, Ray). The Rubber Edict - You'd rather have it and not use it, than need it and not have it. The Shotgun Wedding - Don't commit early unless you absolutely have to.
I got what you were getting at the first time around.
I really like Zo-zu, but his competition is pretty steep at 3 cmc in red. I personally prefer him to the Firecat, but I totally see where everyone is coming from giving the cat the edge.
I also really like this card - I am the biggest Ankh fan - but boy the competition has stepped up a notch recently: Prophetic Flamespeaker, Goblin Rabblemaster and the somewhat underrated Archetype of Aggression are all pretty good aggressive red beaters. A 2/2 with no evasion makes for an awkward bedfellow for aggro decks. It would take very little to make Zo-Zu a staple for me. 3/2? Flying? 2R? Any one of those, and done.
I don't think he makes the cut in most smaller cubes (although I wouldn't be angry if I saw him in a 450 or even a 360), but he is definitely a great player in larger cubes.
Zo-Zu the Punisher
I see a lot of complaints about the lack of playable red 3-drops, and Ankh of Mishra is considered a staple. Why isn't anyone cubing this?
450 card Peasant cube thread. Draft it here.
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Modem Masters, a 500 cube that tries to capture the essence of a Modern Masters set draft. 3 of each common, 2 of each uncommon, 1 of each rare, few mythics. Includes minor changes for balance reasons to give certain archetypes the tools they need to succeed.
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Pretty much this. However, I and one of my players really like Zo-Zu, so if my red section expanded by, I don't know, maybe 5 or 10 cards, we'd cube him again.
Cheers,
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My Article - "Mana Short: A study in limited resource management."
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Curving out isn't that much of a magical wonderland. I don't understand what you are trying to say here.
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Silent Edge's Tidbits of Wisdom:
The Lewis Theory - When the presence of a single card makes every other card in your deck better (see Lewis, Ray).
The Rubber Edict - You'd rather have it and not use it, than need it and not have it.
The Shotgun Wedding - Don't commit early unless you absolutely have to.
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Not trying to say much, just it'd be awesome to do all of that. WonderLAND DESTRUCTION.
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I really like Zo-zu, but his competition is pretty steep at 3 cmc in red. I personally prefer him to the Firecat, but I totally see where everyone is coming from giving the cat the edge.
On spoiled card wishlisting and 'should-have-had'-isms:
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