Magic: The Gatheringplayers who have been around for longer than the recent Final Fantasy set that earned Wizards of the Coast $200 million in a single day will likely have heard the name Cori-Steel Cutter in some way. This card was introduced with the Tarkir: Dragonstorm set that released this year in April, and it immediately saw play in various formats because of its strong, arguably overpowered effects.Magic: The Gathering’s Cori-Steel Cutter is an artifact equipment, and it costs 1 generic and 1 Red mana both to cast it and equip it, giving the equipped creature +1/+1, trample, and haste. On top of that, it has the Flurry keyword, which makes the user create a 1/1 monk token with prowess under the user’s control when the second spell of the turn is cast.
This is a lot for a 2-CMC card, and it’s very strong in all formats it’s available in. However,Magic: The Gathering’s June 2025 bans for Standardincluded Cori-Steel Cutter to make the format healthier and less aggressive, so the card has already caught its second ban so far, with the first being in Alchemy. Now, Edge of Eternities is out, and it includes a weaker (as in, more balanced) version of Cori-Steel Cutter called Cosmogrand Zenith.
One could say that Cosmogrand Zenith is the Temu version of Cori-Steel Cutter because it’s not as explosively powerful, with the meme typically referring to alternate versions of branded items being sold for cheap on Temu.
Magic: The Gathering’s Cosmogrand Zenith is Cori-Steel Cutter All Over Again
Magic: The Gathering’s Edge of Eternities cardshave seen a lot of hype, between powerful or flavorful commanders and new mechanics making some specific cards more interesting in a given format. Cosmogrand Zenith is very strong in its own right, as it is a 2/4 creature that costs 2 generic and 1 White mana, giving players the choice between creating two 1/1 creature tokens or putting a +1/+1 counter on each creature under the user’s control whenever the second spell of a turn is cast.
This is fairly similar to Cori-Steel Cutter, and it’s very strong in its White color thanks to possible combos with cards like Caretaker’s Talent, Elspeth, Storm Slayer, and even the new Exalted Sunborn from EoE. Cosmogrand Zenith is, by all means, a good card, and it will inevitably see a lot of play. However, it’s not on the same level as Cori-Steel Cutter.
Exalted Sunborn is one of themost expensive Edge of Eternities cards in MTGamong the non-special treatment ones, and its Fractured Foil version goes for over $500 on TCGPlayer.
Why Cori-Steel Cutter is Superior to Cosmogrand Zenith in MTG
Cori-Steel Cutter was game-changing inMagic: The Gathering’s Standard formatand was used in 40% of the decks in the last Pro Tour it was legal in. This is because of a few reasons:
Magic: The Gathering’s Standard bans killed aggro decksthe way they used to be, in the sense that they still exist, but they are not as oppressive and common across the board. Cori-Steel Cutter, being an artifact, means it was also much more difficult to deal with compared to the new Cosmogrand Zenith, and most decks had to have an answer to it. So far, Cosmogrand Zenith is not creating such a suffocating meta, and it’s unlikely it will in the near future.
