All 5 Twilight Spell Cards in Magic Ranked

Black Sun's Twilight | Illustration by Jonas De Ro

All Will Be One has brought us plenty of callbacks to Mirrodin and New Phyrexia. One of these is a cycle of Twilight cards at rare, one in each color with an X in the casting cost, doing something extra special when X is five or more.

With any splashy rare cycle, there’s usually at least one that sees some good play in some kind of Constructed format. Which ones of these are up to the standard? Let’s find out!

What Is the Twilight Cycle in MTG?

Red Sun's Twilight | Illustration by Kok Joon Wen

The Twilight cycle is a set of five cards, one for each color, released in Phyrexia: All Will Be One. Each one has an X in its mana cost and scales the more mana you put into it. What makes them unique is that they all have an additional effect if X is five or more.

The cycle is a clear callback to the Zenith cycle from Mirrodin Besieged, which included popular cards like Green Sun's Zenith. These were a cycle that also had an X in their cost but would shuffle back into their owner’s deck after resolving. The Zenith cycle itself was a callback to another cycle known as the Beacons from all the way back in Fifth Dawn, which shuffled back into their owner’s decks.

#5. Red Sun’s Twilight

Red Sun's Twilight is a pretty powerful card, but a niche one at the same time. Essentially a By Force, the bonus you get for X being five or more is probably the smallest bonus of the cycle. Creating token copies of the artifacts for a single turn rarely has much of an effect on the game, especially when it’s reliant on your opponents having relevant artifacts to target in the first place.

I can see red decks in Commander running a copy of this, especially in an artifact-heavy meta. But there are already plenty of better ways to take out a bunch of artifacts. I don’t see this one seeing heavy play.

#4. Blue Sun’s Twilight

I love me a Control Magic, and Blue Sun's Twilight is a nice spin on a classic effect. Although you’re restricted on the mana value of what you can gain control of, getting a token copy is a fantastic addition to the card.

There are plenty of versions of this card that don’t have the mana value restriction. In most situations there’s a better Control Magic effect out there for you.

#3. Black Sun’s Twilight

Black Sun's Twilight is a pretty standard two-for-one. The only instant-speed card in the cycle, it’s a great targeted removal spell that can even get around indestructible paired with a reanimation card to boot. Yes, the creature enters the battlefield tapped, but that’s just to prevent issues with surprise blockers leading to blowouts.

Probably better in 1v1 formats, I can still see this getting played in multiplayer since it provides great value in pretty much any black deck.

#2. Green Sun’s Twilight

You’ll likely want to cast it for X=5 if you’re playing with Green Sun's Twilight. This one doesn’t scale great past five since there’s no restriction on the mana value of the cards you get from your library, just how far into your library you get to dig.

The more I think about this card the better it seems. Digging for a Craterhoof Behemoth in an elf deck is the most obvious combo, but there’s more going on here. It can grab any land that it finds so you can grab a utility land too, which can even be better than the creature in some cases.

#1. White Sun’s Twilight

I don’t think any of the other cards can hold a candle to White Sun's Twilight. When X if five or more not only do you get a board full of Mites and gain a bit of life to stabilize, you also get to take out all other creatures on the battlefield. This is a game-ending winner and is sure to generate a lot of salt in Limited in 1v1 formats.

This still poses a huge threat even in multiplayer, even if your deck isn’t built around a poison win. If you have something like Anger you could even attack with your Mites straight away, taking out a player out of nowhere. Scary in the right circumstances.

Best Twilight Payoffs

As with any X-mana spell, you’ll want a good amount of mana to cast these cards. Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx devotion decks are a great shell to slot these in Pioneer.

Unbound Flourishing is in consideration if you ever look at a card with X in its cost, which I’m sure will lead to some silly shenanigans.

The Last Sun's Twilight

White Sun's Twilight | Illustration by Kok Joon Wen

Twilights were a great addition celebrating our return to New Phyrexia, presenting old designs in interesting new ways. I’d be shocked if none of them see play anywhere.

Do you like the Twilights? Are you looking forward to trying any of them out in your pet decks? I’m always interested in seeing potential designs, so let me know down in the comments below or over in the Draftsim Discord.

Until next time, and may your X always be five or more!