Ember-Fist Zubera MTG Card

Ember-Fist Zubera - Champions of Kamigawa

Mana cost
Converted mana cost	2
Rarity	Common
Type	Creature — Zubera Spirit
Released	2004-10-01
Set symbol
Set name	Champions of Kamigawa
Set code	CHK
Power	1
Toughness	2
Number	166
Frame	2003
Layout	normal
Border	black
Illustred by	Ron Spencer

Key Takeaways

Ember-Fist Zubera offers card advantage through damage scaling with Zuberas dying in a turn.
It complements decks built around sacrificing creatures, enhancing explosive play potential.
The card’s death-triggered ability simulates instant speed, providing tactical depth.

Text of card

When Ember-Fist Zubera is put into a graveyard from play, it deals damage to target creature or player equal to the number of Zubera put into all graveyards from play this turn.

When the Honden of Infinite Rage shattered, its attendants swarmed Kamigawa to sow mortal destruction.

Card Pros

Card Advantage: When Ember-Fist Zubera is put into a graveyard from the battlefield, you may have it deal damage to any target equal to the number of Zubera that died this turn. This ability can help thin out opponents’ creatures or chip away at their life total, potentially tipping the scales in your favor. Moreover, if multiple Zuberas are involved, it can lead to significant card loss for your opponent while you maintain your card presence on the board.

Resource Acceleration: Although Ember-Fist Zubera itself doesn’t directly accelerate resources, it fits snugly into a deck built around sacrificing creatures. Such a setup often involves creating mana quickly to deploy threats sooner than usual. The death of this Zubera could easily be followed by explosive plays, thanks to the mana and sacrifice synergies it complements.

Instant Speed: While Ember-Fist Zubera operates at sorcery speed, its death-triggered ability has a pseudo-instant speed quality. You can block with it or sacrifice it during your opponent’s turn, allowing you to retain open mana for other spells and actions. Misleading opponents into unfavorable attacks or surprising them with unexpected damage reinforces the tactical advantage of instant speed capabilities.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: While the Ember-Fist Zubera can potentially offer a powerful payoff when it dies, it necessitates the player to have a specific set of circumstances in place. To fully leverage its ability, one must often engineer a scenario where multiple creatures, including Ember-Fist Zubera, are sent to the graveyard simultaneously, which may not always be practical or efficient within the flow of the game.

Specific Mana Cost: Requiring both red and generic mana to cast, Ember-Fist Zubera’s mana cost can restrict its inclusion to decks that can reliably produce the necessary colors. This need for red mana can particularly impact multi-color decks that may not prioritize red sources, thereby limiting its versatility across different deck archetypes.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: With a casting cost that leans towards the higher end for its effects, there might be other creatures or spells available to players that offer a better cost-to-effect ratio. In an environment where mana efficiency is key, Ember-Fist Zubera’s mana requisites may overshadow its potential benefits, especially when taking into consideration that its ability is contingent on it being put into the graveyard from the battlefield.

Reasons to Include in Your Collection

Versatility: Ember-Fist Zubera brings a level of adaptability to both aggressive red decks and those that revolve around the Zubera creature type. With its ability to deal damage upon leaving the battlefield, it serves as a threat even in death.

Combo Potential: This card shines when combined with sacrifice outlets, enabling players to trigger the damage ability at will. It’s a crucial part of any deck focusing on maximizing enter or exit battlefield triggers for strategic advantage.

Meta-Relevance: In environments where creature-based strategies dominate, Ember-Fist Zubera can deter opponent attacks or act as removal once it’s sacrificed, giving it a tactical edge in creature-heavy metas.

How to Beat

Understanding your opponent’s strategies is essential in Magic: The Gathering, and this includes knowing how to tackle cards like Ember-Fist Zubera. This creature has the potential to infuse your opponent’s deck with an explosive advantage, especially when it’s effectively sacrificed for a considerable damage output. The key to neutralizing this threat lies in managing the board and timing your removal wisely.

Utilizing instant-speed removal spells that can target Ember-Fist Zubera before it becomes a sacrifice outlet for your adversary can be a decisive move. Additionally, employing graveyard disruption can handle the creature after it hits the bin to prevent recursion plays. Efficient board control tools such as sweepers can also keep Ember-Fist Zubera from ever accumulating too many siblings on the board, which greatly diminishes its power.

Monitoring the pace and carefully planning your spells can put you in a favorable position against this card. Combining instant speed interaction with strategic graveyard management can dismantle the synergies your opponent is trying to establish with Ember-Fist Zubera, effectively reducing its impact on the game. By keeping these tactics in mind, you can ensure this creature doesn’t erupt into a fiery problem for your deck.

Cards like Ember-Fist Zubera

Ember-Fist Zubera presents a unique twist in the realm of creature cards within Magic: The Gathering. This card echoes the functionality seen in other cards that harness death triggers, such as Blood Artist, which capitalizes on creatures dying. What sets Ember-Fist Zubera apart is its specific ability to deal damage to any target based on the number of Zuberas that have died this turn. Blood Artist, conversely, siphons life with each death, impacting the overall life tally between players.

Comparatively, we can look at Zulaport Cutthroat, a card that shares a similar objective, offering lifeloss to the opponent while granting you life when a creature you control perishes. The distinction, however, lies in Ember-Fist Zubera’s potential to combine forces with other Zuberas, thereby amplifying the damage inflicted. Additionally, Falconer’s Cane showcases an affinity with death triggers, converting a creature’s demise into card advantage, yet without directly affecting life totals or dealing damage like Ember-Fist Zubera does.

Therefore, in the spectrum of creatures with death-related abilities, Ember-Fist Zubera holds a valuable position, especially in decks designed to exploit the synergies between Zuberas for maximized effect.

Zulaport Cutthroat - Battle for Zendikar (BFZ)

Cards similar to Ember-Fist Zubera by color, type and mana cost

Goblin Elite Infantry - MTG Card versions

Rock Hydra - Intl. Collectors' Edition (CEI)

Dwarven Weaponsmith - Foreign Black Border (FBB)

Dwarven Lieutenant - Fallen Empires (FEM)

Goblin Elite Infantry - Classic Sixth Edition (6ED)

Fireslinger - Duel Decks Anthology: Jace vs. Chandra (JVC)

Mogg War Marshal - Duel Decks: Elves vs. Goblins (DD1)

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Ember-Fist Zubera MTG card by a specific set like Champions of Kamigawa, there are several reliable options to consider. One of the primary sources is your local game store, where you can often find booster packs, individual cards, and preconstructed decks from current and some past sets. They often offer the added benefit of a community where you can trade with other players.

For a broader inventory, particularly of older sets, online marketplaces like TCGPlayer, Card Kingdom and Card Market offer extensive selections and allow you to search for cards from specific sets. Larger e-commerce platforms like eBay and Amazon also have listings from various sellers, which can be a good place to look for sealed product and rare finds.

Additionally, Magic’s official site often has a store locator and retailer lists for finding Wizards of the Coast licensed products. Remember to check for authenticity and the condition of the cards when purchasing, especially from individual sellers on larger marketplaces.

Below is a list of some store websites where you can buy the Ember-Fist Zubera and other MTG cards: