One of the best things about seeing a new Universes Beyond set spoiled is realizing how perfectly certain characters and concepts match up with established Magic mechanics. There are tons of examples of this across the different Universes Beyond sets so far. MTG Avatar is looking like another winner in this regard. The freshly-revealed Zhao, the Moon Slayer borrows heavily from one of Magic’s most infamous land disruption enchantments.
Capturing the moment when Zhao ensnares the moon spirit and turns the night sky red, this card borrows mechanically from MTG classic Blood Moon. For fans of the show, this is a flavor slam-dunk. For Magic players in general, however, this card is a little bit scary. Blood Moon is a card that’s near-universally despised, so putting it on a legendary creature feels like a bold move.
Zhao, The Moon Slayer
Before you freak out, Zhao is very much a fixed version of Blood Moon, as he doesn’t come with everything unlocked. Instead, you’ll need to invest seven mana into its activated ability first. Until you do this, all Zhao does is slow down your opponent’s nonbasics, which is nowhere near as oppressive. Still, the thought of having a Blood Moon in the command zone is definitely scary, even with caveats attached.
Thankfully, there’s little escaping from the fact that Zhao, the Moon Slayer is slow. By the time you have access to seven mana in Commander, things should be just about wrapped up anyway, so he shouldn’t be that oppressive. On top of this, Zhao is extremely vulnerable to removal thanks to his low stats. A single Shock can take him out with ease, undoing all of the mana invested.
While Zhao can make casting removal difficult, your opponents have an opportunity to do this in response to you activating Zhao’s ability, which can result in truly devastating blowouts. This essentially makes the card a weaker Magus of the Moon. Many would argue that card was already a fixed Blood Moon, too.
As much as Zhao, The Moon Slayer shouldn’t be a problem in Commander, he still feels at odds with Wizards’ plans for the format. Mass land denial is currently locked behind bracket four, which is inherently optimised and fairly quick, ending on turn four. While you can abuse them there, Zhao clearly isn’t designed for this bracket. Needing seven mana to turn on their ability alone makes them too slow, and there’s no escaping their flimsiness.
Thankfully, Zhao is somewhat reasonable in lower brackets, so long as you’re playing by the spirit of the rules. Slowing down nonbasic lands is annoying, but not game-breaking by any means. On top of this, by the time you hit seven mana for the full Blood Moon effect, most Commander games are already over. Still, it’s weird to see a mass land denial card being technically playable considering Wizards’ recent bracket update.
Breaking Ground
While Zhao shouldn’t be a problem in lower brackets, it’s still possible to build a nasty land destruction deck around it. Even with the Mono-Red restriction, there’s a lot of things you can do here.
In the early game, you can crush the table’s momentum by pairing Zhao’s land tap effect with cards like Winter Orb and Static Orb. These will leave your opponents with mere scraps of mana to work with, while you stay ahead by running mainly basic Mountains.
You can also lean into red’s deep pool of free mana and ritual cards to get around these effects. Simian Spirit Guide and Rite of Flame are great picks here, but Jeska’s Will may be the best of them. With limited mana, your opponents will find themselves with full hands, which means more mana for you. You can then funnel all of your ritual mana into Zhao’s activated ability. This will get ‘Blood Moon’ up early, making it even harder for your opponents to fight back.
Once that’s accomplished, you’ll want to include some protection for Zhao to keep its effect online. Classics like Lightning Greaves and Mithril Coat will do well here. If you can get Blood Moon locked in, it should be trivial to win by attacking with aggressive red creatures.
Ultimately, while such a deck could be devastating, it will also be inconsistent. While it’s cool to see a Blood Moon effect on a legend, Zhao will likely make a better inclusion in the 99 of a land destruction deck with more colors than the head of its own operation.
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