Blood Sun MTG Card
| Mana cost | |
| Converted mana cost | 3 |
| Rarity | Rare |
| Type | Enchantment |
| Released | 2018-01-19 |
| Set symbol | |
| Set name | Rivals of Ixalan |
| Set code | RIX |
| Number | 92 |
| Frame | 2015 |
| Layout | normal |
| Border | black |
| Illustred by | Emrah Elmasli |
Key Takeaways
- Blood Sun trades its casting cost for card advantage, replacing itself by drawing a card.
- It’s a game-changer for land-focused strategies by neutralizing non-mana land abilities.
- Enhances decks by synergizing with cards like Lotus Field for a rapid mana boost.
Text of card
When Blood Sun enters the battlefield, draw a card. All lands lose all abilities except mana abilities.
As the struggle raged for control of the Immortal Sun, the world grew dark under a blood-red sky.
Card Pros
Card Advantage: Casting Blood Sun provides the benefit of a card replacement with its ability to draw a card upon entering the battlefield. It ensures that playing this card will not result in a loss of card advantage, maintaining parity or propelling you ahead in resources compared to your opponent.
Resource Acceleration: While Blood Sun itself does not directly produce additional mana, it can accelerate your resources indirectly. By nullifying all non-mana abilities of lands, it allows lands like Lotus Field to enter untapped without the downside of sacrificing other lands, effectively ramping up your mana availability without any setbacks.
Instant Speed: Blood Sun is not an instant, but it synergizes with instant-speed strategies. By shutting down fetch lands and other lands with activated abilities that could be used at instant speed, Blood Sun simplifies the game state. This lets players better plan their moves without worrying about unexpected land-based responses from their opponents during their turns or at the end of their turn.
Card Cons
Discard Requirement: Blood Sun does not require a discard when played, however, its presence in hand can be a dead draw if you’re facing an opponent with minimal impactful lands, effectively making it a card that could have been something more immediately usable.
Specific Mana Cost: Blood Sun’s casting cost includes two generic and one red mana, which means it requires commitment to red mana sources. This specificity may not seamlessly fit into multicolor decks that are not heavily red-focused.
Comparatively High Mana Cost: Its three mana cost is a significant investment in the early game. Although it can shut off strategic lands, there are alternative cards at a lower mana cost that could disrupt the opponent’s board or advance your own game plan more efficiently.
Reasons to Include in Your Collection
Versatility: Blood Sun is dynamic in its functionality, effortlessly sliding into various deck archetypes that can benefit from land-based strategies. Its ability to nullify problematic lands can be a game-changer in many matchups.
Combo Potential: Aside from its inherent ability to suppress abilities of all lands, it pairs exceptionally well with cards like Lotus Field, allowing for powerful mana acceleration without the downside of sacrificing lands.
Meta-Relevance: With many decks relying on intricate land mechanics or utility lands to stabilize their strategy, Blood Sun gains traction by effectively disrupting opponent setups and strategies, which can be critical in the current competitive landscape.
How to beat
Blood Sun is a unique piece within the MTG universe, providing players with a distinct edge by neutralizing all land-based abilities upon entry. This red card has the potential to disrupt strategies that rely heavily on lands with powerful abilities. Navigating the challenges this card presents requires strategic adaptation and thoughtful deck-building.
To effectively counter Blood Sun, consider adding enchantment removal spells to your arsenal. Cards like Naturalize and Disenchant are efficient tools that can directly address Blood Sun, removing it from the battlefield and allowing your lands to regain their abilities. Additionally, employing instant-speed spells allows you to respond to Blood Sun’s casting immediately, minimizing any potential impact on your strategy.
Focusing on the fundamentals, maintaining mana curve efficiency and choosing spells that can operate under Blood Sun’s effect can also mitigate its dominance. Adapting to the limitations it imposes might mean relying less on lands with extensive abilities and instead using those that simply provide mana. Staying agile and versatile in your approach can help to maintain control, even when facing the challenge of Blood Sun’s game-altering presence.
Cards like Blood Sun
In the ever-expanding universe of Magic: The Gathering, Blood Sun stands out as a distinctive enchantment card that brings strategic depth to gameplay. It finds kinship with the card Blood Moon, which also impacts lands, albeit in a significantly different manner. While Blood Sun removes all abilities from non-basic lands, leaving mana generation intact, Blood Moon goes a step further. It transforms all non-basic lands into basic Mountains, fundamentally altering the board state and potentially disrupting an opponent’s mana base.
Comparatively, Alpine Moon exudes a narrower scope. It targets only one land type, restricting its application but excelling in specific metagames. It’s a useful tool when a single troublesome land needs attention, yet Blood Sun handles a wider array of threats at once. Another related card, Magus of the Moon, embodies Blood Moon’s effect on a creature. The flexibility of being a creature with the same transformative power can be advantageous, though its susceptibility to removal is an inherent weakness not shared by its enchantment counterparts.
Despite the similarities these cards share in manipulating land capabilities, Blood Sun’s unique ability to shut off land abilities without hindering mana production allows it to shine in particular scenarios and decks built around land-based strategies in MTG.
Where to buy
If you're looking to purchase Blood Sun MTG card by a specific set like Rivals of Ixalan, 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 Blood Sun and other MTG cards:
- eBay
- TCG Player
- Card Kingdom
- Card Market
- Star City Games
- CoolStuffInc
- MTG Mint Card
- Hareruya
- Troll and Toad
- ABU Games
- Card Hoarder Magic Online
- MTGO Traders Magic Online
See Magic products
Legalities
Magic the Gathering formats where Blood Sun has restrictions
| Format | Legality |
|---|---|
| Historicbrawl | Legal |
| Historic | Legal |
| Legacy | Legal |
| Oathbreaker | Legal |
| Gladiator | Legal |
| Pioneer | Legal |
| Commander | Legal |
| Modern | Legal |
| Vintage | Legal |
| Duel | Legal |
| Explorer | Legal |
| Penny | Legal |
| Timeless | Legal |
Rules and information
The reference guide for Magic: The Gathering Blood Sun card rulings provides official rulings, any errata issued, as well as a record of all the functional modifications that have occurred.
| Date | Text |
|---|---|
| 2018-01-19 | A mana ability is an ability that produces mana, not an ability that costs mana. |
| 2018-01-19 | If a land gains an ability after Blood Sun has entered the battlefield, it keeps that ability. |
| 2018-01-19 | If a land has an ability that causes it to enter the battlefield tapped, it will lose that ability before it applies. The same is also true of any other abilities of a land that modify how it enters the battlefield or apply “as” it enters the battlefield, such as the first ability of Unclaimed Territory. |
| 2018-01-19 | If a land has an ability that continuously changes the types of other lands (such as Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth does), that ability will apply before Blood Sun removes that land’s abilities. If a land has an ability that grants abilities to other objects, Blood Sun will stop it from doing so. |
| 2018-01-19 | If a land has an ability that triggers “when” it enters the battlefield, it will lose that ability before it triggers. |
| 2018-01-19 | Land cards not on the battlefield aren’t affected. |
